For over a decade, WordPress was the default answer for building a website. But with the rise of the Jamstack and modern frontend frameworks like Next.js, the Headless CMS has taken center stage.

What is the difference, and which one should you choose for your next project?

Traditional CMS (Coupled) *Examples: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla*

In a traditional CMS, the "Head" (Frontend) and "Body" (Backend/Database) are tightly coupled. WordPress manages the database *and* renders the HTML pages.

• Pros:
• Cons:

Headless CMS (Decoupled) *Examples: Strapi, Sanity, Contentful*

A Headless CMS is a backend-only content repository. It provides an API (REST or GraphQL) to fetch content. You build the frontend with whatever you want (React, Vue, Svelte, Mobile App).

• Pros:
• Cons:

Architecture migration: A Case Study

We recently migrated a client from WordPress to Strapi + Next.js.

Why? They needed a high-performance e-commerce site with extreme SEO requirements. WordPress with WooCommerce was sluggish (3s load time).

• Content: Strapi (Self-hosted on VPS)
• Frontend: Next.js (SSG + ISR)
• Deployment: Vercel

• Lighthouse Score: 98/100 (up from 45).
• Sales: Increased by 40% due to faster page loads.
• Workflow: Marketing team edits content in Strapi, seeing updates in 1 minute via ISR.

Verdict

• Use Traditional if you are building a simple blog or small business site with limited budget and no dev team.
• Use Headless if you are building a product, app, or enterprise site where performance, security, and multiple frontends matter.