In 2026, the headless CMS landscape has moved well beyond a developer trend, it’s become a core part of digital strategy for enterprises and startups alike. Organizations are increasingly decoupling content from presentation to deliver consistent, omnichannel experiences across websites, mobile apps, IoT devices, and even emerging interfaces like AR/VR. According to recent research, 73% of businesses now use headless or decoupled architectures, and nearly all remaining companies are evaluating them for future projects.

At the same time, the global headless CMS market is forecast to grow at a double-digit CAGR through the next decade, reflecting strong investment in API-first platforms and composable architectures. As teams strive for faster time-to-market, better performance, and more flexible development workflows, headless CMS solutions are redefining how brands manage content at scale, from global enterprises to fast-growing digital natives.

Here are some eye-opening statistics.

• Gartner predicts that there will be 20.4 Billion IoT devices by 2020
• PWC estimates that 90% of automobiles will be connected to the internet by 2020
• Former Cisco researcher David Evans calculated that every second, another 127 devices are connected to the internet
• Ericsson predicts that there will be 3.5 billion cellular IoT connections by 2023
• McKinsey Global Institute suggests the total economic impact of IoT could range between $4 and $11 trillion per year by 2026

Apart from IoT, there are other devices like smartwatches, VR experiences, wearable technologies and smart TVs. The usage of different devices, platforms, and apps is changing the way companies present content. Customers are also learning what great personalization feels like from industry leaders like Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, and others.

According to Forrester, 70% of North American companies either use or plan to use a content management system. Unfortunately, traditional CMS tools offer little flexibility for delivering content in new formats. That is why many developers are opting to go headless. Brands like Smashing Magazine, Oliver Bonas and Bindertek have already moved to headless.

In this post, we will discover everything you need to know about headless CMS.

Let’s dive in.

1. What is Headless CMS?

A headless CMS is a back-end content management system (CMS) that makes content accessible via various devices through RESTful API. It allows for the creation, reading, updating and deleting (CRUD) of content. This means that through this method, content can be delivered beyond websites and web apps. Content can be displayed or shared with a smartwatch and even inside virtual reality headsets.

Here’s how popular headless CMS is.

A value of 100 is peak popularity, 50 means that the term is half as popular, 0 means there was not enough data.

As of March 7th the worldwide interest rate of headless CMS is 63 which is medium. The interest rate has been steady for the past 1 year and shows no signs of slowing.

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2. Why Was Headless CMS Born?

We live in an era where captivating customers through customized content across multiple channels during the customer journey is becoming essential. The headless CMS concept was born due to such types of demands.

Moreover, content in a headless CMS is considered to be free of flaws. Just one instance of the layer can display on any device like desktop, mobile, tablet, IoT devices, smartwatches, etc.

3. What Are the Features of Headless CMS?

Here are some main features of headless CMS.

• Allows to model and create content
• Option to organize content repositories
• Helps with agile marketing
• Empowers to go truly omnichannel
• Helps to improve workflow and collaboration
• Multi-language support
• High-level image management
• Helps to manage digital assets easily
• Has plenty of access controls

4. What Are the Advantages of Headless CMS?

Here are some advantages of headless CMS.

Omnichannel & Reuse Across Devices

Not just “multiple channels,” but consistent content delivery to web, apps, kiosks, smart devices, and wearables via API.

Future-Proofing Against New Interfaces

Headless fits future tech like AR/VR, voice interfaces, and IoT dashboards.

Developer Freedom + Jamstack Synergy

Best for Jamstack and modern frameworks (Next.js, Nuxt, React, Svelte, etc.). Many blogs underplay how headless accelerates parallel dev workflows.

Localization & Governance at Scale

Good headless CMSs offer enterprise workflow automation, governance, role-based access, and localization, crucial for large global teams.

Structured Content & Composable Architectures

Not just APIs, real benefit comes when content is schema-designed and reusable across experiences. (This nuance is often glossed over.)

5. What Are the Disadvantages of Headless CMS?

Here are some disadvantages of headless CMS.

Initial Setup Complexity

Requires development effort to configure the frontend stack; not plugin-plug-and-play like traditional CMS.

Cost Complexity

Some plans charge for API calls, localization, users, and bandwidth, pricing can scale unpredictably.

Content Editor Experience Challenges

Some headless CMSs still lack intuitive WYSIWYG or rich inline preview tools; content editors may struggle without developer support.

Learning Curve for Teams

Marketing and editorial teams often need training for structured content modeling and API concepts.

6. Do You Need a Headless CMS?

The answer to this question is simple, it depends on your requirements. A traditional CMS does not have platform independence, developer flexibility, has fewer technology options and no code simplicity. But a headless CMS has all these benefits.

There are cases where the traditional CMS out stands in localization and plugins usage. That is why we mentioned that the choice depends on your usage.

