Craft CMS Website Development LondonCraft CMS websitescontent modelling done right.
WebAnts is a London Craft CMS agency. We build custom Craft CMS websites, headless Craft frontends and Craft Commerce stores — developer-friendly, flexible content modelling, and a back-end your editors love. No deposit required.
20+
Craft CMS sites shipped in London & UK
4–8 wks
Typical project delivery
90+
PageSpeed target
£0
Deposit — milestone payments only
4.9★
Average client rating
What is Craft CMS
The CMS built for structured, editorial-quality content.
Starting from
£4,000
Flat quote · No prepayment · 4–8 wk delivery
Craft CMS is a PHP-based content management system built for agencies, publishers, and developers who need genuine content flexibility without WordPress plugin bloat. WebAnts is a London Craft CMS agency building custom Craft sites for creative agencies, media publishers, ecommerce brands, and professional services firms.
Unlike WordPress, Craft gives you a content model that fits your editorial requirements — not a theme structure you adapt content to. Unlike Contentful, Craft is self-hosted with a full back-office UI for editors, no per-seat pricing, and PHP templates for those who want server-rendered output. We also build on WordPress and Sanity.io — we recommend the right platform on the call.
We handle Craft CMS redesigns, headless Craft builds with Next.js and GraphQL, Craft Commerce stores, Craft 4 to 5 upgrades, and migrations from WordPress. Flat written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call.
Why Craft CMS
Six reasons Craft wins for editorial content.
Matrix fields. Clean Twig templates. Genuine headless support. Craft combines editorial flexibility with developer control — without plugin bloat.
01
Matrix fields for truly flexible content
Craft's Matrix field lets editors build pages from a library of content blocks — text, image, video, callout, CTA — adding, reordering, and configuring them without touching code. No page builder plugin required. It's built into Craft's core.
02
Developer-friendly — PHP, Twig, GraphQL
Craft is built for developers. PHP and Twig templates give you full control over markup and performance. The native GraphQL API makes headless builds straightforward. Custom plugins in PHP mean no vendor lock-in when you need CMS extensions.
03
Back-end editors actually enjoy
Craft's control panel is one of the cleanest in the CMS space. Entry types, sections, and field groups map directly to how your team thinks about content — not how a theme author decided to structure a generic blog.
04
Native multisite from one control panel
A single Craft installation can power multiple sites, domains, and languages from one control panel — with per-site content, field overrides, and editorial teams. No separate installs, no content duplication.
05
Craft Commerce for editorial ecommerce
Craft Commerce extends Craft with a full ecommerce engine — product variants, promotions, tax, shipping, and payment gateways including Stripe and PayPal. Ideal for brands that need content-rich product pages with editorial flexibility.
06
Headless-ready with GraphQL and REST APIs
Craft has a native GraphQL API that exposes your content model as a queryable schema. We pair it with Next.js for a fast, custom frontend — live preview via Craft Preview Targets, ISR, and TypeScript types auto-generated from the schema.
What we build
12 Craft CMS services.
From a marketing site with Matrix page builder to a headless Craft + Next.js platform — all built in-house in London.
01
Custom Craft CMS Design & Build
Bespoke Craft CMS websites with entry types, sections, and field layouts designed around your content model — not a generic theme. Every section built so editors can work independently without developer involvement.
02
Craft CMS Headless (Next.js + GraphQL)
Craft's native GraphQL API as a headless backend, Next.js as the frontend. Live preview via Craft Preview Targets, ISR, full TypeScript types generated from your schema, and a clean editorial experience your content team can use from day one.
03
Craft Commerce Store Development
Custom ecommerce on Craft Commerce — product variants, promotions engine, tax and shipping configuration, and gateway integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Klarna). Flexible catalogue with editorial Matrix fields for content-rich product pages.
04
Craft CMS Matrix Field Architecture
Matrix field design is one of the most important decisions in a Craft project. We design your block library, field types, and editorial constraints upfront — so your team gets genuine page-builder flexibility without creating content chaos at scale.
