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

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

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% 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 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
11 astro.build Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 2 Not read
12 contensis.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 1 Not read
13 dotcms.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 2 Not read
14 niteco.com Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 1 3
15 shopify.com Vendor site 3.3% 1 of 4 2 Not read
16 vendure.io Vendor site 3.3% 2 of 4 1 5
17 webinone.com Vendor site 3.3% 1 of 4 1 Not read
18 wordpress.org Vendor site 3.3% 1 of 4 2 Not read
19 adaptocms.com Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read
20 aljndro.com Vendor site 1.7% 1 of 4 1 Not read

Questions asked

QuestionLanguageMost recommended
What is the best headless CMS for a marketing website? English Storyblok
Headless content management for developer teams English Contentful, Directus, Payload, Sanity, Storyblok and Strapi, tied
How can a company publish the same content to its website and mobile app? English Sanity
How do I let marketers edit content on a site built with a JavaScript framework? English No brand recommended
Traditional CMS vs. headless CMS for a growing company website English Contentful and Sanity, tied
Open-source vs. hosted headless CMS for startups English Contentful and Strapi, tied
Alternatives to a traditional CMS for a multi-channel website English Sanity and Storyblok, tied
Alternatives to hard-coding content in a web app English No brand recommended
I'm a front-end developer building a marketing site. Which headless CMS should I use? English Payload, Sanity and Storyblok, tied
I lead digital at a mid-sized company and want one content hub for our website, app and stores. 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