Xperience by Kentico in 2026: A Guide for Enterprise Teams

Xperience by Kentico is a modern CMS and digital experience platform (DXP) built to help organizations deliver custom, highly personalized, scalable, and content-rich websites. Designed as the evolution of Kentico 13, it combines content management, digital marketing, digital commerce, and integration flexibility all into one platform.

Unlike traditional CMS systems, Xperience by Kentico offers a hybrid headless approach. This gives developers freedom to build with modern frameworks and APIs while marketers get in-context visual editing, customer journey management, and personalization tools.

As a Kentico MVP 15 times over, based in the United States, I have worked with Xperience by Kentico since its earliest release and have seen how enterprises can use it to transform their digital presence. Read on to hear my knowledge and insights about the product.

Key Features of Xperience by Kentico

Hybrid Headless CMS - Traditional CMS + Headless API delivery for flexible approaches.
Personalization and Marketing Automation - Engage audiences with tailored content.
Modern .NET story - Built for speed and scalability with .NET 10.
Native AI features - AIRA is the AI-powered assistant that can increase the productivity of content editors and marketers.
Integration Ready - Works with Azure AI Search, CRMs, ERPs, and martech stacks via native integrations.
Multichannel delivery - Built to consolidate multiple sites, emails, and mobile apps all in one CMS with heavy prioritization of reusable content across all channels.
Enterprise security and governance - A platform trusted by global organizations to meet the latest security standards and compliance.
Flexible hosting - Can be self-hosted locally or in a private cloud environment, or run in Kentico SaaS powered by Azure.

Why Enterprises Choose Xperience by Kentico

Benefits for Marketing Teams

Create content and launch sites faster with intuitive and fast visual editing.
Use personalization and customer journeys to increase conversion rates.
Manage multiple websites and regions with ease.
Manage and translate multiple languages with ease.
Manage and deliver any kind of asset optimally.

Benefits for Development Teams

Build with the latest .NET technology stack.
Automatic GraphQL API out of the box for content delivery.
Integrate with cloud services such as Azure AI Search.
Scale applications to meet enterprise traffic demands.
Full SaaS or self-host in private cloud deployments.
Easy to customize and extend.

Migrating from Kentico 13 to Xperience by Kentico

Many organizations running legacy versions of Kentico 13, Kentico 12, or older versions of Kentico CMS/EMS are now evaluating or planning a migration to Xperience by Kentico. The transition brings a blazing fast CMS editing experience, modern API driven architecture, improved cloud readiness, and enhanced personalization and automation features.

Migration Considerations

All the following considerations need to be addressed in your journey to Xperience by Kentico.

Structured content migration - Moving structured content and media libraries.
Page content migration - Moving page based and widget content.
Integration updates - Rebuilding connections to CRMs, ERPs, and marketing tools.
Workflow adjustments - Adapting editorial and content creation processes to new features.
E-commerce - commerce is built new from the ground up in Xperience. For this reason you need to perform a gap analysis on your existing commerce code and implementation and see how it will work differently in the new version.

At BizStream, we have completed multiple Kentico 12, Kentico 13, Kentico Portal Engine or any other flavor of Kentico, to Xperience by Kentico migrations and can share best practices for a smooth transition.

We highly recommend custom migration processes built on top of Kentico's excellent Xperience by Kentico Migration Toolkit.

Xperience by Kentico vs Other CMS Platforms

Xperience by Kentico vs Optimizely or Sitecore

Xperience delivers features with a faster implementation timeline and a lower total cost of ownership in many scenarios. Optimizely and Kentico are both very strong mid-to enterprise-tier digital experience platforms, offering a broad suite of content, commerce and marketing features under one banner. Optimizely offers a very impressive range of enterprise optimization and experimentation features in a fully managed cloud (PaaS) platform, while Xperience offers a unified platform and very transparent, consistent and competitive pricing.

When comparing Sitecore and Xperience by Kentico, the decision often comes down to investment and expected return. Sitecore is a highly powerful platform with an extensive feature set, but fully leveraging it typically requires significant financial resources and time. Xperience by Kentico, on the other hand, provides a unified platform with robust content management and online marketing features that meet the needs of many organizations “out of the box,” all at a competitive price point that makes it an attractive choice for mid-sized enterprises.

Xperience by Kentico vs Storyblok

Similar to the comparison of Kentico vs. Kontent.ai, Storyblok is also a pure SaaS based headless CMS. Again, Xperience offers deeper digital marketing features like true personalization, cross-site behavior tracking, automation and hybrid headless flexibility. Marketers tend to appreciate all of the out-of-the-box functionality while maintaining developer flexibility. However, Storyblok's visual page editing experience is best in class, and marketers tend to love it when they first see it. Storyblok also offers a very compelling entry level price point for organizations, especially those looking for something a little bit more high-powered than WordPress.

If Storyblok is something you are interested in, then you should definitely check out BizStream's Web Accelerator for Storyblok. The WA rounds out the Storyblok feature set quite well and gives you a jumpstart on your development path.

Xperience by Kentico vs WordPress

WordPress is widely known for its flexibility, ease of use, and massive plugin ecosystem. It excels for blogs, small-to-medium business websites, and projects that need rapid deployment with minimal technical overhead. However, scaling WordPress for enterprise-level digital experiences, complex integrations, or advanced personalization can be challenging and often requires additional development or third-party solutions. Also, security is still a concern almost weekly with WordPress, and lately the state of the WordPress ecosystem is a bit up in the air.

