CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs CoreMedia Content Cloud

Adobe Experience Manager vs CoreMedia Content Cloud

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. CoreMedia Content Cloud is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 10.

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Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 25 of 28 built in
CoreMedia Content Cloud Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 18 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, CoreMedia Content Cloud on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Adobe Experience Manager vs CoreMedia Content Cloud feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	CoreMedia Content Cloud Enterprise DXP
Overview
What it is	Adobe's enterprise CMS for websites and headless content, run by Adobe as a cloud service with page, fragment and document-based authoring.	Java-based enterprise CMS with a Studio editor, a template engine and a GraphQL headless server. Runs on-premises or as CoreMedia's cloud service.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service Version 2026.9.0, released 24 Sept 2026	CoreMedia Content Cloud v13, or CMCC 13 Version 2512.1.1, released 10 Aug 2026
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	CoreMedia GmbH coremedia.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Cloud Service runs only on Adobe's cloud. AEM 6.5 LTS is the separate self-hosted edition.	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Event Hub webhooks are an add-on for the CoreMedia cloud service only.
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	Java, Spring Boot, TypeScript for Studio
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	Relational database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request.	No free option Pricing on request.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Built in Components, dialogs and Universal Editor models live in the project repository. 2	Built in XML files in the project workspace define content types. 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Content Fragment Model editor. 3	Not available Content type changes need a developer and a deployment. 3
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Page grid placements hold reusable content items. 4
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Language copies with translation projects and connectors. 4	Limited Each locale is a derived site linked to a master site, with a translation workflow. 5
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Web-optimized image delivery resizes, crops and converts DAM images to WebP. 5	Built in Named image variants and crops in the CAE and Headless Server. 6
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content Fragment Delivery with OpenAPI. 6	Built in REST endpoints mapped from persisted GraphQL queries. 7
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Built in Headless Server. 7
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in AEM Eventing delivers events through Adobe I/O Events. 7	Plugin or add-on Event Hub add-on service for cloud service subscribers. 8 9
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in HTL page rendering or Edge Delivery Services. 10	Built in Content Application Engine with FreeMarker templates. 1
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in Edits stay on the author tier until published. 11	Built in
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Publish later and unpublish later. 11	Built in Valid-from and valid-to dates plus a scheduled publication workflow. 11
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Built in
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Separate preview tier.	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Universal Editor and Page Editor. 9	Built in In-preview editing in Studio, also for headless frontends. 10
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Built in Workflow Server with configurable publication workflows. 11 13
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Launches group changes across pages and promote them together. 8	Limited Projects group content. A publication set carries linked items along. 12 13
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Limited Only with document authoring in Word or Google Docs. The Universal Editor has no co-editing. 10	Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in AEM groups with repository permissions. 12	Built in Rights rules per group, folder and content type. 14
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Limited Repository ACL restrictions can target named properties. No per-field setting in the editors. 12	Not available Rights apply per folder and content type. 14
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in SAML or OIDC federation through Adobe Admin Console. 13	Built in Studio login runs on Spring Security. A project swaps in a redirect-based SSO provider. 15 16
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in Page, replication and DAM audit logs. 14	Built in Records who changed what and when; supports reversions. Retention, export and edition limits are not public: confirm in the contract. 16
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Multi Site Manager with live copies. 15	Built in
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in UI extensions built with App Builder. 16	Built in Studio plugins.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Extension Manager catalogue of Adobe and partner extensions. 16	Built in CoreMedia Marketplace. 17
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Core Components form container emails, posts or stores submissions. 17	Plugin or add-on Formcentric for CoreMedia, a partner product from the Marketplace. 18
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Limited Publish-tier login via SAML or OIDC. Sign-up flows need custom code and user sync. 18 13	Plugin or add-on Elastic Social module manages site users and comments. 19
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in Generate Variations needs AEM Cloud Service with Edge Delivery entitlement. Licence includes an action allowance; extra actions cost more. 19	Plugin or add-on KIO Co-Pilot needs a licence with KIO enabled. 20
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in AEM MCP Server for pages, fragments and assets. 20	Not available None for content. The only official MCP server covers Engagement Cloud analytics. 20

Adobe Experience Manager sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service.

CoreMedia Content Cloud sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. CoreMedia Content Cloud v13, or CMCC 13.

Considering more platforms? Compare Adobe Experience Manager and CoreMedia Content Cloud with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and CoreMedia Content Cloud get a different status on 10 of the 28 features and the same status on 18. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, CoreMedia Content Cloud has 18. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Self-hosting: Adobe Experience Manager cannot be self-hosted. CoreMedia Content Cloud can be self-hosted.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on CoreMedia Content Cloud 7

Content model in the UI Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Not available.
Localization Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Limited.
Webhooks Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Plugin or add-on.
Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Limited.
Form builder Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Plugin or add-on.
AI writing assistant Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Plugin or add-on.
Official MCP server Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Not available.

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Not available.
Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Not available.
Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. CoreMedia Content Cloud: Plugin or add-on.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Adobe Experience Manager vs Payload.

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

CoreMedia Content Cloud against other platforms

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