Agility CMS vs. Contentful in 2025: A Strategic Headless CMS Comparison for Marketers

Click here for the developer comparison of Agility CMS and Contentful

The success of your content marketing strategy hinges on choosing the right headless CMS.

Choose wisely, and you’ll have a CMS content teams can use freely, confidently, and without constant developer hand-holding. The wrong selection can slow down content operations and take developers away from core tasks.

In the market for a headless CMS? Agility CMS and Contentful are often mentioned as leading options. This post offers a strategic, marketing-focused comparison to help you make the right call for your team in 2025.

Overview: What Marketers Should Expect from a Headless CMS in 2025

Let’s set the stage. Regardless if it’s Agility CMS or Contentful, a headless CMS should empower marketers to do the following:

• Launch content quickly without developer bottlenecks.
• Create personalized, omnichannel experiences.
• Collaborate across departments (marketing, creative, content, development, brand, etc.)
• Scale without sacrificing performance or structure.
• Integrate with modern tech stacks and tools.

Usability and Experience for Content Marketers

Criteria: Does the headless CMS platform support the day-to-day activities of non-technical content marketers?

Feature	Agility CMS	Contentful
Interface	Visual, page-based UI (Web Studio) is built-in and designed for marketers.	Structured content modeler with optional visual extensions.
Autonomy	High: Marketers can create pages, edit content, and manage SEO and URLs directly.	Medium: Marketers work within pre-set models, and some visual tools may require developer setup.
Developer Dependence	Low after initial setup.	Medium to High: Some (not all) setups and changes require developer support.
Preview and Scheduling	Built-in live preview, scheduling, SEO tools, and content versioning.	Available and may require developer configuration to set up properly.
Learning Curve	Low: Traditional CMS-style experience within a headless environment.	Medium to High: Structured composable content model requires onboarding and dev setup.

Agility CMS: Manage Content without Technical Skills

Agility CMS offers a page-based, drag-and-drop visual interface. With built-in tools such as Web Studio and easy-to-use SEO fields, marketers can ensure their content is optimized for maximum impact. Once developers configure the content and component models, marketers can operate largely independently:

Key highlights:

• Visual page management for marketers.
• Built-in previewing, SEO, and scheduling tools.
• Minimal day-to-day reliance on developers.

Contentful: Structured Content for Multi-Channel Delivery

Contentful prioritizes flexibility and reusability. Marketers interact with content through structured entry forms. Tools are available to provide more visual interfaces, but they may require developer setup for models and model changes.

Key highlights:

• Structured, content-first interface with visual tools available as extra add-ons.
• Strong content reuse, localization, and workflow capabilities.
• Gives marketers reusable content blocks to scale campaigns quickly.

Verdict

• Choose Agility CMS if your content strategy depends on ease-of-use and autonomy for non-technical editors.
• Choose Contentful if your content strategy looks at long-term flexibility and multi-channel scalability, and you have available developer support when needed.

Collaboration

Criteria: Does the headless CMS foster cross-team collaboration, content governance, and workflows?

Feature	Agility CMS	Contentful
Role-Based Permissions	Multiple pre-defined roles (Reader, Contributor, Editor, Designer, Manager).	Custom roles and granular permissions at space and workflow levels.
Workflow and Approvals	Built-in approval workflows with alerting and task assignments.	Workflow supports multi-step review processes with permissions per step.
Collaboration Tools	Inline comments via Draggable Visual Comments, along with tagging and Livelock integration.	In-field commenting, notifications, and cross-functional editing.
Localization and Governance	Support for multilingual workflows and governance guidelines is built-in and out-of-the-box ready.	Automated localization workflows, translation support, and version control.
Auditing	Version history, content governance, frameworks, permissions, and content lifecycle tools.	Audit logs, environments, workspace-level roles, governance frameworks.

