The most visible headless CMS platforms in United Kingdom, October 2026

October 2026 · 15 questions asked from United Kingdom in English · ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Google AI Mode · 60 answers read

Leader

Sanity

73Heralded Score, range 62–80

Most cited source

reddit.com

11citations

From Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews

Where engines disagree most

Storyblok

2/4engines put it in their top three

Top three on Google AI Mode and ChatGPT, not on Gemini and Google AI Overviews

Brands

Search is not measured for this board yet, so it ranks on AI answers.

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Sanity NO New entry 73 , range 62–80 73#1
73
  • : score 73 · #1
85% 36% First reading
2 Contentful DE New entry 66 , range 52–75 66#2
66
  • : score 66 · #2
78% 26% First reading
3 Strapi FR New entry 56 , range 45–70 56#3
56
  • : score 56 · #3
65% 23% First reading
4 Storyblok AT New entry 53 , range 43–68 53#4
53
  • : score 53 · #4
55% 27% First reading
5 Payload US New entry 41 , range 33–51 41#5
41
  • : score 41 · #5
34% 20% First reading
6 Prismic FR New entry 20 , range 7–36 20#6
20
  • : score 20 · #6
17% 3% First reading
7 Hygraph DE New entry 19 , range 6–36 19#7
19
  • : score 19 · #7
16% 5% First reading
8 Directus US New entry 19 , range 6–36 19#8
19
  • : score 19 · #8
12% 8% First reading
9 Contentstack US New entry 18 , range 6–36 18#9
18
  • : score 18 · #9
16% 4% First reading
10 Builder.io US New entry 5 , range 1–30 5#10
5
  • : score 5 · #10
6% 2% 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 gives each brand’s score and rank from the engines’ answers; Search is not measured for this board yet. 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 reddit.com Community 10.0% 2 of 4 9 19
2 youtube.com Social 10.0% 1 of 4 9 Not read
3 pantheon.io Vendor site 8.3% 3 of 4 1 8
4 webflow.com Vendor site 8.3% 3 of 4 2 9
5 buttercms.com Vendor site 6.7% 2 of 4 1 Not read
6 cosmicjs.com Vendor site 6.7% 3 of 4 3 6
7 progressionagency.com Consultancy 6.7% 1 of 4 1 9
8 eseospace.com Consultancy 5.0% 3 of 4 3 Not read
9 jahia.com Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 1 Not read
10 jamstack.org Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
best headless cms for developers English Payload, Sanity, Storyblok and Strapi, tied
headless cms for ecommerce websites English Contentful, Hygraph, Payload, Sanity, 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 No brand recommended
headless cms vs traditional cms for marketing teams English CoreMedia 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