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CMS? Headless? DXP? Huh?

Need a better website platform but dreading the Google-and-demo grind?

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Compare Traditional CMS, Headless CMS, and Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs). Get clear pros and cons, costs, and implementation realities - no jargon, no bias, just clarity you can act on.

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Here's how they stack up, at a glance.

A scatter plot comparing traditional CMS, headless, and DXP across two axes: Marketing Autonomy (vertical, from Low to High) and Dev Complexity (horizontal, from High to Low). DXPs are positioned in the top right, showing high marketing autonomy and low dev complexity, with features like 'Built for marketers and devs' and 'No-code tools with enterprise capability.' Traditional CMS is in the middle, noting it's 'Easy to use for basic websites' but 'Complexity increases exponentially when scaling.' Headless CMS is positioned in the bottom left, indicating low marketing autonomy and high dev complexity, characterized by 'Dev-first approach' and 'High technical requirements.'

Let's break it down.

A traditional CMS is simpler to use but limited. Headless CMSs are flexible but code-heavy. Low-code DXPs combine both benefits: intuitive tools, with the power to scale, personalize, and integrate across all channels.


Low-code DXPs balance developer and marketer needs. While traditional CMS restricts developers and headless CMS depends too heavily on them, low-code DXPs provide both technical flexibility and marketing autonomy, all with enterprise security built in.


Traditional CMSs offer disconnected experiences as you scale and stretch beyond its abilities. A headless CMS offers a consistent experience, only with a lot of code. Low-code DXPs deliver unified, personalized experiences for users across all touchpoints - integrating data and content from any source.


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CMS vs DXP Guide:

Which is best for you?

Grab our BS-free guide to discover which one makes sense for you. No tech jargon, just the facts.

Why organizations like these use Squiz DXP

Squiz DXP puts marketers in the driver's seat. Create stunning content, run tests, optimize pages and personalize experiences without bugging your developers for everything. Let them focus on the innovation while you work your marketing magic.

Hear it from DXP converts

FAQs

While a traditional CMS focuses primarily on content management, and a headless CMS separates content management from content delivery, a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) like Squiz DXP goes beyond these capabilities. Squiz DXP offers a comprehensive suite of tools for creating, managing, and optimizing digital experiences across multiple channels. It includes features such as personalization, analytics, and integration capabilities, allowing organizations to deliver cohesive and tailored customer experiences at scale.

Squiz DXP excels in multi-channel content delivery by providing a centralized platform for managing content across websites, portals, apps, and social media. Unlike traditional CMS or even some headless CMS solutions, Squiz DXP offers built-in tools for personalization, optimization, and analytics. This integrated approach ensures consistent, contextualized experiences across all digital touchpoints, making it easier for organizations to deliver the right content to the right audience at the right time.

When considering enterprise-grade solutions, security is paramount. Squiz DXP prioritizes security through:

  • ISO 27001 certification and CSA STAR compliance
  • AWS-certified data centers with 24/7 protection
  • Role-based access control
  • Data encryption at rest and in transit
  • Regular security testing and vulnerability monitoring
  • Automatic security updates via SaaS delivery

As a trusted platform for leading organizations in government, education and professional services worldwide, Squiz DXP has top-level accreditations in place to eliminate common security risks associated with traditional CMS plugins while maintaining the highest security standards. View our security accreditations here.

Squiz DXP is designed with flexibility and integration in mind. It offers a composable architecture that allows organizations to easily integrate existing tools and systems. The Squiz Marketplace provides over 40 secure integration connections to popular applications from vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce, Hubspot, Meta and Google. Additionally, Squiz DXP Integrations enable even non-technical users to create new connections to any system with an API in minutes, ensuring seamless integration with your existing tech stack.

Scalability is a key advantage of modern DXP platforms like Squiz DXP. Its composable architecture allows for seamless scaling as your business grows. Unlike traditional CMS solutions that may struggle with high-traffic sites or complex needs, Squiz DXP enables you to manage assets, content, and personalization effortlessly across multiple sites from a single, unified hub. This scalability ensures that your digital experiences can grow and evolve alongside your organization without the need for complete system overhauls.

The best platform is one that grows with your organization. Consider what you need now and what you might need in the future. If your current system is becoming hard to manage or doesn't support your goals anymore, it might be time for a change. The good news is that Squiz DXP allows you to transition gradually - you can start building new pages while keeping your existing site running.

Squiz DXP is designed with both technical and non-technical users in mind. It offers intuitive interfaces and low-code tools that empower marketers and content creators to build and manage digital experiences without heavy reliance on developers. Features like drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built templates, and visual editing tools make it easy for non-technical users to create and optimize content across various channels.

Meanwhile, developers gain access to powerful tools for customization, configuring complex integrations securely and monitoring activity and performance across their digital experiences from one platform.

This user-friendly and user-centered approach helps organizations reduce development bottlenecks and enables faster time-to-market for complex, enterprise-scale digital initiatives.

CMS vs DXP Guide:
Which is best for you?

Our no-nonsense guide breaks down CMSs and DXPs without the fluff.
Your shortcut to choosing the solution you really need.