Wagtail multi-site setup for multi-brand businesses: consolidate, scale, simplify

We set up a multi-site for a holding with four brands — we ran into code duplication and content confusion. The solution: one Wagtail installation with multiple sites. Our experience of over 5 years (10+ projects) guarantees a reliable architecture where each domain lives its own life but is administered centrally.

Wagtail multi-site is an engineering approach that saves up to 60% on hosting and accelerates deployment by 5x compared to separate installations. Clients often come with ready-made sites on different CMS — we merge them into one ecosystem via Wagtail multi-site, migrating content while preserving SEO metrics. This solves typical issues: N+1 queries with separate databases, template desynchronization, update complexity — all gone with centralized architecture.

The Wagtail documentation says: Multiple sites can be hosted from a single Wagtail instance. This is the foundation of our work. We configure data migrations for reproducibility across all environments — dev, stage, production.

What problems multi-site solves

• Code duplication. Instead of five copies of one project — a single codebase with updates in one place.
• Content confusion. Editors see only their pages thanks to access restrictions. No one accidentally breaks another's landing page.
• Maintenance costs. One server instead of five — less administration, higher security.

How we configure multi-site: a practice case

The client — an agency with three sites for different niches (e-commerce, blog, portfolio). We did:

• one PostgreSQL database with shared users and groups;
• three root HomePage pages with different slugs (ecommerce, blog, portfolio);
• three records in wagtailcore_site: shop.example.com, blog.example.com, portfolio.example.com;
• a shared ArticlePage model for all sites, but with different themes via get_context;
• access restrictions: three editor groups, each only sees its own branch.

Results: average page load time under 1 second, time to add a new site — 2 hours. Read more about configuration in Wagtail multi-site documentation.

Work process

1. Analysis. We study each site's structure, gather content and template requirements.
2. Design. We determine shared and separate page models, design the media library scheme.
3. Implementation. We configure wagtailcore_site, write data migrations, add access groups.
4. Testing. We check each domain: routing, content display, editor permissions.
5. Deployment. We deploy to production, configure NGINX with proxy to a single gunicorn.

Comparison of approaches: shared vs separate models

Estimated timelines

Basic setup for 2–3 domains with shared models takes 1–2 days. Pricing is calculated individually. For separate brand configurations, custom media libraries, and access restrictions — 3–4 days. Migrating an existing single-domain site starts from 2 days. Exact cost depends on complexity — contact us to evaluate your project.

Why multi-site is better than separate installations?

A 5-minute Wagtail installer is an illusion. Maintaining five copies means updating code five times, setting up SSL five times, monitoring five times. Multi-site reduces these costs manifold. Per our measurements, clients save 40–60% on hosting and administration budget when switching to a single installation.

What's included in turnkey configuration

• Configuration of wagtailcore_site (domains, ports, root pages)
• Data migration for reproducibility
• Media library separation (optional: tags or separate image model)
• Access restrictions (groups, GroupPagePermission)
• NGINX configuration (one upstream, multiple server blocks)
• Documentation on adding a new site to the structure
• Caching and CDN recommendations

How to organize access restrictions?

We use GroupPagePermission programmatically through data migration — this guarantees the same permissions on all environments (dev/stage/prod). Editor of site A does not see site B. Example code:

def setup_brand_editors(brand_root_page, group_name):
    group, _ = Group.objects.get_or_create(name=group_name)
    GroupPagePermission.objects.get_or_create(
        group=group,
        page=brand_root_page,
        permission_type='change',
    )
    GroupPagePermission.objects.get_or_create(
        group=group,
        page=brand_root_page,
        permission_type='publish',
    )
    return group

We guarantee stable operation under any load. Evaluate your project — contact us for a consultation. Don't postpone optimization — request an audit of your current architecture today.

Headless CMS: Strapi, Directus, Sanity, Contentful, Drupal

Traditional CMS works well until the designer says “I want scroll animation with parallax,” the frontend says “we need React,” and the SEO specialist asks “why is TTFB 3.4 seconds?” At that point, monolithic architecture starts to hinder everyone. I‘ve faced this dozens of times: a WordPress site with ACF balloons to 47 plugins, the admin panel slows down, and every redesign becomes a template rewrite. Headless CMS separates content management from presentation. Editors work in a convenient interface, developers get data via API and build the frontend on any stack. Sounds simple. In practice, choosing a CMS, modeling data, and setting up the API take a significant part of the project. With 7+ years and more than 50 implementations, I’ll share how to avoid common pitfalls. Contact us to discuss your project and get a preliminary estimate—we’ll help you pick the right stack.

What are the key benefits of headless CMS over monolithic?

Monolithic CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal in classic mode) mixes backend and frontend. Any layout change means changing templates, often risking breaking the admin panel. Decoupled architecture gives freedom: frontend on React, Vue, or Svelte, content lives separately. Result: improved load speed (LCP often drops from 4–6 s to 1–1.5 s), security (no public admin panel), scalability (content delivered via CDN without server load). Plus the ability to reuse content in mobile apps, kiosks, email newsletters via a single API. A client we recently helped saw LCP improve from 6.2 s to 1.1 s — a 5.6× gain — and their hosting bill dropped from $400/mo to $80/mo, saving $3,840 annually.

How to choose a headless CMS for your project?

