magnolia - logo.svg
contentstack-logo.svg

We are the Magnolia to Contentstack migration experts

Challenges with Magnolia

Magnolia is the definition of “enterprise for the sake of enterprise.” The setup is heavy, the learning curve is brutal, and unless you have a Java team lying around, good luck getting anything done without burning through budget. The proprietary modules lock you in fast, integrations feel like a maze, and the admin interface slows to a crawl once you start dealing with real content volume. The pricing is expensive, opaque, and somehow still manages to feel bad value. If you're not a Fortune 500 with a tolerance for pain, it’s a project risk.

And honestly, who even uses Java anymore?

Key pain points

less ideal for beginners.png

Steep Java learning curve

Magnolia expects your team to be fluent in Java and its ecosystem, which slows onboarding and makes even simple tasks feel heavier than they should.

Omnichannel-ready (2).png

Resource-intensive setup

It demands serious infrastructure and long setup cycles, which immediately rules it out for teams that expect fast iteration or modern DevOps workflows.

feature 5.png

Vendor lock-in concerns

Once you're in, you're in. Magnolia’s proprietary modules make moving away painful, expensive, and often not worth the engineering time.

potentially high resource demand.png

Complex third-party integration

Connecting Magnolia with modern tools and APIs isn’t straightforward, usually requiring custom Java work instead of simple plug-and-play integrations.

frontend freedom.png

Native subscription support

Licensing is firmly enterprise-tier, with opaque pricing and steep annual fees that can balloon quickly, a bad fit unless you're Fortune 500.

Complexity in setup.png

Proprietary module reliance

Key features live behind Magnolia’s own tightly controlled modules, limiting flexibility and forcing teams to work the “Magnolia way” instead of choosing best-in-class tools.

Benefits of Contentstack

Contentstack is one of the more polished enterprise headless CMS platforms. It has API-first, composable, and loaded with the usual DXP buzzwords. It actually backs some of it up. The workflows are strong, role-based approvals are genuinely helpful for large editorial teams, and the visual builder plus modular blocks give marketers enough power to ship pages without pinging developers every 30 seconds. Its omnichannel delivery, multi-region CDNs, and fast APIs make it a solid fit for global brands with heavy traffic and complex localisation needs.

But this is firmly in enterprise territory. We generally don’t recommend platforms in the “DXP with 47 whitepapers” category, but if you must pick one, Contentstack at least has a smoother developer experience than most. The composable architecture is well thought out, integrations behave predictably, and the SDKs play nicely with modern frameworks like Next.js. If you're a Fortune-500-sized team and want help figuring out whether this is the right bet, or want a modern alternative instead, get in touch.

Key advantages

feature 5.png

Enterprise-grade composable architecture

Built for large teams shipping across markets. The stack scales fast, stays stable under heavy traffic, and doesn’t crumble the moment your marketing team schedules a global launch.

feature 6.png

Advanced workflow and approvals

Contentstack’s workflow engine handles multi-step approvals, roles, and governance without duct tape. Perfect for teams that need structure instead of Slack chaos.

Performance-first architecture.png

Multi-region CDN delivery

Your content gets pushed worldwide through edge CDNs, keeping delivery fast even when your customers are nowhere near your servers.

Omnichannel-ready (2).png

API-first microservices design

Developers get flexibility without wrestling with legacy monolith logic with REST, GraphQL, and webhooks.

potentially high resource demand.png

Extensive React/Next.js SDKs

Strong developer tooling means faster builds and fewer hours wasted writing boilerplate just to fetch and render content.

limited out-of-box solutions (1).png

MACH-compliant infrastructure

Fully modular, cloud-native, and replaceable in parts. Plays nicely inside modern composable stacks instead of dragging you back to 2010.

Get in touch

Book a meeting with us to discuss how we can help or fill out a form to get in touch