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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cascade CMS

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ACascade CMS (formerly Cascade Server) by Hannon Hill is a content management system, with built-in tools to help users eliminate stale content, increase digital outreach, and promote end-user adoption and accountability. Cascade CMS is designed for decentralized web teams in most major industries, including higher education, government, healthcare, and technology. Included is Clive, an engagement and real-time personalization tool for collecting information and using it to craft personalized…N/A

    Contentstack

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AContentstack headquartered in San Francisco offers an API-first headless CMS. From desktops to smart phones, from kiosks to smart watches, from billboards to jumbotrons, from dashboards to VR headsets – content is delivered with the push of a button and optimized for every screen, device and channel.N/A
    Pricing
    Cascade CMSContentstack
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cascade CMSContentstack
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cascade CMSContentstack
    Considered Both Products
    Hannon Hill
    No answer on this topic
    Contentstack
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    Features
    Cascade CMSContentstack
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Cascade CMS and Contentstack
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    8.0
    19 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Contentstack
    7.4
    11 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Role-based user permissions8.019 Ratings7.411 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Cascade CMS and Contentstack
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    7.1
    13 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Contentstack
    7.5
    10 Ratings
    4% below category average
    API7.012 Ratings8.19 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language7.37 Ratings6.98 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Cascade CMS and Contentstack
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    7.1
    19 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Contentstack
    8.1
    12 Ratings
    3% above category average
    WYSIWYG editor6.119 Ratings8.12 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness6.018 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Admin section8.019 Ratings7.712 Ratings
    Page templates9.017 Ratings7.78 Ratings
    Library of website themes5.52 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design7.015 Ratings6.69 Ratings
    Publishing workflow9.019 Ratings6.810 Ratings
    Form generator6.47 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of Cascade CMS and Contentstack
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    6.9
    18 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Contentstack
    6.4
    12 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Content taxonomy8.013 Ratings7.210 Ratings
    SEO support7.014 Ratings6.410 Ratings
    Bulk management9.014 Ratings5.79 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions6.011 Ratings6.58 Ratings
    Community / comment management4.85 Ratings6.16 Ratings
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    Cascade CMSContentstack
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    Umbraco CMS
    Score7 out of 10
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    Score7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Square Online
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Square Online
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
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    Score9 out of 10
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    User Ratings
    Cascade CMSContentstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (44 ratings)
    9.5
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (26 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    6.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    8.2
    (9 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cascade CMSContentstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Hannon Hill
    Cascade Server is well suited with it's WYSIWYG editor being better than most editors that I have used in other systems. In context, editing makes adding content easy compared to the last CMS I used where you had to wing it and view the page outside of the CMS to see if it was correct. The ability mix HTML, CSS, and the Script of your choice anywhere and with ease.
    The scenarios were Cascade Server is less appropriate would be in the use of compilers or programs like Visual studio. You need to go out of Cascade Server and go to other environments to perform tasks and then copy the result to Cascade Server. You can write directly in Cascade Server, but it's easier to do in and editor that is specific to a function.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contentstack
    Contentstack has flexible functionality which opens up a lot of possibilities for businesses with proactive web development teams to create their own website builder app to compete with 3rd party agencies. This is especially useful in a large enterprise where non-technical teams often turn to expensive outside agencies which cost more in the long run than an up-front investment into an in-house application.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Hannon Hill
    • Cascade CMS makes no assumptions about your content. Templates control how the content gets displayed.
    • Workflows are intuitive and allow for one or more people to review content before it is published.
    • The published site is static (no database connection) which allows for faster page loads and reduced risk of attack.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contentstack
    • Enables us to build and architect content through the use of their easy to use software and user interface.
    • Customer service has been by far the most reliable and responsive in any vendor i've dealt with.
