I’m fairly new to the WordPress world and have been trying to understand headless WordPress lately. At first I thought it just meant creating a static website using something like Gatsby or Next.js and then fetching content through the WordPress REST API when needed.
However, I’ve seen some guides that use the block editor with GraphQL in headless configurations. These tutorials seem to create the entire page layout within WordPress and then send that structure to the frontend as JSON for rendering.
This has me confused because it feels like you’re just making a custom page builder that happens to use WordPress blocks. What’s the advantage over using a dedicated website builder platform?
think of it this way - headless wp is like having a car engine without the body. you can attach any frontend you want to it. the block editor stuff your seeing is kinda like keeping wordpress’s dashboard but serving the content elsewhere. its popular becuase clients still get the familar wp interface they know
Both approaches you mentioned are valid forms of headless WordPress, but they solve different problems. I’ve been using headless setups for about three years now and what you’re seeing with the block editor approach isn’t just a fancy page builder. The key difference is content portability and developer workflow. When you use WordPress blocks with GraphQL, you’re essentially creating reusable content components that can be rendered across multiple platforms - web, mobile apps, digital displays, whatever. The blocks become your content schema rather than just layout tools. This becomes powerful when you need to syndicate content or when non-technical users need to manage complex layouts without breaking things. Traditional page builders lock you into their ecosystem and rendering engine. With headless WordPress blocks, developers maintain control over the actual rendering logic while content creators work with familiar tools. The real advantage emerges when you need to scale content operations or integrate with other systems. WordPress handles the content management complexity while your frontend can be optimized for performance, SEO, or specific user experiences that traditional WordPress themes simply cannot achieve efficiently.
The confusion you’re experiencing is completely understandable because headless WordPress can be implemented in multiple ways depending on your needs. I’ve worked with both approaches you mentioned and they serve different purposes. When you use WordPress purely as a content API with Gatsby or Next.js, you’re essentially treating it as a CMS database. The frontend developer has complete control over presentation and performance optimization. This approach works well when you have technical teams who want maximum flexibility. The block editor approach with GraphQL maintains WordPress’s visual editing experience while still decoupling the frontend. Content creators can see their layouts taking shape using familiar WordPress tools, which reduces training overhead. The advantage over dedicated website builders is that you retain WordPress’s extensive plugin ecosystem, user management, and hosting flexibility while gaining performance benefits of static generation. In my experience, the choice depends on your team composition. If content creators are comfortable with WordPress but you need better performance or want to serve multiple channels from one content source, the block editor approach often provides the best balance between usability and technical benefits.