Headless CMS

A headless CMS stores and edits content, then serves it through an API to any website or app. Developers choose the front end; editors work in a clean content interface.

Best for Teams with developers who want full control of the front end

Platforms in this category

Ranked by our overall score. Open a profile for strengths, watch-outs, pricing and features.

Sanity SaaS 4.6 Content operating system with a fully customizable Studio Free up to 20 seats · Growth $15 per seat/mo

Contentful SaaS 4.4 The best-known API-first headless CMS Free plan · paid plans from about $300/mo

Storyblok SaaS 4.4 Headless CMS with a real visual editor Free starter · Growth from $99/mo

Payload SaaS or self-hosted 4.3 Code-first TypeScript CMS that lives inside your Next.js app Free open source (MIT) · paid enterprise options

Strapi SaaS or self-hosted 4.2 Open-source Node.js headless CMS you can host anywhere Free open source · Strapi Cloud and Enterprise paid

Directus SaaS or self-hosted 4 Turns any SQL database into an API and editing app Free self-hosted for small orgs · Cloud and Enterprise paid

Hygraph SaaS 4 GraphQL-native headless CMS with content federation Free plan · paid plans for teams

Kontent.ai SaaS 3.9 Structured SaaS CMS that markets itself as agentic Usage-based · quote on request

A headless CMS separates the place where content is written from the place where it is shown. Developers build the website or app with the framework they prefer and fetch content over an API. The trade-off is that editors get less visual preview unless the team builds it.