Updated October 2026
Sitecore is an enterprise content management system (CMS) and digital experience platform (DXP) that large organizations use to create, manage, personalize and publish content across websites and other channels. Its current flagship is SitecoreAI, a cloud platform that replaced XM Cloud in November 2025. Sitecore XM and Sitecore XP are still available for teams that host their own environment.
What is Sitecore?
Sitecore started selling content management software in 2001, when it was spun off from the Danish company Pentia. The original product was a .NET-based web CMS. Over two decades it grew into a family of products for content, customer data, personalization, commerce and email.
When people search for "Sitecore," they usually mean one of three things: the classic Sitecore CMS (Sitecore Experience Manager, or XM), the full Sitecore Experience Platform (XP), or the newer SaaS platform, SitecoreAI.
Sitecore products in 2026
Sitecore's lineup changed a lot in late 2025. On November 4, 2025, Sitecore announced SitecoreAI, an AI-first SaaS platform built on XM Cloud. Capabilities that used to be sold separately, including Content Hub, Search, Personalize and CDP, now come with SitecoreAI. The table below maps the current lineup, based on Sitecore's platform pages.
| Product | How it is deployed | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| SitecoreAI | SaaS (cloud only) | Sitecore's current flagship platform. It combines the CMS with digital asset management, customer data, personalization, search and AI agents. It replaced the XM Cloud brand in November 2025. |
| SitecoreAI CMS | Part of SitecoreAI | Headless content management with a visual page builder and Design Studio for reusable components. Front ends can use Next.js, Angular, .NET Core and other frameworks. |
| Digital Asset Management (Content Hub) | Part of SitecoreAI | Stores, organizes and delivers images, video and other brand assets. Content Hub is included in the SitecoreAI package and runs as a separate application. |
| Conversion Optimization | Part of SitecoreAI | Real-time personalization, on-site search, A/B testing and page-level analytics, all running on the same live visitor data. |
| Audience and Insights | Part of SitecoreAI | The customer intelligence layer. It links visitor interactions across devices and sessions into one real-time profile that feeds personalization, search and testing. |
| Agentic Studio | Part of SitecoreAI | Where teams build and run AI agents that automate marketing and content work. |
| Sitecore XM (Experience Manager) | Private cloud or on-premises | Sitecore's CMS-only product for teams that host their own environment. It handles multiple sites, multiple languages and multichannel delivery. |
| Sitecore XP (Experience Platform) | Private cloud or on-premises | XM plus analytics, personalization and marketing automation (xDB, xConnect). The current release is XP 10.5. |
| Sitecore Commerce (OrderCloud) | Cloud | Headless, API-based commerce, including B2B ordering and order management through OrderCloud. |
| Sitecore Send | Cloud | Email marketing and automation. |
If you are comparing editions, Sitecore's own guide to choosing between SitecoreAI, XM and XP is a useful starting point.
What does the Sitecore CMS do?
At its core, the Sitecore CMS lets marketing and content teams manage a large web presence from one place. With Sitecore XM or the SitecoreAI CMS, teams can:
- Write content once, preview it in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, and publish it to every channel that needs it
- Tailor content to different visitors with rules
- Run many sites from one installation, in many languages
- Build mobile-ready pages from reusable components
- Control who can edit, approve and publish with role-based access and workflow
The platform goes beyond managing pages. Teams can test and personalize content, and with XP or SitecoreAI they can collect interaction data and use it to decide what each visitor sees next.
Benefits of Sitecore
Sitecore covers editing, workflow, reporting, security and user administration in one system.
Content you write once and deliver anywhere
You don't have to rebuild content for each website, app or channel. Sitecore stores content as structured items, separate from the page design, and its APIs deliver that content to websites, mobile apps and other front ends. Personalization rules can change what each visitor sees.
Tools for faster page building
Content authors who are not developers can still build and edit pages. Depending on the edition, they get:
- Drag-and-drop page building, through Sitecore Experience Accelerator (SXA) in XM and XP or the visual page builder in SitecoreAI
- Pre-built, customizable components, templates and layouts
- A WYSIWYG editor for text, images and other content
- A shared media library for images, documents, video and audio
- Preview by device and by visitor profile
Multilingual, multisite content
Sitecore handles many sites in many languages from one platform. Teams can create global content and share it with local sites in the local language. Workflows, versioning and approvals give legal and brand reviewers a step before anything goes live. Sitecore also connects with translation services and many other systems.
Who uses Sitecore?
Sitecore is used across industries such as financial services, insurance, healthcare, government and energy. These are sectors where customer experience matters and where organizations often run many sites, brands or regions.
International reach is one of Sitecore's main differentiators. A company entering new markets has to translate its message for new audiences and get local teams publishing on brand. Sitecore's multi-language support, integration options and connected workflows help with both.