No universal tool exists. The choice depends on team, content complexity, and infrastructure. Let’s break down the key options.

Strapi — open-source, self-hosted, Node.js. Suitable for teams needing data control and API customization. Plugin architecture allows custom routes, middleware, lifecycle hooks. REST and GraphQL out of the box. Deploys in about an hour — three times faster than Drupal. Weakness: versions v4 and v5 are incompatible, migration is painful. Our experience: for startups and medium projects, Strapi offers the best balance of flexibility and speed.

Directus — also open-source, but different approach: it doesn‘t generate a schema but wraps an existing database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite) into a REST/GraphQL API. If you already have a database, Directus connects without migrations. Convenient for projects where data already lives in PostgreSQL and you need a quick admin UI + API. Saves up to 30% integration time.

Sanity — cloud CMS with real-time editor. Its distinguishing feature is GROQ (Graph-Relational Object Queries), a custom query language more powerful than REST for complex document relationships. Portable Text for structured content. Suitable for media, publishers, marketing sites with non‑standard editorial workflows. Guarantees speed even with 500+ simultaneous editors — proven on projects with minute‑by‑minute news feed updates.

Contentful — enterprise cloud CMS. Strong points: localization (up to 1000 locales), rich SDK for all platforms, Contentful Apps for custom UI. Weakness: pricing at scale and limited data model flexibility compared to open‑source alternatives.

Drupal — not headless per se, but with JSON:API and GraphQL modules, it becomes a powerful API-first backend. Strengths: maturity, granular access control, enterprise clients (NASA, weather.com). High entry barrier; for complex government or corporate portals, few alternatives exist. We use it only when strict role hierarchy and access auditing are required.

Consequences of poor content modeling

Content modeling is critical. Mistakes at this stage are costly. A typical problem: a body field of type rich text for everything. Six months later, the content manager wants to insert a video between paragraphs, add a pull quote with custom styling, embed an interactive table. Rich text can‘t handle that. Solutions: Portable Text (Sanity) or custom components in Strapi/Directus via Dynamic Zone. We always allocate 2–3 iterations with the client during design to ensure the schema covers 90% of future use cases. On one project, this saved 80 hours of rework — the modeling budget paid off threefold.

How we build projects on headless CMS

Frontend for headless CMS almost always uses Next.js (App Router) or Nuxt. For Contentful and Sanity — ISR: pages are statically generated at build time, updated via revalidatePath() when content changes via webhook. For Strapi/Directus with frequent updates — SSR with cache: 'no-store' or SWR on the client.

Case study: redesign of a corporate website for a manufacturing company. Previous site: WordPress with ACF, 200+ pages, 4 languages. Problems: TTFB 3.8 s, editors complained about slow admin. Migrated to Strapi (self-hosted, PostgreSQL), Next.js App Router. Content model: Page with Dynamic Zone (sections: Hero, TextBlock, Gallery, TeamGrid, ContactForm). Localization via Strapi i18n plugin + next-intl on frontend. Frontend deployed on Vercel with ISR, revalidation via Strapi webhook on entry.publish. According to the client: TTFB dropped from 3.8 s to 180 ms (static with CDN) — a 21× improvement. Editors got a clean interface without 47 plugins. The project came in under budget and hosting costs dropped to $80/mo from $400/mo.

Implementation process broken into stages:

1. Content needs audit — collect all content types, relationships, localization requirements, integrations.
2. Data schema design — create models, fields, validation, access roles. Document in Swagger/OpenAPI.
3. CMS and API setup — deploy chosen CMS, configure REST/GraphQL endpoints, plugins, webhooks.
4. Frontend development — connect Next.js/Nuxt, configure ISR/SSR, section components, routing.
5. Content migration (if legacy) — automated loading via API or scripts.
6. Testing — check API endpoints, regression, load testing, Core Web Vitals.
7. Deployment — configure CDN, SSL, CI/CD, monitoring.

How long does implementation take?

The standard path includes all stages. Migrating from WordPress to headless CMS takes as long as the project itself—often longer, especially if WordPress has custom fields via ACF with non‑standard structure. Our typical timelines:

Cost is calculated individually after a brief. Hosting savings from static generation can reach up to 40% monthly — for a medium site that often means $2,000–$4,000 saved per year.

Non‑obvious considerations when choosing a headless CMS

• Check if the CMS supports multisite — if you plan multiple domains, many open‑source solutions can‘t separate content by domain without workarounds.
• Clarify the history format — Strapi stores drafts only for published versions, while Directus has full audit of all changes.
• Test admin panel speed on a slow internet connection — Sanity works in real‑time via WebSocket, which can be problematic with poor connectivity.
• Evaluate complexity of custom fields — in Contentful, adding a new field requires a deploy; in Strapi, only a server restart.
• Check licensing restrictions — Strapi v5 switched to Elastic License, which may affect commercial use.

What is included

• Data schema and API documentation (Swagger/OpenAPI)
• Configured admin panel with access rights
• Editor training (2‑hour session)
• Test environment during development
• 1‑month warranty on bugs after launch
• Post‑release support (including hotfixes 24/7)

Headless CMS development is not just a tool replacement but a paradigm shift in content management. We help make this transition without downtime or data loss. Get a consultation and preliminary estimate—leave a request on our website. Order headless CMS implementation with guaranteed results.