Latest Headless CMS projects
What it is
A headless CMS is a content management system that decouples the content layer from the presentation layer. Instead of a traditional CMS like WordPress - where content and templates are tightly coupled - a headless CMS stores and delivers structured content through an API, leaving your frontend completely free to consume it however it sees fit. The result is a fundamentally more flexible architecture. Your editors manage content in a purpose-built interface. Your developers build the frontend in Next.js without CMS constraints. The two teams work in parallel, ship independently, and never block each other waiting on a shared template system.
At Dev and Deliver, we work with four leading headless CMS platforms and match the right one to your project:
Contentful is the enterprise-grade SaaS CMS - cloud-hosted, globally distributed, and battle-tested at scale. It is ideal for teams that want a fully managed platform with rich content modelling, localisation, and a large ecosystem of integrations. Its Content Delivery API and Preview API connect cleanly to the Next.js App Router and make it a natural fit for complex, multi-locale content operations.
Payload CMS is the developer-first, self-hosted CMS built on Node.js and TypeScript. Payload is code-first by design: your content schema is defined in TypeScript, your access control is written as functions, and the admin UI is generated from your configuration. It integrates directly into Next.js monorepos and supports both REST and GraphQL APIs out of the box — making it exceptional for teams that want full ownership and zero vendor lock-in.
Strapi is the open-source, self-hosted CMS with a visual content type builder. Strapi gives non-technical teams the power to define and manage content structures without touching code, while exposing a flexible REST and GraphQL API for developers. It is a strong choice for projects where editors need autonomy and the team wants a community-backed, self-hosted solution under their own infrastructure.
Sanity is the structured content platform with a fully customisable studio. Sanity's real-time collaboration, GROQ query language, and portable text format make it a uniquely powerful choice for editorial teams working on richly structured, interconnected content. Its CDN-backed Content Lake, live content API, and first-class Next.js integration make it a top pick for performance-sensitive publishing and e-commerce workflows.
Whether you are migrating from a traditional CMS, building a new content-driven product, or powering a marketing site with a Next.js frontend, a well-chosen headless CMS gives your team a clean separation of concerns, faster iteration, and a content layer that scales with your business.
Benefits of choosing Headless CMS for your application
- Complete frontend freedom: Your Next.js application fetches content via API - no CMS-dictated templates, no theme constraints, no rendering logic you did not write. Build exactly what your users need.
- Editor and developer independence: Content editors work in a purpose-built interface. Developers iterate on the frontend. Both teams ship without waiting on each other.
- API-first, multi-channel delivery: The same content API powers your web app, mobile app, and any other channel simultaneously. One source of truth, infinite surfaces.
- Type-safe content from schema to component: Contentful's TypeScript generator, Payload's built-in types, Strapi's generated SDK, and Sanity's schema extraction give your Next.js frontend fully typed content objects - eliminating a whole class of runtime integration errors.
- Next.js App Router native: All four platforms we work with have first-class Next.js integrations - supporting Draft Mode for content preview, Incremental Static Regeneration for fast on-demand updates, and React Server Components for efficient, zero-client-bundle data fetching.
- Scalable editorial operations: Localisation, content versioning, scheduled publishing, and role-based workflows are standard across leading headless CMS platforms - without custom development from your engineering team.
- Self-hosted or SaaS, your choice: Payload and Strapi run on your own infrastructure, keeping data sovereignty and costs under your control. Contentful and Sanity offer managed cloud platforms with global CDN delivery and enterprise SLAs when you need them.
Full-scope Headless CMS development services
CMS selection & architecture Consulting
We help you choose the right headless CMS for your project - evaluating Contentful, Payload, Strapi, and Sanity against your team's technical capacity, editorial workflow requirements, data ownership needs, and budget. The wrong CMS choice is expensive. We make the right one clear before a line of code is written.
