Glossary

What is Headless CMS?

Q: What does migrating WordPress → headless cost?

In Georgia, 2026: 5,000-15,000 ₾ (3-8 weeks). Includes schema design, content export, front-end rebuild, 301 redirects, SEO preservation, QA. ROI 4-8 months (lower hosting + better conversion rate).

In depth

The headless CMS concept emerged 2014-2016 (Contentful, Strapi) but mass adoption came 2020-2024, anchored in the Next.js + Vercel ecosystem. Philosophy: content should not know how it is rendered — the front-end is built separately by the appropriate framework with the right philosophy and speed.

Architecture: (1) **CMS layer** — admin UI + database + API (Sanity, Strapi, Payload, Contentful, Storyblok). (2) **API layer** — REST or GraphQL — bilingual content fields, parallel ka/en. (3) **Front-end** — Next.js / Astro / Nuxt — fetch + render + cache. (4) **Edge CDN** — Vercel/Cloudflare static deployment.

Provider comparison 2026: **Sanity** ($0-$799/mo) — cloud, generous free tier (3 users + 1M API requests/mo), GROQ query language, real-time collaboration. **Payload** ($0 self-hosted, $35+/mo cloud) — TypeScript-native, MongoDB/Postgres, code-first. **Strapi** ($0 self-hosted, $99+/mo cloud) — Node.js, plugin ecosystem, Postgres/MySQL. **Contentful** ($300+/mo) — enterprise, multi-environment workflow. **Storyblok** ($0-$199/mo) — visual editor + nested components. **Sanity recommendation in 80% of cases**.

Advantages vs traditional WordPress: (1) Performance — static generation + edge CDN = LCP 1.2-1.8s. (2) Security — no public admin panel surface (admin lives on .admin subdomain or separate origin). (3) Bilingual structure — parallel ka/en fields, not duplicated posts. (4) Developer ergonomics — TypeScript types auto-generated from CMS schema. (5) Multi-channel — same content → website + mobile app + Telegram bot + email.

Craftwebstudio strategy: headless CMS is the default for new builds. Sanity (cloud) or Payload (self-hosted) — the deciding factor is budget vs control. Migration WordPress → headless: 5,000-15,000 ₾ depending on content volume.

Examples

1Sanity Studio + Next.js 15 + Vercel deployment → fastest stack of 2026
2Payload CMS self-hosted + Postgres + DigitalOcean $20/mo → enterprise capable
3Sanity bilingual schema: parallel ka + en fields, single document → no translation forking
4Multi-channel: same Sanity content → website + Telegram bot + email digest
5Image pipeline: Sanity → AVIF → Cloudflare → 90+ Lighthouse Performance

Related terms

CMS (Content Management System)

A CMS (Content Management System) is software that lets you create, edit and publish website content without writing cod…

WordPress

WordPress is the free open-source CMS that powers 43%+ of all websites in 2026. It dominates the blog, corporate site, a…

JAMstack

JAMstack — JavaScript + APIs + Markup — an architectural pattern where the front-end is pre-built static (Next.js/Astro)…

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Frequently asked questions

Headless CMS vs WordPress — when to use which?▾

WordPress: small business, budget under 2,500 ₾, blog-heavy, simple e-commerce. Headless: brand-driven, performance critical, bilingual, multi-channel, in-house dev team.

Is Sanity's free tier actually enough?▾

For mid-traffic projects (< 100K page views/mo) yes — 3 users, 1M API requests/mo, 10GB assets. Premium ($99/mo) is only needed for enterprise + 5+ users + advanced workflow.

What does migrating WordPress → headless cost?▾

In Georgia, 2026: 5,000-15,000 ₾ (3-8 weeks). Includes schema design, content export, front-end rebuild, 301 redirects, SEO preservation, QA. ROI 4-8 months (lower hosting + better conversion rate).

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