Top 5 Headless CMS for Jamstack in 2022

Picking the "right" Headless CMS for your web project isn't easy. There are many factors to consider when choosing one, and with all of the options available right now –there are A LOT of them, it can be very daunting to choose one. 

For example, should you choose Contentful, Agility CMS, or maybe Sanity? Or is it Dato? 

But what about Prismic? 

I only mentioned a few, and it's already too much, isn’t it?

So, how can you choose the right one for your unique use case if the current Headless CMS market is so saturated? 

Well, luckily for you, we’ve tested most of the Jamstack headless CMS platforms in the market and can list the pros and cons of each one. We know what works, what doesn't work, and, most importantly, what works for you. 

To help you in your search, we’ve curated a list of five enterprise-grade headless content management systems.

Below you can find a list of the best Headless content management system to use for Jamstack in 2022. Tested and proven by Ikius in real-world projects.

Quick jump to content: 

1. Agility CMS
2. Dato CMS
3. Sanity Headless CMS
4. Contentful
5. Prismic CMS

1. Agility CMS

If you're planning on migrating from WordPress to a Jamstack CMS, Agility CMS is a no-brainer. Agility is best suited for larger enterprise websites with a lot of content that requires a robust content editor. 

Due to Agility CMS' "agility," it's very easy to migrate old content from WordPress, headless WordPress, or Drupal –any traditional CMS, really–  and preserve your sitemap, asset URLs, all with a minimal negative impact on your website’s SEO and user experience when migrating.

• Good for: Larger web projects and enterprise websites. Great when migrating from WordPress since Agility offers easy data import.
• Price range: $900-1800 and up / month.
• Goes well with: Next.js, Vercel, and Gatsby.

Editing your sitemap in Agility CMS: Changing URL structure in Agility CMS is as easy as dragging and dropping your content and assets into the CMS.

Agility CMS is probably the only notable Jamstack Headless CMS with built-in sitemap management (see the above video) – this is a huge pro because you can compose pages any way you like, which is essential if you're actively maintaining and updating content for SEO reasons. 

Having a sitemap manager built-in is also immensely beneficial for developers since they don't have to worry about generating hard-coded page paths; in contrast, this allows content editors to compose pages in the sitemap wherever they like.

Agility CMS is the only CMS in this list that offers all SEO fields built-in (kind of like Yoast with WordPress), which is great if you’re a content editor, content creator, or marketer. Surprisingly, other Headless CMS don't have SEO fields built-in. Combine this with sitemap and page management and the ability to add structured content to your website, and you're well set for SEO just by using one of the Jamstack Next.js starters Agility CMS provides.

Agility allows you to work faster and automatically makes your content operations 100% more organized compared to almost any other Headless CMS. Frankly, it just makes sense. With others Headless CMS, you'll constantly be doing tedious manual labor for sitemap management, API queries, and much more. With Agility CMS, all this comes out of the box. I think this is mostly because Agility's been around for so long that it's no doubt the most mature Headless CMS.

Why choose Agility CMS?

1. Built-in sitemap management
2. Most SEO fields are built-in, no need to manually define fields for everything
3. Generates SEO data automatically from page data (kind of like you can with Yoast for WordPress)
4. Allows you to build a website using a static site generator 
5. It just makes sense since it's been around for so long
6. Compared to other Headless CMS platforms, it can really cut your web development time in half since many features that others lack are built-in Agility
7. Great support, community, and very quick response times on Slack
8. Real-time previews work out of the box when using Agility's Next.js starters – a big plus for content editors

2. Dato CMS

Dato is an excellent choice for smaller projects where you need a high level of modularity while still having a good bunch of features built-in. Like Agility, Dato provides some SEO fields built-in but not as extensively (You can only configure basic SEO + Open Graph data out of the box). 

Dato doesn't have a built-in sitemap and doesn’t allow for structured content, so it's up to you how you'll output your content and which presentation layer you use. It's simple enough to iterate quickly but lets you build more complex layouts thanks to its modularity.

• Good for: Small to medium marketing sites where you need a high level of modularity.
• Price range: $0-300
• Goes well with: Next.js and Vercel

Dato is great for marketing sites that need something a bit more. The platform is user-friendly and easy for non-technical users like a content editor, but don't let the simple UI fool you. Under the hood, Dato is a powerful Jamstack CMS. You can build pretty complex and modular sites with it.

Based on our experience Dato is great for smaller marketing sites that require dynamic content. Thanks to Dato's highly configurable block library and modular structure, you can basically build any layout you can imagine with ease.

Dato is very user-friendly, so it's not as intimidating as a heavy-duty enterprise Headless CMS like Sitecore –  this is a pro if you're primarily building for non-technical content editors. Also, you can configure Dato's colors and add your preferred logo to Dato in case you're handing over the site to a client. Or why not have your own logo there?

On the technical side of things, Dato CMS fits the Jamstack architecture and ecosystem well, making it a great alternative if you’re building a Jamstack site. Connecting to Vercel is as simple as clicking a button. There's a lot more that's configurable out of the box, and it's worth considering over other providers if you're not a fan of configuring things manually.

Why choose Dato CMS?

