Is Kentico the right CMS for your next website?

If you are planning a new website or considering a replatform, Kentico will probably be on the shortlist alongside options like Umbraco, Optimizely and Sitecore.

This guide is written for digital leaders who need to decide two things at once:

• Is Kentico the right CMS or DXP for our organisation?
• Which partner can design, build, host and support it in line with our risk and growth targets?

Growcreate works with organisations across finance, membership, healthcare and professional services where uptime, compliance and marketing performance all matter. We implement and support Kentico alongside other .NET platforms, so our approach is practical rather than one size fits all. (Source: Growcreate - CMS Migrations)

Below, we look at where Kentico fits, how it performs on security, scalability and marketing use, and how it compares with other .NET and enterprise CMS options.

Understanding where Kentico fits

Kentico is a commercial digital experience platform built on modern .NET and SQL Server, with a React-based administration interface. It combines content management with digital marketing and, in some editions, commerce features. (Source: Wikipedia - Kentico)

There are two broad product lines in the market now:

• Xperience 13 - the previous generation, often self-hosted
• Xperience by Kentico - the current DXP with options for SaaS and private cloud deployment (Source: Kentico - Deployment Flexibility)

Compared with other .NET platforms:

Versus Umbraco

Umbraco is open source and licence free, excellent for highly bespoke content sites where you prefer to assemble your own marketing stack. (Source: Umbraco - What Is Umbraco)

Kentico provides an all-in-one DXP with built-in email, automation and personalisation, which reduces reliance on multiple external tools. (Source: Kentico - Umbraco Alternative)

Versus Optimizely and Sitecore

Optimizely and Sitecore sit at the very top of the enterprise DXP market. They offer very advanced capabilities, but typically with higher licensing, longer projects and more operational complexity. (Source: Optimizely on Azure; Kentico vs Sitecore G2 Comparison)

Kentico targets mid-market and enterprise teams that need strong capabilities, predictable costs and a leaner operating model.

Business takeaway: Kentico is best seen as a commercial DXP for organisations that have outgrown open source CMS, but do not want the cost and complexity of the very largest platforms.

Security, compliance and risk management

For UK organisations, security and compliance are often the first filter in any CMS selection. Kentico scores strongly here.

Platform security features

Xperience by Kentico includes:

• ISO 27001 certification and SOC 2 Type II attestation for its SaaS offering
• Secure development lifecycle, with built-in protection against common web vulnerabilities
• Enterprise authentication with SSO, 2FA and configurable password policies
• Role-based access control for content, data and configuration

(Source: Kentico - Security; Xperience Security Guidelines)

For you, that means security conversations with IT and audit teams start from a strong baseline rather than from scratch.

GDPR and data protection

Kentico provides a data protection module and documented patterns to help you meet GDPR requirements. Features include:

• Tools to export and erase personal data for data subject rights
• Consent management and cookie controls for online marketing features
• Guidance on encrypting data at rest using technologies such as Transparent Data Encryption and BitLocker

(Source: Xperience GDPR Compliance; Xperience 13 GDPR Compliance)

This is particularly helpful for UK organisations handling member, patient or client data across multiple sites and regions.

HIPAA and other sector standards

Kentico itself is not a “HIPAA-certified” product. As with PCI DSS, compliance depends on how you design and host the overall solution, including how you handle protected data and which services you connect. (Source: Kentico DevNet - HIPAA Question)

What Kentico does provide is a security model and hosting options that support compliance efforts when combined with appropriate architecture, policies and an Azure or private cloud environment designed for regulated workloads.

Business takeaway: If your priority is a CMS that supports GDPR and enterprise security from day one, Kentico is a strong candidate. For strict sector standards such as HIPAA you still need design and process controls around the platform, but Kentico gives you the right foundation.

Scalability, caching and high traffic performance

Kentico is built on ASP.NET Core with SQL Server, which gives you mature, well understood performance patterns. (Source: Wikipedia - Kentico)

Application and caching model

Kentico supports multiple layers of caching, including:

• Output caching for whole pages and widgets, reducing server work on repeat
• Configurable content and file caching intervals
• Client-side caching controls when appropriate

(Source: Kentico - Optimising Website Performance; Xperience Output Caching)

For high-traffic content or campaign pages this makes a tangible difference to response times and infrastructure cost.

SaaS performance and protection

If you choose Kentico SaaS, additional performance and protection are handled by the vendor:

• Global CDN and Web Application Firewall
• DDoS protection and automatic scaling of platform resources
• Managed monitoring and backups

Business takeaway: Kentico is comfortable under sustained traffic and short spikes, provided it is implemented with sensible caching and hosting. For teams without in-house DevOps, Kentico SaaS removes much of the operational burden.

