Types of CMS platforms

There are lots of different popular content management systems, and many of them function quite differently from each other. Technically, some of these are website generators with CMS capabilities rather than fully functional content management systems. However, they all allow you to build and manage your website much more efficiently than if you were coding it from scratch. There are four main categories of CMS platforms: Visual-first CMSs, open-source CMSs, headless CMSs, and digital experience platforms (DXPs).

Visual-first CMS
A visual-first CMS sometimes called an agile CMS, is a visual interface that allows the user to create the front-end views of a website without writing any code. These platforms are equipped to develop the front end and customize the content management of a website without needing engineers.
Examples of visual-first CMS platforms:

• Webflow
• Squarespace
• Wix
• Bubble

Some platforms, like Wix, are simple and more consumer-focused. Others, like Webflow, can build enterprise-grade websites.

Open-source CMS
An open-source CMS is a software whose source code is open for any developer to edit and add to. An open-source platform offers a lot of freedom and flexibility. You can use code to make your own changes, choose from a large range of themes and templates, and add plug-ins or add-ons for fairly unlimited functionality.

However, the reliance on plug-ins and the need for development resources can present security risks and inefficiencies. Plug-ins are often created by unvetted third-party companies and can become outdated and vulnerable to cyberattacks, so open-source frameworks require ongoing maintenance and updates simply to stay online.
Examples of open-source CMS platforms:

• WordPress (specifically WordPress.org, not WordPress.com)
• Drupal
• Joomla

Headless CMS
A headless CMS separates the back end of your website from the front end. The back end delivers content to the “head” of your website using an API. Separating the front and back end allows developers to build multiple “heads” for your CMS, all using the same content. Those heads could be for many types of platforms, including desktop, tablet, mobile, and even retail kiosks.

The freedom to build multiple front-end tech stacks across multiple surface areas on the same CMS is important for companies with a larger web presence. They can build websites for multiple countries, subsidiaries, or retail locations, all using the same content system. But this approach requires ongoing engineering resources to build and update custom front ends for a headless CMS, making them more suited for larger businesses.
Examples of headless CMS platforms:

• Contentful
• Jamstack
• Adobe Commerce (formerly called Magento)
• Strapi (also an open-source platform)

Digital experience platforms
A digital experience platform (DXP) is an integrated software framework that includes a suite of tools for managing content across a business’ web presence. It usually includes specific tools for eCommerce, customer personalization, and analytics, in addition to content management. A DXP is a powerful enterprise content management system that is mainly aimed at organizations that need to handle huge quantities of content across many platforms.
Examples of digital experience platforms:

• Adobe Experience Manager
• Sitecore
• Acquia

Cloud-based vs. on-premise
In addition to the categories above, content management systems fall into two major installation types. A CMS can be cloud-based (like Webflow), where the software is hosted by the vendor and accessed via the web, or on-premise (like WordPress), where the software is downloaded onto your server.

The advantage of a cloud-based CMS is it is automatically updated by the company managing it. Websites built with on-premise CMSs need to be migrated to the updated version of the software every few years, which is a large and expensive undertaking.