05
Craft CMS Multisite Setup
Single Craft installation managing multiple sites, locales, and languages. Per-site field overrides, locale-specific content, shared asset libraries, and a clean editorial separation between properties — all from one Craft control panel.
06
Craft CMS Plugin Development
Custom PHP plugins built to Craft's module and plugin conventions — custom field types, console commands, event listeners, third-party API integrations, and Craft Commerce extensions. No third-party plugin dependency for business-critical functionality.
07
Craft CMS SEO Optimisation
SEOMatic integration for per-entry meta tags, Open Graph, JSON-LD structured data, XML sitemaps, and canonical management. Core Web Vitals optimisation — LCP, CLS, INP — built into the Twig templates, not added as a plugin afterthought.
08
WordPress → Craft CMS Migration
Full content migration from WordPress to Craft — posts, pages, custom fields, and media mapped to Craft entry types. Every existing URL gets a 301 redirect so your Google rankings survive the move. Feed Me or custom PHP scripts used depending on content volume.
09
Craft CMS 4 → 5 Upgrade
Upgrade from Craft CMS 4 to Craft CMS 5 — plugin compatibility review, template updates for breaking changes, content model adjustments, and staging environment testing before production cutover. Fixed-price quote after a codebase audit.
10
Craft CMS Twig Template Development
Custom Twig templates that produce clean, performant, accessible HTML — following Craft conventions for partials, macros, and includes. Responsive across all breakpoints with a clear template architecture your team can extend without breaking.
11
Craft CMS Content Modelling Consultation
Content model design is where most Craft projects succeed or fail. We run a structured session to map your content requirements to Craft sections, entry types, and field layouts — before any development starts, saving significant rework cost.
12
Craft CMS Maintenance & Retainers
Monthly retainers covering Craft and plugin updates, security patches, content model evolution, performance optimisation, and ongoing development. Fixed monthly scope or block-of-hours drawn down as needed — from £350/month.
How we work
Four phases. No mystery.
Milestone payments — you see progress every week and own every deliverable the moment it lands.
01
Discovery
A free 30-min call to scope your content requirements, Matrix field architecture, platform (self-hosted vs Craft Cloud), migration needs, and budget. You leave with a flat written quote and a recommended content model structure.
02
Design
Wireframes and polished Figma designs in your brand. Content model and Matrix block library planned in parallel — so your editorial team approves the control panel structure alongside the front-end designs before any code is written.
03
Build
Weekly staging updates in your Craft environment. Twig templates, Matrix fields, SEOMatic, GraphQL (if headless), and Craft Commerce (if applicable) built in parallel. Core Web Vitals and structured data from the first deploy.
04
Launch & Handover
Launch day, DNS cutover, Search Console submission, 301 redirects verified. Control panel walkthrough and editor training session for your content team. Craft CMS cheat sheet included. Optional retainer or take the keys.
Transparent pricing
What does Craft CMS development cost in London?
Every project is scoped individually — but here are real ranges based on scope. All prices are flat fees, not hourly estimates. Written quote after a free 30-min discovery call.
Starter
£4,000 – £8,000
3–5 weeks
Craft CMS marketing site, up to 20 pages.
- ✓Custom entry types & sections
- ✓Up to 20 pages
- ✓Matrix page builder
- ✓Contact form + GA4
- ✓SEO (meta, OG, SEOMatic)
- ✓Control panel training
Best for: Agencies, studios, creative businesses
Growth
£8,000 – £18,000
5–8 weeks
Full Craft build + complex fields + integrations.
- ✓Full Craft CMS 5 build
- ✓Complex Matrix field architecture
- ✓CRM integration (HubSpot, Salesforce)
- ✓Custom plugin (if needed)
- ✓301 redirects (if migrating)
- ✓2 weeks post-launch support
Best for: Professional services, publishers, agencies
Scale
£18,000 – £35,000
8–14 weeks
Headless Craft + Next.js + Craft Commerce.
