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dotCMS vs Your Favorite DXP

Stefan Schinkel

As more content management systems dub themselves digital experience platforms, the DXP market is expected to swell. In fact, according to MarketsandMarkets, the DXP market valuation is expected to grow from USD 7.9 billion in 2019 to USD 13.9 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 12.0% during the forecast period.

With such a high growth rate comes the associated marketing hype, and every forward-thinking enterprise is now considering migrating from their legacy CMS to a DXP. However, just as it can be tough to choose the right CMS, choosing the DXP that will take your operations to the next level can be a tricky deal. 

To help you navigate the waters of the DXP ocean, we’ll compare and contrast dotCMS with several competitors to show you why dotCMS is the best option to deliver cutting-edge, omnichannel digital experiences.

What is a DXP?

Simply put, a DXP is an integrated set of technologies based on a common platform that provides a broad range of audiences with consistent, secure, and personalized access to information and applications across many digital touchpoints. A DXP integrates tool technologies including, but not limited to the following:

  • eCommerce applications or engines

  • Marketing automation

  • Content management

  • Digital asset management

  • CRM

  • Workflow management tools

With a DXP, you can control many integrated technologies under the same roof and deliver content across a diverse set of touchpoints.

Read More: What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)?

DXP Must-Haves

You can see that a DXP is more than just a tool in your tool stack. It’s a concept that encompasses people, processes, and technology, and as such, it rests on four pillars.

Let’s take a look at them:

  • Innovation: DXPs are innovative by definition. They integrate and centralize several different cutting-edge tools and techniques to provide teams with the technology they need to develop and deliver digital experiences at scale to many channels and devices.

  • Integration: DXPs integrate seamlessly with third-party tools using APIs and GraphQL to enable users to extend the functionality of their tech stack without the fear of software bloating that comes ingrained with most legacy CMSs.

  • Personalization: DXPs deliver personalized digital experiences at scale and allow both technical and non-technical users to build, manage, and optimize content to drive a solid customer experience using timely 1:1 content.

  • Orchestration: DXPs help users centralize content and website building initiatives. Due to that, it allows teams to define, plan, and execute custom workflows across different audiences to simplify content delivery and drive conversions.

Read More: CaaS: The Glue Code That Holds Your DXP Together?

Composable DXPs vs Suite DXP

While the DXP market is constantly in flux, there are two main categories of DXP that you need to take into account before making a decision on which DXP to choose:

  • Composable DXP: A composable DXP is a modular platform that lets users integrate their core DXP with different third-party tools and other platforms to extend its functionalities and build better digital experiences using the best tools available. Examples of composable DXPs include dotCMS, Kentico Kontent, and Magnolia CMS.

  • Suite DXP: A suite DXP –also called all-in-one– is a platform that houses everything a company needs to build, maintain, and manage its digital experiences. An example of a suite DXP is Adobe Experience Manager.

dotCMS vs Your Favorite DXP

There are dozens of DXPs in the market, but while variety is good, not every DXP is equally good for every possible use case, and trying to shoehorn the wrong DXP into your company’s operations can cause more harm than good.

To help you choose the right DXP, we’re comparing dotCMS against four of its top competitors: Magnolia CMS, Liferay DXP, Adobe Experience Manager, and Kentico Kontent.

dotCMS

Overview

Founded in the US in 2003, dotCMS is an API-first, open-source DXP that offers Content-as-a-Service. Due to its hybrid architecture, dotCMS can act as either a headless CMS or a decoupled CMS, giving both marketers and developers the flexibility they need to create, search, and reuse content across multiple formats and channels.

Pros

  • NoCode/LowCode capabilities

  • Unopinionated content management

  • Omnichannel content delivery

  • Comes with a CDN out-of-the-box

Cons

  • Medium learning curve

Magnolia CMS

Overview

Founded in Basel, Switzerland in 2003, Magnolia CMS is an API-first, cloud-based PaaS tool aimed at enterprise businesses. Magnolia CMS aims at bridging the gaps headless CMSs leave when it comes to managing and publishing content. Users are supported through multisite development and omnichannel content delivery that decouples authoring from publishing.

Pros

  • Robust multi site management capabilities

  • Solid integrations and API library

  • Allows you to develop custom experiences

Cons

  • Complex user interface

  • Using frontend frameworks makes the platform slow

  • Personalization can be buggy

Read More: dotCMS vs. Magnolia DXP

Adobe AEM

Overview

Created by Adobe in 2011, Adobe Experience Platform is a suite of customer experience management (CEM) services and tools. The AEM suite supports services such as Adobe Experience Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Document Cloud, and Creative Cloud and lets users join content and data into one customer data platform (CDP).

Pros

  • User-friendly interface

  • Easy publishing flow

  • Adaptable platform

Cons

  • Steep learning curve

  • Expensive

  • Small partner ecosystem

  • Overwhelming for new users

Read More: dotCMS vs. Adobe AEM

Side-by-Side

dotCMS

Adobe AEM

Magnolia

Liferay

Score

4.1 (62 Reviews)

4.1(33 Reviews)

4.1 (30 Reviews)

4.3 (53 Reviews)

Meets Requirements

8.2

Responses: 53

8.0

Responses: 117

8.1

Responses: 21

8.5

Responses: 18

Ease of Doing Business with

8.7

Responses: 35

7.2

Responses: 33

8.1

Responses: 12

8.1

Responses: 15

Quality of Support

8.4

Responses: 49

7.0

Responses: 100

8.1

Responses: 17

8.1

Responses: 18

Ease of Use

7.8

Responses: 50

7.2

Responses: 118

8.1

Responses: 21

7.5

Responses: 19

Ease of Admin

7.9

Responses: 35

6.5

Responses: 36

7.9

Responses: 12

6.6

Responses: 15

Source: G2.com

Full DXP Report

Stefan Schinkel
Chief Revenue Officer
November 03, 2021

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