Editor experience and marketing capability

A key decision factor is how easily marketers can work in the platform without constant developer help.

Page Builder and editor tools

Kentico’s Page Builder gives non-technical users a drag-and-drop interface to build and update pages using configurable widgets prepared by developers. (Source: Xperience Widgets And Page Builder)

Editors can:

• Assemble landing pages from reusable components
• Adjust layouts visually rather than editing templates
• Save presets to reuse designs across campaigns

For digital teams running frequent campaigns, this keeps content production moving without long development queues.

Built-in marketing features

Xperience by Kentico includes a wide set of native marketing tools:

• Email campaigns and templates
• Marketing automation with visual flow designers
• Personalisation rules applied directly in Page Builder
• A/B and multivariate testing for pages and emails
• Customer data and analytics in one workspace

(Source: Kentico - Digital Marketing; Kentico - Marketing Automation)

Instead of stitching together three or four separate tools, teams work in a single interface, which is reflected in high ease-of-use and satisfaction scores in independent . (Source: Kentico vs Sitecore G2 Comparison)

Business takeaway: If you want a CMS that is secure, scalable and genuinely easy for marketers, Kentico’s editor UI and native marketing features are a major point in its favour.

Integrations with CRM and the wider stack

Very few organisations run their CMS in isolation. Kentico has been designed to connect cleanly into CRM, commerce, analytics and service tools.

Native and supported integrations

Kentico provides prebuilt or supported integrations for:

• CRM - Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, plus starter kits for HubSpot, Zoho and others
• Commerce - Shopify and migration bridges from older Kentico commerce sites
• Search - Azure AI , Algolia and Lucene
• Analytics and optimisation tools, including tag manager packages and A/B testing platforms

(Source: Kentico - Integrations; Xperience Third Party Integrations)

On top of that, Kentico’s Zapier connector exposes thousands of SaaS tools for no-code automations when teams need quick wins without custom code. (Source: Kentico Integrations Page)

Custom APIs and extensibility

Developers get a comprehensive .NET API for custom modules, integrations and admin extensions. (Source: Kentico - Integrations) This makes Kentico a good fit when you need to integrate deeply with line-of-business systems like Dynamics 365, Salesforce or sector-specific platforms.

Growcreate specialises in these integration challenges, combining Kentico with CRM, data platforms and Azure services for finance, membership and professional services clients. (Source: Growcreate - Custom Client Portals)

Business takeaway: If your requirement is a CMS that slots into a broader Microsoft-centric stack and shares data with CRM and analytics tools, Kentico has the right building blocks.

Hosting, deployment and data residency

Kentico gives you a choice of deployment models while keeping the product consistent.

SaaS

With Xperience by Kentico SaaS, Kentico hosts and operates the platform in Azure. You deploy your application into managed QA, UAT, staging and production environments via the Xperience Portal. (Source: Xperience Deploy To SaaS)

The service is available in multiple Azure regions, including UK South and UK West, which helps satisfy UK data residency requirements.

Private cloud and on-premises

If you prefer full infrastructure control, the same product can be deployed to your own Azure subscription, another cloud provider or on-premises servers.

Kentico explicitly supports this dual model, so you can start in private cloud and move to SaaS later, or vice versa. (Source: Kentico - Deployment Flexibility)

Business takeaway: For UK SMEs and enterprises that must balance control, compliance and operational overhead, the ability to choose between SaaS and private cloud without changing platform is a practical advantage.

Licensing and total cost of ownership

Licensing is only one part of total cost of ownership, but it sets the tone.

How Kentico is licensed

Kentico is sold on a subscription model, either as:

• A SaaS subscription that includes hosting and platform operations
• A licence-only subscription for private cloud deployments

(Source: Xperience Licences)

Independent reviews suggest typical published list prices for older self-hosted editions from around $11,100 to $16,000 per year, and hosted Xperience by Kentico SaaS from roughly $39,900 to $79,900 per year as of 2023. (Source: Insite - Kentico CMS; [MarketingMonk - Kentico ))
At recent exchange rates that equates to approximately £9,000 to £13,000 per year for core licences and higher bands for enterprise SaaS, though current pricing should always be confirmed with Kentico or a partner.

Comparing TCO with other CMS options

When you model overall cost, factor in:

• Platform licence or subscription
• Hosting and infrastructure
• Implementation and integration
• Ongoing support and optimisation

Open source platforms like Umbraco remove licence fees but often require separate spend on marketing tools and more custom development. (Source: Umbraco - Open Source)
High-end DXPs like Optimizely and Sitecore can deliver advanced capabilities, but licence costs and operational complexity are typically higher. (Source: Optimizely Customer Centric DXP)

Kentico often lands in the middle: higher upfront platform cost than open source, but lower integration and tool sprawl, especially if you use its marketing features fully. (Source: Kentico - Umbraco Alternative)

Business takeaway: If you want a secure, marketer-friendly CMS with built-in marketing and predictable subscription costs, Kentico offers a balanced TCO, especially for platforms that would otherwise need several separate tools.