7. What Are the Use Cases for Headless CMS?

Below are some use cases of headless CMS

• Can build websites with technologies developers are familiar with
• Can build websites and web apps that use JavaScript frameworks like VueJs, React and Angular
• Can build Native Mobile Apps (iOS, Android, Windows Phone)
• Can enhance product information e-commerce websites

8. How Secure is Headless CMS?

When planning to convert the traditional CMS platform to a headless CMS, there are some concerns about security. For example, the CMS platform Drupal has shown some major security vulnerabilities.

But, this doesn’t automatically mean that a headless CMS will be super secure. Developers and your IT team must choose a headless CMS that has all the security measures properly implemented. As headless follows an API first policy, your technical team must ensure if the API follows industry standards.

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9. Why is There a Growing Need for Headless Content Management in 2025?

Many of the headless CMS’s have been built for the IoT era. Some providers have gone the extra mile to rebrand themselves that they follow an API-driven approach to content management and delivery. In fact, there is also a war between many service providers to become the next ‘WordPress’ of the headless CMS era.

Overall, the rush to meet the needs of consumers and to be associated with the ‘staying in trend’ image have pushed many into the headless CMS direction.

10. Who Are the Best Headless CMS Solution Providers in 2025?

Here are some popular headless CMS providers in the market in no particular order.

Headless CMS	Features	Pricing
Contentful	API-first content platform, advanced content modeling, localization, role-based access, integrations with modern frameworks, strong scalability for enterprise use.	Free plan available; paid plans scale by usage and team size (enterprise pricing on request).
Kontent.ai	Strong governance and approval workflows, structured content modeling, localization management, enterprise security, and robust collaboration tools.	Free trial available; premium plans for teams and enterprises.
Hygraph	GraphQL-native CMS, schema-driven content modeling, real-time APIs, content federation, and multi-channel delivery.	Free tier available; paid plans based on usage and features.
Sanity	Real-time collaboration, highly customizable content studio, flexible schemas, live previews, and strong developer tooling.	Free plan available; usage-based paid plans.
Strapi	Open-source, self-hosted or cloud-hosted, customizable APIs, plugin ecosystem, REST and GraphQL support.	Free (self-hosted); paid cloud and enterprise plans available.
Prismic	Slice-based content modeling, intuitive editor experience, API-driven delivery, and strong support for modern frontend frameworks.	Free plan available; paid plans for advanced features and higher usage.
Storyblok	Visual editor, component-based content structure, real-time preview, strong localization support, and API-first delivery.	Free plan available; paid plans based on features and usage.
Magnolia	Hybrid headless CMS, enterprise-grade content management, personalization, multisite management, and integration capabilities.	Custom enterprise pricing (no public free plan).
Directus	Open-source, SQL-based headless CMS, real-time APIs, role-based permissions, and flexible data modeling.	Free (self-hosted); paid cloud and enterprise support plans.
Agility CMS	Hybrid headless approach, marketing-friendly tools, page management, APIs for omnichannel delivery.	Paid plans with enterprise-focused pricing; trial available.
Payload CMS	Node.js-based CMS, developer-centric architecture, customizable admin UI, modern authentication, self-hosted flexibility.	Free (self-hosted); paid cloud hosting plans available.
Decap CMS	Git-based content management, static-site friendly, simple editorial workflows, open-source.	Completely free and open-source.

11. Which One Should You Choose – Headless WordPress or Drupal?

If you enjoy using WordPress, there are many ways to make it headless. You can create a headless WordPress site using JAMstack or React. By using such a setup, you can keep the things you have been accustomed to. You can also make Drupal headless with the RESTful Web Services module.

Always keep this in mind, neither WordPress or Drupal was built for the headless setup. If you try to teach a CMS a new trick like going headless, you are going against its core. So, depending on your needs, it is better to go for options such as Cockpit or Butter CMS.

12. How to Get Started with Headless CMS? – A Developer Guide

Resources for developers to learn more about headless CMS.

• How to Build a Website with a Headless CMS? – Click here
• How to Source Content from Headless CMS? – Click here
• Creating a Progressive Web App with a Headless CMS – Click here
• Moving to a Headless CMS? First Change Your Mindset! – Click here
• Using a Headless CMS and React to Build Single Page Apps – Click here

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Summary

Managing content is tedious. Fortunately, a good headless CMS can eliminate the hassles associated with it.

Using a headless CMS may not be a good option for all the projects, but it’s good to know about this as the concept is becoming more popular.

With so many solutions, the headless CMS market is getting crowded. It is natural to feel overwhelmed when you are trying to decide on which headless CMS will be the right fit for you. All the headless CMS providers we listed can distribute content across various channels and devices through APIs.

If you are facing such trouble, you can get in touch with ColorWhistle’s headless experts and hire a developer. We can help you select the best option for your new head and also help you easily navigate through the headless CMS ecosystem.