CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Optimizely CMS

Adobe Experience Manager vs Optimizely CMS

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Optimizely CMS 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 5.

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Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 25 of 28 built in
Optimizely CMS Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Optimizely CMS 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 Optimizely CMS feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	Optimizely CMS 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.	Optimizely's .NET CMS for rendered and headless sites, hosted on Optimizely's DXP cloud or self-hosted, with Optimizely Graph for delivery.
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	Optimizely CMS 13 PaaS, the current flagship. CMS SaaS is a separate hosted variant. Version 13.1.3, released 9 Sept 2026
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	Optimizely optimizely.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 Self-hosted installs lose Opti ID features such as Opal and the DAM.
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	.NET 10, ASP.NET Core
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	SQL Server, Azure SQL on DXP
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 Content types as C# classes. 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	Built in Content types and properties in Settings. 4
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Blocks in content areas and Visual Builder elements.
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	Built in Language branches per content item. 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 DXP CDN resizes, crops and converts images by URL parameters. 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 Content Delivery API 13 and a management REST API. 1 2
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Built in Optimizely Graph, included in the CMS 13 licence. 2 8
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	Limited Graph webhooks fire on sync batches and expired content only. Per-item hooks need code. 7 2
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 ASP.NET Core MVC and Razor rendering, or headless. 2
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 9
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 9
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 Visual Builder. 2
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Built in Approval sequences. 10
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	Built in Projects publish or schedule grouped items together. 11
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 Comments and notifications only. 12
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 Access rights for roles and virtual roles. 13
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 Access rights apply per content item. Not documented per property. 13
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 Opti ID with an external identity provider, or OpenID Connect in code. 2
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 Change Log in Settings. 14
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 Several sites and hosts in one installation. 15
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 Shell modules, gadgets and custom editor widgets. 16
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 Optimizely connectors directory and NuGet add-ons. 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 Optimizely Forms package. No extra licence. 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	Limited Visitor login uses ASP.NET Core authentication set up in code. 2
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 Opal, billed through Opal credits. Needs Opti ID on DXP. 2 19
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	Built in MCP server in the Optimizely.Cms.Opal.Tools package. 20

Adobe Experience Manager sources

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

Optimizely CMS sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Optimizely CMS 13 PaaS, the current flagship. CMS SaaS is a separate hosted variant..

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

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Optimizely CMS get a different status on 5 of the 28 features and the same status on 23. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, Optimizely CMS has 22. 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. Optimizely CMS can be self-hosted.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Optimizely CMS 3

Webhooks Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Optimizely CMS: Limited.
Form builder Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Optimizely CMS: Plugin or add-on.
AI writing assistant Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Optimizely CMS: Plugin or add-on.

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Optimizely CMS: Not available.
Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Optimizely CMS: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

Optimizely CMS against other platforms

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