Agility CMS: Full of Native Collaboration and Governance Tools

Agility CMS helps content teams collaborate efficiently with minimal friction. Collaboration features are tightly integrated within the platform, with a focus on intuitive workflows. Governance tools are accessible to marketers and administrators, allowing for content oversight without excessive configuration:

Key highlights:

• Provides well-defined roles (Reader, Contributor, Editor, Designer, Manager) with granular permissions.
• Supports built-in approval workflows where tasks, alerts, and stages can be configured and tracked.
• Enhances collaboration with Draggable Visual Comments, tagging, and live notifications.

Contentful: Collaboration and Governance via Extensible Tools and Modular Configuration

Contentful provides a modular approach to content governance and team collaboration. The system is customizable and enables multi-step workflows and field-level permissions. The collaboration features are powerful, but they may require additional setup through add-ons or APIs.

Key highlights:

• Customizable roles and fine-grained permissions both at workspace and workflow levels.
• Dedicated Workflows app for creating multi-step approvals with role-based access rules at each stage.
• In-field commenting, notifications, and global content collaboration across translation and localization processes.

Verdict

• Choose Agility CMS if your priority is quick deployment of built-in structuring, approvals, and notifications with minimal development effort.
• Choose Contentful if you need highly customizable workflows, robust localization, and modular capability, and the time required to set up and configure is not an issue.

Scalability for Content Marketers

Criteria: Does the headless CMS platform allow for content scalability without sacrificing usability or introducing technical hurdles?

Feature	Agility CMS	Contentful
Platform Scalability	Supports unlimited scale across channels with a managed, decoupled backend.	API-first, cloud native system designed for high availability and global performance.
Content Architecture	Modular content architecture enhances reusability and efficiency at scale.	Composable content approach encourages reuse and consistency across channels.
Performance and Speed	Decoupled architecture ensures content delivery unaffected by frontend complexity.	CDN-backed delivery and efficient APIs reduce bottlenecks and improve performance.
Usability at Scale	Maintains visual editing capabilities via Web Studio and workflows even as content grows.	Structured modeler and composable UI remain usable but may need governance for bigger teams.
Technical Needs	Frontend changes don’t impact backend and minimal developer assistance needed after initial setup.	Requires initial model design and possibly developer intervention as teams expand.

Agility CMS: Built for Unlimited Scale

Agility CMS decouples the backend and offers a visual-first experience (thanks to Web Studio) that keeps usability high, even with large content requirements. It supports efficient governance and teamwork without introducing complexity for marketers. Once content models are established, non-technical users can manage content independently.

Key highlights:

• Decoupled backend supports unlimited channel expansion.
• Modular architecture enhances long-term usability and efficiency.
• Minimal developer dependencies needed during daily operations after initial configuration.

Contentful: Suited for High-Scale Content Needs

Contentful uses structured models to enable content reuse and consistency. It delivers content via CDN-backed APIs for speed and reliability. Scaling content governance can be done with additional setup, and ongoing developer involvement may still be required as teams and content types expand.

Key highlights:

• Cloud-native and API-first platform made for scalability.
• Composable content supports reuse and consistency across channels.
• CDN and optimized APIs provide performance without impacting the frontend.

Verdict

• Choose Agility CMS if it’s strategically important to maintain marketer autonomy and simplicity. It maintains a visual, marketer-friendly editing experience at scale.
• Choose Contentful if your strategy calls for performance and governance for distributed teams and are prepared to spend extra in developer infrastructure as technical oversight and complexity increases.

Integration with Modern Tech Stacks and New Technology

Criteria: Does the headless CMS allow non-technical marketers to take advantage of modern tech stacks and new technology without slowing down productivity?

Feature	Agility CMS	Contentful
Integration Ecosystem	Offers integrations with front-end frameworks, CDNs, analytics, eCommerce, and tools via App Marketplace.	Hosts a marketplace of integrations and plugins for eCommerce, analytics, personalization, and more.
API and Microservices Support	API-first with REST and GraphQL and supports microservices architecture as part of MACH.	API-native with microservice architecture, app framework, and content graph. Supports modern frontends.
Low-Code/No-Code Tools	Zapier and native low-code integrations enable marketers to connect tools and automate tasks.	Visual builder allows for low-code experience creation without blocking marketer productivity.
Personalization	Supports integration with analytics, personalization, and AI via marketplace tools.	Includes AI-powered personalization, content generation, suggestions, and SEO automation.
Ease for Marketers	Marketers can access integrations and tools through marketplace or partners. Marketers can connect without deep coding.	Designed for marketers to use via visual builder and plugins without development support once configured.

