Mastering Adobe Composable Part 1/3: AEM Architectures

Technology

Adobe Composable

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Esteban Bustamante

Jan 28, 2026

In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital experience platforms, organizations are shifting away from rigid, monolithic systems toward modular, API-driven solutions. This is the first of three articles that offer a comprehensive examination of how the Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) ecosystem has responded to this shift.

On This Page:

The Shift From Traditional to Composable
Composable and Headless in the Adobe Web Ecosystem
AEM Architecture Solutions

The Shift From Traditional to Composable

Today, the traditional monolithic architecture approach, characterized by tightly integrated systems and applications offering a pre-packaged software stack, is no longer as sought after.

Instead, businesses have shifted towards a more scalable, modular architecture approach. This shift has given rise to more modern architectural paradigms such as "Headless" and "Composable."

Headless architecture, characterized by separating the frontend presentation layer from the backend content management and delivery systems, has emerged as a prominent trend in the industry. This approach offers enhanced flexibility and scalability in content delivery across various channels and devices.

By storing and managing content independently and retrieving it via APIs for dynamic frontend rendering, headless systems enable developers to exert greater control over user experiences, facilitating faster iteration and deployment of new features.

Furthermore, a composable architecture, which prioritizes modularity and flexibility, extends this trend by enabling organizations to build applications from reusable components. This approach promotes agility, interoperability, and adaptability, allowing businesses to quickly adjust to changing market demands.

According to Gartner, by 2026, at least 70% of organizations will adopt composable DXP technology, signaling a shift away from monolithic suites towards modular, API-driven solutions. However, with numerous options available, enterprises may be unsure which tool or product suite to select. This article provides a comprehensive guide to headless and composability for leading DXP vendors, showcasing how each approaches these new paradigms.

Composable and Headless in the Adobe Web Ecosystem

Adobe has incorporated elements of composable architecture into certain aspects of its Adobe Experience Cloud Ecosystem products. For example, Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) features a modular, flexible architecture that enables organizations to integrate and compose various services and components. Notably, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) has evolved into a Hybrid CMS, allowing the implementation of software projects with Headful, Headless, or Hybrid architectures.

AEM Architecture Solutions

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a content management system (CMS) designed to store, manage, and deliver content, creating engaging online experiences. It provides various architectural options for implementing websites and applications, which we'll briefly outline below:

Full Stack

Also referred to as 'headful,' this traditional approach to implementing AEM projects involves using Sling and AEM components, with the backend delivering complete HTML to the client. Content delivery in full-stack CMS commonly occurs via internal content delivery APIs. Frontend functionality is typically specific to the full-stack CMS, and HTL is the technology AEM uses. This coupling of frontend technology with the content backend allows for a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) authoring experience.

The primary focus of this document is exploring the headless options available; however, understanding the traditional AEM website creation architecture is also helpful in gaining a more comprehensive view of these options.

Advantages

Simplicity: Monolithic architectures are often simpler to understand and manage because all components are tightly integrated into a single application. This simplicity can make development, deployment, and maintenance easier.
Resource Efficiency: Monolithic architectures can be more resource-efficient in terms of hardware utilization. Since all components run within the same application process, there is less overhead than running multiple separate services.
Security: Monolithic architectures can sometimes be easier to secure because there are fewer entry points for potential attackers. Security measures can be applied at the application level, making access control easier to manage.
Affordability: Initially, a monolithic architecture reduces the total cost of ownership by employing a single architecture stack, leading to efficiencies in system maintenance and training.
Authoring experience: Integrating all components enhances the authoring experience. AEM provides the Page Editor, a powerful WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) tool designed specifically for this purpose.

Disadvantages

Scalability Challenges: Monolithic architectures can be complex to scale horizontally because the entire application must be replicated rather than just specific components.
Limited Flexibility: Monolithic architectures are less flexible than other architectures because changes or updates to one part of the application often require redeployment of the entire monolith
Technology Stack Limitations: Monolithic architectures often restrict developers to a specific technology stack, as all application components are tightly integrated. A failure in one part of the monolith can also bring down the entire system.
Scaling Development Teams: In large projects, monolithic architectures can pose challenges for scaling development teams. With all developers working on the same codebase, coordination and collaboration become more difficult, potentially leading to bottlenecks and slower development cycles.
Vendor Lock-in: Adopting a monolithic architecture from a specific vendor can lead to vendor lock-in, making it challenging to migrate to alternative solutions in the future.

