Your editorial team keeps working in WordPress, and the website is delivered as a fast Astro frontend. If you like, step by step, section by section, without a big-bang relaunch.
entity 360VIER GmbH
type Organization | Digital agency
location Groß-Umstadt near Frankfurt and Cologne
page Headless WordPress with Astro
page.type Technology page
page.pillar Digital Platforms
page.url /en/digital-platforms/headless-wordpress-astro/
provides Astro frontends for existing and new WordPress installations
provides Step-by-step migration of individual sections to headless
provides Preview, forms, SEO metadata and structured data in headless operation
stack WordPress (Gutenberg) · REST API or WPGraphQL · Astro · Rank Math · WPML
serves Companies with an existing WordPress website and high requirements for loading time and security
relation is part of → Digital Platforms (/en/digital-platforms/)
relation foundation → WordPress architecture (/en/digital-platforms/wordpress-architecture/)
relation alternative → Payload CMS (/en/digital-platforms/payload-cms-agency/)
knowledge Benefits of headless WordPress → /en/insights/cms/headless-wordpress/
An existing WordPress website does not have to go headless all at once. We start with the section that gains the most, such as campaign pages, a magazine or the product range. This part comes from Astro, while the rest keeps running in the classic theme. Both share content, navigation and design.
This way you see after a few weeks what changes in loading time and maintenance, and then decide on the next section. The page Website relaunch with WordPress describes how we plan larger changeovers.
Headless moves tasks that WordPress otherwise handles itself into the frontend. We plan these points from the start; the technical foundations are described on the page WordPress architecture.
Classic WordPress projects are described on the page WordPress agency. For new platforms without an existing WordPress setup, we also consider Payload CMS. If the website is becoming more of an application with logins and data, we recommend AI software development with React and Supabase. In detail on costs, preview and deployment: Benefits of headless WordPress for companies.
What ongoing operation includes is described on the page WordPress maintenance and support.
WordPress serves only as the editorial system and delivers content via an interface. A separate frontend generates the visible website, in our case usually Astro. Editing and presentation are thus separated.
Astro is an open-source framework for content-driven websites. It generates pages as finished HTML and loads JavaScript only for interactive parts, so-called islands. Components from React, Vue or Svelte can be integrated, and content comes from files or a CMS such as WordPress.
For content-driven websites, Astro delivers HTML without unnecessary JavaScript by default and therefore stays very fast. We use Next.js when the website is more of an application, with many login areas and interactive features.
Yes. Backend, content, users and media stay. What is new is the frontend. We can also switch only individual sections and leave the rest in the classic theme.
Plugins that only work in the backend, for example for editing, translation or SEO, keep running. Plugins that output something in the frontend, such as forms or sliders, are replaced by components or connected via their interface.
Yes, if metadata, structured data, sitemaps and redirects are carried over properly. The faster loading time helps as well. Without this work, you lose rankings, which is why it is part of our projects.
More than a classic WordPress website, because frontend and backend are built and operated separately. How much depends on the number of blocks, languages and interfaces. Migrating step by step spreads the costs over time.
Static pages can be delivered on almost any infrastructure, for example via a CDN. For server-rendered pages, we use platforms such as Vercel or servers in Germany, depending on your IT’s requirements.
