Headless CMS
A headless CMS is a content management system that stores and manages structured content without a built-in presentation layer. It delivers that content through APIs to the interfaces that consume it, for example a website, a mobile app, a voice assistant or a smart device. The name comes from the image of a body, content management, separated from its head, the display.
Definition and how it works
The benefit shows when some of the channels that consume the content are not websites, such as mobile apps, assistants and smart devices. In return, building each channel’s front end is a complete project of its own. Gartner counts hybrid and headless delivery among the capabilities of web content management (Gartner Peer Insights, web content management market). What decides the choice is less the label than a practical question: who builds and maintains the front end? The article Headless vs traditional CMS: which one to choose compares both approaches.
Sources: Web Content Management, Gartner Peer Insights.
Related terms: Hybrid CMS · Content as a service · Headless vs decoupled vs hybrid · Content management system · GraphQL API · DAM vs CMS
Resources that cover this term
- Headless CMS personalization: How to deliver truly adaptive experiences
- What is a Headless CMS? The true Headless CMS definition
- Headless CMS - Which features for Marketers?
- Understanding Headless CMS: A Comprehensive Overview Including Pros, Cons, and Suitability
- Jahia's Portal Management Guide
- Advantages of Headless Enterprise CMS for multisite applications
Headless CMS vs coupled CMS: the differences
A coupled CMS, also called traditional, manages content and renders pages. A headless CMS does only the first part. The headless vs decoupled vs hybrid entry details what is left to build in each case.
| Architecture | What characterizes it |
|---|---|
| Coupled CMS | Renders pages through its templates. Immediate preview, but one main channel. |
| Hybrid CMS | Renders pages and exposes content through APIs, depending on each project’s needs. |
| Content as a service | Stresses supplying content as a service. Overlaps heavily with headless. |
Headless CMS in practice
Who builds and maintains each channel’s front end? How do contributors preview changes before publication? Who approves a change to the content model? For one main site and a few secondary channels, a hybrid approach avoids the choice. Jahia, for example, can render pages through templates while exposing the same content through a GraphQL API.
Frequently asked questions
Does headless eliminate front-end development?
No, it tends to increase it. A headless CMS provides no display. Every site or app that consumes its content has to be built, hosted and maintained separately. Going headless assumes a front-end team that stays available over the long term, for every channel.
Does a single website justify a headless CMS?
Not necessarily. Headless makes sense when some of the channels that consume the content are not websites: mobile apps, assistants, smart devices. For a main website, a coupled or hybrid CMS avoids funding a separate front end and keeps preview for contributors.