In these current times, just building a visually appealing website is not enough, it needs to be interactive with content that tells a story, and building such a website is every founder’s and developer’s dream. There are several ways to do it, one of them is custom web development but you need a workforce to execute it so you move to the equally best option called no-code website builder. This has become the go-to option for non-tech folks and even SMBs because of its easy drag-and-drop interface to create websites quickly and that too without using any coding.
But in the quest to find better, we are introducing you to a new way of managing your website’s content, using headless CMS software. It provides a content management system that can be used with different web development frameworks and static website generators. While both allow for quick and easy website building, headless CMS software is better for developers while no-code is better for non-technical users.
This article will help you understand which tool is better for your software development needs and how you can leverage them to create dynamic websites.
What is a headless CMS?
The headless CMS focuses only on the content layer and doesn't control how the website looks. It allows developers to store and manage content separately from the design and front-end of the website. This separation provides more flexibility. Developers can build the website design however they want using tools like React or VueJS. The headless CMS integrates with these tools to provide the content.
With headless CMS software, developers get the benefit of reusable content models and components along with optimised content delivery. At the same time, they have full control over the design and customisation of the site. This combination allows developers to build complex and interactive websites faster while maintaining creative freedom over the end result.
How does a headless CMS software work?
A headless content management system is a backend-only platform for managing content. It separates the content from how that content will be displayed on the website or app.
With a traditional CMS, the content is tied together with the website design and front-end code. A headless CMS breaks those pieces apart, the content is stored and organised in the CMS, while the website code and design are built separately.
This means the content is delivered through APIs instead of predefined templates. The developers can use the programming languages and frameworks they want to build the front-end.
They pull the content from the headless CMS using the APIs to display it. The same content from the CMS can be pulled into different websites, mobile apps, and other platforms as needed.
Why should you choose to build with a headless CMS software?
A headless content management system (CMS) has become a popular choice for developers looking to build omnichannel experiences. Some of the benefits offered by a headless CMS are mentioned below.
Decoupled architecture
This means that the content is separated from the presentation layer. The CMS manages the content, while the website’s or the app’s front-end is built separately. This decoupling provides greater flexibility, control, and freedom in designing user experiences.
Content APIs
Headless CMSs manage content delivery through APIs. These APIs allow content to be accessed by any application or device. This way content can be reused across websites, apps IoT devices, etc.
Faster development
Headless architecture speeds up development cycles. Front-end and back-end teams can work in parallel. This approach minimises interdependencies and allows faster iteration.
Reusable content
Content in a headless CMS is centralised and organised. This makes it easy to reuse content across different channels.
While a headless CMS provides greater flexibility and omnichannel content delivery, the decoupled architecture also comes with some drawbacks to consider.
Steep learning curve
As the headless CMS requires knowledge of APIs, JavaScript, and web development, there is often a steeper learning curve compared to traditional CMS platforms.
Higher development costs
With headless CMS, developers need to build the front-end presentation layer and integrate it with the CMS. This requires extra development effort compared to traditional CMS options.
Less functionality
Traditional CMS options have more ready-made templates and built-in tools, while headless CMS requires building more custom features from scratch.
Ongoing maintenance
With the front-end decoupled, updates to the presentation layer are an ongoing task requiring developer skills and effort.
Multi-disciplinary teams
Headless projects require collaboration across content, development, and infrastructure teams. This can add complexity.
Top 5 headless CMS software to consider
Some examples of popular headless CMS options:
1. Contentful
Contentful is one of the most popular headless CMS platforms. It offers prebuilt content models and structures that make it easy to get started.
It has collaboration features so content teams can work together. It has APIs to deliver content across channels.
Contentful integrates well with React, Vue, and other frameworks. It's a good option for developers looking for an enterprise-ready headless CMS.
2. Strapi
Strapi is an open-source headless CMS. It allows developers to create their own customised content structures and models.
Strapi gives developers a lot of flexibility in how they architect the content backend.
It has features for roles, permissions, and workflows. Strapi is self-hosted instead of a hosted platform. It's a good choice for developers who want to build a custom CMS.
Sanity is a real-time headless CMS hosted on Sanity's infrastructure. It allows you to customise the editing.
Sanity makes it easy to integrate structured content into sites, apps, and other products.
It works seamlessly with sites built using frameworks like React and Next.js. Sanity is a great choice for delivering content to modern JavaScript-driven experiences.
4. GraphCMS
GraphCMS focuses on providing APIs for content delivery. It uses GraphQL which is a flexible API query language.
The GraphQL APIs enable applications to retrieve exactly the content they need.
GraphCMS offers collaboration features and customisable workflows. It's built for integrating content across products and channels.
5. Storyblok
Storyblok is a headless CMS focused on helping developers. It allows you to create customisable content models.
Storyblok uses a headless CMS visual editor to manage content. It decouples and delivers content through APIs to connect it anywhere.
Storyblok enables collaboration through workspaces and workflow automation.
