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

epicode.com

2citations

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% None First reading
2 Strapi FR New entry 71 , range 67–75 70#2 72#1
71
  • : score 71 · #2
57% 24% None First reading
3 Contentful DE New entry 70 , range 63–74 69#3 71#2
70
  • : score 70 · #3
57% 21% None First reading
4 Storyblok AT New entry 53 , range 43–67 57#4 45#4
53
  • : score 53 · #4
39% 22% None First reading
5 Payload US New entry 36 , range 26–54 39#5 31#7
36
  • : score 36 · #5
20% 13% None First reading
6 Directus US New entry 32 , range 21–49 32#6 32#6
32
  • : score 32 · #6
15% 7% None First reading
7 Prismic FR New entry 28 , range 14–47 26#7 32#5
28
  • : score 28 · #7
12% 5% None First reading
8 Hygraph DE New entry 16 , range 8–41 11#8 24#9
16
  • : score 16 · #8
11% 2% None First reading
9 Contentstack US New entry 13 , range 6–32 6#9 25#8
13
  • : score 13 · #9
6% 2% None First reading
10 Magnolia CH New entry 9 , range 3–29 2#13 21#10
9
  • : score 9 · #10
3% 1% None 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
1 epicode.com Reference 0.5% 2 of 4 1 Not read
2 geeksforgeeks.org Reference 0.5% 1 of 4 1 Not read
3 headless-cms-integration.com Reference 0.5% 1 of 4 2 Not read
4 12factor.net Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read
5 namastedev.com Reference 0.2% 1 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best headless cms for developers English Payload, Sanity and Strapi, tied
headless cms for ecommerce websites English Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and Strapi, tied
how to manage content for a website and mobile app in one place English Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and Strapi, tied
how to migrate from a traditional cms to a headless cms English No brand recommended
headless cms vs traditional cms for marketing teams English No brand recommended
Wat is het beste headless CMS voor een marketingwebsite? Dutch Contentful, Sanity and Storyblok, tied
Headless contentmanagement voor ontwikkelteams Dutch Strapi
Hoe kan een bedrijf dezelfde content publiceren op zijn website en in zijn mobiele app? Dutch Contentstack
Hoe geef ik marketeers de mogelijkheid om content te bewerken op een website die met een JavaScript-framework is gebouwd? Dutch Sanity and Storyblok, tied
Traditioneel CMS of headless CMS voor een groeiende bedrijfswebsite? Dutch No brand recommended

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