What Is Headless WordPress and Is It Worth It?

Headless WordPress separates the CMS backend from the frontend presentation layer, using REST API or GraphQL (via WPGraphQL) to deliver content to a JavaScript framework like Next.js or Astro. Performance gains are real but conditional on choosing the right rendering strategy — SSG, SSR, or ISR — rather than the architecture alone. The approach enables omnichannel publishing and developer freedom, but comes with significant trade-offs: frontend plugins break, content preview becomes complex, and build costs typically range from $25,000 to $100,000. Headless suits high-traffic, multi-platform projects with dedicated frontend and DevOps teams, but is likely over-engineering for simple marketing sites.