What is a headless CMS and how does it work?

A headless CMS is a content management system that provides a way to manage and store content, but does not have a built-in way to display that content to end users. Instead, the content is made available through an application programming interface (API), which allows developers to build custom front-end interfaces to display the content as needed.

Here’s how a headless CMS works:

1. Content is created and managed in the headless CMS: The headless CMS provides a way for content creators to create, edit, and manage content using a web-based interface.
2. The content is made available through an API: The headless CMS exposes the content through an API, which allows developers to access the content and use it in custom front-end applications.
3. The front-end application is built to display the content: Using the API, developers can build a custom front-end application (such as a website or mobile app) that retrieves and displays the content from the headless CMS.

One of the main benefits of a headless CMS is that it allows for greater flexibility in how the content is displayed. Since the front-end and back-end are decoupled, the front-end can be built using any technology, and the back-end can be updated or changed without affecting the front-end. This makes it easier to create and manage content across multiple channels and devices.

There are many companies that offer support for headless content management systems (CMS). Here are a few examples:

1. Contentful: Contentful is a cloud-based headless CMS that allows developers to create, manage, and deliver content across multiple channels and devices. It offers a wide range of features, including a powerful API, flexible content models, and integrations with a variety of tools and services.
2. Prismic: Prismic is a headless CMS that is designed to be easy to use and flexible. It offers a wide range of features, including a powerful API, support for multiple languages and locales, and the ability to create custom content types and schemas.
3. Strapi: Strapi is an open-source headless CMS that can be used to build custom APIs for web and mobile applications. It offers a wide range of features, including a user-friendly content management interface, support for multiple databases, and integrations with a variety of tools and services.
4. Sanity: Sanity is a headless CMS that is designed to be flexible and scalable. It offers a wide range of features, including a powerful API, support for multiple languages and locales, and the ability to create custom content types and schemas.

These are just a few examples of companies that support headless CMS. There are many other options available, depending on your specific needs and requirements.

Our preference is to use WordPress when making a Headless CMS.

There are a number of services that support headless WordPress as a content management system (CMS). Here are a few examples:

1. WordPress REST API: WordPress has its own built-in REST API that allows developers to access and manipulate content stored in WordPress. This can be used to create a headless WordPress setup, where the front-end is built using a different technology than the back-end.
2. WordPress as a Headless CMS with GraphQL: GraphQL is a query language that can be used to retrieve and manipulate data stored in a headless CMS. There are a number of services that offer support for using WordPress as a headless CMS with GraphQL, such as GraphQL for WordPress and WPGraphQL.
3. Headless WordPress with JAMstack: JAMstack is a modern web development architecture that uses JavaScript, APIs, and Markup to build web applications. There are a number of services that offer support for using WordPress as a headless CMS with JAMstack, such as WordPress + Gatsby and WordPress + Next.js.
4. Headless WordPress with Serverless Functions: Serverless functions allow developers to run code in a serverless environment, without the need to manage servers. There are a number of services that offer support for using WordPress as a headless CMS with serverless functions, such as WordPress + AWS Lambda and WordPress + Azure Functions.