This comprehensive yet accessible comparison of website builders, Content Management Systems (CMS) and Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) cuts through technical complexity to demonstrate how solutions like Squiz, Contentful, Adobe and others can assist your organization in implementing secure user portals, automating documentation, and enhancing your digital visibility—while safeguarding sensitive information in an increasingly hostile online environment.

The best part? You won't need technical expertise to grasp the advantages and limitations of each option.

Skip ahead:

1. What is a headless CMS?
2. What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)?
3. Top Traditional CMS Platforms
   1. Drupal
   2. WordPress
4. Top Headless CMS Platforms
   1. Contentful
   2. Strapi
   3. Sanity
5. Top Digital Experience Platforms
   1. Squiz
   2. Adobe Experience Manager
   3. Sitecore
6. A guide to making the right choice
7. Migrate to Squiz for FREE

Categories of Website Platforms for Businesses

To eliminate confusion, we'll begin by explaining the fundamental differences between each platform category below. Then, we'll examine the strengths and weaknesses of each provider within these categories.

What is a traditional CMS platform?

Conventional CMSs powered many initial corporate websites and still capably host fundamental content like staff profiles and product information. However, they operate merely as content repositories—not the comprehensive digital solutions required by contemporary organizations.

Companies quickly encounter restrictions when attempting to implement essential features like process automation, protected customer portals, or enterprise system connections. When your commercial team needs to monitor prospect journeys from initial research to consultation requests, or your service division aims to provide customer-specific information access, these platforms frequently necessitate expensive custom development.

Most also trail in AI implementation, providing minimal automation or content discovery features that today's competitive enterprises utilize to showcase value to discerning customers.

What is a headless CMS?

Headless solutions separate the "body" of a content management system (the backend) from the "head" (the frontend). For enterprises, this means your success stories, product specifications, and personnel profiles can be stored centrally but displayed universally—from your website to customer portals, mobile applications, and even reception area displays.

Technology teams value their adaptability when constructing specialized tools like custom intake workflows that differ by service category. Marketing departments, however, typically discover they have reduced control over design modifications. When your organization needs to rapidly launch a new landing page for an emerging trend or refresh team credentials across all platforms, you'll generally depend on developers—potentially postponing time-sensitive content about industry shifts or competitive offerings.

While headless architecture delivers superior technical possibilities, organizations without dedicated development resources may experience increased operational expenses and delayed marketing response times, particularly during crises or competitive market expansions.

What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)

DXPs evolved to address organizations' requirements beyond basic website content administration. They're engineered to customize user journeys, execute A/B testing on conversion forms, incorporate AI for highly-relevant content discovery, and integrate effortlessly with critical systems like CRM and ERP platforms—all from a single secure environment.

While conventional DXPs offer extensive capabilities, they frequently require businesses to embrace their complete ecosystem. Modern "composable" DXPs deliver greater flexibility, allowing your company to choose specific functionalities while maintaining compatibility with specialized business tools you've previously implemented. This becomes particularly significant when connecting business systems or customer-specific secure portals.

User-friendliness varies dramatically between platforms, directly influencing adoption by streamlined Digital Marketing and Business Development teams—a crucial factor we'll explore in our comparisons.

Now, let's examine how specific vendors measure up against the actual requirements of modern enterprises.

Or, navigate directly to the category or vendors you're most interested in:

Top traditional CMS Platforms

Drupal

Drupal stands out for:

• Formidable security capabilities including database encryption (though that advantage depends on diligent maintenance of modules and integrations)
• Vast customization possibilities through numerous modules and themes
• A vibrant development community - crucial given the highly specialized skills needed
• Excellent management of user permissions and workflows (vital when executives, managers, and marketing require varying access levels)

The drawbacks with Drupal:

• Personnel struggle with Drupal's intricate interface—this isn't a platform Marketing or content teams can rapidly master for content updates.
• Even straightforward adjustments like incorporating new team credentials typically demand developer assistance, creating technical bottlenecks during urgent situations.
• Security patches—essential for data protection—transform into mini-projects requiring methodical planning and evaluation, taxing already stretched IT departments.
• As your organization incorporates success stories, product categories, and resources, the proliferation of modules can degrade site performance and generate conflicts.
• While Drupal remains open-source, the specialized proficiency to support it is increasingly costly, especially when competing against other sectors for scarce Drupal expertise.

Optimal match for: Substantial organizations with extensive development capabilities seeking complete control over their digital infrastructure, possessing ongoing capacity to sustain the solution.