Headless

The headless approach with the frontend and backend decoupled contrasts with the traditional content management approach. Content is accessible via an API, which allows it to be displayed on any device. Developed and maintained independently, the front-end retrieves content from the headless backend using a Content Delivery API, typically in JSON format.

AEM provides tools to ensure content can be structured according to a model or schema. A key benefit of headless CMS technology is the ability to reuse content across multiple channels, each with its own client-side frontend implementations. This capability significantly streamlines the front-end development process. However, it also means that the front-end experience development process can become highly code—and IT-centric, with IT essentially taking ownership of the experience.

Advantages

Flexibility: Headless CMS architectures decouple the content management backend from the frontend presentation layer, enabling greater flexibility in how content is consumed and displayed across platforms and devices.
Scalability: Headless architectures are inherently scalable, enabling organizations to easily scale their content infrastructure as their needs evolve.
Content Reusability: Content created in a headless CMS can be easily reused across multiple channels and applications, enabling consistent, efficient content management.
Technology-Agnostic: Headless CMS architectures are technology agnostic, meaning developers can use the programming languages, frameworks, and tools that best suit their needs for building front-end applications.
Performance: By separating the backend content management system from the frontend presentation layer, headless architectures can often deliver improved performance, as content can be optimized and delivered more efficiently to end-users
Accelerated Deployment: By separating the front-end and back-end, teams can work on each part independently. This speeds up the process of introducing new features and updates.
Adaptability: Headless architectures enable content management strategies to adapt to new technologies and channels without requiring a complete overhaul of the content setup.
API-First Approach: Headless architectures typically follow an API-first approach, making it easier to integrate with other systems and services, such as e-commerce platforms, marketing automation tools, and third-party applications.
Cost of Ownership: Although adopting a headless CMS architecture could increase the total cost of ownership, it's important to consider situations where it's more cost-effective. By embracing a 'pay for what you need' approach, organizations can avoid investing in expansive Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) that offer numerous functionalities, many of which may not be utilized. Instead, they can opt for a more tailored solution that focuses only on the specific features required, potentially reducing expenses.

Disadvantages

Content Fragmentation: Managing content across multiple front-end applications can lead to fragmentation, where similar or related content is stored and managed separately. This can result in inconsistencies in branding, messaging, and user experience if not carefully coordinated and managed.
Limited Authoring Experience: Authoring capabilities are limited but sufficient for basic needs, relying on simple input editors; in AEM, this is supported through the Content Fragment editor.
Increased Development Complexity: Building and maintaining multiple front-end applications in a headless CMS architecture can introduce additional development complexities. Developers must ensure consistent data formatting and API integrations across various channels, which may require more time and effort than a single, monolithic CMS solution.
Complexity for Security, Access Control, and Personalization: Implementing security measures, access control policies, and personalization features in a headless CMS architecture can be more complex than traditional coupled architectures. Managing these aspects across multiple front-end applications may require additional effort and expertise, potentially increasing risks and vulnerabilities.
Learning Curve for Teams: Transitioning to a headless CMS architecture may require a learning curve for both development and content teams. Adapting to new workflows, tools, and best practices for managing content in a decoupled environment may take time and training, initially impacting productivity and efficiency. However, partnering with an experienced team proficient in building headless or composable architectures can help alleviate these challenges.
Slower Time to Market: In a headless CMS architecture, certain types of changes, such as title or image updates, often require developer involvement. This can lead to a slower time-to-market for new features and updates. The coordination between IT and marketing teams may lead to increased back-and-forth communication and implementation delays.