Do you need Sitecore?
Sitecore makes sense when content management is a real operational problem. If you have distributed or international teams, Sitecore lets you track content from draft to publish, assign role-based access and publish from one place. If personalization matters, XP and SitecoreAI collect interaction data you can use to keep improving the experience.
It is not the right choice for every organization. Sitecore is a complex solution for complex needs, with licensing, implementation and skills to match. A small team with one website will usually get more value from a simpler CMS. Sitecore is built for enterprises with many sites, languages and personalization goals.
Sitecore for developers
Developers favor Sitecore for several reasons.
Many sites on one instance
Sitecore's architecture lets developers deploy and manage code for many sites within a single instance.
Extensibility
Developers can add modules, plug-ins and integrations without rebuilding the platform. On SitecoreAI, extensions come through App Studio, the Marketplace and Connect.
Content separate from presentation
Sitecore separates content management from content delivery. For developers, that means the delivery side can scale on its own, with better security, administration and performance.
Security
Developers can restrict access at the account or item level, which helps on projects with many stakeholders. Security rights can be inherited from parent items to child items, so permissions don't have to be set one item at a time.
Containers and headless front ends
Starting with version 10.0, Sitecore publishes container images for every role and topology. Teams run them in Docker and orchestrate them with Kubernetes, for example on Azure Kubernetes Service, which makes setup and onboarding faster. SitecoreAI is fully SaaS and headless, so developers build front ends in frameworks such as Next.js and pull content through APIs.
Sitecore for marketers
Marketers tend to value three things in Sitecore.
Real-time personalization
Sitecore can change content based on a visitor's behavior, location, device and interests. In SitecoreAI, Conversion Optimization handles this alongside on-site search and A/B testing.
Multichannel delivery
Because content is stored apart from design, the same content can feed a website, a mobile app, kiosks, digital signage and other channels.
Marketing automation
Sitecore XP includes marketing automation, and Sitecore Send handles email campaigns with scheduling and reusable content.
Sitecore architecture
Sitecore XM and XP share a classic architecture. SitecoreAI keeps the same content model but runs as a managed SaaS service.
Programming framework
Sitecore XM and XP run on Microsoft .NET. Server-rendered sites have traditionally used ASP.NET MVC, and C# is the usual language for custom code. Headless builds on XM, XP or SitecoreAI can use JavaScript frameworks such as Next.js for the front end.
Databases
A traditional XM or XP installation uses three main content databases:
- Core: memberships, system settings and application configuration
- Master: every piece of content as it is created, edited or deleted, including content in preview
- Web: the published content the live site serves
XP adds the Experience Database (xDB), which stores customer interaction data, and xConnect, the services layer that moves data between xDB and systems such as Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics 365.
The content tree
Sitecore stores content in a "content tree." It holds the content and media library items that editors work with, plus the layouts, system settings and templates that developers and administrators manage.
Sitecore API
The Sitecore API lets developers query content items from their code. Headless implementations use APIs to deliver the same content to any front end.
Application layers
Sitecore separates its work into layers:
- The content layer, where content is edited, managed and stored
- The delivery layer, which assembles content into layouts and serves it
An API lets the delivery layer request content from the content layer. A third layer, presentation, renders the result on a screen. Because these layers are decoupled, front-end developers aren't tied to back-end technology, content can be reused across pages, apps and devices, and editors can preview and publish without a developer.
This is why Sitecore is often called a hybrid headless CMS. XM and XP can render pages directly or deliver content through APIs, and they keep the personalization and analytics of a traditional CMS. SitecoreAI is headless by design.
SitecoreAI vs. Sitecore XM vs. Sitecore XP
Whether Sitecore counts as a CMS or a DXP depends on which product you mean.
Sitecore XM is the CMS on its own. It gives teams the workflow, reporting, organization and user administration tools to create, publish and manage content for customer-facing websites and apps.
Sitecore XP is the DXP. It adds marketing automation, customer data and analytics on top of XM. XP includes:
- Experience Manager (XM) for multilingual, multisite content creation and delivery
- Sitecore Experience Accelerator (SXA), with reusable templates for faster page builds
- The Experience Database (xDB) for customer interaction data from campaigns, sources and third-party systems
- xConnect for data exchange with CRM systems such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Experience Profile, a view of each customer's history with your brand
- Integration with Sitecore Content Hub for digital assets
- User rights and multi-step workflow for every piece of content
SitecoreAI is Sitecore's SaaS DXP. It bundles the CMS with digital asset management, Audience and Insights, Conversion Optimization and Agentic Studio. Sitecore handles hosting and updates. For a team starting fresh on Sitecore in 2026, it is the default option. For a team with a large XP investment, the decision is whether XP's self-hosted control is worth more than SaaS updates and the bundled AI tools.
