The verdict in three sentences
Over 3 years, a mid-sized company's corporate site costs roughly EUR 27,000 on WordPress and EUR 36,000 headless (Sanity or Strapi with a Next.js front end), a gap of about EUR 9,000. Headless pays off when the site matters for brand image and lead generation, when content feeds several channels, or when mobile performance is a key issue. WordPress remains the sensible choice for a classic editorial site run by a team used to it, with no multichannel ambition.
Upfront and recurring costs in 2026
The ranges below cover a 30 to 60 page bilingual corporate site with news, job listings, press room and forms, for a company of 250 to 2,000 employees.
| 2026 item | WordPress | Headless (Sanity or Strapi + Next.js) |
|---|---|---|
| Design and development | EUR 10,000 to 22,000 | EUR 16,000 to 35,000 |
| Hosting | EUR 25 to 80/month (managed) | EUR 0 to 40/month (front end) + self-hosted Strapi EUR 20 to 60/month |
| CMS licence | EUR 0 + premium plugins EUR 300 to 800/year | Sanity USD 0 to 99/month depending on seats, Strapi Community free |
| Maintenance and updates | EUR 150 to 300/month | EUR 100 to 250/month |
| Mobile load time (LCP) | 2.5 to 4 s | 1.0 to 1.8 s |
| Attack surface | High (third-party plugins) | Low (static front end, isolated CMS) |
| Time to launch | 8 to 12 weeks | 10 to 14 weeks |
The headless premium comes from building the front end and modelling content. In return, maintenance is lighter: no plugins to update every week, and the public site cannot be hacked through a CMS vulnerability.
3-year total cost for 6 contributors and 15 news items a month
| 36-month line | WordPress | Headless (Sanity) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial project | EUR 16,000 | EUR 26,000 |
| Maintenance | EUR 220/month, i.e. EUR 7,920 | EUR 180/month, i.e. EUR 6,480 |
| Hosting | EUR 40/month, i.e. EUR 1,440 | EUR 18/month, i.e. EUR 650 |
| Licences | Premium plugins EUR 500/year, i.e. EUR 1,500 | Sanity EUR 90/month for 6 seats, i.e. EUR 3,240 |
| 3-year total | EUR 26,860 | EUR 36,370 |
| Major change (visual redesign) | Often a partial rebuild, EUR 6,000 to 10,000 | Front end only, EUR 4,000 to 8,000 |
These are 2026 estimates for a median scope. With self-hosted Strapi instead of Sanity, licences drop to zero but CMS hosting and maintenance add about EUR 40 to 80/month, bringing the total near EUR 34,000.
The criteria that should decide
- Editorial volume and pace: 15 news items a month and 6 contributors justify a clear approval workflow. Sanity and Strapi offer roles and live previews, WordPress does it with plugins.
- Multichannel: if the same content feeds the intranet, an app or office screens, headless avoids double entry.
- Performance and SEO: moving LCP from 3 s to 1.5 s typically lifts mobile form conversion by 10 to 20%.
- In-house skills: a team that has used WordPress for ten years loses 2 to 4 weeks of productivity when switching tools, to be covered in training.
- Security and compliance: for a listed or audited company, the smaller headless attack surface simplifies security questionnaires.
Mini case study
Sophie, head of communications at a 900-employee industrial company, publishes 15 news items a month with 6 contributors. 3-year cost gap: 36,370 - 26,860 = EUR 9,510 in favour of WordPress. But with headless, publishing a news item drops from 45 to 30 minutes thanks to previews and reusable blocks: 15 min × 15 items × 36 months = 135 h, valued at EUR 45/h, i.e. EUR 6,075. The site generates 40 contact requests a month: a 12% lift from speed adds 4.8 requests a month. If just one request in 20 becomes a EUR 15,000 contract, the gain far exceeds the remaining EUR 3,435 gap. Sophie picks headless.
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FAQ
Is headless harder for editors to use?
No, Sanity and Strapi offer modern editorial interfaces, often seen as clearer than WordPress. Plan half a day of training per contributor, i.e. 3 days for 6 people.
Can we keep WordPress as the CMS with a Next.js front end?
Yes, that is "headless WordPress", with a mid-range budget of EUR 14,000 to 28,000. It keeps the team's habits, but also the plugin maintenance.
Sanity or Strapi?
Sanity is hosted and billed per seat (USD 0 to 99/month for a small team). Strapi Community is free but self-hosted, adding EUR 20 to 60/month of hosting plus its maintenance.
Is SEO better with headless?
With equal content, speed and code control favour headless: an LCP under 2 s is reached in 80 to 90% of cases. A well-optimised WordPress site can also get under 2.5 s.
How long to migrate an existing WordPress site to headless?
Allow 10 to 14 weeks for 30 to 60 pages, including 1 to 2 weeks of content migration and 301 redirects.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your page count, number of contributors and publishing pace: we will price both scenarios with a 3-year total cost and an 8 to 14 week plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
