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CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Umbraco

Adobe Experience Manager vs Umbraco

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Umbraco is an open-source traditional CMS 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
  • Umbraco Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Umbraco 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 Umbraco feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP
Umbraco Traditional
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.Open-source .NET CMS that renders sites with Razor or serves content headless. Self-hosted or run on Umbraco Cloud.
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 Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release. Version 17.7.0, released 17 Sept 2026
Vendor Adobe business.adobe.com Umbraco A/S umbraco.com
Licence Closed source Proprietary Open source MIT
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 Forms and Deploy are paid add-ons when self-hosted. Umbraco Cloud includes both.
Built with Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTLC#, ASP.NET Core on .NET 10, TypeScript backoffice
Database Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by AdobeSQL Server, SQLite
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. No free option Pricing on request. Free to start Free to self-host. Umbraco Cloud Starter €45, Standard €280, Professional €730 per month. Enterprise 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 Plugin or add-on Umbraco Deploy saves document types as .uda files in Git. Paid on-premises, included on Umbraco Cloud. 45
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 Document types are built in the backoffice.
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. Built in 29 Built in Block List and Block Grid editors. 6
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 Culture variants per property.
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 ImageSharp crops and resizes images from query string parameters. 9
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. 7
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6 Not available No official GraphQL. Community package Nikcio.UHeadless adds one. 20
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 8
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 Razor templates.
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 10
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in Built in Rollback compares and restores earlier versions. 11
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 Not available
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. Built in Plugin or add-on Umbraco Workflow add-on. Its free version is capped at five approval groups. Full use is paid. 1221
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 Plugin or add-on Release Sets in a licensed Umbraco Workflow. 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 User groups with granular permissions.
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 Limited Per-property read and write limits per user group, enforced in the UI only. 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 OpenID Connect providers such as Entra ID, configured in code. 15
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 Audit trail per item plus a log viewer. No installation-wide audit screen in core. 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 Several root nodes, each with its own domains.
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 Backoffice extensions.
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 Umbraco Marketplace.
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 Umbraco Forms, paid licence. Included on Umbraco Cloud. 217
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. 1813 Built in Members, separate from backoffice users.
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 Free Umbraco.AI packages add prompts and an editor copilot. 18
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 Umbraco CMS Developer MCP server. 19

Adobe Experience Manager sources

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

  1. Current release notes for AEM as a Cloud Service (2026.9.0)
  2. Universal Editor component definition
  3. Content Fragment Models
  4. AEM Sites translation journey
  5. Web-optimized image delivery (Core Components)
  6. AEM APIs for structured content delivery and management
  7. Webhooks and AEM Events
  8. Launches for pages
  9. Universal Editor introduction
  10. AEM Sites and Edge Delivery Services
  11. Publishing pages from the Sites console
  12. AEM users, groups and permissions
  13. Authentication in AEM as a Cloud Service
  14. Maintenance tasks, including audit log purge
  15. MSM best practices
  16. Extension Manager in AEM
  17. Core Components Form Container
  18. Registration, login and user profile
  19. Generate Variations integrated in AEM editors
  20. AEM MCP Server

Umbraco sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release..

  1. Umbraco releases
  2. Umbraco pricing
  3. Umbraco 18 release
  4. Umbraco Deploy licensing
  5. Umbraco Cloud: UDA files
  6. Umbraco docs: Block Grid
  7. Umbraco docs: Content Delivery API
  8. Umbraco docs: Webhooks
  9. Umbraco docs: Image Cropper
  10. Umbraco docs: Scheduled Publishing
  11. Umbraco docs: Rollback to a previous version
  12. Umbraco Workflow
  13. Umbraco Workflow docs: Release Sets
  14. Umbraco docs: Property Level UI Permissions
  15. Umbraco docs: External Login Providers
  16. Umbraco docs: Log Viewer
  17. Umbraco Forms licensing
  18. Umbraco.AI on GitHub
  19. Umbraco MCP on GitHub
  20. Nikcio.UHeadless on Umbraco Marketplace
  21. Umbraco Workflow docs: Licensing

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

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Umbraco 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, Umbraco 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.

Licence
Adobe Experience Manager is closed source (Proprietary). Umbraco is open source (MIT).
Self-hosting
Adobe Experience Manager cannot be self-hosted. Umbraco can be self-hosted.
Free option
Adobe Experience Manager has no free option. Umbraco has a free option.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Umbraco 8

  • Content model in code Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
  • GraphQL API Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
  • Visual editing Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
  • Approval workflows Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
  • Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
  • Audit log Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Limited.
  • Form builder Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
  • AI writing assistant Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.

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

  • Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Umbraco: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 1

  • Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Umbraco: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

Umbraco against other platforms

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

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