Contentful : everything you need to know about the Headless CMS

Contentful, created in 2013 and used by over 100,000 digital platforms (with clients such as Spotify, Urban Outfitters, and Red Bull), is a leading decoupled content management platform (also called a headless CMS). It is an effective alternative to traditional CMS’ thanks to its orientation as a “content hub” designed to feed all communication channels of the advertiser (digital platform, mobile application, e-commerce…) via robust and flexible APIs.

With over 22.8k deployed sites and its SaaS orientation, Contentful proves its ability to facilitate the rapid launch of projects, products, and experiences by allowing users to easily build and deploy their own applications without the constraints often associated with traditional content management systems.

Also designed to meet developers’ needs, thanks to its “developer first” approach, Contentful integrates easily with many tools and frameworks. Its platform handles over one billion API calls every day, ensuring consistent performance and availability. Kaliop has worked for many years and was the first French partner of the headless CMS Contentful.

Summary :

Discover the video : Contentful, one of the world leaders in omnichannel content delivery.

A composable content platform serving agile organizations

Contentful is a composable content platform integrated into a composable or service-oriented application architecture.

Indeed, this vision of “composable” applies at several levels :

• Targeted “composable content”, Contentful allows fine structuring of the content (a title field, a text field, video, images, languages…) to be exposed, depending on business needs but also the targets and platforms to address.
• Integrated into a “composable architecture” or service-oriented, Contentful is “API First,” so it is designed to natively exchange with other services organizing modern platforms: e-commerce, PIM, CRM, etc.

At the heart of this dynamic is the idea of the Digital Factory, which promotes close collaboration between the company’s different functions, relying on flexible and modular systems.

In this context, Contentful is the content management building block that developers integrate into the composable architecture in the programming language of their choice, while editorial teams benefit from an intuitive interface to add or modify content. This setup allows each team to maintain autonomy while working synchronously, thus avoiding dependency on isolated workflows.

The advantages of this leader in omnichannel content delivery

• Flexibility and modularity : Contentful is a composable content management platform that allows you to create, manage, and deliver content on any device or channel. Its headless structure offers total freedom in creating unique digital experiences.
• Powerful API : with its robust APIs, Contentful allows easy integration of content into any application or website, regardless of the language or framework you use.
• Collaborative workflow : thanks to its workflow management features, Contentful allows fine organization of collaboration between contributors, based on configurable rights and roles depending on content states.
• Scalability and performance : Contentful is designed to handle large volumes of content and easily scale according to traffic, ensuring optimal performance even for high-traffic websites.

Comprehensive documentation and technical support : the technical documentation is detailed and complete, and the technical support is responsive to help you get the most out of Contentful.

The “swiss army knife” features of this headless CMS to create, manage, and deliver content efficiently

Contentful offers a wide range of core features, such as version management, content preview management, the ability to publish content in various states, publication scheduling, data synchronization, and offline content management. While other content management systems (or CMS) require adding plugins or custom development, Contentful integrates these essential features from the start.

Robust APIs for smooth connection :

• Flexible RESTful and GraphQL APIs for integration with any platform.
• Connect to front-end frameworks, marketing automation systems, analytics tools, and more.

Extended compatibility for effective integration :

• Works with all programming languages and front-end frameworks.
• Content can be published on websites, mobile apps, interactive kiosks, IoT platforms…

Efficient user interface for a simplified management experience :

• Intuitive and user-friendly interface for fast content management.
• Powerful tools to create, organize, and edit content.

Multichannel real-time preview to improve the review and approval process :

• Preview your content before publishing to ensure optimal quality control.
• Previews on different devices and formats for better understanding of the final rendering.

Security and data localization to meet regulatory requirements and enterprise preferences regarding data storage :

• Highly secure infrastructure to protect your sensitive data.
• Compliant with international data protection regulations.
• Data storage in multiple data centers worldwide for better performance and reliability.

What types of projects can Contentful be used for ?

Contentful is a leading Headless CMS that offers a range of technical and user-oriented advantages that distinguish it from its competitors.

Contentful for large-scale projects

Contentful stands out as a solution of choice for large enterprises, notably with its adoption by 31% of Fortune 500 companies, demonstrating its reliability and ability to meet the demands of large organizations.
The platform is distinguished by the richness of its developer resources, including a JavaScript SDK downloaded 38 times more than its competitors, providing a solid foundation for developing robust applications.

A flexible platform

Contentful also promotes greater agility in project development and deployment thanks to its free community plans that allow for an initial Proof of Concept or Proof of Value or a quick start while controlling costs.
Its App Framework offers advanced customization, automation, and integration, relying on the largest partner ecosystem on the market. This makes it possible to develop custom micro-applications for specific editorial needs, replacing the rendering of a field, a dialog box, a complete entity, or even adding an entire dedicated page in the back office.
By adopting an API-first approach, the platform ensures unprecedented extensibility, allowing full customization through open-source libraries and facilitating team collaboration through Content Spaces and environments that offer differentiated access.

Scalability : simplified scaling

Contentful is supported by three global CDNs (Fastly, AWS, Akamai) and guarantees exceptional availability, with a record SLA (availability at 99.99181%), reflecting its commitment to reliability and enterprise-scale performance.

With over 20 billion API calls per month, Contentful demonstrates its capacity to support significant workloads.

Contentful : for a multitude of digital projects

Contentful meets many specific challenges and needs :

• Creating websites and mobile applications using centralized content accessible via APIs.
• Delivering relevant and personalized content on interactive kiosks and IoT platforms for an optimal user experience.
• Broadcasting a coherent message across all communication channels by centralizing content and adapting it to each channel.
• Offering users unique and personalized experiences using data and audience segments.

Here are some concrete examples :

• Spotify : delivers music content and podcasts across different platforms.
• Urban Outfitters : creates personalized shopping experiences with dynamic content.
• Red Bull : manages and distributes video content across its digital channels.

Contentful vs Strapi

Though they have much in common (Headless CMS, API-First, content personalization), Strapi and Contentful differ in certain respects :

• License model : Strapi is Open Source and can be self-hosted, offering full control over the infrastructure. Unlike Contentful, which is SaaS (Software as a Service) with a usage-based pricing model.
• Infrastructure and hosting : Strapi requires hosting, which involves extra deployment and management effort and cost but offers greater flexibility and control in return. Contentful operates its Cloud platform, reducing infrastructure management load, guaranteeing high availability, enhanced security, and scalability.
• Community and support : Strapi, as an Open Source project, benefits from an active community that contributes to its development, including community plugins, tutorials, and assistance via various community channels. Contentful offers professional support and consulting services for enterprises, with dedicated support plans.

In summary, Strapi and Contentful are two CMS’ suited for ambitious service-oriented products/platforms.

Contentful stands out for its maturity, “business accelerator” positioning, and reliability under high traffic, while Strapi is suitable for teams seeking strong interface or content customization, data localization on the territory of their choice (thus meeting sovereign cloud expectations), and budget control.

Useful links :

• Contentful’s website
• Contentful’s blog
• Contentful documentation