1. Great for iterating, getting up and running quickly
2. Great for building a static site
3. Solid developer experience
4. Highly customizable with modular blocks and settings if you choose to use them
5. Not intimidating for non-technical users and easy for content editors
6. Good for small to medium marketing sites
7. Not as expensive as other providers with similar features

3. Sanity Headless CMS

Sanity is a unique Headless CMS and is one of the most customizable options out there. I'd call it a blank canvas or an API-based CMS to describe it briefly. 

Sanity doesn't provide any boilerplate fields by default, so you'll have to define everything in code. This is great, but this means you'll have to define your requirements in great detail – if you have in-house developers, this is not a huge deal. Sanity allows you to configure anything just the way you need it - the downside is you'll have to create absolutely everything from scratch, which is time-consuming and might cost you $$$ if you're not hiring a Jamstack development agency.

• Price range: $0-949 and up / month. Scales by usage so you can start off small and pay as you scale.
• Good for: For small to enterprise companies that need granular and high-level customizability and have access to developers.
• Goes well with: Next.js and Vercel

Sanity is fast and powerful with some drawbacks: Sanity feels super responsive and snappy. Technically and architecturally speaking, it's powerful, and you can pretty much model any content you can imagine. However, as a drawback, you can't edit the CMS interface without a developer after it's set up. For example, you can't modify the allowed length for a field without configuring it in code, which makes it an unwieldy option for a content editor or marketing team.

Sanity is the most technologically advanced CMS we have used. It's also quick to set up and use if you're a developer or have access to developers. However, there's little that can be done without any developer input. However, this creates a platform where you can build anything imaginable just for you and you only. So, for example, in addition to reading data, you can write data and structured content into Sanity's database. Using this setup, it's easy to create a commenting engine with Sanity, for example, where you can store and view user-submitted data straight on Sanity Studio.

With Sanity, real-time previews are a thing, albeit you'll need to do a manual configuration to achieve this.

Why choose Sanity Headless CMS:

1. A true Headless CMS where even the interface is optional; however, Sanity offers a standard interface, "Sanity Studio," which is essentially just a highly customizable React app hooked to Sanity's reusable API.
2. You need a Jamstack website with a super high level of customizability and low-level integrations - this is a double-edged sword; you'll have to create absolutely everything from scratch.
3. You have enough developer resources when setting up the CMS – can run on its own when setup, though.
4. You know what you're doing – you've defined your requirements in great detail in advance. However, as Sanity is a blank canvas, it's easy to create a messy CMS structure if you don't have precise requirements for your project.

4. Contentful

Contentful is a Headless CMS giant that's mainly focused on larger web projects for enterprise needs. A good choice when you need a high level of reliability for larger projects and guaranteed SLAs or high-quality documentation.

• Price range: $0- $1995 and up / month.
• Good for: Enterprise companies that need a high level of availability.
• Goes well with: Gatsby and Netlify CMS

Contentful is a "standard" CMS: Contentful might be the most comfortable option if you're coming from WordPress; however, it can become quite a mess content-wise if configured incorrectly.

There's really nothing special about Contentful – it's just good and very "standard," if that makes sense. It lacks some features that many other Headless CMS for Jamstack provide, such as easy data import and modular components. It can become quite a mess if you're trying to create modular, composable pages with Contentful.

Since Contentful is a huge company, you can expect premium-level support, service, and features if you pay the premium price. Otherwise, I can't recommend Contentful over Agility; it's just too rigid and lacking for the price you pay.

5. Prismic CMS

Prismic is a straightforward Jamstack CMS for smaller website projects. While it's possible to create anything with Prismic, it does not excel in content-heavy digital experiences since it lacks a lot of basic features others provide. 

However, this is sometimes a good thing because it's easy to iterate quickly, and small, simple marketing sites are quick to set up with Prismic.

• Price range: $0- 500 and everything in between. Scales well with usage.
• Good for: Small and quick sites which don't have heavy requirements for content management.
• Goes well with: Next.js over Gatsby. Does not integrate directly with Vercel or Netlify.

Prismic CMS has a nice minimalistic UI: One of the reasons we love Prismic is its simple and minimalistic UI. It's quick to get started and easy to use without any deep technical knowledge.

Prismic is OK if you're just looking to build a simple Jamstack website with a small budget – if you're building something content-heavy, I would not turn to Prismic and instead invest in something more resilient.

Closing words: Many Headless CMS options for many situations. The best Headless CMS for Jamstack depends on your unique use case and needs

TL;DR: The best Jamstack CMS for you largely depends on your project requirements, specific needs, and budget. 

For bigger and more serious projects such as enterprise websites, I would go with Agility, but be prepared to pay a premium price. On the other hand, if you have a smaller budget and you're looking to build a Jamstack marketing website, go with something such as Dato or Prismic.

There's no single Headless CMS over the others. Pick your poison. Our insights are based on our experience on real-world projects where we have learned by trial and error what works and what doesn't, so you don't have to!

Ikius: Your Jamstack development agency

Since its inception, we’ve been part of the Jamstack ecosystem and can help you build blazing-fast, solid Jamstack sites. Leave us a message, and we'll be in touch with you. We're happy to discuss your project in more detail in a one-to-one session.

Read more about our services here: Jamstack development.