Headless WordPress is transforming websites by separating content management from design. WordPress manages your content in the backend, while developers can use modern technologies like React or Vue.js to build a stylish and dynamic front end. The result? Faster websites and improved security. Real-time data shows that headless WordPress sites load up to 50% faster, giving visitors a smooth and seamless experience.
This setup offers incredible benefits by keeping the back end separate, which enhances your site’s security and makes it more difficult for hackers to access the database. Plus, you’re no longer tied to traditional WordPress themes, allowing you to design and build exactly what you need. With better speed and endless design possibilities, headless WordPress is the perfect way to create a fast, modern website that stands out.
Quick Facts:
- According to a 2024 survey, around 57% of businesses currently use a headless approach, and nearly 39% plan to evaluate headless CMS solutions within the following year.
- The USA holds the largest market share of about 21.5% in the headless CMS software market.
- Approximately 20,867 websites have been built using Headless CMS in the United States.
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Hosting Provider For Headless WordPress
1. Performance
For content creators and editors, a fast and responsive WordPress admin interface is crucial for managing content efficiently. A slow backend can lead to frustration and lower productivity.
The WordPress REST API connects the backend with the front end in a headless WordPress setup. A well-performing backend ensures quick API responses, reducing delays in front-end interactions and data retrieval.
As your website grows in traffic & content, the backend must scale smoothly to handle the increased load. Choosing a hosting provider that supports seamless scaling ensures the backend remains responsive and reliable, even during high-traffic periods.
Additionally, ensure your hosting provider includes a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to accelerate website loading by distributing content across servers worldwide and server-side caching to enhance speed and user experience.
2. Security
In a headless WordPress setup, the backend stores essential information like user data, content, and settings. If there are security issues, hackers could access this data, change content, or cause data breaches, damaging trust, harming the website, and even leading to legal problems.
Since headless WordPress often works with different frontend apps, protecting the connection between the backend and frontend is essential.
AccuWeb Hosting provides robust DDoS protection, and our server firewall offers continuous malware monitoring, alerting you to any detected threats on your WordPress account. This ensures your website stays safe and secure.
3. Price
Choose a hosting provider with transparent, upfront pricing and no hidden fees. Compare the features and costs of different plans to find the best fit for your needs.
Risk-Free Hosting with a Full Money-Back Guarantee
AccuWeb Hosting ensures customer satisfaction with a 7-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service, you can get a full refund within the first 7 days.
4. Backup
Make sure the hosting company provides regular backups to protect your data. This is important because data can be damaged, lost, or corrupted at any time due to human error, technical faults, or other unforeseen issues. With backups, you can immediately restore your website and minimize downtime.
5. Control
Find a hosting provider with a user-friendly control panel, like Plesk, cPanel, or a custom dashboard. These tools simplify server management tasks such as setting up emails, managing files, and installing software, even for beginners. A good control panel saves time and makes managing your website hassle-free.
6. Developer-Friendly Tools
Hosting providers offering staging environments, SSH access, and Git integration make it easier for developers to test and deploy updates. Users benefit indirectly through quicker rollouts of new features and fixes.
7. Global Accessibility
Hosting providers that offer a global network of data centers help deliver consistent performance worldwide. This is crucial for users accessing your content from different regions.
8. Reliability and Uptime
When choosing a hosting provider, prioritize reliability and uptime by looking for a strong Service Level Agreement (SLA) that guarantees 99.9% uptime or higher. Ensure the provider has redundancy and failover systems to minimize downtime during server failures. Select a provider with monitoring tools to track system performance and quickly address potential issues.
9. Integrated APIs and Framework Compatibility
Ensure your hosting supports APIs and frameworks like GraphQL, Next.js, or Gatsby.js. These tools empower developers to create dynamic, user-friendly interfaces that load content efficiently.
With AccuWeb Hosting, you can effortlessly create a high-performance, secure site backed by reliable support, backups, and optimized hosting solutions tailored to meet your needs.
What Kind of Hosting is Needed for Headless WordPress
For Headless WordPress (also known as decoupled WordPress), you need a hosting environment that supports flexibility, performance, and scalability, as it involves separating the backend (WordPress) from the frontend (your chosen framework, like React, Vue or Angular). Here are the key types of hosting that work well for Headless WordPress:
Managed WordPress Hosting (for the Backend)
- Recommended for: The WordPress admin dashboard, plugins, and content management.
- Why: Managed WordPress hosting providers offer optimized environments for WordPress, including automatic updates, security, and performance enhancements. These hosts often include caching and CDN integrations, which are vital for speed, even in a headless setup.
Cloud Hosting (for flexibility and scalability)
- Recommended for: The front end (your custom React, Vue, or other framework-based website).
- Why: Cloud hosting (using services like Accuweb.cloud) offers the flexibility and scalability to serve a modern, decoupled front end. You can host the frontend app separately from the WordPress backend, often using a containerized solution.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting
- Recommended for: Full control over your hosting environment, suitable for both backend (WordPress) and frontend hosting.
- Why: VPS hosting provides more control and customization than shared hosting. With a VPS, you can host both the WordPress backend and the frontend app or choose to host them separately, with the flexibility to manage server configurations, performance, and scaling needs.
Static Site Hosting (for Frontend)
- Recommended for: Frontend (e.g., React, Next.js, etc).
