The most visible headless CMS platforms in Europe, October 2026

October 2026 · 105 questions asked from 7 countries · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 420 answers read

Leader

Sanity

71Heralded Score, range 58–75

Most cited source

youtube.com

82citations

From Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

They agree

Every engine names the same top three.

Brands

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Search Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Sanity NO New entry 71 , range 58–75 72#1 70#3
71
  • : score 71 · #1
55% 25% First reading
2 Strapi FR New entry 71 , range 67–75 70#2 72#1
71
  • : score 71 · #2
57% 24% First reading
3 Contentful DE New entry 70 , range 63–74 69#3 71#2
70
  • : score 70 · #3
57% 21% First reading
4 Storyblok AT New entry 53 , range 43–67 57#4 45#4
53
  • : score 53 · #4
39% 22% First reading
5 Payload US New entry 36 , range 26–54 39#5 31#7
36
  • : score 36 · #5
20% 13% First reading
6 Directus US New entry 32 , range 21–49 32#6 32#6
32
  • : score 32 · #6
15% 7% First reading
7 Prismic FR New entry 28 , range 14–47 26#7 32#5
28
  • : score 28 · #7
12% 5% First reading
8 Hygraph DE New entry 16 , range 8–41 11#8 24#9
16
  • : score 16 · #8
11% 2% First reading
9 Contentstack US New entry 13 , range 6–32 6#9 25#8
13
  • : score 13 · #9
6% 2% First reading
10 Magnolia CH New entry 9 , range 3–29 2#13 21#10
9
  • : score 9 · #10
3% 1% First reading

“=” marks brands whose score ranges overlap, so the test cannot separate them. Every brand named in at least three answers is ranked. AI and Search give each brand’s score and rank on that side alone. By engine has one dot per engine (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode), darker the more often it names the brand.

Most cited sources

Rank Source Type Cited in Engines Pages cited Brands its pages mention
11 wordpress.org Vendor site 2.9% 1 of 4 6 Not read
12 naturaily.com Consultancy 3.3% 2 of 4 4 5
13 univio.com Consultancy 3.3% 4 of 4 2 6
14 digidop.com Consultancy 3.1% 3 of 4 2 6
15 google.com Vendor site 1.4% 2 of 4 8 Not read
16 luckymedia.dev Consultancy 2.9% 4 of 4 6 8
17 stackfyi.com Review site 3.1% 1 of 4 1 4
18 jahia.com Vendor site 2.9% 2 of 4 1 Not read
19 jamstack.org Vendor site 2.9% 3 of 4 3 Not read
20 pantheon.io Vendor site 2.9% 3 of 4 2 8

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
CMS headless de código abierto vs. CMS headless alojado para startups Spanish Contentful, Payload, Sanity and Strapi, tied
Alternativas a un CMS tradicional para una web multicanal Spanish Contentful, Directus, Storyblok and Strapi, tied
Alternativas a incluir el contenido directamente en el código de una aplicación web Spanish No brand recommended
Soy desarrollador front-end y estoy creando una web de marketing. ¿Qué CMS headless debería usar? Spanish Payload and Strapi, tied
Dirijo el área digital de una empresa mediana y quiero un único centro de contenidos para nuestra web, app y tiendas. Spanish Sanity and Storyblok, tied
best headless cms for developers English Payload and Sanity, tied
headless cms for ecommerce websites English Contentful, Storyblok and Strapi, tied
how to manage content for a website and mobile app in one place English Contentful and Strapi, tied
how to migrate from a traditional cms to a headless cms English Contentful and Strapi, tied
headless cms vs traditional cms for marketing teams English Contentful and Sanity, tied

Each engine's top three

Method

Each leaderboard ranks brands on two sides. AI is how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode answer the board's buyer questions. Search is Google's top 10 results for the keywords behind those questions. All combines the two, where Search is measured.

For the AI side, each month Heralded asks every engine the same buyer questions, twice each, and reads every answer. An answer counts 0 for a brand it leaves out, 50 for a brand it names and 100 for a brand it recommends, and the Heralded Score is built from those. A brand named in at least three answers gets a score and a place.

How the leaderboards are measured