Sitecore implementation with SingleStone
Sitecore XM is a strong choice if you need a CMS with serious workflow and want to:
- Tailor content to different visitors with rules
- Reach your audience in multiple languages, on multiple devices and channels
- Reuse layouts, modules and content to publish faster
- Connect commerce to the rest of the customer journey
- Integrate CRM, ecommerce, marketing automation, A/B testing and other systems through APIs
- Keep brand standards consistent across every site and app
Getting that value depends on the implementation partner. SingleStone is a Sitecore partner with a team of developers, architects, project managers and MVPs. We have implemented, integrated and customized Sitecore XM CMS and Sitecore DXP for organizations of every size and industry, and we support clients from discovery through delivery. See our Sitecore implementation and consulting services for details.
SingleStone Sitecore client success stories
Case study: Utilities company reduces support calls with a full site redesign and Sitecore CMS
The challenge
This utility was falling behind competitors on its digital presence. Its website couldn't deliver the unified, personalized experience customers expected. Its legacy Sitecore system made it slow to create and publish content at scale, which hurt customer relationships, finances and reputation.
The solution
SingleStone first provided maintenance for the client's legacy Sitecore platform. A technical and feature analysis then showed the existing platform could not support the company's website goals. Our team of project managers, business analysts, designers and Sitecore experts built a multi-phase roadmap, defined a new technical architecture, and planned the migration and deployment. Four workstreams covered content, design, development and change management.
Using our build/test/demo/deploy process, we migrated over 800 pages of web content to the latest Sitecore platform. We also helped shape a new content strategy and redesigned the site on the new Sitecore CMS.
The results
The new site is now central to the client's digital presence. A few months after launch, it won a MarCom award for its interface, current copy and focus on what customers need. Customers call support less often, so the internal team can spend more time on revenue-generating work.
Read the full case study.
Case study: WestRock upgrades to Sitecore CMS for better digital engagement and security
The challenge
WestRock's customer-facing business website is one of its most valuable digital assets. Launched in 2016, it had been added to piecemeal, with little attention to usability or accessibility. By 2019 it had grown past 1,000 pages and struggled to support thought leadership and customer communications.
The legacy CMS also created security and data privacy problems, leaving WestRock exposed to cyberattacks and legal risk. Site stability was falling while maintenance costs and downtime rose.
The solution
SingleStone recommended Sitecore XM. After analyzing the existing site, its problems and WestRock's future needs, we built a multi-phase plan, defined a new technical architecture, and planned the upgrade, migration and deployment.
Our developers, Sitecore experts and project managers fixed back-end and front-end issues, added enhancements and built several microsites. They wrote a content strategy and a roadmap for the site, and used a storytelling canvas to keep the end user at the center of the work. Because usability and accessibility were core requirements, the team ran UX testing and rebuilt the information architecture and UI to meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards.
The results
WestRock now runs on Sitecore XM with a more usable, accessible site. Its content creators can write copy, tailor it with rules, and test and personalize it without waiting on in-house developers. Customers find information faster thanks to a cleaner layout, and the team can audit and update content to keep it current. SingleStone continues to support WestRock with day-to-day maintenance.
Read the full case study.
Sitecore FAQ
What is Sitecore used for?
Companies use Sitecore to build and run large websites and digital experiences. Marketers write content once and publish it across sites, languages and channels. They personalize pages for different visitors, run A/B tests, manage brand assets and track how people engage. It suits enterprises with many sites, regions or brands.
Is Sitecore a CMS or a DXP?
Both. Sitecore XM is a CMS. Sitecore XP adds analytics, personalization and marketing automation on top of XM, which makes it a digital experience platform (DXP). SitecoreAI, the SaaS platform, bundles the CMS with asset management, customer data, personalization, search and AI agents, so it is also a DXP.
What happened to Sitecore XM Cloud?
XM Cloud became SitecoreAI. Sitecore announced SitecoreAI on November 4, 2025 and describes it as the evolution of XM Cloud, built on the same foundation. Sitecore says current XM Cloud customers move to SitecoreAI with no migration and full continuity of their data.
Is Sitecore still available on-premises?
Yes. Sitecore XM and Sitecore XP can still run on-premises or in a private cloud, and XP 10.5 is the latest release. Sitecore says XM and XP customers keep full support and active roadmaps, with SaaS migration paths for teams that want to move to SitecoreAI.
What programming languages does Sitecore use?
Sitecore XM and XP are built on Microsoft .NET, and most custom development is done in C#. SitecoreAI is headless, so front-end teams can build with Next.js, Angular, .NET Core or other frameworks and pull content through APIs instead of server-side .NET rendering.