Choosing the Right CMS for Your Enterprise: A Comparison of Contentful and WordPress

WordPress is a widely known content management system with a user base and developer community that has contributed to its success for over two decades. Its functionality can be extended and its appearance customized with a variety of plugins and themes created by the community. Additionally, its built-in themes make it accessible to non-technical users, enabling them to create a functional website quickly.

Once upon a time, static sites were the primary way of creating online content, but they were clunky and hard to use, which is why traditional CMSs like WordPress thrived when introduced to the market. But today with the rise of new mediums such as smartphones, smartwatches, and IoT devices, a modern CMS such as Contentful is better suited to deliver content across all channels.

As a headless CMS, contentful offers a personalized user experience while maintaining consistency on all devices. This consistency gives businesses the flexibility of not only offering customer experiences across all channels but also the ability to respond to quickly changing customer needs.

To clearly see what sets the two content management systems apart, this article will analyze each and compare their features.

What is Contentful?

Contentful is a headless CMS that was launched in 2013. A headless CMS means that the platform separates the content layer from the presentation layer. This allows businesses to customize their front end, enabling their customers to consume content across multiple devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, etc.

Essentially, the content is managed and stored in a centralized hub/repository, on the cloud,  which makes up the backend or the ‘body’. The content is then accessed and presented to any front end or the ‘head’ via an API. This structure makes Contentful highly flexible and adaptable to different content needs.

Features of Contentful

Now we know what Contentful is, let’s have a look at what it can do.

Here are some of the key features of Contentful as a headless CMS :

API-first architecture

Contentful API provides businesses with a set of RESTful endpoints and GraphQL queries that they can use to retrieve, update, and manage their content programmatically. This means that businesses can integrate their content into any application or channel, whether that's a website, mobile app, chatbot, or IoT device.

The platform’s API is designed to be developer-friendly, with comprehensive documentation, SDKs for various programming languages, and a powerful developer portal that provides access to a variety of tools and resources.

Multi-channel delivery

Multi-Channel delivery refers to the ability to deliver content across multiple channels and devices.

With Contentful, businesses can create and manage their content in a centralized hub, and then use APIs to deliver that content to any channel or device. This makes it easier for businesses to reach their target audience on their preferred platform.

Multichannel delivery also allows businesses to repurpose and reuse their content which can save time and resources. For example, a business can create a piece of content, such as a blog post, and then use Contentful to deliver that content to its website, social media channels, and email marketing campaigns.

Scalability

Contentful is designed to be highly scalable thanks to its cloud-based infrastructure. This enables businesses to scale their content output as their needs grow without having to worry about technical aspects such as server capacity, network bandwidth, or other constraints.

Also, thanks to its modular architecture and API-first approach, Contentful makes it easier for businesses to share their content across multiple channels and devices, while still maintaining consistency and control over it.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an open-source CMS platform that was launched in 2003 as a blogging platform. However, it has since evolved into a full-fledged CMS that allows businesses to create, manage, and publish content. The CMS is built on the PHP programming language and uses a MySQL database to store content and other website data.

Unlike Contentful -a headless CMS- WordPress has a monolithic architecture meaning that its backend and frontend are coupled into a single unit. As such, once the content has been published it’s already in its final state.

Features of WordPress

One of the things that make WordPress so versatile is its wide range of features. In this section, we'll explore some of the key features of WordPress and how they can benefit you.

Templates and plugins

WordPress offers a wide range of templates (or themes) and plugins that allow users to customize the look and functionality of their website. Templates provide pre-designed layouts and styles for websites, which can be easily applied to a WordPress site without needing to have coding skills. Plugins, on the other hand, offer additional features and functionalities, such as social media integration, SEO optimization, e-commerce capabilities, and more.

Monolithic architecture

WordPress is a traditional or monolithic CMS, which means that it combines both the content management and presentation layer into a single platform. This architecture makes it easy for non-technical users to create and manage content, as everything is integrated into one system. However, it can also limit flexibility and scalability, as the content is tied to the presentation layer.

WYSIWYG

The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor in WordPress allows users to create and edit content visually, without needing to have coding skills or knowledge of HTML. The editor offers a range of formatting and styling options and also allows users to add media, such as images and videos, directly into their content.