Content modelling & schema design
Structured content starts with a well-designed schema. We define content types, field relationships, validation rules, and reusable components that give your editorial team flexibility without creating chaos in your API responses. Good content modelling is the foundation of a maintainable headless architecture.
Payload CMS development
We build and configure Payload applications on Node.js and TypeScript - defining collections, globals, access control policies, and custom hooks entirely in code. We integrate Payload directly into Next.js monorepos, configure REST and GraphQL APIs to match your frontend's data requirements, and set up the admin panel for your editorial team from day one.
Strapi development & customisation
We set up, extend, and maintain Strapi instances for teams that need visual content type building with full API flexibility. We write custom plugins, configure role-based permissions, and connect Strapi APIs to Next.js frontends with type-safe query layers and correctly cached server-side data fetching.
Contentful integration & migration
We integrate Contentful's Delivery and Preview APIs into Next.js applications - with Draft Mode for live editorial previews, locale-aware routing, and Incremental Static Regeneration for pages that stay fast and always reflect the latest published content. We also migrate legacy CMS content to Contentful with clean, validated import pipelines.
Sanity studio setup & GROQ query development
We configure Sanity Studio with custom schemas, portable text serialisers, and a desk structure tailored to your editorial workflow. We write GROQ queries optimised for your Next.js data fetching patterns - server-side for RSC, client-side for interactive previews, or real-time with Sanity's live content API for collaborative editing environments.
Next.js frontend integration
We wire every CMS platform cleanly into the Next.js App Router - with correct use of Server Components for data fetching, Client Components where interactivity requires it, Draft Mode for preview environments, and ISR for content updates that propagate instantly without a full rebuild.
CMS migration & ongoing support
We migrate content from WordPress, Prismic, Contentful, or other legacy platforms to your new headless setup. We support and maintain existing headless deployments, run content model audits, and help teams evolve their schemas safely as product requirements change over time.
From content-heavy marketing platforms serving millions of page views to multi-brand SaaS products and headless e-commerce storefronts, the headless CMS pattern has proven itself across every content use case. Organisations like Nike, Spotify, Netlify, and Figma run headless content architectures in production. The shift away from coupled, template-driven CMS platforms is not a trend - it is the current standard for teams that want to move fast without sacrificing content quality.
Why choose us
Trustworthy partnership
We build long-term relationships, not one-off integrations. You get transparency, honest platform advice - including which CMS to avoid for your specific use case - and a team that challenges decisions when they matter.
Full-stack depth
We cover the entire headless stack - from CMS schema design and API configuration to Next.js frontend integration, ISR strategy, and editorial workflow design. No gaps, no handoffs, no integration surprises between your content layer and your frontend.
Diverse, senior team
Our engineers have shipped headless CMS integrations across e-commerce, publishing, SaaS, and marketing platforms. We have worked with every major platform in production and know where each one excels - and where it quietly causes problems at scale.
Rigorous quality assurance
Type-safe content schemas, automated content validation, preview environment testing against real editorial workflows, and performance profiling against actual CMS response payloads are part of how we ship - not afterthoughts added when editors start reporting broken pages.
How our Headless CMS team is built and managed
We assemble a dedicated team tailored to your project's content complexity and editorial requirements. A typical headless CMS engagement includes a backend engineer handling CMS configuration, content modelling, and API setup; a frontend engineer integrating the content layer into your Next.js application; a QA engineer validating content rendering across locales, devices, and editorial edge cases; and a project manager keeping the technical work aligned with your editorial and business goals.
We operate in Agile sprints with regular content model reviews, a clear schema change process, and editorial documentation delivered alongside the technical build. Your content architecture evolves intentionally - not through accumulated workarounds discovered by your editors.
Get started with a headless CMS - build your content layer with a team that knows the full stack
Ready to move beyond a coupled CMS? Whether you are launching a new content-driven product, migrating a WordPress site to a headless architecture, or adding structured content to an existing Next.js application - we will help you choose the right platform and build a headless setup that your editors will love and your developers will trust. Let's talk about your content layer.
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