Xperience by Kentico, in contrast, is designed as a full-featured digital experience platform. It provides a unified environment for content management, marketing automation, personalization, and multi-channel delivery. Enterprises benefit from a platform built for scalability, security, and structured workflows, enabling complex campaigns and integrations without relying on numerous plugins or custom development.

Xperience by Kentico vs Kontent.ai

Kontent.ai is a pure SaaS based headless CMS. It shines in complex content operations for global enterprises, is leading the way in many Agentic AI features, and we do use it quite a bit at BizStream. We are big fans, and that is why I even have a podcast about Kontent. However, Xperience gives marketers a good level of in-context control, visual page building, forms, search, membership, and digital marketing tool set with a hybrid model that still supports API first builds.

SaaS based tools like Kontent.ai are a bit more mature in their API capabilities and offer more global performance at scale without needing to maintain the core CMS on your own. There are definitely situations where Kontent.ai makes a lot of sense. Honestly, that last sentence is true of all of these platform comparisons.

BizStream Expertise with Xperience by Kentico

As co-owner of BizStream, a US-based digital agency, and a Kentico MVP, I have spent over 20 years delivering enterprise CMS solutions. Our team has:

250 plus successful Kentico and Xperience by Kentico implementations.
Recognized expertise in Azure, .NET, composable architectures, and AI.
Dozens of industry recognitions and awards around CMS implementations.
Multiple Kentico qualifications, certifications, and awards including top Gold Partner, upgrade expert, SaaS expert, and Accelerator expert.
Experience helping clients in North America and worldwide optimize their platforms.

BizStream is a go-to partner for enterprises evaluating Xperience by Kentico.

Getting Started with Selecting Xperience by Kentico

Choosing the right digital experience platform is about more than selecting a CMS. It is about ensuring the platform aligns with your organization’s technology stack, business goals, marketing strategy, and long term digital roadmap.

For organizations already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, Xperience by Kentico is often a natural fit. Built on modern .NET technologies and designed to work seamlessly with Azure, Microsoft development tools, enterprise authentication providers, and modern DevOps workflows, Xperience by Kentico is a platform that integrates well with existing Microsoft based infrastructure and teams.

Here are a few important steps to help guide your evaluation process.

1. Understand What Xperience by Kentico Offers

If you are new to Xperience by Kentico, start by learning the fundamentals of the platform, including its hybrid headless architecture, content management capabilities, digital marketing tools, and developer flexibility.

A great place to begin is my blog series: Xperience by Kentico at 20,025 feet.

This series provides a practical overview of the platform, its architecture, and where it fits within modern digital experience strategies.

2. Evaluate Your Current CMS and Digital Experience

Take time to assess how your current platform is performing today and where it may be creating friction for your teams.

Consider questions like:

Is your CMS easy for marketers and content editors to use?
Can your platform scale with future business needs?
Are integrations with CRM, marketing automation, ecommerce, or internal systems difficult?
Are developers able to work efficiently with modern frameworks and deployment workflows?
Does your current platform support personalization and omnichannel delivery?
Does your existing technology stack align well with a modern .NET and Azure based platform strategy?

Identifying these gaps early helps determine whether Xperience by Kentico is the right fit for your organization.

3. Plan for Migration and Integration Requirements

Migrating to a new platform involves more than moving pages and content. A successful implementation should account for:

Content migration and governance
Information architecture
SEO preservation
User roles and editorial workflows
Third party integrations
Hosting and infrastructure considerations
Future scalability and extensibility

A thoughtful migration strategy reduces risk and helps ensure long term success.

4. Work with Experienced Kentico Experts

Selecting and implementing a modern DXP can be complex. Partnering with experienced Kentico professionals can help you avoid common pitfalls, accelerate planning, and align the platform to your business goals.

As a Kentico MVP and co-owner of BizStream, I have helped organizations evaluate, architect, and implement Kentico solutions across a wide range of industries and enterprise scenarios. Feel free to contact me or the team at BizStream to discuss your Kentico journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Xperience by Kentico?: Xperience by Kentico is a Content Management System (CMS), digital commerce, and digital experience platform that combines CMS, digital marketing, and e-commerce features with a hybrid headless architecture. This is also known as a DXP or Digital Experience Platform.
Is Xperience by Kentico the same as Kentico EMS?: No, Xperience by Kentico is the next generation evolution of EMS with modern architecture and expanded cloud capabilities. Kentico EMS was another name for Kentico that lasted from 2011 to 2020. EMS stood for Enterprise Marketing Solution.
Is Xperience by Kentico the same as "Kentico Xperience"?: No, Xperience by Kentico is the next generation evolution of Kentico with modern architecture and expanded cloud capabilities. "Kentico Xperience" was another name for Kentico that lasted from 2020 to 2024. It was a small re-brand effort away from EMS.
Why should enterprises consider Xperience by Kentico?: It offers scalability, security, personalization, and flexibility, making it a strong fit for global organizations and enterprises.
How do I migrate from Kentico 13 to Xperience by Kentico?
How much does it cost to migrate from Kentico 13 to Xperience by Kentico?

Search By Tag: