Headless CMS (Sanity/Strapi) vs Traditional: What to Choose for Your Business

CMS choice impacts performance, SEO, security, and maintenance costs. In 2025, businesses increasingly opt for headless architecture (Sanity, Strapi) combined with Next.js, but classic WordPress still makes sense for simple use cases. Here's a concrete comparison.

Headless CMS – When It Has the Advantage

Performance and SEO are the main advantages of headless CMS – content served via SSG/ISR delivers Lighthouse 90+ and excellent Core Web Vitals. Scaling and i18n enables multi-channel support (www, app, landing), multiple languages, roles, and workflows.

Security is another key advantage – no public database on the frontend means a smaller attack surface. DX (Developer Experience) offers clean content schemas, versioning, migrations, and draft previews in Next.js.

Traditional CMS – When It's Enough

Simple business card website is the ideal case for traditional CMS – quick deployment and lower startup cost. Plugin ecosystem offers forms, SEO, and simple integrations without coding. Non-technical team benefits from a familiar panel and a gentler learning curve.

Costs and Maintenance (Summary)

Headless CMS features higher startup costs (schema definition, integration), but lower long-term costs (performance, fewer outages) and better TTFB/INP. Traditional CMS has lower initial cost but carries the risk of "creeping costs" related to plugins, security, performance, and updates.

Decision: Quick Selection Matrix

If you have blog + landing + i18n + scaling, choose headless + Next.js. For simple site and small budget, WordPress with a good theme and minimal plugins works. CMS for multiple channels (omnichannel) requires headless.

Risks and How to Mitigate Them

Integration complexity can be reduced by starting with MVP (key content types) and implementing the rest in stages. Team onboarding requires editor training, naming guidelines, and publication workflows. Preview and versioning should be configured from the start – draft previews and schema migrations are essential.

FAQ

Is headless better for SEO? Yes – thanks to SSG/ISR and excellent CWV. Hx, schema.org, sitemap, and internal linking are also important.

Can WordPress be headless? Yes – WP as content source + Next.js on the frontend. It's a compromise: WP editorial UX and Next.js performance.

Which headless CMS to choose? Sanity – flexible schemas and great DX; Strapi – open-source, good value for money.