Quick answer
Headless WordPress means using WordPress only to write and store content, while a separate front-end application builds the website visitors see. It suits large sites, apps and content shown in several places. Most small business websites do not need it: a traditional WordPress build is cheaper, simpler to maintain and can be just as fast.
How it works
A traditional WordPress site does two jobs. It gives you an admin area to write and organise content, and it builds the public web pages from that content using a theme. Headless WordPress keeps the first job and hands the second to something else.
In a headless set-up, WordPress sends content out as data through its REST API, or through a GraphQL layer such as WPGraphQL. A separate application, usually written in a JavaScript framework, collects that data and builds the pages. The “head” is the front end, and it has been cut off and replaced.
Traditional versus headless
| Factor | Traditional WordPress | Headless WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Systems to run | One | Two, plus the link between them |
| Build cost | Lower | Higher: the front end is custom software |
| Plugins that change the front end | Work as normal | Must be rebuilt |
| Preview while editing | Built in | Needs extra work |
| Speed | Fast with good hosting and caching | Can be very fast |
| Content in several places | Possible, less natural | Designed for it |
| Developer needed for changes | For layout changes | For most front-end changes |
When headless makes sense
- The same content feeds several places: a website, a mobile app, in-store screens.
- A large, high-traffic site with a development team to look after it.
- A highly interactive front end that behaves more like an application than a set of pages.
- A team that already works in a JavaScript framework and wants WordPress only as an editor.
Why most small businesses do not need it
A plumber, an accountant, a café or a local shop needs a fast, clear website that the owner can edit. Traditional WordPress, which, as the project’s about page notes, runs a large share of the web, does that well. Going headless roughly doubles the systems to build, host, secure and update. Contact forms, previews, menus and SEO settings that come free with a normal build all need rebuilding. And every change to how the site looks needs a developer who knows the front-end framework.
The usual selling point is speed. But a properly built traditional site, without a heavy page builder and with good hosting and caching, is already fast. Our guide to website speed for small businesses covers what actually makes sites slow, and it is rarely the fact that WordPress builds the pages.
What changes for the person editing
In a traditional set-up, the person updating the site writes a page, clicks preview and sees exactly what visitors will see. In a headless set-up, the editor still looks like WordPress, but the preview button no longer shows the real page unless a developer has built a preview connection to the front end. New page layouts cannot be added from the editor alone; they need front-end work. For an owner who wants to add a service page on a Tuesday afternoon without calling anyone, that is a real step backwards. Ask to see the editing experience before agreeing to any headless build.
The hidden costs
- Two hosting bills, or a more complex single one.
- Specialist developers for front-end changes.
- Rebuilding features that plugins used to provide.
- More to keep updated and secure.
- A harder hand-over if your developer moves on.
A worked example
A small chain of three gyms was pitched a headless WordPress site on the basis that it would be faster and future-proof. The real requirements were a timetable, class booking through an existing booking platform, membership pages and a blog. A traditional WordPress build with a lean custom theme met every requirement, loaded quickly, and let the gym managers edit the timetable themselves. Headless would have added a second system and a front-end developer for every change. Two years later, when the gyms launched a member app, the content for classes could still be fed to it through WordPress’s API, without rebuilding the website.
A middle way
You do not have to choose all or nothing. A traditional WordPress site can still share content through its API with an app or another system when you need it. That keeps the simplicity of a normal website now and leaves the door open later. If you are weighing up the bigger picture, our comparison of web app development costs and our guide to no-code versus custom development may help.
What we build
Our custom WordPress websites are £499 one-off for up to eight pages, hand-coded without page builders, fast and easy to edit. When a project genuinely needs an application rather than a website, our web applications start from £1,999. Our comparison of bespoke WordPress and themes covers the traditional options, and all our prices are on the pricing page.
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Frequently asked questions
Is headless WordPress faster? +
It can be, because the public site can be pre-built and served as static pages from a global network. But a well-built traditional WordPress site with good hosting and caching is also fast. For most small business sites, the speed difference is small compared with the extra build and maintenance cost of going headless.
Can I still use plugins with headless WordPress? +
Only partly. Plugins that work in the editor or on the data, such as custom fields, still help. Plugins that change what visitors see, such as forms, sliders, galleries and many SEO features, do not work automatically, because WordPress no longer builds the public pages. Each of those features has to be rebuilt in the front end.
Is headless WordPress more secure? +
It reduces some risks, because the public site does not run WordPress and the admin area can be hidden away. But it adds new parts to keep secure, such as the front-end application, its hosting and the connection between the two. It is a different security picture rather than simply a safer one.