- Why: Since headless WordPress often generates dynamic content via APIs, static site generators can create fast, SEO-friendly, and easily deployable frontends. These static files (HTML, CSS, JS) can be hosted on CDNs for optimal performance.
How Does Headless WordPress Work?
A client-side web app and a server-side content management system need a way to communicate, and that’s where an API comes in. This is known as API-driven development.
WordPress has a REST API, a web-based API that lets other software communicate with it over the Internet using web addresses called endpoints. These endpoints look like the website URLs we use daily and can accept requests like GET to fetch information or POST to send data.
For example, WordPress has a “posts” endpoint, which looks like this:
https://demo.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts
The API allows compatible software to communicate with WordPress, acting as the back end of a client-server system. To complete the setup, we also need a front end, the client-side app that runs in the browser. These apps are often called Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
Tip: You can create a custom WordPress front end using the React JavaScript library. This powerful tool provides everything needed to access data from your CMS through the WordPress REST API.
Headless CMS vs. Decoupled CMS
Decoupling your CMS gives you a more flexible setup. Your content database can still support a traditional frontend display, but it also allows you to access your content through API calls, making it accessible to various devices and platforms.
In an entirely headless setup, however, you lose the option for a traditional, theme-based front end.
If you’re considering decoupling WordPress, plugins can help separate the backend and frontend.
| Headless CMS | Decoupled CMS |
| Offers complete freedom to use any frontend framework or technology. | It provides some flexibility but is often tied to specific front-end technologies. |
| Entirely separates the backend (content management) from the frontend. | It detaches the frontend presentation layer but still depends on the CMS for backend functionality. |
| Supports any frontend technology, such as React, Angular, or Vue.js. | Typically designed to work with specific frontend frameworks or technologies. |
| Delivers better performance by serving content directly to the front end without CMS rendering overhead. | Performance may be affected by the integration between the backend and the frontend. |
| Allows independent scaling of frontend and backend for improved scalability. | Scalability can be restricted due to the tighter coupling of the back end and the front end. |
| Speeds up workflows by enabling simultaneous development of frontend and backend. | Development may slow down due to interdependencies between the front end and the back end. |
| Facilitates easy content distribution across multiple platforms and channels. | Due to the interconnected architecture, synthesizing content to other platforms may be more complex. |
How to Convert WordPress into Headless WordPress
For the Back end, first set up your WordPress site. After setting up a site, you can use the WordPress REST API to fetch its data into your frontend framework. The API delivers data in JSON format, which can be accessed using JavaScript tools like the Fetch API or Axios library.
Many front-end options exist, including React, Next.js, Gatsby, and Vue.js. Research these frameworks, consider your project needs, and pick the one that best suits you.
Option 1: Using WordPress REST API
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Click on Settings > Permalinks.
- Set the Permalinks setting to Post Name and save the changes.
This works for local and public WordPress sites, providing endpoints for posts, pages, comments, and media.
To verify that WordPress enables post name endpoints, open a new browser tab and enter your site URL followed by the following slug:
https://demo.com//wp-json/wp/v2/posts
By default, the post name generates a “Hello World” API response, where you can view details such as status, link, type, methods, categories, and more.
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Back end:
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Front end:
Option 2: Using Plugin
WPGraphQL is a free plugin designed to help you fetch data from a headless WordPress setup. It comes with a built-in GraphQL Integrated Development Environment (IDE), allowing you to explore your project’s GraphQL schema and test queries and mutations seamlessly.
Behind the scenes, WPGraphQL transforms your WordPress site into a GraphQL API, enabling interaction with any client capable of making HTTP requests to the GraphQL endpoint. It’s particularly well-suited for frameworks like Apollo Client, Next.js, and Gatsby.js.
- Log into your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
- Search for WP GraphQL.
- Install and activate it.
- Open the plugin from the sidebar.
You can now easily integrate WPGraphQL into your frontend application, whether it’s built with React, Vue, or another framework, using a single GraphQL endpoint to fetch data efficiently and update your UI in real-time.
Benefits of Headless WordPress
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Multi-Channel Publishing:
Publish content on your main site and automatically distribute it to apps, social media, and other platforms without reformatting.
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Full Visual Control:
You can gain unlimited customization options for content visualization, beyond the constraints of traditional themes or templates.
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Simpler Redesigns and Scaling:
Separating the front end improves loading speed and user experience. Redesigns become easier, and downtime is minimized.
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Enhanced Security:
Use the WordPress API to add an extra layer of protection, making it harder for hackers to access your system.
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Faster Website:
Eliminate back-end weight for a lightning-fast site, improving user experience and aligning with Google’s focus on site speed.
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Enhanced Interactivity:
Ideal for projects requiring real-time updates and interactive features.
Drawbacks of Headless WordPress
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Advanced Programming:
Headless WordPress requires skilled JavaScript and WordPress developers to handle the CMS’s core functions via the REST API, adding complexity and reversing WordPress’s simplicity once offered.
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More Maintenance:
Customizing both the front-end and back-end requires extensive coding and more development resources, as everything must be built from scratch.
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No WYSIWYG Functionality:
Headless WordPress removes the WYSIWYG editor and live preview, making it harder to design and preview changes without a different process, which can be challenging for smaller organizations lacking development resources.
