Kentico vs Agility CMS

Kentico vs Agility CMS

Kentico and Agility CMS are both hybrid headless content management platforms. If you are coming from Kentico Xperience 13, the comparison involves not only the platform you are leaving, but also the one Kentico is asking you to move to.

Agility CMS

Agility CMS is a cloud-based headless CMS. Content lives in one place, gets delivered through APIs, and can power any front-end your team builds including websites, mobile apps, kiosks, or any other channel.

Marketing and developer teams can benefit from visual content modeling, a no-code editing interface for marketing teams, REST and GraphQL APIs, and native localization. For enterprises, Agility CMS also offers SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified hosting on Azure with Canadian or US data residency, an integrated Page Management layer, and an MCP server for AI workflows. Support is directly available via phone, live chat, and a dedicated CSM from Agility's own team after go-live.

Kentico Xperience 13

Kentico Xperience 13 is the legacy platform reaching end of life on December 31, 2026. After that date, Kentico will have no security patches, hotfixes, or support. In April 2026, CISA confirmed CVE-2025-2749, a path-traversal and arbitrary-file-upload vulnerability in Kentico Xperience 13's Staging Sync Server, as actively exploited. The vulnerability was patched in version 13.0.178, but its appearance in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog confirms real-world exploitation before widespread patching. After December 31, 2026, vulnerabilities like this go unpatched permanently.

Xperience by Kentico

Xperience by Kentico is Kentico's current platform, a hybrid headless DXP built on ASP.NET Core. It includes a no-code Page Builder, a centralized Content Hub for reusable content, built-in marketing automation, email, native commerce, personalization, and AIRA, Kentico's native AI suite. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II are confirmed for the SaaS offering, while a 7-day bug-fix policy means security issues are addressed and shipped as hotfixes within seven business days.

Pricing is channel-based and published. However, the Standard Tier covers a single web channel, while the Advanced Tier adds multi-channel delivery, including headless. AIRA operates on a credit-based consumption model and deployment options include fully managed SaaS with customer-selected Azure region, or private cloud on Azure, AWS, or on-premises.

Which One Fits?

Both Xperience by Kentico and Agility CMS are credible modern platforms. The comparison comes down to a few specific questions about your team and how you want to work after go-live.

Xperience by Kentico works well for organizations that want CMS, email, commerce, personalization, and AI in a single license, have .NET development capability in-house or through a partner, and want the option of private cloud or on-premises deployment. It is a strong platform for teams whose primary goal is to consolidate their marketing technology stack.

Agility CMS is built for teams that want headless flexibility without a .NET dependency, a flat, predictable pricing model that does not grow with channel count, and direct vendor support after the implementation partner hands off.

The Migration Question

Moving from Kentico Xperience 13 to Xperience by Kentico is a complete platform rewrite, not an upgrade. The admin UI is new, the development framework shifts from ASP.NET Web Forms to .NET Core, and the content model needs to be rebuilt from scratch. That is the same scope of work as moving to any other modern CMS, which means the full market should be evaluated before committing.

Agility works directly with teams migrating from Kentico Xperience 13 to map content structures and plan the transition. The content model rebuild is required regardless of destination, but Agility's Content Type system is structured to make porting Kentico Xperience 13 structures straightforward.

Page Management

Both platforms give editors a genuinely no-code interface for building and publishing pages. That is a meaningful improvement over what Kentico Xperience 13 offered.

Agility is framework-agnostic, allowing developers to build components in Next.js, Gatsby, Nuxt, or whatever stack they already use. Xperience by Kentico's architecture is built on ASP.NET Core, so custom widget and component development requires .NET capability. For teams already in the Microsoft ecosystem, that is not a friction point, but for teams that are not, it is a real constraint on front-end flexibility and hiring.

Multi-Site and Multi-Channel

Agility handles multi-site from a single instance with shared content libraries, unified permissions, and flat pricing regardless of how many properties you manage. Headless delivery is included at no extra cost, without requiring a tier upgrade.

Xperience by Kentico supports multi-site and multi-channel from a single Content Hub. Headless channels require the Advanced Tier. Each additional channel is licensed separately and costs more if purchased after the initial contract rather than upfront. For organizations managing a growing number of digital properties, that pricing model scales in a way Agility's flat model does not.