A no-code website builder is a platform that allows anyone to create, design, and publish a website without needing to manually write any code. No-code builders provide intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces, templates, and building blocks that help in creating websites with all the features and functionality.
Some key capabilities include easy site layout arrangement, content editing, database and forms building, SEO optimisations, responsive design, and one-click publishing. The main value of no-code builders is ensuring that non-technical people build their own websites. This allows faster creation of websites, saving time and development costs. No-code tools are changing the way we view website development.
Pre-made templates and drag-and-drop components are provided, you can select a template, drag components like text boxes, images, and buttons onto the page, and customise them according to your liking.
Behind the visual editor, the no-code tools generate the HTML, CSS, and other web code needed to make the website work. You don't need to touch or even see this code, the platform handles it for you.
Many no-code tools will have pre-integrated databases, SEO features, analytics, and optimisation tools. This means you can build advanced websites with forms, and client dashboards without coding.
Your site gets hosted in the cloud by the no-code platform, so you don't have to worry about web servers or tech infrastructure.
No-code website builders offer an easy and fast way for anyone to build a professional-looking website. Here are some of the key advantages:
1. Speed
With a visual drag-and-drop editor, pages and sections can be built by simply moving elements around instead of coding. This reduces development time. Templates provide pre-designed layouts, styles, and content sections that can simply be edited rather than created from scratch.
2. Ease of use
The visual interfaces are designed to be intuitive for non-technical users. Many provide WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editors that allow visually building pages just like arranging a document.
3. Cost-effective
You will be charged a monthly subscription fee to use no-code platforms and the fees are affordable compared to hiring web developers and designers. Building your own site on a no-code builder avoids high hiring costs.
4. Flexibility and scalability
Websites can be easily edited and expanded over time through the visual editor without writing any code. Many platforms support more traffic, data, and features like search, custom forms, user logins, etc that would require complex programming otherwise.
What are the disadvantages of a no-code website builder?
While no-code website builders have some component-level customisations, there are limits compared to custom code.
1. Design constraints
No-code tools have limited templates and customisation options compared to custom code for complex and custom website design interactions. You can only rely on the platform's tech stack decisions and roadmaps.
2. Security vulnerabilities
No-code generated websites can lack protection against cyber attacks. Vendor hosting and policies can also create security risks.
3. Steep learning curve
Visual tools still have concepts to learn like state management and advanced logic. This can be demanding for inexperienced users.
Overall the disadvantages depend on your specific goals. For simpler sites, no-code provides an affordable option to test ideas quickly. But for advanced sites, lack of customisation can become limiting.
Top 5 no-code website builder to consider
With a wide range of no-code website builder options available, here are the top 5 platforms to check out.
1. Bubble
Bubble provides hundreds of building block components and customisable workflow templates to build web apps and sites without coding.
It has a drag-and-drop editor and visual programming for advanced databases, API integrations, and business logic.
Pricing starts from free to $475/month.
2. Webflow
Webflow features 500+ professionally designed website templates in a drag-and-drop visual canvas editor, it covers blogs, portfolios, galleries, stores, and landing pages.
It integrates dynamic content, media, animations, forms, and full CMS for production websites.
Pricing starts from $12/month to $36/month.
3. Wix
Wix supplies designer-made templates across industries perfect for blogs, stores, and portfolios.
It offers built-in SEO, marketing, and ecommerce tools.
Pricing starts from free to $500/month.
4. Squarespace
Squarespace is an all-in-one content management and ecommerce solution with responsive templates.
It has integrated email campaigns, and analytics which are optimised for mobile devices too.
Subscriptions start from $12 to $40 per month.
5. Shopify
Shopify empowers entrepreneurs to create ecommerce sites through easy store setup, secure payments, and shipping integrations.
You have the option to choose from hundreds of templates, add buy buttons, and manage inventory.
Pricing starts from $29 to $299 per month.
When should you choose a headless CMS vs. a no-code website builder?
Complex or custom website designs: Use a headless CMS if you want to create a complex, heavily customised website or web app front-end with frameworks like React or VueJS.
More flexibility and control: Headless CMS gives you more flexibility to build custom websites and app front-end aspects using any programming language and web development framework.
Content usage across devices: Since a headless CMS separates content from display, it makes it easier to manage and deliver your content across the web, mobile apps, smart devices, and more.
For content production teams: For websites focused heavily on content creators, editors, and editorial workflows, a headless CMS provides more advanced efficiency and productivity features.
For developers and agencies: Development teams typically prefer a headless CMS for greater control, the ability to integrate different systems and the flexibility to change front-end code frameworks when needed.
Both headless CMS platforms and no-code website builders have their strengths depending on your needs. If you require advanced customisation and flexibility for complex websites, headless CMS provides greater developer control and omnichannel content delivery. However, for simpler websites and non-technical teams, no-code visual website builders help everyone quickly build and manage sites at scale.
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