ARCHITECTUREMay 2026
Picking a headless CMS in 2026: the four-question test
Forget feature matrices. Answer four questions about your editors, your locales, your integrations, and your runtime — and the choice writes itself.
Read entry// composable websites for product-led teams
Headless.Worry-free.
Factor1 builds headless marketing sites for product-led teams. React + TypeScript on the front, a CMS your editors actually like on the back, and twenty-one years of saying "no, that's a bad idea" in between.
21
Years shipping
180+
Projects launched
<0.7s
Avg TTFB
components/Hero/Hero.tsx
tsx"tk-c text-[#6c7986] italic">// components/Button/Button.tsximport { cva } from "class-variance-authority";import { forwardRef } from "react";const button = cva("font-sans uppercase tracking-mono inline-flex",{variants: {intent: {primary: "bg-ink text-paper hover:bg-graphite",secondary: "bg-paper text-ink border-2 border-ink",signal: "bg-signal text-ink hover:brightness-95",},size: { sm:"px-4 py-2 text-sm", md:"px-6 py-3", lg:"px-8 py-4 text-lg" },},defaultVariants: { intent:"primary", size:"md" },},);export const Button = forwardRef<HTMLButtonElement, Props>(({ intent, size, ...rest }, ref) => (<button ref={ref} className={button({ intent, size })} {...rest} />),);
storybook · primitives/buttonvisual regression · passing
In good company since 20059+ clients · 21 years
The Stack
Everything in your headless stack.
Six capabilities, one team. We pick the boring, reliable, well-documented option in every category — then make it sing.
01capability
Headless CMS
Architected on Dato, Sanity, Storyblok, Contentful, Hygraph or Builder.io — chosen for your editors, not for us.
- Schema design + migrations
- Visual editing + previews
- Localization, workflows, governance
02capability
React & Next.js
App Router, RSC, edge-rendered. TypeScript end-to-end, no surprises in your build output.
- Next.js 15 / Remix / Astro
- TanStack Query, Zod, tRPC
- Vercel, Cloudflare, AWS deploys
03capability
Component libraries
A real design system — tokens, Storybook, accessibility tests, visual regression. Lives in your repo, not ours.
- Radix + Tailwind primitives
- Storybook + Chromatic
- WCAG 2.2 AA baked in
04capability
Custom integrations
Salesforce, HubSpot, Segment, Stripe, Algolia, Klaviyo. We write the contract, then the code.
- Webhooks + queues
- Typed SDK wrappers
- Replayable from day one
05capability
Analytics & experimentation
Privacy-first analytics, server-side events, structured A/B. Marketing gets answers, not dashboards.
- GA4, Plausible, PostHog
- Server-side GTM
- Statsig / GrowthBook
06capability
Edge & performance
Sub-second TTFB, perfect Core Web Vitals, real budgets enforced in CI.
- ISR + edge caching
- Image / font pipeline
- Lighthouse + bundle budgets
CMS Partners
Whatever your editors love, we ship.
We've shipped on every CMS in this row. The right answer is the one your team will actually update on a Friday.
DatoCMSEditor-loved
SanityReal-time
StoryblokVisual edit
ContentfulEnterprise
HygraphGraphQL-native
Builder.ioAI-assisted
PayloadSelf-hosted
ContentstackComposable
DatoCMSEditor-loved
SanityReal-time
StoryblokVisual edit
ContentfulEnterprise
HygraphGraphQL-native
Builder.ioAI-assisted
PayloadSelf-hosted
ContentstackComposable
The Process
A worry-free four-act build.
The same shape every time. The work inside changes; the contract with you doesn't.
We map the editors who actually use the CMS…
Deliverables
- Architecture Decision Record
- Content model draft
- Integration map
We pick the CMS, write the schema, design the tokens…
Deliverables
- CMS schema in production
- Design tokens + Figma
- Storybook scaffold
Components ship to Storybook with stories and tests…
Deliverables
- Production Next.js app
- Editor handbook
- Visual regression suite
On-call retainer, quarterly health checks, content velocity reports…
Deliverables
- On-call retainer
- Quarterly review
- Knowledge transfer plan
Component library
Your design system,
in your repo.
Every project ships with a fully-typed Storybook: tokens, primitives, patterns, accessibility tests, visual regression. You can fork it the day after launch.
- pnpm storybook
- pnpm test --filter @factor1/ui
- pnpm chromatic --exit-zero-on-changes
storybook · factor1/uiv 8.x
Primitives · Button
intent=primaryintent=secondaryintent=signal
Button.stories.tsx
tsx"tk-c text-[#6c7986] italic">// Button.stories.tsxexport default { component: Button, title:"Primitives/Button" };export const Primary = { args:{ intent:"primary", children:"Start a project" } };export const Secondary = { args:{ intent:"secondary", children:"Read the journal" } };export const Signal = { args:{ intent:"signal", children:"Headless · go" } };
Recent work
Sites that actually ship.
Three of the last twelve. Every one of them edits live, deploys on push, and renders at the edge.
In their words
Clients who stuck around.
Factor1 rebuilt our Rizing site as a real product. They balanced high-level creative vision with technical execution, and stayed collaborative through launch.
Marketing leader
Rizing — a Wipro company
We've partnered with Factor1 since 2015. They meet timelines, communicate honestly, and the site has performed beautifully for more than a decade.
Executive Director
Donor Network of Arizona
Their personal relationship and insight into our needs set them apart. They went above and beyond on the rebuild.
Brand lead
Junior Achievement of AZ
Journal
Field notes from the studio.
Start a project