The content management system (CMS) decides how easily your team can update the website – and how well it scales over the years. In Germany three options dominate the conversation.
WordPress
The world's most popular CMS.
- Very easy editing with the block editor
- Huge choice of themes and plugins
- Cost-efficient for small and medium websites
- WooCommerce for shops
- Needs disciplined updates and careful plugin choice for security
Best for: SME websites, blogs, marketing sites, small shops.
TYPO3
An enterprise CMS that is especially popular in German-speaking countries.
- Multi-site and multi-language out of the box
- Fine-grained editor permissions and workflows
- Long-term support versions
- Steeper learning curve and higher development effort
Best for: larger companies, universities, public sector, sites with many editors and languages.
Headless CMS
Systems like Strapi, Sanity, Contentful or Storyblok store content and deliver it through an API. The frontend is built separately, often with Next.js or Astro.
- Very fast, secure websites (static or server-rendered)
- One content source for website, app and other channels
- Full design freedom
- Requires developers for frontend changes
Best for: modern brands, content used in website and app, high-performance sites.
Comparison
| Criteria | WordPress | TYPO3 | Headless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editing ease | Excellent | Good | Good |
| Multi-language | Plugins | Built in | Built in |
| Performance | Good with care | Good | Excellent |
| Security | Depends on plugins | Strong | Strong |
| Development effort | Low | Medium–high | Medium |
| Omnichannel | Limited | Limited | Excellent |
How to choose
Ask: How many editors and languages? Do you need the content in an app too? How important are speed and design freedom? What is the budget for development and maintenance?
For many SMEs WordPress is the pragmatic choice; for complex corporate sites TYPO3; for performance-focused, multi-channel projects a headless setup. We recommend after a short discovery – and set up the CMS so your team can work with it confidently.