Agility CMS: API-First, Microservices Based

Agility CMS integrates with modern frontend frameworks, eCommerce, analytics, DAM, and automation tools. Marketers can access low-code connectors like Zapier and marketplace integrations to build workflows and incorporate third-party systems without development help.

Key highlights:

• Extensive marketplace integrations (Netlify, Vercel, Shopify, Salesforce, etc.) and is MACH-aligned for flexibility.
• Delivers REST and GraphQL APIs, plus microservices support, for seamless integration into modern stacks.
• Includes no-code connectors and analytics integration options that are accessible to non-technical users.

Contentful: Supports Composability

Contentful supports an API-native architecture with numerous integrations, including eCommerce, analytics, and personalization. Built-in visual tools and AI allow non-technical marketers to craft personalized experiences without developer assistance. Once configured, Contentful empowers marketers to move fast without bottlenecks.

Key highlights:

• Features a large library of plugins and extensions.
• Supports API-first, microservice architecture for modern tech stack integration.
• Low-code visual builder and AI-supported tools for marketers.

Verdict

• Choose Agility CMS for accessible, no-/low-code integrations with existing marketing stacks with flexible API support.
• Choose Contentful for an ecosystem of visual and AI tools that empower marketers once setup is complete.

Final Thoughts: Choosing Agility CMS or Contentful as the Right Headless CMS for Your Marketing Team in 2025

Both Agility CMS and Contentful are built for scalability, omnichannel delivery, and integration with modern tech stacks.

• Agility CMS prioritizes ease-of-use and marketer autonomy. With built-in tools that streamline content creation without ongoing developer dependency, it’s ideal for marketing teams who want a headless CMS that feels familiar but delivers modern flexibility.
• Contentful offers composability, extensibility, and integration depth. It’s made for teams ready to invest in additional developer cost and bandwidth to gain granular control over large-scale content needs.

The right choice depends on your team’s structure, workflows, and how much flexibility you need (and what you’re willing to invest to get it) vs. how much simplicity you want.

Aligning your CMS selection with your marketing goals and team dynamics sets the foundation for greater agility, more scalability, and higher impact of the content experiences you create in 2025 – and beyond.

Summary Table

Category	Agility CMS	Contentful
Usability and Autonomy	-Visual, page-based Web Studio UI. -Marketer-friendly. -Minimal developer reliance post-setup.	-Structured content model. -Optional visual tools (add-ons). -Medium to high developer need.
Collaboration and Governance	-Built-in roles (Reader -> Manager). -Native approval workflows. -Visual comments and alerts.	-Custom roles, granular permissions. -Workflows app. -In-field comments and version control.
Scalability	-Modular and decoupled back-end. -Visual editing at scale. -Low ongoing tech overhead.	-API-first, composable content. -CDN-backed, high performance. -Needs governance layers.
Integration and Modern Tech	-Extensive marketplace. -REST/GraphQL, APIs, MACH-compliant. -Zapier, low-code support.	-API-native, composable stack. -Plugin ecosystem, visual builder. -AI automation.
Best For…	Strategies prioritizing speed, autonomy, and fast campaign execution.	Strategies prioritizing structured reuse, developer-led governance, and enterprise-scale orchestration.

Ready to Empower Your Marketing Team in 2025?

If you’ve read this far, thank you. We hope it’s helped guide your decision.

That said, you are on the Agility CMS website. So here’s the CTA:

If you’re looking for a headless CMS that puts marketers in control – with visual editing, built-in SEO tools, and minimal developer bottlenecks – Agility CMS is built for you.

Experience content creation with a platform built for strategic marketers. A platform that combines ease-of-use, enterprise-grade scalability, and modern composability, all without the complexity.

Start your free trial or book a personalized demo with our team today. See how Agility CMS can streamline your content operations in 2025 and beyond.