WordPress

WordPress distinguishes itself with:

• Simpler mechanisms for marketing teams to distribute content without technical backing
• Provides extensive modification options through countless plugins and themes
• Abundant plugins offering specialized functionality like prospect capture forms and personnel directories
• Economical implementation for smaller ventures due to its open-source nature
• Readily available content administrators familiar with the platform, minimizing training expenses

The limitations with WordPress:

• Protection requires consistent updates and fortification to safeguard confidential customer information and sensitive details
• Response times deteriorate as organizations incorporate necessary plugins and business system connections
• Multi-location, multi-division enterprises encounter difficulties enforcing consistent branding and content standards across the platform
• Though initially budget-friendly, enterprise-grade security, speed optimization, and specialized developer assistance substantially increase Total Cost of Ownership
• Restricted native approval procedures are insufficient for organizations requiring multi-tier review of published material

Optimal match for: Compact businesses or individual departments requiring a straightforward content platform without complex integration, governance or security demands.

Top Headless CMS Platforms

Contentful

Contentful excels with:

• Headless content distribution enables profiles and resources to appear consistently across websites, mobile applications, and customer portals from a single source
• API-first developer resources to facilitate custom integrations
• Enforces content structures, ensuring uniform formatting of documents and updates throughout all channels

The obstacles with Contentful:

• Marketing departments face limitations without developer assistance - even for elementary changes
• The adoption curve is steep, particularly for non-technical content creators
• Expenses can multiply as your content and utilization expand
• Significant custom development is necessary - pre-built components are minimal
• Marketing teams necessitate developer support even for routine adjustments to page layouts or more sophisticated content modifications
• Non-technical personnel grapple with the content interface, hindering team participation in content evaluations
• Limited ready-to-use industry-specific templates for product categories, team profiles, or success stories—requiring custom construction
• Costs increase with content quantity and API requests, creating budget uncertainties as your resource library grows

Optimal match for: Technology-forward enterprises with dedicated development assets who emphasize sophisticated integration capabilities across multiple digital channels, and manage complex content distribution requirements across departments or territories.

Strapi

Strapi is distinguished by:

• Authority over your configuration - custom content frameworks for specific business segments, service varieties, and specializations without platform constraints
• Robust open-source foundation provides access to an extensive developer network
• Role-specific access management for overseeing content across different departments
• API-adaptability for smooth integration with business-specific applications
• Zero licensing fees for the standard version (though the paid enterprise edition is necessary for the security and support most businesses demand)

The hurdles with Strapi:

• Self-reliant implementation and ongoing maintenance with the free variant — a challenge for organizations lacking dedicated IT personnel
• Absence of pre-configured industry content templates like team profiles or service descriptions
• Free edition lacks the enterprise-grade support essential when storing sensitive customer information or time-critical content
• Organizations frequently incur higher costs for development, support, security customization, and upkeep

Optimal match for: Technology-progressive organizations with substantial development resources. Ideal for those requiring highly specialized content structures who prioritize complete control over their digital ecosystem.

Sanity

Sanity is renowned for:

• Live collaboration features that excel for distributed content teams
• An adaptable content studio that conforms to your organization's processes
• Powerful API capabilities for effortless connections to other systems
• Business-grade security with role-specific access control and GDPR compliance
• Maintains consistent presentation across all devices and platforms, reinforcing your organization's professional image

The challenges with Sanity:

• Requires considerable technical proficiency to implement and administer effectively
• Teams must learn GROQ, Sanity's proprietary query language adding complexity
• Most industry-specific functionality must be built from the ground up
• Costs can escalate rapidly for larger implementations with numerous users
• Limited ecosystem with fewer ready-made templates and plugins for specific industries
• Non-conventional block-based editing system versus WYSIWYG editors necessitates training

Optimal match for: Organizations with robust technical teams seeking a modern, flexible, custom solution willing to invest in building a tailored digital infrastructure.

Top Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs)

Squiz

Squiz distinguishes itself with:

• Exceptionally adaptable platform customizable to specific business segments and customer requirements
• Robust integration functionality to smoothly connect with your existing martech, document management and CRM applications
• Expandable architecture handling substantial content volumes and traffic, supporting growing organizations with extensive information repositories
• User-friendly, no-code page construction and AI tools - Marketing and staff can generate content, design pages, personalize and conduct tests quickly - eliminating developer dependence
• Advanced AI-powered search and conversational features produce tailored answers from any information source - such as documents, success stories, and web content. Presents this information as a curated page featuring an AI-generated overview, connections to related resources, suggested articles on comparable topics, and a chat interface for additional questions.
• Intelligent customization enabling content adaptation for different customer segments
• Sophisticated governance controls with detailed role-based permissions and approval workflows
• Security and compliance safeguards protecting sensitive information and customer data
• More economical than conventional enterprise platforms - with transparent pricing structure based on usage metrics

The challenges with Squiz:

• Some presume technical expertise is required - this misconception persists despite their focus on user-friendliness, alongside advanced enterprise-grade capabilities
• Fewer ready-made templates than niche industry providers
• Less established in certain sectors than legacy systems - though Gartner recognition confirms its enterprise credibility
• Initial configuration demands careful planning to maximize independence from IT - readily supported by Squiz project specialists or through their partner network when needed

Optimal match for: Forward-looking, mid-to-large-sized organizations requiring secure and sophisticated digital experiences without sacrificing speed. Ideal for Marketing teams driving performance through personalization, content discovery and optimization without developer reliance.

