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 48–80

Most cited source

pantheon.io

5citations

From Google AI Mode, Gemini 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

Rank Brand Rank change Heralded Score All AI Search Score trend Mentioned Recommended By engine Mentioned by Change
1 Sanity NO New entry 73 , range 48–80 73#1 72#2
73
  • : score 73 · #1
60% 26% First reading
2 Contentful DE New entry 68 , range 48–77 66#2 72#1
68
  • : score 68 · #2
57% 20% First reading
3 Strapi FR New entry 62 , range 37–73 56#3 71#3
62
  • : score 62 · #3
47% 17% First reading
4 Storyblok AT New entry 57 , range 33–71 53#4 63#4
57
  • : score 57 · #4
39% 19% First reading
5 Payload US New entry 40 , range 23–60 41#5 38#5
40
  • : score 40 · #5
24% 14% First reading
6 Hygraph DE New entry 24 , range 5–50 19#7 32#7
24
  • : score 24 · #6
13% 3% First reading
7 Directus US New entry 23 , range 4–50 19#8 30#9
23
  • : score 23 · #7
10% 5% First reading
8 Contentstack US New entry 22 , range 4–50 18#9 30#10
22
  • : score 22 · #8
12% 3% First reading
9 Prismic FR New entry 21 , range 5–50 20#6 21#12
21
  • : score 21 · #9
13% 3% First reading
10 Builder.io US New entry 15 , range 1–46 5#10 31#8
15
  • : score 15 · #10
5% 3% 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 pantheon.io Vendor site 8.3% 3 of 4 1 8
2 webflow.com Vendor site 8.3% 3 of 4 2 9
3 buttercms.com Vendor site 6.7% 2 of 4 1 Not read
4 cosmicjs.com Vendor site 6.7% 3 of 4 3 6
5 jahia.com Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 1 Not read
6 jamstack.org Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 1 Not read
7 lemonhive.com Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 1 9
8 vercel.com Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 2 4
9 wix.com Vendor site 5.0% 2 of 4 2 Not read
10 alokai.com Vendor site 3.3% 1 of 4 2 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