How to Choose the Right CMS for Your Small Business: Headless vs Git-Based

Introduction

Choosing the right CMS is crucial for your business’s online presence. This guide compares Headless and Git-based CMS options to help you make an informed decision. We’ll give you a bit of a biased opinion at the end, but we also explain the reasons why. First let’s get the facts straight for both approaches.

Headless CMS

Definition: A CMS where the backend and frontend are separate.
Pros:
- Flexibility in design and development
- Scalable and high performing
- Improved security
Cons:
- Needs technical skills
- Can be more expensive

Git-Based CMS

Definition: A CMS where content is managed in Git repositories.
Pros:
- Easy collaboration and version control
- Works well with static site generators
- Integrates with development workflows
Cons:
- Not as user-friendly for non-developers
- Limited live editing

Ease of Use

Headless CMS: Usually has user-friendly interfaces but needs developer help.
Git-Based CMS: Great for small to mid-sized websites, with the correct setup by developers it’s a breeze to use.

Scalability and Flexibility

Headless CMS: Highly scalable, works with many frontend technologies.
Git-Based CMS: Scales well with static sites.

Budget Considerations

Headless CMS: Higher setup and maintenance costs.
Git-Based CMS: Lower costs, especially good for static sites.

SEO and Marketing Tools

Headless CMS: Integrates with modern SEO and marketing tools.
Git-Based CMS: Excellent performance, SEO tools integrated via build processes.

Security Features

Headless CMS: More secure due to separated backend.
Git-Based CMS: Secure through version control and static site generation.

Support and Community

Headless CMS: Strong developer communities and professional support.
Git-Based CMS: Active open-source communities, good resources for developers.

Popular CMS Options

Headless CMS: Contentful, Strapi, Sanity
Git-Based CMS: Netlify CMS, TinaCMS, CloudCannon

Conclusion

These were the facts, our recommendation for most websites, is using git based CMS, especially when you’re paying someone to set it up for you, as the biggest obstacle to overcome is the setup. Once this step is complete, as a user of the CMS will barely notice the difference.

The reason we recommend going the git based route, is the price point. And the fact that you’re not vendor locked in, as these solutions use your codebase to store the data, so if you ever decide that a CMS no longer fits your needs, it’s much easier to make the switch.

While most services would do the job well, we recommend CloudCannon, as they are our official partner.