CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Sitecore

Adobe Experience Manager vs Sitecore

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Sitecore is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 6.

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

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Sitecore 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 Sitecore feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	Sitecore 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.	Sitecore's SaaS digital experience platform, formerly XM Cloud. Sitecore hosts the CMS. Sites render in a separate front-end app.
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	SitecoreAI, formerly XM Cloud, Sitecore's current flagship SaaS platform SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	Sitecore sitecore.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.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud SitecoreAI is SaaS only. Self-hosting needs Sitecore XP 10.5, a separate product.
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	.NET, Next.js Content SDK
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	Managed by Sitecore
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 Templates serialize to files in the repo with Sitecore Content Serialization. 2
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 Templates are items edited in the Content Editor.
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Page builder with reusable components.
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 versions per item.
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 Experience Edge media CDN resizes images with query string parameters. 3
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 Items REST API since September 2026. Delivery through Experience Edge is GraphQL. 4
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Built in Experience Edge delivery API. 5
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	Built in Authoring webhooks and Experience Edge publish webhooks. 6 5
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	Not available Headless. Sites render in a separate app, with built-in Vercel and Netlify integrations. 7
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 Saved changes stay unpublished until pushed to Experience Edge. 11
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	Limited Publishing restrictions set availability dates. A publish must still run on the date. 8 9
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Built in Numbered item versions.
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 Page builder.
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Built in Item workflows with states and commands. 6
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	Not available No release bundles. Publishing jobs cover items, subitems and related items. 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	Limited Page builder saves concurrent edits per field. Others get a reload prompt. No live updates. 10
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 Roles with item access rights. 12
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	Built in Field read and field write access rights. 12
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 SAML or OIDC through the Sitecore Cloud Portal. 13
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	Limited Common Audit Log covers only the Cloud Portal and leaves out SitecoreAI content. Item actions show in CM logs. 14 15
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 Site collections with shared content.
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 Marketplace apps add custom fields, panels and dashboard widgets. 17
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 Sitecore Marketplace. 16
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	Built in Built-in Forms with webhook submission handling. 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	Not available Developers have to build visitor login in the front-end app.
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	Built in Content, variant and translation assistants. Brand kits need Stream Premium. 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 Sitecore Marketer MCP server. 20

Adobe Experience Manager sources

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

Sitecore sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. SitecoreAI, formerly XM Cloud, Sitecore's current flagship SaaS platform.

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

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Sitecore get a different status on 6 of the 28 features and the same status on 22. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, Sitecore 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.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Sitecore 4

Renders the website Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Sitecore: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Sitecore: Limited.
Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Sitecore: Not available.
Audit log Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Sitecore: Limited.

Built in on Sitecore, a different answer on Adobe Experience Manager 1

Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Sitecore: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 1

Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Sitecore: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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