July 23, 2025
5 min
Webflow or Headless? A No-BS Guide for Growing Businesses
TB
MSTamara and Mojtaba
This guide compares Webflow and headless CMS options — helping you choose what actually fits your team, not just what’s trending.
You’ve probably heard it before:
“Go headless.”
“Modern stack is the future.”
“Your CMS is holding you back.”
And maybe, in some cases, those statements are true.
Sometimes that’s true. But for many teams — especially smaller businesses, early-stage startups, or marketing-led organizations — going headless adds complexity without delivering real value.
They come to us asking for a headless setup. What they really need is a well-executed Webflow build.
At Bejamas, we’ve seen both sides of this. We’re an official Webflow Partner, and we’ve also spent years working with headless CMS platforms like Sanity, Contentful, and Storyblok, helping brands like Alpro (Danone) and Costa Coffee build scalable digital platforms. So we know when headless is the right call — and when it’s just overcomplicating things.
This post breaks down how both approaches work, what to expect from each, and how to make the right choice based on your team, goals, and budget.
What Is Webflow?
Webflow is a no-code web development platform that combines visual design tools, a built-in CMS and hosting in one streamlined package.
It’s primarily built for marketers, designers, freelancers, and agencies who want full design control without relying on developers.
Pros of Webflow
- No Developers Needed: Teams can build, launch, and iterate on websites without waiting on developers. This speeds up everything — from design tweaks to publishing updates.
- Visual Control: You get full control over layout, animations, and interactions using CSS Grid, Flexbox, breakpoints, and even GSAP (now integrated into Webflow after acquisition).
- Built-In CMS: Powerful enough for many use cases, the CMS allows marketers and content editors to manage updates on their own.
- CI/CD and Staging: Version control, backups, and staging environments are part of the platform, simplifying workflows.
- Hosting Included: Global CDN, DDoS protection, PCI compliance, and TLS 1.3 — with zero setup. No DevOps needed.
- AI Tools: Webflow’s AI tools assist with layout generation, A/B testing, and personalization via Webflow Optimize.
- Responsive by Default: Device-aware controls and preview tools ensure mobile-friendliness.
- Team Collaboration: Workspace plans allow for role-based editing, commenting, and approval flows.
- Nested CMS (as of 2025): Multi-level dynamic content is now supported.
- Excellent for Animation: Interactions and animations can be created visually, without JS — ideal for interactive websites.
Quote
Webflow is a game-changer for marketing-led teams. It bridges the gap between design and content by giving marketers and designers a shared visual editor — so they can build, iterate, and go live without waiting on developers.
Tomasz OsowskiHead of Design at Bejamas
Cons of Webflow
- Routing Limitations: CMS collections must follow rigid URL structures (e.g., /collection-name/item), which can frustrate devs and SEOs.
- Only one active Designer at a time: Only one person can edit the design at a time. If someone is in the Designer, others are locked out — which can frustrate larger teams or fast-moving projects.
- Vendor Lock-In: You’re tied to Webflow’s ecosystem. Want to automate something (e.g., generate llm.txt for AI bots)? You have to wait until Webflow or the community adds support.
- Performance Overhead: By default, Webflow injects multiple scripts that can hurt page speed scores. Optimization is tricky and often limited.
- Limited Extensibility: You can’t use custom NPM packages or advanced backend logic. API customization is minimal.
- Costly at Scale: Plans scale quickly with bandwidth, CMS items, team seats, and add-ons. It’s not suitable for high-traffic content-heavy sites (e.g., news outlets).
- Hard to Maintain: It’s hard to refactor someone else’s Webflow project. Scripts and styles are often injected in random places, making handovers and redesigns messy.
- Static Page Limits: 100 static pages and 10,000 CMS items per project — higher limits are available, but at significant cost.
- Not Built for Real E-Commerce: While Webflow supports e-commerce, it’s better suited for small creators selling digital products — not for scaling physical product businesses.
Best For:
- Marketing websites and landing pages
- Creative portfolios
- Agencies and freelancers who need fast turnaround
- Internal teams with no developer support
Quote
Webflow works best for marketing websites, landing pages, and brand storytelling — especially when design control matters. It empowers designers and marketers to collaborate in real time and ship faster without dev dependency.
Tomasz OsowskiHead of Design at Bejamas
We’ll share more soon
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What Is a Headless CMS?
A Headless CMS separates the content layer from the frontend. It lets you manage content in one place and deliver it to any channel — websites, mobile apps, kiosks, even smart TVs — using APIs.
You get full control over your frontend stack and infrastructure.
Pros of Headless CMS
- Omnichannel Delivery: Reuse content across websites, apps, and devices via APIs.
