Kentico Review

Kentico is marketed as a CMS that builds itself out slowly into a fully comprehensive solution, leaning into a lot of digital optimization for multiple channels. Is an all-encompassing CMS right for you, or a little too much?

While it's not the CMS of choice for those of us on a strict budget, Kentico nonetheless is a strong contender in the CMS software world. Kentico software is sophisticated and designed to allow implementation in a myriad of ways.

If you are building a large site, or if your site has a high need for multi-functionality, this may be the right content management system for your project.

Who is Kentico for?

Kentico is a lot, that's for sure. It does a lot well, but that also means it may be more well-suited for large enterprise, high traffic, or multiple functionality websites.

For single entities or smaller businesses, its operations can be overkill. Plus, with its higher price point, a critical factor, it often automatically prices itself out of the budgets of many small businesses.

It is a very robust platform -- and priced as such -- so Kentico is an ideal fit for big organizations and larger websites.

Kentico's features

With a build based on tons of options, Kentico CMS prides itself on its numerous features.

Multiple users

A must for any large scale, or even smaller scale, operation is the ability to allow more than one person access to the backend. But not just any access -- differentiated permissions are important.

Kentico allows for many users with varying access permissions and keeps them organized with pertinent information, including email, level of authority, date created, and more.

Kentico users' tool allows for a lot of control and information to manage your team of contributors. Image source: Author

Detailed templates

At first glance, Kentico's template set is a little different than you may be used to. It looks worlds different than, say, the highly visual nature of Squarespace.

But once you get past the culture shock and learning curve, you'll see that you have a much higher degree of control over your templates on a multi-detailed level.

Kentico digs more into the UI-side of things, so there is some learning curve here, too, but it is nothing too crazy complicated.

Kentico presents options for UI templates as a list. Image source: Author

Debugging and hotfixes

Kentico takes bug reports seriously. It accommodates several layers of fixes: basic debugging and the Kentico hotfix.

In your basic Kentico dashboard, you can see a report of cache items and hash tables (data structures for coding) and have the opportunity to clear them out for some internal, one-and-done debugging.

Kentico's debugging widget gives insight into caches. Image source: Author

What's really special, though, are Kentico's hotfixes. These are essentially quick and all-encompassing bug fixes built by Kentico's coders themselves and designed as installable updates.

Within seven days of a known bug getting reported, they will release a hotfix version for you to download. Installing it automatically fixes the system issue or issues, with no stress and no work on your end.

Each Kentico hotfix release includes all previous bug fix codes, so you are always up to date and running at peak efficiency. Image source: Author

Unification with Kontent

Formerly known as Kentico Cloud, the newly renamed Kentico Kontent lets you organize and streamline multiple content channels through one interface. Again, this applies more to larger organizations.

Still, if you have content spread out across various channels and numerous systems, Kentico Kontent unifies the experience so that you can access all streams from one easy hub. It's an organizational dream and cuts down on the risk of missing a critical channel update or access.

Built-in spell check

Spell check seems so simple, but it really is one of those features you miss when it isn't there. Built-in spell check is great for catching those hastily made typos.

A single click and you're saved from the stress of an overlooked mistake before going live.

As you finish typing, simply click Spell check and rest assured that your typing is accurate before you publish. Image source: Author

Easy page editing

Once you get into the heart of editing your pages, Kentico delivers a clean workspace and streamlined experience. The left toolbar allows for easy page navigation, with the ability to expand and collapse, keeping your view clutter free.

The editing frame itself is laid out quite similarly to your typical word processor, putting you at ease for the actual editing.

Kentico's page editor makes it easy to create content by having the sidebar on the left side of the page. Image source: Author

Lead scoring

An essential part of content management, crossing into more marketing fields, is the ability to integrate lead scoring.

The Kentico module allows you to access and follow two types of rules sets when identifying the quality of leads: by demographics: location, age, title, etc., and by behavioral data: downloads, form fills, page visits, etc.

This integration makes for a smooth flow from marketing to sales and gives a good insight into your audience's behavior and the customer's journey.

Ability to schedule tasks

With this Kentico feature, knowing coding will be a plus, so if you have that skill set, you can do some pretty cool and handy things.

Rather than having to remember to do certain things on a cycled manual schedule, you can program regularly scheduled tasks directly into Kentico. This feature keeps the theoretical systems and applications you have running synced up.

Some examples of tasks you can schedule Kentico to run for you include running nightly summary reports, sending a reminder email, data syncing, etc.

With some knowledge of coding, you can set up any number of system tasks for Kentico to run for you. Image source: Author

Settings and social marketing

With so many social media platforms to keep up with, one of Kentico's most significant features is its ability to sync your social marketing. You can adjust settings to automatically integrate with your social networks.

One of the cooler capabilities, too, is the built-in URL shortener, which will automatically shorten links to post to each social media's specification.

Kentico's neat social media feature lets you shorten your URLs for social media posting standards. Image source: Author

Kentico's ease of use

Right out of the box, there is a bit of a learning curve to this software. The interface is very unique and not really similar to something like WordPress or Wix. To get started, you'll probably need a bit of Kentico training for integration.

Once you are set up to go, though, the differences don't really matter. Kentico's user interface is pretty intuitive and easy to understand.

The Kentico dashboard is a perfect example. It uses rows of widgets, kind of like a streamlined version of the settings toolbar on a computer. The mix of icons and clear titles make diving in a stress-free operation.

Plus, you can customize it to have what matters most to you readily available.

The Kentico main dashboard has easy-to-understand categories. Image source: Author

Kentico's pricing

Pricing is where Kentico loses a lot of potential customers: it isn't cheap. The base plan starts at $7,999/year, with multiple licenses and increased capabilities adding to the price. The next tier is $15,999/year, and beyond that, you need to get special corporate price quotes.

You do get quite a lot for your money, though, so it is not wasted dollars. However, if you're a smaller organization, the price can be a big hurdle to get past.

Kentico's support

Kentico rates very highly on support. Aside from the one-on-one customer support, Kentico's level of resources documentation and links is built out very well and organized for easy access.

So much so that when you first sign up for your free trial, you are immediately presented with a wealth of options for learning the ropes and feeling supported.

From day one, Kentico gives you access to tutorials, resources and support channels. Image source: Author

Aside from these resources, their direct customer support is available 24/7 and has a reputation for being highly responsive and highly knowledgeable.

Benefits of Kentico

Kentico is an all-in-one CMS, so you get a lot of benefits around efficiency and organization. You can manage social media, multiple websites, your e-commerce, and much more, all from one hub without fear of losing continuity.

You also get a wealth of support. From tutorials to direct customer support to regularly updated all-in-one bug fixes, the management of the system is never a stressor.

There are also several features, meaning you have the benefit of detailed customization. You can work with a developer to set up Kentico to your unique specifications and watch it grow with your business, too.

Kentico provides a lot of services in one place

Kentico is a multi-feature CMS. You get a lot for your money, even though it costs a lot. If you have a large organization, the multi-channel and multifunctional nature of Kentico may be your best bet.

For smaller businesses and solo endeavors, though, its capabilities may exceed what you will need. And, of course, the pricing may be just a bit too much.

What Kentico does, though, it does decidedly well.