Decoupled CMS, headless CMS, traditional CMS - all terms used when teams seek a new system to house their growing content needs. However, the differences between them aren't always clear. We covered the difference between a headless CMS and a traditional CMS in a previous chapter. In this post, let’s look into how a decoupled CMS and a headless CMS differ.
What is decoupled architecture?
Decoupled architecture is a software design strategy where the backend and frontend are separate, independent applications. Changes can be made to one without disrupting the other, allowing teams to develop them in parallel and push out updates quickly and with minimal risk.
While the terms “headless” and “decoupled” are often used interchangeably, there are some key differences in platforms that are considered one or the other. In short, while both types of software have a decoupled architecture, headless solutions are backend-only and decoupled solutions offer both backend and frontend components. This difference has a big impact on the capabilities and flexibility of the platforms.
What is a decoupled CMS?
In a decoupled CMS the backend content management system and frontend presentation layer are separate applications, but they are provided by the same vendor.
The frontend layer has templates, themes, and pre-configurations for standard web and mobile sites, allowing users to build pages just like with a traditional CMS. Unlike a traditional CMS, the backend can also send content to custom frontend solutions built for use cases that fall outside of the standard page templates, like mobile apps or internet of things (IoT) devices.
Decoupled CMSs are most often the result of a traditional CMS being split into backend and frontend components, catering to users that want a bit more flexibility without having to say goodbye to out-of-the-box starter sites. The option to use both traditional templates and custom frontends is why decoupled CMSs are sometimes referred to as “hybrid” solutions. WordPress, Drupal, and Magnolia are popular traditional CMSs that now also have a decoupled version available.
Decoupled CMS use cases
By separating the content management and presentation layers, but providing both, a decoupled CMS offers more flexibility than a traditional CMS while still giving teams familiar templates and editing tools. Making them well-suited for businesses that are starting to explore use cases beyond a standard website, including:
- Extending legacy systems: Teams that are used to a traditional CMS, like WordPress or Drupal, can switch to the decoupled version of their current CMS to gain a bit more flexibility without having to overhaul existing infrastructure or ways of working.
- Digital signage: The same CMS can be used to manage content for the website and for other digital screens, making it easier to keep branding and information consistent.
- Content delivery to IoT devices: Developers can create custom solutions for interfaces beyond a typical website, like Smartwatch apps and voice search.
Advantages of a decoupled CMS
For some teams, a decoupled CMS is the right balance between a traditional and headless CMS. It provides familiar templates, themes, and editing previews out-of-the box which can help get standard websites up and running quickly, especially for teams with limited frontend resources. The separation of the backend and frontend makes it possible to also deliver content to digital channels beyond a website, and to develop and update each channel independently.
Disadvantages of a decoupled CMS
While generally more customizable than a traditional Web CMS, decoupled CMSs are less flexible than headless CMS and can become cumbersome over time.
The main drawback of decoupled CMSs is that they make assumptions about your frontend. While technically separate, the backend content management system is designed around the provided presentation layer. So as you start creating custom frontends for different applications, devices, or unique site elements you’re still stuck using the limited content models and workflows designed specifically for the preconfigured web templates.
The more you move away from the templates, the harder it is to manage and scale your content, and the more you lose out on the key value of a decoupled CMS - its ready-to-go frontend.
Side-by-side comparison: Decoupled CMS pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Teams have presentation layer out of the box for simple use cases | Teams have to build frontends for custom, more complex use cases where existing templates may become deadweight |
| Teams with limited resources can get up and running quickly | Less flexible than headless CMS |
| Teams familiar with the page builder approach will find the editing experience similar | Templates can become limiting over time |
What is a headless CMS
A headless CMS is a content management system that only focuses on delivering content via API, usually in a structured JSON format. A headless CMS is backend-only, it provides no built-in presentation layer and it does not offer any themes or templates out of the box. This means that a headless CMS is not tied to a specific frontend framework, making it a highly flexible solution.
With a headless CMS, teams can create their own structured content models, and content schema, that enables them to deliver and reuse content across multiple channels, without the restrictions of a template-based CMS.
Use cases of headless CMS
Headless CMSs enable teams to build a flexible, data-rich content repository that can be used for a wide range of use cases, including:
- Streaming platforms: A headless CMS significantly reduces development time, enabling a streamlined creation of complex streaming platforms while ensuring high performance and efficient content management.
- Modern eCommerce solutions: A headless CMS revolutionizes eCommerce management by enabling businesses to deliver personalized and engaging product experiences across multiple channels, powered by structured content models and API-driven integrations.
- SEO-optimized websites: A headless CMS empowers teams to craft SEO-optimized websites powered by structured content, efficient asset management, and localization for ensuring better search engine visibility, customer engagement, and conversions.
The structured content approach of headless CMS helps teams future-proof their tech stacks and makes it easy to take advantage of UX innovations of evolving frontend frameworks.
Advantages of a headless CMS
The benefits of a headless CMS include greater flexibility, more agility, and better performance. Teams have full control over how content is stored, structured, enriched, and delivered so they can design the digital experience around the features and channels that make sense for their customers, not around a set of predefined templates.
