DEV Community

Discussion on: When to Use a CMS Instead of a Framework

Collapse
 
xwero profile image
david duymelinck

"Traditional" CMS solutions can provide a rest API, for example Drupal. It is not a headless CMS service only feature.

With the headless CMS services there is a vendor lock-in. So they can go up in cost or strip features. I knew one project where the headless service just stopped, so they had to migrate to another CMS.
It is easy and fast when you use a service, but for long term projects I recommend a solution that gives you more control.

I would not call Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento CMS solutions. They are e-commerce solutions. While they have some content management, they are focused on selling things. Like a CRM manages user content, the main goal is to provide ways to attract and keep customers.

Collapse
 
wafa_bergaoui profile image
Wafa Bergaoui

Great points! You're absolutely right—traditional CMS platforms like Drupal can also provide REST APIs, which makes them quite versatile. And I agree that vendor lock-in is a real risk with headless CMS services. It’s always a trade-off between speed/ease of use and long-term control, and for some projects, having more control over the stack is definitely the way to go.

As for Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, I included them because they often overlap with CMS use cases, especially for businesses that need both content management and e-commerce functionality. While their primary focus is on selling, they do offer robust content management features that make them a hybrid solution for many use cases.

Thanks for sharing your insights! If you’ve got any recommendations for balancing control and convenience in CMS/e-commerce setups, I’d love to hear them.

Collapse
 
xwero profile image
david duymelinck • Edited

I understand you point of view about the ecommerce solutions.
I see a CMS more as a framework, and that can contain specialised solutions like e-commerce, CRM, DAM. Most of the time they are used without a clear distinction between the different parts, like Shopify and Magento.
But I wouldn't use the two solutions only for the CMS,

I agree with your conclusion every project has their own requirements and constraints. And we have to decide what the best solution is based on those terms.