    • Listens to feedback and builds features and technical improvements that helps customers usability and experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Hannon Hill
    • Cascade CMS is not an out-of-the-box pre-built system that you can install, turn on and expect to be serving sites and pages on day one. It's not a blogging system like WordPress, or a drag-and-drop system like SquareSpace (both of which I've used for their own purposes). You need to have someone tasked with management and system administration – and if you implement the on-premise self-hosted version, you ought to have several people. We have the university's IT shop handling infrastructure (server hardware, containers, clustering, operating systems, load-balancing, DNS, database servers, NAS/SAN drives), our Web & Design team managing Cascade CMS (system settings, sites, templates, permissions) and managers coordinating each respective academic unit (A&S, business, education, law, marine science).
    Read full review
    Contentstack
    • In my opinion it's not very intuitive. I've found its difficult to understand how to best structure entries, especially if they are related
    • In my experience, entries can get difficult to understand if weren't the creator. It would be helpful to have some meta data around the entry itself and the fields within them in my opinion.
    • Integration with an A/B testing platform would be nice.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Hannon Hill
    Changing systems would require too much effort. Our institution is using Cascade Server, WordPress and Drupal but we only serve 2200 students so we have 1 too many content management systems. Reflecting on current technical resources we would like to drop down to 2. This effort hasn't moved forward because of the extensive work required to migrate content and train users in a new system.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Hannon Hill
    Cascade CMS is completely usable on mobile devices, we can train our content editors in a single 2-hour session, and we support 1,000 users with a very small team.
    There is a level of complexity for the system administrators, site managers and web programmers who implement templates and content types. But the complexity is neither arbitrary nor inconsistent – and once learned provides a powerful environment within which we can develop robust sites that are beautiful and powerful, yet easy for our content editors to manage.
    Read full review
    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Hannon Hill
    Amazing customer service and VERY customizable.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Hannon Hill
    Does a great job.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Hannon Hill
    They have always regarded any question or problem we encountered as very important. We have never felt that they ignore or downplay any issue and not once has anything been left unresolved. They also hold an annual conference where users are invited to attend and share their experiences and wisdom with the entire Cascade community. And with the care and support the provide, we all feel a part of that community.
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    Contentstack
    They have an in-app chat with their support team, who is always quick to respond and provide helpful answers. I've never walked away from an interaction without my issue being solved quickly and easily. They're also very communicative over email and are sure to follow up after any changes are made to ensure we're seeing the desired result. They are always very professional and easy to work with.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Hannon Hill
    Training was helpful.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Hannon Hill
    Still needed that physical help
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Hannon Hill
    The key to any CMS implementation is PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Proper planning with Cascade can increase your satisfaction exponentially once the site migration/creation is complete. When all is said and done, your implementation can make your site run like a Yugo or Maserati. Be smart and deliberate in your decisions. Drive the Maserati. It is already paid for.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Hannon Hill
    We selected Cascade server seven years ago, and the CMS environment at the time was clearly different than it is today. We decided to go with a vendor solution rather than a free solution because the long term cost in hosting a free solution is not, in fact, free; we've found Cascade to have been an excellent choice for us.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    Contentstack has better international hosting support then Contentful and we found the presales and sales support people were MUCH more responsive than Contentful. The Sitecore sales process was very very slow and overly complex. We felt Sitecore had many features that were not valuable and the cost to benefit ratio was much lower compared to ContentStack
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Hannon Hill
    I used it only a few times.
    Incentivized
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    Contentstack
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Hannon Hill
    • Initially, ROI was positive - because we completely redesigned the website when we implemented Cascade.
    • Over time, the inability to keep up with the latest interactive tools has reduced visitors time on site.
    • Also over time, the difficulty of use has led to less buy-in by backend users, leading to outdated pages, little timely information, and lower visitors.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contentstack
    • Saved significant amounts of money that would previously been spent on 3rd party agencies to build websites
    • Empowered Comms teams to create and edit the design and content of their own websites on demand rather than relying on the Dev team
    • Allowed the Development team to concentrate on building functionality rather than websites, so we can focus on improvement rather than BAU work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots