Best CMS for Mobile Apps in 2024 (2024)

Looks like you're researching all about content management systems (CMS), and now you're wondering with all the options out there, which one is best suited to you.

Whether you need confirmation or guidance on choosing the best option, this article will help.

Why choose a CMS for your mobile app?

You probably already know the benefits, but here's a quick refresher.

A mobile app CMS offers a range of advantages for app marketers, product and content teams. They allow for easy & rapid content updates, design updates and better user engagement without any dependence on engineering teams.

Key features to look for in a mobile app CMS

It's also important to understand the key features that a CMSshould have:

1. Ease of use: The CMS should have a user-friendly interface that allows non-technical (marketing, product, content, etc) users to manage UI design & content without extensive training.‍
2. Performance: The CMS should dynamically render new content within milliseconds of an event-fire.‍
3. Flexibility: Support for various design and content types (text, images, videos) and formats is crucial.‍
4. Scalability: It should be able to handle growth in content volume and user base without performance degradation.‍
5. Integration capabilities: The CMS should easily integrate with other tools and platforms, such as your analytics and marketing automation tools.‍
6. Security: Ensuring that the CMS has robust security features (SOC2 and GDPRcompliance) to protect sensitive data.‍

Now let's check out some of the best CMS for mobile apps in 2024.

Plotline

Plotline allows product and marketing teams to deploy engaging and interactive in-app elements (widgets, stories, nudges, gamification features) within mobile apps without any dev-dependence.

1. Choose if: You are a mobile-first consumer tech company looking for ease-of-use by non-technical teams.
2. Strength/uniqueness: The whole content and design UI is customizable from the dashboard itself. This is different from other tools which need engineering effort to create and update the design.
3. Features: Has capabilities to engage users inside the app with various UI/UXpatterns like Stories, Animations, Floaters, etc.
4. Main geography of operations: US, South East Asia, India, MENA
5. Pricing: The Starter plan starts at $499. You can book a call for a free trial.

Contentful

Contentful is a composable content platform that delivers impactful experiences. Both technical and non-technical users can create, manage, publish, and expand distinct content experiences for any digital channel.

Unlike Plotline, the design needs to be created and updated by your engineering team.

1. Choose if: You are a B2B SaaS company, digital agency, or mobile app-based company.
2. Strength/uniqueness: It also acts as a Composable DXP (Digital Experience Platform)
3. Features: Orchestrate content from various platforms to create multi-experiences that can be published to any audience on the desired part of the app.
4. Main geography of operations: Strong presence in North America, expanding globally.

dotCMS

dotCMS is a Java-based, open-source hybrid DXP that enables medium, large, and enterprise-sized businesses to oversee omnichannel content management.

1. Choose if: Best suited for global enterprises across industries that manage multiple brands, websites, apps, workflows, and content types across multiple languages.
2. Strength/uniqueness: Helps to build, manage, and deploy content-based applications like intranets and SPAs apart from mobile apps and websites.
3. Features: It provides hybrid CMS (headless and traditional), multi-tenant capabilities, flexible content modeling, personalization, and targeting.
4. Main geography of operations: Strong presence in North America and Europe.

Optimizely

Optimizely unlocks your team to create content with speed, launch experiments with confidence, and deliver experiences of the highest quality.

1. Choose if: You are looking for a tool for your web app.
2. Strength/uniqueness: it acts as an integrated CMS and as an experimentation platform.
3. Features: It provides A/B testing and personalization, advanced analytics, multi-channel content delivery, integrated marketing tools
4. Main geography of operations: Presence in North America and Europe.

How to choose the right CMS for your mobile app?

• Choose Plotline if you need zero dependence on dev efforts.
• Choose Contentful if you are searching for features of a Composable DXP (Digital Experience Platform).
• dotCMS can be chosen if you need a hybrid CMS (both headless and traditional).
• If you are a web app in search of a CMS integrated with an experimentation platform (for extensive A/B testing, advanced analytics, etc), choose Optimizely.

Final thoughts

By thoroughly researching and comparing the above options, you can make a well-informed choice that aligns with your content managing strategy for your mobile app in 2024 and beyond.

If you're interested in learning more about how you can engage your users inside your app with high flexibility & zero dev-dependence, start your free trial with Plotline.