Hybrid

Adobe began calling it “hybrid,” a combination of the best of headless and headful approaches. With this Hybrid approach, developers can utilize modern tools to build websites and apps that function seamlessly on any device. At the same time, non-technical users can still easily create and manage content without needing IT help. This balance ensures that things run smoothly and allows everyone to contribute to creating great digital experiences. A key aspect of this approach is that content can be delivered through an API or traditional HTML.

Although AEM is still considered a hybrid CMS by definition, SPAs were initially designed to enable a hybrid architecture. With SPAs, you could create content in AEM and deliver it headlessly to a SPA, while still allowing that SPA to remain editable within AEM. The SPA Editor, intended to implement the hybrid architecture fully, was deprecated in 2025 in favor of the Universal Editor. This editor-as-a-service tool supports both headless and headful implementations.

Comparing Architectures

Option	Description	Pros	Cons	Common Use Cases
Full Stack Architecture	The front and back ends are tightly coupled within a single system, enabling a WYSIWYG authoring experience.	Simplicity: Easier to understand and manage due to tight integration. Resource Efficiency: Hardware utilization is optimized as all components run within the same process. Security: Fewer points of entry for attackers; easier application-level security measures and access control. Affordability: Lower total cost of ownership initially due to a single architecture stack, leading to maintenance and training efficiencies. WYSIWYG for the authoring experience	Scalability Challenge: Difficulty in horizontal scaling; entire application replication needed. Limited Flexibility: Changes in one part require redeployment of the entire monolith. Technology Stack Lock-in: Developers are tied to specific technology stacks due to tight integration. Single Point of Failure: Failure in one part can cause the entire system to crash. Team Scaling Issue: Coordination challenges with all developers on the same codebase. Vendor Lock-in: Adoption may make it difficult to migrate to alternatives.	When your development team possesses strong expertise in AEM. When your implementation requires leveraging all AEM capabilities for sites, such as Link Checker, AEM Launches, etc. When you plan to utilize Adobe Experience Cloud products alongside AEM extensively. When you want to avoid maintaining and incurring additional costs for a separate infrastructure. When you require extensive authoring capabilities.
Hybrid Architecture	The frontend and backend can be decoupled if required. By leveraging the Universal Editor or the SPA Editor (now deprecated), authors can retain a WYSIWYG authoring experience, thereby combining the key advantages of the other two architectural approaches.	Support for multiple channels. Improved performance with backend-frontend separation. Accelerated deployment with independent workstreams. Potentially reduced requirement for AEM expertise. Out-of-the-box components and libraries are available for project implementation.	Support is limited to SPA technology, which has been deprecated: the AEM JS libraries and SDK support only Angular and React (including Next.js). SEO challenges: SEO typically requires addressing with SSR (Server-Side Rendering), which can be challenging to set up. Higher Cost: Managing multiple systems increases operational expenses Initial learning curve: A significant learning curve exists when using AEM SPA utilities. Some site management functionalities in AEM are not supported. Developers have complete control over the SPA, dictating where and which pages need to be created for the application.	Following the SPA Editor’s deprecation, the Universal Editor is the preferred solution for both headless and headful implementations.
Headless Architecture	Decouples the front and back end, with limited (if any) author experience.	Flexibility: Decouples backend and frontend for versatile content display. Scalability: Inherently scalable and grows with organizational needs. Content Reusability: Easily reuse content across channels. Technology Agnostic: Developers use preferred languages and tools. Performance: Improved performance with backend-frontend separation. Accelerated Deployment: Independent work speeds up feature rollout. Adaptability: Easily adapt to new technologies and channels. API-First Approach: Simplifies integration with other systems.	Increased Complexity: Maintaining multiple frontends adds complexity. Slower Time to Market: Changes require developer involvement, slowing the rollout. Security and Personalization Complexity: Implementing features is more complex. Higher Cost: Managing multiple systems increases operational expenses. Content Fragmentation: Management across frontends leads to fragmentation. Learning Curve: Transitioning requires time and training. WYSIWYG editor for content fragments only.	Following the SPA Editor’s deprecation, the Universal Editor is the preferred solution for both headless and headful implementations.

In the next article in the series, I'll explore the tools and technologies available in the AEM ecosystem that enable headless implementations.

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