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)

AEM is distinguished by:

• Sophisticated customization to target content according to customer profiles and behavior
• Comprehensive analytics tracking user interactions with your site and content
• Extensive digital asset management for your organization's expanding content collection
• Smooth integration with additional Adobe tools (if already implemented)
• Comprehensive enterprise-level security critical for confidential information

The challenges with AEM:

• Prepare for a significant financial investment with substantial licensing fees plus extensive implementation and maintenance support - both initial and ongoing
• Implementation isn't merely complex, it's a major organizational undertaking requiring thorough planning, resources and typically external consultation
• Personnel require extensive instruction to utilize even fundamental features, creating potential adoption obstacles and ROI inefficiencies
• Resembles using industrial equipment for residential tasks when simpler solutions would suffice
• As one of the costliest website platforms, you might pay for capabilities you don't need - many features exceed the requirements of all but the largest organizations

Optimal match for: Global, well-resourced organizations with highly intricate digital requirements and substantial budgets. Ideal for businesses with sophisticated personalization use cases and content capabilities across extensive product categories, and those already heavily invested in the Adobe ecosystem.

Sitecore

Sitecore stands out for:

• Effective personalization that adapts content based on customer interactions
• Productive multi-site capabilities for organizations managing multiple locations or business divisions
• Integrated marketing tools tracking engagement and automating content delivery
• Enterprise-level security and compliance features
• Efficiently manages extensive content volumes and heavy traffic

The challenges with Sitecore:

• Among the pricier options available with significant licensing, implementation and ongoing maintenance expenses
• Necessitates Sitecore-specific developers and administrators who are expensive to recruit and retain
• Lacks specialized industry functionality addressing unique business marketing and development requirements
• Difficulties with connections to industry-specific software and systems
• Demands substantial IT resources for implementation and ongoing maintenance due to platform intricacy

Optimal match for: Large, multinational organizations with dedicated technical teams, substantial budgets and ongoing resources for maintenance. Ideal for those focused on delivering more sophisticated use cases but excessive for simpler needs.

How to select the right CMS or DXP for Your Business

Your website platform influences every aspect of your organization's digital operations, and the difference between selecting the appropriate and inappropriate platform can be substantial. One empowers your marketing and business development team to drive growth, while the other constrains you in endless cycles of IT tickets, slow updates, or increasing costs.

Let's simplify the decision-making process to find what works best for your organization:

For Large, Multi-Division Organizations

If you're managing multiple business areas and require significant customization and integration capabilities, consider:

• Squiz for enterprise capabilities without compromising usability and responsiveness
• Drupal if you possess extensive technical resources and desire comprehensive customization
• AEM if financial constraints aren't an issue and you require a sophisticated enterprise system (and you're committed to the Adobe ecosystem)

For Specialized and Mid-Size Businesses

Working with more focused requirements? Examine:

• WordPress for simple, cost-effective basic content administration
• Squiz for enterprise features without enterprise complexity and expense
• Contentful if you maintain substantial technical resources and require multi-channel content distribution

For Technology-Advanced Organizations

Have strong technical capabilities and want increased flexibility? Consider:

• Any headless platform (Contentful, Strapi, Sanity) for building custom solutions
• Drupal if you prefer a developer-oriented CMS with extensive customization options
• Squiz if you need both technical adaptability and marketing autonomy to deliver results quickly

For Marketing-Focused Teams

Need to operate efficiently and create exceptional experiences without constant IT assistance?

• Squiz delivers personalization, testing, search and AI capabilities without technical overhead
• WordPress for basic content management needs with minimal technical requirements
• AEM if you're already utilizing Adobe tools, have advanced use cases and possess the budget to support it

Are you Ready to Decide?

Evaluating your options can take time, and there’s always a cost consideration. We’d like to help remove cost and migration headaches from the equation and give you access to Squiz DXP quickly. So much so, that we’ll migrate you for FREE.

To book a DXP consultation, click here.

If you’re still unsure and want to go out to market. Use this handy RFP template to help you find the right platform for you.