CMS comparison Xperience by Kentico vs Liferay DXP

Xperience by Kentico vs Liferay DXP

Xperience by Kentico is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Liferay DXP 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 7.

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Xperience by Kentico Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 19 of 28 built in
Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 26 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Xperience by Kentico on 29 Sept 2026, Liferay DXP 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

Xperience by Kentico vs Liferay DXP feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Xperience by Kentico Enterprise DXP	Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP
Overview
What it is	Kentico's .NET digital experience platform for websites, email and headless channels, sold as Kentico-hosted SaaS or a private-cloud licence.	Java platform for websites, portals and commerce, with a new object-based CMS. Self-hosted or run by Liferay as PaaS or SaaS.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Xperience by Kentico Version 31.9.0, released 24 Sept 2026	Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1. Version 2026.q3.5, released 25 Sept 2026
Vendor	Kentico kentico.com	Liferay, Inc. liferay.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary, under the Liferay EULA. Free Tier activation key at no cost
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Free Tier suits smaller-scale use and gets no security patches, SAML or AI Hub.
Built with	.NET, ASP.NET Core	Java, OSGi, React
Database	Microsoft SQL Server	MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, IBM Db2
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request. Licensed per channel in Standard and Advanced tiers, plus AIRA credit packages.	Free to start Free Tier at no cost for smaller-scale use. Enterprise Subscription per server instance, price 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 Continuous Integration serializes content types to files in the repository. 3	Built in Definitions export to JSON and deploy from the repo as batch client extensions. 7
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Field editor in the Content types application.	Built in Objects and web content structures. 6
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Page Builder widgets and sections, plus reusable content items.	Built in Fragments on content pages. 11
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Language variants per page and content item.	Built in
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Image variants with configured crops and sizes. 4	Built in Adaptive Media generates set image resolutions. 8
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Limited The Management REST API is for local development only. Headless delivery is GraphQL. 5 6	Built in Headless REST APIs. 9
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Paid tier Headless channels need the Advanced tier. 6	Built in 9
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Not available No outgoing webhooks. Content events need custom handler code. 7	Built in Object actions call a webhook on add, update or delete. 10
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in ASP.NET Core website channels.	Built in
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in 8	Built in
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Schedule publish and unpublish. 8	Built in Display and expiration dates.
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in View and restore previously published versions. 9	Built in
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Preview mode and shareable preview URLs.	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 Page Builder.	Built in Inline editing in the content page editor. 11
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in Custom workflow steps with role permissions. 10	Built in Kaleo workflow, also included in the Free Tier. 3
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Limited Cascade publishing sends linked items with the parent. No standalone release bundles. 11	Built in Publications group changes and publish them together. 12
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Not available Content locking lets one user edit an item at a time. 12	Not available A page locks while one editor has it open. 13
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in Roles with application, workspace and page permissions. 13	Built in
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available Permissions stop at application, workspace and page level. 13	Not available Permissions apply per object, entry or asset. 14
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in OpenID Connect for the administration, for example Microsoft Entra ID. 14	Built in SAML and OpenID Connect. The Free Tier lacks SAML. 3 15
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Limited Event log records system events. Version history shows who changed versioned items. 15 9	Built in Audit framework with search and export of events. 16
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Paid tier Several main website channels need the Advanced tier. Standard adds only microchannels. 2	Built in
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in Custom React UI pages and form components. 16	Built in Client extensions. 7
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Integrations directory on the Kentico Community portal. 17	Built in Liferay Marketplace. 17
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Form Builder.	Built in Liferay Forms.
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Built in Members with registration, login and member roles. 18	Built in
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in AIRA text generation and translation on both tiers. Licences include 200,000 credits a year. 2 19	Built in AI Hub writing tools in the new CMS. Not in the Free Tier. 4 18
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Limited Management MCP server works on local development instances only. 20 5	Built in Built-in MCP server released in 2026.Q3, switched on by feature flag. 19

Liferay DXP sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1..

Considering more platforms? Compare Xperience by Kentico and Liferay DXP with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Xperience by Kentico and Liferay DXP get a different status on 7 of the 28 features and the same status on 21. Xperience by Kentico has 19 built in on its baseline edition, Liferay DXP has 26. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Free option: Xperience by Kentico has no free option. Liferay DXP has a free option.

Built in on Liferay DXP, a different answer on Xperience by Kentico 7

REST API Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Liferay DXP: Built in.
GraphQL API Xperience by Kentico: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Webhooks Xperience by Kentico: Not available. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Content releases Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Audit log Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Multiple sites Xperience by Kentico: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Official MCP server Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Liferay DXP: Built in.

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