When Kentico is a strong fit

From Growcreate’s work with Kentico and other .NET CMS platforms, the platform tends to be a strong choice when:

• You are a UK SME or enterprise with GDPR obligations and internal pressure around auditability and access control
• The website is marketing heavy, with an emphasis on personalisation, testing and campaigns rather than just publishing
• You need multi-site and multilingual support across brands or regions, but want central governance for content and design (Source: Kentico Multilingual Documentation)
• Your organisation prefers the Microsoft stack and has .NET skills in-house or via a partner
• You expect high traffic or complex content structures and want caching, CDN and performance controls baked in
• You want a CMS that is secure, scalable and still approachable for marketing and content teams

If you recognise several of these patterns, Kentico should be on the serious shortlist.

When another .NET CMS may be better

There are also scenarios where Kentico is not the best fit.

You might choose Umbraco instead if:

• Budget is tight and you prefer to avoid licence fees
• You have strong internal development capacity and want maximum freedom to assemble your own stack
• Marketing requirements are modest or already handled entirely by a separate marketing automation platform

(Source: Umbraco - Products)

You might choose Optimizely or Sitecore if:

• You are a large global enterprise with very complex customer experiences across web, mobile and commerce
• You already have teams familiar with those ecosystems and budgets that fit their licence and running costs (Source: Optimizely Customer Centric DXP)

In practice, many organisations end up comparing Kentico with Umbraco. Kentico wins where built-in marketing, stronger support and governance outweigh licence savings. Umbraco wins where flexibility, community and lower platform cost matter more.

Planning a migration to Kentico

If you are moving from an existing CMS, success depends less on the new platform and more on how you manage the migration.

A sound migration plan typically covers:

1. Inventory and analysis - Content, media, templates, integrations, SEO and analytics settings.
2. Target architecture in Kentico - Content model, Page Builder components, roles and workflows.
3. Data and content transfer - Automated migration where possible, with mapping for URLs, metadata and taxonomies.
4. SEO and analytics continuity - Redirect mapping, analytics tracking and goal configuration.
5. Cutover and rollback - Rehearsed go live with backups and a rollback plan.
6. Post-launch optimisation - Performance tuning, UX improvements and marketing automation roll-out.

Growcreate delivers CMS migrations for enterprises that need to retain accuracy, SEO and compliance while moving platform.

Our team is used to shifting complex sites between Sitecore, Kentico, WordPress, Umbraco and Optimizely, with ISO 27001 and GDPR controls applied across the process. (Source: Growcreate - Platform Modernisation)

Whether you are moving from Umbraco to Kentico, from legacy Kentico to the latest Xperience by Kentico, or consolidating multiple sites, that rigour matters more than the migration tooling alone.

Why work with Growcreate on Kentico

Growcreate is a specialist .NET and Azure agency with long-standing experience of Kentico implementation, integration and support.

We help organisations get full value from Kentico through three phases.

Support - Keeping your Kentico stable and secure

• 24/7 monitoring, incident response and SLA-backed support for Kentico and its Azure infrastructure
• Security updates, performance tuning and regular health checks
• Clear reporting that your operations and risk teams can rely on

24/7 Support

Enhance - Optimising for marketing and product teams

• Experience-led design and UX improvements to boost engagement
• Implementation of Page Builder components and structured content for faster publishing
• Roll-out of marketing automation, personalisation and testing in partnership with your marketing team

Kentico Platform

Evolve - Treating Kentico as a strategic asset

• Roadmapping to align Kentico with new services, products and channels
• Integration with CRM, data platforms and custom applications
• Platform modernisation when you are ready to shift to SaaS or re-architect for new markets

Platform Modernisation

Across all three phases we operate under ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials and Microsoft partner status, which is important for regulated and public sector work.

Business takeaway: Selecting Kentico is only half the decision. The other half is choosing a partner who can design the right architecture, migrate cleanly, host securely and provide reliable long-term support. That is the role Growcreate is set up to play.

Next steps

If you are exploring Kentico for a new build or replatform, a short discovery exercise is often the quickest way to reach a confident decision.

Growcreate can help you:

• Compare Kentico with Umbraco, Optimizely and other .NET CMS options in the context of your specific requirements
• Run a focused assessment of security, integrations and content model
• Map out costs and timelines for a migration or greenfield build

Let's talk Kentico