It’s a jungle out there… Choosing the right CMS (Content Management System) is a strategic decision that can influence your organisation’s entire digital presence. To build a long-term and sustainable solution, it’s important to understand the differences between various CMS platforms – in terms of technology, implementation, user experience, and cost structure. 

Choosing a CMS is first and foremost a business decision. By starting from your needs and future plans, we can help you create a solid decision basis and select the solution that delivers the most impact.

Below, we outline four common types of CMS – traditional, DXP, headless and low-code – to help you make a more informed decision. These options differ in both technology and strategy but often appear in organisations’ decision-making processes.

A traditional CMS combines content management and presentation in one system. It is designed primarily for managing and publishing content to a website and is built with editors in mind. 

Examples: WordPress, Umbraco, Drupal

Advantages

• Quick to get started: Content and presentation are managed in one place.

• WYSIWYG editing: Editors can often see what the page will look like as they work.

• Large ecosystem: Extensive libraries of themes, plugins and templates.

Disadvantages

• Limited technical flexibility: Presentation and backend are tightly coupled, which can limit customisation.

• Poor omnichannel support: Content reuse across channels is limited compared to headless CMS.

• Security risks: Open platforms with many plugins require regular maintenance and updates.

A Digital Experience Platform (DXP) is a comprehensive solution that integrates content, customer data and marketing tools into a single platform. It’s built to deliver seamless, personalised experiences across multiple touchpoints – and is often used by large enterprises with complex requirements.

Examples: Optimizely (formerly Episerver), Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore

Advantages

• All-in-one solution: Combines CMS, personalisation, analytics, campaign tools and integrations.

• Support for complex needs: Suitable for enterprises with many markets, languages and teams.

• Data-driven experiences: Built-in tools for A/B testing, personalisation and behavioural analytics.

• Omnichannel and customer journeys: Coordinate content, campaigns and experiences across web, email, app and more.

• Enterprise-ready: Strong security, versioning, roles and workflows for large editorial teams.

Disadvantages

• High cost: Licences, implementation and maintenance involve major investment.

• Complexity: Longer implementation times, higher technical barriers and need for training.

• Underutilisation risk: Many organisations only use a small part of the platform’s capabilities.

• Heavy administration: Editors may find the interface and workflows difficult to navigate.

A headless CMS separates the backend (where content is managed) from the frontend (where content is displayed). Content is delivered via API, allowing it to be reused across websites, apps, digital displays and more. This architecture is ideal for organisations needing flexibility and omnichannel publishing.

Examples: Sanity, Contentful, Strapi

Advantages

• Technical freedom: Content is stored in one system; presentation is built independently for web, app or voice.

• Omnichannel support: Publish content across platforms via API.

• Faster and more secure websites: Decoupling reduces attack surfaces and allows frontend optimisation.

• Scalable and future-proof: Backend and frontend can evolve independently.

Disadvantages

• More complex implementation: Requires building both content and presentation layers.

• Weaker preview capabilities: Editors may not see exactly how content will look live.

• Requires technical expertise: Not ideal for small teams without development resources.

Low-code and no-code CMS platforms provide visual interfaces that allow users to build and manage websites without traditional coding. These platforms are ideal for startups, marketing teams or smaller organisations that need to move quickly with minimal technical overhead.

Examples: Webflow, Hubspot CMS, Wix

Advantages

• Fast time-to-market: Launch in days rather than weeks or months.

• Visual editing interfaces: Build without code, suitable for non-developers.

• All-in-one platforms: Often include hosting, CMS and basic integrations.

Disadvantages

• Limited flexibility: Hard or impossible to customise beyond platform constraints.

• Vendor lock-in: Difficult to migrate as your needs grow.

• Less control over performance and security: The platform controls the underlying infrastructure.