SEO-friendly

WordPress is designed with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, and offers a range of SEO tools to improve website visibility in search engine results in pages. Some of these tools include meta descriptions, XML sitemaps, social media integration, and more. WordPress also allows users to create SEO-friendly URLs, and offers built-in optimization for images and other media.

Contentful vs WordPress: Head-to-head

Let’s look at the differences between the two platforms based on the following criteria

Ease of use

winner: WordPress

Contentful is designed to be a developer-friendly CMS, with a focus on providing a flexible platform for building and managing content. While the user interface is clean and intuitive, non-technical users may find it more challenging to use than WordPress, as it requires some technical knowledge to set up and customize.

WordPress, on the other hand, is designed to be user-friendly, even for non-technical users. It's easy to set up a free account and publish your site in no time even without any technical experience. Also, with its WYSIWYG editor and drag-and-drop interface you can create and manage content. The platform also has an extensive library of plugins and themes that make it easy to customize your website.

Security features

Winner: Tie

When it comes to security features, both platforms offer a range of security features, including HTTPS encryption, role-based access controls, and two-factor authentication.

Contentful, as a headless CMS, take a different approach to security than traditional CMS platforms like WordPress. Its API-first architecture allows users to control access to their content through token-based authentication, and it uses industry-standard encryption and secure storage practices to protect user data.

WordPress also offers a range of security features, including regular software updates, a secure authentication process, and plugin/theme validation. The platform’s active developer community also engages in security issues and offers guidance on best practices.

Scalability

Winner: Contentful

Contentful is designed as a headless CMS, which means that it is highly scalable and flexible. Its API-first architecture allows it to be easily integrated with other services, making it an ideal choice for businesses that need to manage their content across multiple platforms. The CMS is also designed to handle large amounts of content and traffic, with built-in caching and content delivery network (CDN) support.

WordPress, on the other hand, is a traditional monolithic CMS, which means that it can become more challenging to scale as a site grows in complexity and traffic. However, you can still scale your WordPress site by choosing premium caching plugins, content delivery networks (CDNs), and cloud hosting services.

SEO

Winner: WordPress

WordPress offers SEO out-of-the-box such as Yoast SEO, and All in One SEO Pack, among others. On the other hand, Contentful is a headless CMS designed to be more extensible, focusing on multichannel delivery and integration with other technologies. While Contentful does offer SEO-friendly features like customizable URLs and metadata fields, it is typically used by larger enterprises and organizations that have more complex needs.

Pricing

Winner: WordPress

Contentful has three pricing plans - =free, basic, and premium. The free plan is ideal for individual projects or anyone experimenting with the platform just to see if it's a good fit. It has limited capabilities and can support five users only. The basic plan starts at $300/month and supports up to twenty users. It’s ideal for small businesses or teams anticipating growth. The premium plan is priced based on the resources used such as the number of users, API requests, and storage space.

As for WordPress, it's free to use making it ideal for absolute beginners who want to set up a site real quick. However, as a business, you may have to pay for web hosting services, premium themes, and plugins to add additional functionality to your website. Note that the free version storage is capped at 1GB. If you want more storage capacity, you’ll have to purchase a premium plan ranging from $5 - $45 and an enterprise plan for customized storage that goes for $25,000/year. Based on its pricing plans, WordPress is more affordable than Contentful.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Which CMS is easier to use, Contentful or WordPress?

WordPress may be easier to use for non-technical users, while Contentful may be more suitable for developers and content creators who want more flexibility and control over their content.

Q: Can I use WordPress as a headless CMS like Contentful?

Yes, WordPress can be used as a headless CMS by using a plugin such as WP REST API or the new WordPress REST API. However, WordPress's monolithic architecture may make it less suitable for complex, multi-channel content delivery.

Q: Can I switch from WordPress to Contentful (or vice versa)?

Yes, it's possible to switch from one platform to the other. However, it may require some effort to migrate content and restructure the website's architecture. It's important to carefully evaluate the needs of the business and the capabilities of each platform before making a switch.

Key Takeaway

Both Contentful and WordPress offer unique features and benefits as content management systems. Contentful is a flexible and scalable headless CMS that excels in managing content for multi-channel delivery, while WordPress is a traditional CMS with a user-friendly interface making it ideal for businesses that need a website with basic content management features and e-commerce capabilities.