- Frontend Freedom: Build with anything — React, Astro, Next.js, etc.
- Custom Content Modeling: Define content structures exactly how you need them.
- Scalable: Built for handling high traffic and large teams.
- Localization: Most headless CMS tools offer native i18n support.
- Workflow Control: Role-based permissions, content approvals, and scheduling.
- No Vendor Lock-In: Own your codebase and content. Easily switch frontends or CMS providers.
Cons of Headless CMS
- Requires Developers: You need developers — no way around it
- Higher Upfront Cost: Initial build can be expensive due to dev time, integrations, and setup.
- You’re in Charge of the Stack: Tools like Vercel or Netlify simplify hosting, but you still need to choose and manage your setup — unlike Webflow’s all-in-one platform.
Best For:
- Large enterprises and scaling businesses
- Multi-language, multi-region platforms
- Teams with strong dev resources
- Complex workflows and integrations
- Omnichannel publishing (web, mobile, signage, etc.)
Curious about headless CMS options?
We’ve tested and compared the top platforms — from Sanity to Storyblok. Visit our Knowledge Hub to dive deeper and find what fits your needs.
Head-to-Head: Webflow vs Headless CMS
| Feature | vs Webflow | vs Headless CMS |
|---|---|---|
Ease of Use | Visual and intuitive | Dev setup needed, editor-friendly afterward |
Design Freedom | Excellent visual control | Unlimited, but code-based |
Content Modeling | Limited structures | Fully customizable |
Localization | Paid add-on, but straightforward | Native i18n support |
Workflow Management | Basic collaboration tools | Full role-based flows |
Omnichannel Delivery | Web only | APIs deliver anywhere |
Hosting | Included | Bring your own (Vercel, AWS, etc.) |
Performance | Good, but Webflow loads extra scripts | Tuned for high performance |
Scalability | Expensive at scale, hits limits | Built to scale |
Pricing | Cheap to start, but costly with growth | Higher cost, more control |
Dev Resources | Minimal | Required |
Page Speed Optimization | Difficult — cleanup is tricky | Fully controllable |
Extensibility | Limited, many workarounds | Can use anything via npm or APIs |
Lock-in | Many connector with other CMSs | Content portability |
Cost Breakdown: Webflow vs Headless CMS
Webflow
- Starter: Free or ~$14/month
- CMS plans: $23–$39/month
- Enterprise: Custom (costly with traffic and CMS size)
- Add-ons: Localization, A/B testing, analytics, etc.
Total Cost of Ownership: Low entry cost, but expenses rise quickly with bandwidth, CMS items, and team size. Performance optimization and extensibility are limited. Suitable for lean, marketing-led projects — not for high-traffic, content-heavy sites.
Headless CMS
- SaaS (Sanity, Contentful, etc.): $0–$7000/month depending on usage
- Open-source (Strapi, etc.): Free, but you still need to pay developers
- Hosting (Vercel, Netlify, etc.): Additional cost
Total Cost of Ownership: Higher upfront and ongoing costs — but you get full control, scalability, and performance. Especially valuable for companies that want a future-proof stack and can maintain their own infra.
Ask Yourself These Questions Before You Decide
If you answer "yes" to 5 or more, you should seriously consider going headless. Otherwise, Webflow might be more than enough.
- Do more than 5 people contribute to your content?
- Will your content appear in apps or external platforms?
- Do you need multi-language support or localization?
- Are you planning to personalize based on user behavior or location?
- Do you need complex content approval workflows?
- Will you integrate with CRMs, CDPs, or other external tools?
- Will your site require a large number of static pages or CMS items (e.g., for a knowledge base or large content library)
- Do you need full control over the codebase?
- Are you expecting to scale content or team size rapidly?
- Do you already have developers or an agency partner?
Need help making the call? Fill out the following form and we’ll offer a quick review of your setup and needs. No hard pitch. Just practical advice.
Not sure which way to go? Let’s talk.
Closing Thoughts
Don’t fall for the hype.
Webflow isn’t “worse” than Headless — it’s just different.
If your goal is a fast, beautiful site with minimal technical overhead, Webflow might be exactly what you need. But if you’re scaling fast, managing complex content workflows, or building a tailored digital experience, Headless CMS offers the power and flexibility you’ll need long term.
The right choice comes down to your team, your goals, and your content strategy — not just what’s trending.
Let’s make the right call — together.
Contact us for a free consultation. We’ll review your setup, goals, and team needs to help you choose the stack that actually fits.
Authors
TBI’m an energetic, ambitious, and relation-orientated technology advocate with a passion for sales, digital transformation, company building, and leadership.
MSCrafting content on modern web technologies.