CMS comparison Xperience by Kentico vs Optimizely CMS

Xperience by Kentico vs Optimizely CMS

Xperience by Kentico is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run 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 10.

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Xperience by Kentico Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 19 of 28 built in
Optimizely CMS Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Xperience by Kentico 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

Xperience by Kentico vs Optimizely CMS feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Xperience by Kentico Enterprise DXP	Optimizely CMS 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.	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.	Xperience by Kentico Version 31.9.0, 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	Kentico kentico.com	Optimizely optimizely.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Self-hosted installs lose Opti ID features such as Opal and the DAM.
Built with	.NET, ASP.NET Core	.NET 10, ASP.NET Core
Database	Microsoft SQL Server	SQL Server, Azure SQL on DXP
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.	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 Continuous Integration serializes content types to files in the repository. 3	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 Field editor in the Content types application.	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 Page Builder widgets and sections, plus reusable content items.	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 variants per page and content item.	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 Image variants with configured crops and sizes. 4	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.	Limited The Management REST API is for local development only. Headless delivery is GraphQL. 5 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.	Paid tier Headless channels need the Advanced tier. 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.	Not available No outgoing webhooks. Content events need custom handler code. 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 ASP.NET Core website channels.	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 8	Built in 9
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 9
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 Visual Builder. 2
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 Approval sequences. 10
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 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.	Not available Content locking lets one user edit an item at a time. 12	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 Roles with application, workspace and page permissions. 13	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.	Not available Permissions stop at application, workspace and page level. 13	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 OpenID Connect for the administration, for example Microsoft Entra ID. 14	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.	Limited Event log records system events. Version history shows who changed versioned items. 15 9	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.	Paid tier Several main website channels need the Advanced tier. Standard adds only microchannels. 2	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 Custom React UI pages and form components. 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 Integrations directory on the Kentico Community portal. 17	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 Form Builder.	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.	Built in Members with registration, login and member roles. 18	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 AIRA text generation and translation on both tiers. Licences include 200,000 credits a year. 2 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.	Limited Management MCP server works on local development instances only. 20 5	Built in MCP server in the Optimizely.Cms.Opal.Tools package. 20

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 Xperience by Kentico and Optimizely CMS with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Xperience by Kentico and Optimizely CMS get a different status on 10 of the 28 features and the same status on 18. Xperience by Kentico has 19 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.

Built in on Xperience by Kentico, a different answer on Optimizely CMS 3

Form builder Xperience by Kentico: Built in. Optimizely CMS: Plugin or add-on.
Site member accounts Xperience by Kentico: Built in. Optimizely CMS: Limited.
AI writing assistant Xperience by Kentico: Built in. Optimizely CMS: Plugin or add-on.

Built in on Optimizely CMS, a different answer on Xperience by Kentico 6

REST API Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Optimizely CMS: Built in.
GraphQL API Xperience by Kentico: Paid tier. Optimizely CMS: Built in.
Content releases Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Optimizely CMS: Built in.
Audit log Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Optimizely CMS: Built in.
Multiple sites Xperience by Kentico: Paid tier. Optimizely CMS: Built in.
Official MCP server Xperience by Kentico: Limited. Optimizely CMS: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 1

Webhooks Xperience by Kentico: Not available. Optimizely CMS: Limited.

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