DatoCMS

Headless CMS. Done Right.

DatoCMS is a cloud-based headless CMS designed to work with static websites, mobile apps and server-side applications of any kind. Freelancers, agencies and startups use DatoCMS to allow non-technical clients and team members to manage the content of their digital products within a web-based CMS.

Visual Editing Launch

We started building DatoCMS about 10 years ago, when headless CMS was just becoming the "next" architecture for the modern web. The core idea's become very well established: structured content, API-first delivery, and full freedom on the frontend. One of the weak spots has always been the same though: visual editing. We always felt that the editors were missing out on what a Headless CMS could do for them because of how technical it has been by nature.

For a long time, headless meant great DX, but editors had to mentally map content and pages to models and blocks. Over the years, many platforms introduced their own versions of visual editing, often relying on iframes, CMS-rendered previews, or tightly coupled page builders.

Today we’re launching Visual Editing for DatoCMS, which is our take on solving that problem without breaking the headless model. Our primary goal with this feature is to make it dead easy for developers to implement Visual Editing in DatoCMS, so editors can work on their websites as frictionlessly as possible!

Our approach is based on:

• Real frontend previews running your actual app, not a CMS abstraction
• Content-aware deep links that connect any record or field to its exact usage in the UI
• A framework-agnostic setup that works with modern stacks (we have SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, and Astro) and supports drafts, preview environments, and production safely

The goal isn’t to turn DatoCMS into a visual page builder. It’s to add visual context where it’s missing, while keeping developers in full control of rendering, data fetching, and architecture.

This feature is the result of years of feedback from our users and customers, and we’re excited to hear what you think! I'll be around and happy to dive into implementation details or trade-offs in the comments.

Thanks for your support 🧡