A highly structured, modular approach to content management helps teams efficiently manage and scale content with a headless CMS. Editorial teams can use modular blocks to create new pages without technical help, and developers can reuse components to quickly spin up new features or channels. Helping teams create future-proof content that can be quickly adapted to different needs.
Headless CMSs are easy to integrate with other tools, making them well-suited for a composable approach, where instead of being locked into the capabilities of a single vendor suite teams can create their own tech stack of best-fit tools for each part of the digital experience. Some advanced headless CMSs even offer a way to bring together the content data from across your composable stack into a single source of truth, also known as content federation.
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Disadvantages of a headless CMS
Drawbacks of a headless CMS include the necessity of more developer resources to set up compared to a traditional or decoupled CMS, and that there can be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to working with structured content and creating your own content models. Quick start guides and resources on migrating from a traditional to headless CMS can help bridge the information gap in the early days of working with a headless CMS.
Side-by-side comparison: Headless CMSs pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Ability to build applications for multiple channels while drawing from a single data-rich content repository | Building initial infrastructure can take time for teams new to the headless approach |
| Flexible system that enables greater customization | Onboarding needed for teams to adjust to working with structured content, especially if coming from a page-builder CMS. |
| Reusability of content and models expedites the timeline of future projects | |
| Supports a composable architecture and helps federate content data from across your tech stack |
What’s the main difference between traditional CMS and decoupled CMS?
The main difference between a traditional CMS and a decoupled CMS is the separation of backend content management and frontend presentation.
In a traditional CMS the backend and frontend are part of one big application, or “monolith”. Content storage, UI features, and frontend templates are all part of the same code base and are highly dependent on each other, so making even a small change to the website can feel risky.
In a decoupled CMS the backend and frontend are separate applications that can be developed independently. Website templates and themes are available, but it’s also possible to use other frameworks to build custom frontends. Which allows a decoupled CMS to support channels that a traditional CMS struggles with like digital signage, IoT devices, and mobile apps.
What’s the main difference between headless CMS and decoupled CMS?
The main difference between a headless CMS and a decoupled CMS is the availability of a frontend presentation layer, and the impact this has on how teams create and manage content.
A decoupled CMS comes with a frontend solution that includes prebuilt website templates and themes. While using them is optional, these templates are a big part of the value of a decoupled CMS and the backend application has to make some compromises on flexibility and customization to make sure they work out-of-the-box. To provide the same type of editing experience as with a traditional CMS, the content created with templates is often unstructured and tied to a particular page. So while a decoupled CMS is able to support different digital channels, keeping content consistent across them typically requires a lot of copy-pasting.
A headless CMS is backend-only and gives teams complete control over the channels, frameworks, and content models used to create the frontend experience. Headless content is shared as raw, structured data and each channel can choose how to present it. This Content as a Service (CaaS) delivery module allows content to be reused in multiple ways on multiple channels. Making it easy to keep content consistent and up-to-date across touchpoints.
Headless vs decoupled: how to pick the right architecture
A decoupled CMS can be a good choice for teams that:
- Want the familiar templates, themes, and drag-and-drop editing of a traditional CMS, with a bit of flexibility to build custom frontend applications if needed.
- Have the majority of their needs covered by the provided web and mobile templates, and would like to experiment with one or two digital channels that require custom frontends.
- Need to get simple use cases up and running quickly, like websites with only a few content types, minimal integrations, and no need for complex logic or real time calculations.
A headless CMS can be a good choice for teams that:
- Want to deliver an omnichannel experience, with the freedom to work with the best framework for each channel and an easy way to keep content consistent across all touchpoints.
- Produce a high volume of content and update it frequently, and could benefit from a modular content model that enables more reuse and automation.
- Need the flexibility to support unique content types, business logic, and complex data scenarios for things like eCommerce, personalization, and localization.
- Have adopted, or are moving towards, a composable tech stack and want a CMS that is easy to integrate and that can provide a single source of truth for content data that lives across their stack.
Examples of headless CMS in the real world
2U
2U, an education technology business, uses a headless CMS to consolidate metadata from over 500 ed-tech offerings and deliver up-to-date information to a global student audience of over 300,000. As a result, 2U improved the cross-platform student experience and increased enrollment rates with higher conversion rates and lower bounce rates.
Lick
Lick, a home decor eCommerce store, used a headless CMS’s component-based approach to double sales in just 6 months and increase the "Add to Bag'' conversion rate by 20%. The team can now efficiently manage over 600 product pages, and their variants, thanks to the flexible content modeling of a headless CMS.
Without Hygraph, we would not have been able to achieve the intuitively modeled content pages in the time frame that we did. After the launch of our new site, our “Add to Bag” conversions increased by 20%. It was easier to build the modular site that we imagined to improve user experience without workarounds.
Summing It Up
Navigating the ever-evolving landscape of content management systems can be daunting, but understanding the key differences between decoupled and headless CMSs is helpful for making the best decision for your business.
Decoupled CMS is suitable for teams with limited resources, providing a flexible approach to managing content across disparate systems. On the flip side, headless CMSs enable scalable content delivery across multiple touchpoints, preventing vendor lock-in and aiding teams in future-proofing their tech stack.
To evaluate which system is more beneficial to your use case, reach out to us to learn more about the applications of a headless CMS in the real world.