Support and Ongoing Vendor Relationship

Both platforms involve a partner for implementation but the relationship looks different after platforms go-live.

Agility's ongoing support is direct and available via phone, live chat, and a CSM from Agility's own team who knows your stack. 

Xperience by Kentico's support is ticket-based through Kentico's Support Center. Kentico has a global network of over 500 implementation partners, and for most customers, that partner continues to handle ongoing support, customization, and escalations after launch. Enhanced direct access from Kentico requires a paid service plan in addition to the license. For teams whose frustration with Kentico Xperience 13 included ongoing partner dependency, that dynamic is worth examining before committing to Xperience by Kentico.

Pricing

Both platforms publish their pricing, which puts them ahead of many enterprise CMS alternatives.

Agility's pricing is flat per tier. No per-channel costs, no additional licensing as your property count grows, no separately billed AI credits.

Xperience by Kentico's channel-based model means that the Standard Tier covers one web channel; the headless tier requires the Advanced Tier; additional channels cost more over time; and AIRA credits are billed on consumption, separately from the base license. For a team managing multiple properties with headless delivery and active AI usage, the base license is the starting point, not the ceiling.

Data Residency

Agility is a Canadian company hosted on Azure Canada Central. Canadian data residency is in the standard contract, not a configuration option that needs to be confirmed before the procurement process starts.

Xperience by Kentico SaaS lets customers choose their Azure region, including North American options. Kentico is a Czech company, so like Agility, it is not subject to the US CLOUD Act. For Canadian enterprises in regulated industries, the difference is that Agility's Canadian data residency is contractually guaranteed without a conversation.

Where Agility CMS Takes the Lead

Direct support after go-live. Both platforms involve a partner for implementation. After that, Agility's support is available via phone, live chat, and a CSM from its own team. With Xperience by Kentico, ongoing support typically flows back through the implementation partner. Enhanced direct access from Kentico requires a paid service plan in addition to the license.

Headless delivery without a tier upgrade. Agility delivers headless content through GraphQL and REST APIs without a tier gate. Xperience by Kentico headless channels require the Advanced Tier as the Standard Tier is web-only.

Flat pricing that stays predictable. Agility charges a flat rate per tier. Xperience by Kentico's channel-based model means each additional channel is a separate line item, channels purchased later cost more than those purchased upfront, and AIRA credits are billed separately by consumption.

Framework-agnostic front-end development. Agility developers work in whatever stack they already use. Xperience by Kentico's architecture is built on ASP.NET Core; custom component development requires .NET capability regardless of which front-end framework editors use.

Canadian data residency in the standard contract. Agility is a Canadian company hosted on Azure Canada Central by default. Xperience by Kentico lets customers choose their Azure region, but Canadian-by-default and contractually guaranteed are different things for procurement and legal teams.

Multi-Site Management

For one website, this doesn't matter but for five websites, it matters a lot.

Xperience by Kentico supports multi-site from a single Content Hub with shared templates and channel-specific customizations. The licensing model charges per channel and each additional web, email, or headless channel is a separate line item, and channels purchased later in the contract cost more than those bought upfront. For organizations managing a growing number of properties, that model scales in a way Agility's flat pricing does not.

Agility handles multi-site from a single instance, including shared content libraries, unified permissions, and one dashboard. Content written once can be published to multiple sites, while pricing does not change with the number of properties or channels.

For teams managing more than one property with plans to grow, the differences in pricing models compound over time.

Customer Support

Xperience by Kentico's support runs through the Kentico Support Center, which uses a ticket-based system. Kentico has a global network of over 500 implementation partners, and for most customers, that partner continues to handle ongoing support, customization requests, and escalations after launch. 

Enhanced direct access from Kentico, meaning faster response times, and more hands-on engagement, requires a paid service plan. For teams whose experience with Kentico Xperience 13 included years of routing issues through a partner, that dynamic continues with Xperience by Kentico.

Agility includes phone, live chat, and a dedicated CSM across paid tiers. Onboarding is run by a real person who builds your first content models with you and migrations get hands-on help. If something breaks in production, your CSM can pull engineering in directly.

The Enterprise plan adds a White Glove tier for larger teams running multiple properties or tight launches. This becomes almost like an extension of your team, instead of a vendor you have to chase.