Contentful vs Core dna: The Headless CMS Gap
Enterprises need a complete platform, not a puzzle to assemble themselves.
Core dna gives you native CMS, commerce, personalization, and automation in one system without the need to duct-tape third-party tools together, suffer through spiraling costs, or send developer tickets to publish a page.
Ready to move beyond headless-only? See how Core dna delivers a complete platform
The Contentful Trap
Why enterprise teams choose a complete platform over a headless-only CMS. You've probably hit Contentful's limits.
The developer bottlenecks for simple changes, pricing that escalates quickly, and the realization that "headless" means you're responsible for the other 80% of your stack.
Teams that need enterprise capabilities without enterprise complexity are choosing Core dna instead
A quick reality check on what you get out of the box, and what you have to assemble.
| Capability / Reality | Core dna | Contentful |
|---|---|---|
| Complete platform vs. assembly required | ✓ Native CMS + Commerce + Personalization in one system | ✕ Headless CMS only, requires multiple third-party integrations for commerce, search, personalization |
| Developer dependency | ✓ Marketers can publish pages, launch campaigns, and manage content independently | ✕ Developers needed to approve changes and publish campaigns |
| Native commerce capabilities | ✓ Full B2B and B2C commerce built-in with product catalogs, pricing, inventory | ✕ No native commerce so businesses must integrate a commerce platform as well |
| Pricing transparency | ✓ Straightforward pricing with no usage surprises | ✕ Complex and escalates quickly |
| Learning curve for content teams | ✓ Intuitive interface designed for marketers | ✕ A steep learning curve and complicated on the backend |
| Third-party integration overhead | ✓ Core capabilities built-in, reducing integration complexity | ✕ Requires third-party integration with potentially high additional costs |
| B2B commerce functionality | ✓ Purpose-built for complex B2B scenarios, pricing rules, account hierarchies, bulk ordering | ✕ No native commerce so businesses must integrate a commerce platform as well |
| Content + Commerce in one system | ✓ Unified content and product management | ✕ Content-only. Commerce requires separate platform and integration work |
| Visual editing experience | ✓ WYSIWYG editing so teams see what they're building | ✕ No true visual editing so editors work without context |
| Scalability as content grows | ✓ Built to handle enterprise-scale content and traffic | ✕ The UI can slow down as enterprises scale |
| Predictable total cost of ownership | ✓ Transparent pricing with no surprise add-on costs | ✕ Unpredictable as the number of content assets or API calls increase, overage charges increase too |
| Support for complex workflows | ✓ Enterprise workflow and approval processes built-in | ✕ Limited governance and workflow controls |
| Time to market | ✓ Complete platform means faster launches | ✕ Integration and customization delays time to market |
| Single vendor accountability | ✓ One partner for your entire digital commerce stack | ✕ Multiple vendors to coordinate CMS, commerce, search, DAM, and more |
One platform. Zero assembly required.
Contentful's "headless-only" approach sounds flexible until you realize you're now responsible for integrating commerce, search, personalization, DAM, and everything else your team needs.
- One platform replaces headless CMS, commerce platform, personalization engine, and automation
- Native B2B commerce built for complex pricing, account hierarchies, and bulk ordering
- Versionless, so you never pay to "migrate" or deal with breaking changes
- Built-in workflows that scale with your team with no custom development required
Trusted by enterprises to deliver powerful digital experiences
Companies choosing Core dna over headless-only platforms report faster time-to-market, lower total cost of ownership, and marketing teams that can actually ship without waiting on developers.
- YMCA Toronto: $100k in annual savings + 500% growth in registrations after consolidating 7 systems into Core dna.
- Standard Process: 60% increase in eCommerce without hiring a single developer.
- Clark Rubber: 47 franchises unified under one digital platform, managed by a lean team of 4.
- RANDYS Worldwide: 4x revenue growth in year one with 7 integrated sites and 30,000 SKUs.
We built Core dna just right.
The enterprise platform that's neither too little nor too much
Contentful? Incomplete by design
Missing the frontend, commerce, search, and personalization creates bottlenecks. Core dna offers headless or traditional CMS—your choice.
Traditional platforms? Too rigid
Adobe and Oracle deliver everything, including complexity you don't need and upgrade cycles that break things.
Drop-in tools? Too limited
WordPress and Shopify work for simple sites but can't handle B2B complexity, multi-brand operations, or enterprise scale.
Core dna? Just right
Ecosystem with CMS, Commerce, Personalization, AI Agents, and Orchestration built for enterprise. Marketing moves fast, IT sleeps well.
Secure, Speedy, Seamless
✓ 99.9% uptime SLA
✓ 100% Lighthouse performance scores
✓ Auto-scaling infrastructure
✓ Global CDN and regulatory compliance
✓ No versioning, no disruptive upgrades
✓ Continuous innovation included