Database Development
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, choosing the right content management system (CMS) is critical for businesses looking to build robust, scalable, and engaging digital experiences. Kentico offers two powerful platforms to meet these needs: Kentico Cloud and Kentico Xperience. Both are designed to help businesses deliver personalized, high-performance digital experiences, but they differ significantly in architecture, functionality, and use cases. Understanding these differences is essential for selecting the platform that best fits your organizational goals.
Kentico Cloud
Kentico Cloud is a headless CMS that provides a way to deliver your content to multiple channels using a single API. Any type of device, web page, or mobile app can be used to access the Kentico Cloud.
The main features of Kentico Cloud Include:
- API-first headless architecture
- Multi-channel delivery of content from a single CMS through an API
- Kentico Cloud is hosted in the Cloud as a SaaS product
- Kentico Cloud supports Structured Content Models
- You’re able to update your content in real-time
- For Businesses that need to provide a multi-channel experience for their Customers
Kentico Xperience
Kentico Xperience is a fully functional DXP (Digital Experience Platform) that is a combination of a traditional Website CMS and an integrated Marketing Solution with extensive Marketing automation, personalization, and Analytics capabilities. It’s offers all the tools necessary for creating, managing, and optimizing your website.
The main features of Kentico Xperience Include:
- An Integrated Suite of Solutions that Provide a Multi-Channel Marketing Platform along with Extensive Website Management Capabilities
- Full Integration of Marketing Automation, Personalization, and Analytics
- Built-in E-commerce Capabilities
- You can deploy either on-premises or in the Cloud
- Kentico Xperience is Ideal for Companies that want a Comprehensive Digital Experience Platform.
Differences between Kentico Cloud and Kentico Xperience
The primary difference between Kentico Cloud and Kentico Xperience is how they both deliver content.
Kentico Cloud (a headless content management system) separates backend content from the site’s frontend, giving developers full control over frontend capabilities. They can independently build websites, mobile apps, or other digital channels, as all content is delivered via API.
When using Kentico Xperience (a traditional content management system/digital experience platform)—the back end and front end are combined when managing the content. Kentico Xperience provides a framework for a website’s creation. With Kentico Xperience, marketers can create and manage marketing activities, personalization, and analytics without extensive front-end development.
Kentico Cloud Deployment and Hosting
Since Kentico Cloud is cloud native, it is hosted entirely on Kentico’s servers, allowing for automatic updates to Kentico Cloud, automatic scaling, and minimal internal IT resource costs. Companies using Kentico Cloud will not need to manage servers, security patches, or backups since Kentico will manage all of that for them.
In contrast, Kentico Xperience has both on-premise and cloud deployment options. This gives companies that use Kentico Xperience more flexibility over how they deploy, secure, and manage their hosting and provides benefits to those organizations that have very specific needs regarding leased environment compliance or infrastructure dependencies.
Content Management and Delivery
Kentico Xperience offers a content management solution that provides marketers with built-in capabilities for managing their content and automating their marketing efforts.
Kentico Cloud provides the tools necessary to create and manage high-quality structured content across channels, allowing for maximum reuse of that content on websites, mobile applications, and Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices. Using the API-first approach, Kentico Xperience is designed to enable developers to easily deliver content to any front end.
The Kentico Xperience ecosystem includes all necessary tools for creating, previewing, and publishing content from within your website or application. The platform comes with ready-made templates, widgets, and drag-and-drop webpage builders specifically designed for marketers.
Through its ability to deliver personalized content based on user behavior, segmentation, and analytics, Kentico Xperience offers the best of both content creation and marketing in a single solution.
Marketing and Personalization
When it comes to marketing and personalization, Kentico Xperience is equipped with all the tools necessary to create effective email marketing campaigns, score leads, and set up automated workflows for effective personalization. Additionally, Kentico Xperience allows marketers to conduct A/B testing as part of their ongoing efforts to optimize and improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. Kentico Cloud focuses primarily on content management and relies on third-party applications for marketing automation and personalization. However, because of the API-first architecture of Kentico Cloud, it seamlessly integrates with third-party marketing automation solutions, including HubSpot, Marketo, and Salesforce.
E-Commerce Capabilities
For e-commerce capabilities, Kentico Xperience provides a complete e-commerce solution that allows marketers to manage product catalogs, facilitate and complete shopping carts and checkout processes, apply discounts and promotions to product purchases, and segment customers.
Unlike Kentico Xperience, Kentico Cloud does not offer an extensive set of native e-commerce capabilities, but it can be integrated into third-party e-commerce applications using the Kentico Cloud API.
Choosing the Right Platform
The platform you select depends on your organization’s business needs. Kentico Cloud is ideal if you are looking for a headless content management system and support for multi-channeling, mobile apps, IoT devices, and multiple platforms. In addition, if you prefer to have a completely cloud-based or software as a service solution, then Kentico Cloud is a perfect option. On the other hand, if you are looking for an all-in-one content management solution with built-in marketing and analytics, then Kentico Xperience would be a good choice. If you require extensive customisation, an integrated e-commerce module, personalised content and advanced marketing campaigns, and want to retain control of your organisation’s hosting environment and comply with government regulations regarding enterprise-level compliance, then Kentico Xperience would provide all of this.
In conclusion
Both Kentico Cloud and Kentico Xperience are excellent options for companies looking for a comprehensive digital content management solution that meets their diverse content management needs. Discovering what they both can achieve allows your organisation to grow and improve its overall efficiency, user engagement and return on investment.
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