Composable vs headless

Headless

Headless technology — whether its headless content management systems, headless commerce solutions, or other headless applications — separates the presentation layer (where content is presented) from the back end (where content is managed).

Separating the front end from the back end untangles your content from the code used to present it, making it easier for marketers to manage content independently, and for developers to build faster, automate changes, and manage digital at scale.

For a quick primer on headless, check out Headless CMS explained in one minute.

MACH

MACH includes headless (that’s the “H”), and combines it with other key principles.

• Microservices, using separate services to support different functions
• Application programming interfaces, the APIs that connect different services
• Cloud-native or cloud-first
• Headless

Learn more about MACH and the MACH Alliance.

Jamstack

An architecture based on client-side JavaScript, reusable APIs, and pre-built Markup.

• JavaScript
• APIs
• Markup

Get a more in depth definition of JAMstack.

Composable

Composable draws from all of the principles above. A composable system has a headless architecture, is API-first, cloud-native, and uses microservices or components to build a highly customizable tech stack. It’s also compatible with Jamstack applications.

In short, composable gives you the benefits of headless, decoupled solutions and combines those with all the tools and features teams need to build and deliver impactful multi-channel, multi-regional, even multi-brand experiences. With powerful integration and orchestration capabilities, a composable platform enables businesses to build almost anything.

Composable commerce, composable DXP, composable CMS, etc.

Since you can build almost anything with a composable approach, you’ll see companies packaging their products for specific use cases. In theory, any composable system can be extended to cover multiple use cases.

For example, if you start with the Contentful Composable Content Platform as your CMS, you can still use it for your DXP or combine it with commerce tools for a headless or composable commerce solution.

Take a deeper dive into the concept of composability.

The headless vs. composable debate creates this false sense that you must choose one over the other. In reality, composable is the evolution of headless architecture into a more robust solution.

Headless and composable are both a move away from all-in-one platforms with monolithic architecture to more flexible solutions that have a modular architecture.

For example, Contentful pioneered the headless CMS category. As our customers’ needs evolved beyond content management, we evolved our product into a composable content platform that provides brands with the building blocks they need to serve multiple use cases, build any experience they want, and deliver it across multiple channels.

Headless CMS to Composable Content Platform

For companies racing to meet customer demands and eager to deliver compelling omnichannel experiences faster, composable provides more capabilities.

“We’ve really matured beyond headless at this point, and that’s where composable comes in. Because it’s more than just the CMS. It’s the orchestration layer and it’s being able to manage all of that as a system.” — Karen McGrane, Partner at Autogram and pioneer in content strategy

With a composable approach, you can meet customers where they are with memorable experiences that showcase each brand's unique personality while providing efficiency across brands.

Car manufacturers and their regional retailers have struggled to successfully emulate in-person showroom experiences in their online businesses. People might research and compare makes and models online, but buying a car is also about finding the right dealership, meeting a salesperson you like, and being able to inspect every inch of your new ride.

For BMW, inefficient backend systems, including content spread across multiple platforms, was compounding the challenge of delivering the digital experiences they envisioned. Each time the company built out a new brand, released another car model, or opened an additional dealership, developers were tasked with building another website and marketers had to log onto multiple CMSes to manually update content for each dealer.

After listening to BMW’s needs and concerns, the design agency TMWX (now part of Accenture Song) proposed the Contentful Composable Content Platform as a solution.

“We felt it was the one platform capable of really nailing the unique functional implementation side, while still expressing BMW’s exquisite brand,” Chris Marsh, TMWX Executive Experience Director.

With Contentful, BMW enjoys all the perks of a headless solution with the added power of composable. The Contentful-fueled, multi-site solution has streamlined content management, enabling BMW to keep brand messaging consistent, while empowering dealerships to inject their unique personalities into local sites.

The results are impressive: Test-drive bookings are up 47%, requests for quotes are up 44%, and “Contact us” submissions increased 61%.

See the full story of how BMW is using composable solutions to drive success.

Up next: What is a composable CMS?

What is a composable CMS? Understand the key features to look for and how it combines content and architecture for flexibility and scalability.