Why We Chose a Headless Tech Stack
Andrei Aldea
Author
In the early days of web development, we were bound to monolithic CMSs. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla ruled the world. They were great for their time, bundling the database, backend logic, and frontend presentation into one tight package. But as the web evolved, this tight coupling became a bottleneck.
The Decoupled Revolution
Going "headless" means separating the content repository (the "head") from the presentation layer (the "body"). This separation brings massive benefits:
1. Technology Agnostic Frontend
With a headless CMS, our frontend can be anything. React, Vue, Svelte, iOS, Android—it doesn't matter. We simply fetch JSON data via an API. This allows us to use the latest and greatest frontend frameworks like Next.js without wrestling with CMS-specific templating languages.
2. Omnichannel Delivery
Content lives in one place but can be delivered everywhere. A single article can be pushed to:
- The corporate website
- The mobile app
- Smartwatches
- Digital signage
- Newsletters
3. Security and Performance
Because the frontend is often a static site or server-side rendered application that just consumes APIs, the attack surface is significantly reduced. There's no database to inject SQL into on the frontend server. Plus, we can cache the API responses aggressively, leading to lightning-fast page loads.
Our Stack
At Columbia Solutions, we rely on a robust headless stack:
- Content: Sanity.io / Strapi
- Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router)
- Deployment: Vercel
- Styling: TailwindCSS
This combination gives us the flexibility to build bespoke digital experiences while empowering our marketing team to manage content easily.
Is It For Everyone?
Not properly. If you need a simple blog and don't have a development team, a traditional site builder is fine. But for businesses that view their digital presence as a product, headless is the only way to go.