- ✓Headless Craft + Next.js frontend
- ✓GraphQL API + live preview
- ✓Craft Commerce (full ecommerce)
- ✓Multisite (2–3 sites)
- ✓TypeScript types from schema
- ✓Dedicated support month
Best for: Ecommerce brands, media, large content sites
Enterprise
From £35,000
14–20 weeks
Multisite + plugin development + enterprise integrations.
- ✓Unlimited entry types & sections
- ✓Custom PHP plugin development
- ✓ERP / enterprise API integrations
- ✓WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility audit
- ✓Full design system documentation
- ✓Ongoing retainer available
Best for: Enterprise, universities, large publishers
Need a detailed breakdown? Book a free discovery call →
Platform migrations
Moving to Craft CMS from another platform?
We migrate WordPress, ExpressionEngine, and Contentful to Craft — content, SEO equity, and 301 redirects all handled. We also handle Craft 4 to 5 upgrades.
WordPress → Craft CMS
The most common migration for organisations moving to a more structured CMS. We export all WordPress content (posts, pages, custom post types, media) and map it to Craft entry types using Feed Me or custom PHP scripts. Every existing URL gets a 301 redirect — your Google rankings survive the move intact.
Craft CMS 4 → Craft CMS 5 Upgrade
Craft CMS 5 introduces breaking changes — updated field types, template changes, and plugin compatibility issues. We handle the full upgrade: plugin audit, Twig template updates, content model adjustments, and staging environment testing before production cutover. Fixed-price upgrade quote after a codebase audit.
ExpressionEngine → Craft CMS
ExpressionEngine to Craft is a natural migration — both platforms have similar channel-and-entry content models. We map EE channels and custom fields to Craft sections and entry types, migrate content and media, and handle URL redirects. Editorial teams typically find the Craft control panel a significant improvement over EE.
Contentful → Craft CMS (self-hosted preference)
Organisations moving off Contentful for data sovereignty or cost reasons find Craft a strong alternative — self-hosted, with a back-office UI for editors and a GraphQL API for headless frontends. We migrate content types, entries, and assets, and rebuild the editorial workflow in Craft's control panel.
What you get
Everything included.
No hidden extras.
Every Craft CMS build ships with the full stack — design, dev, SEO, content model documentation, and a proper editor training session your team can use from day one.
- ✓Craft CMS site deployed to your server or Craft Cloud
- ✓Custom Twig templates, responsive across all breakpoints
- ✓Matrix field architecture documented
- ✓GraphQL API configured (if headless build)
- ✓Craft Commerce set up (if applicable)
- ✓SEO: meta, OG, JSON-LD schema via SEOMatic, sitemap
- ✓301 redirects configured (if migrating)
- ✓Google Analytics 4 + Search Console setup
- ✓Two weeks post-launch support included
- ✓Editor back-end training session
From £4,000 for a Craft CMS marketing site. Full build with Matrix fields and integrations from £8,000. Flat quote after a free 30-min call.
Who we build for
Craft CMS for
editorial-first organisations.
Platform comparison
Craft CMS vs the alternatives.
We build on multiple CMS platforms. Here is an honest four-way comparison — WordPress, Contentful, Sanity.io, Umbraco — so you can make the right call for your project.
| vs Platform | Craft wins on | They win on | Choose Craft when |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Structured content model, Matrix field page builder without plugins, cleaner Twig templates, no security patch overhead, better editorial UX for complex content | Larger plugin ecosystem, lower entry cost, WooCommerce for large ecommerce, wider freelancer pool | Your content is complex and structured, your editorial team needs genuine page-builder flexibility, or you want clean HTML without plugin bloat |
| Contentful | Self-hosted data ownership, no per-seat pricing, full editor back-office UI (not just API), Matrix fields for page building, no vendor lock-in | Lower developer onboarding time, global CDN for content API, managed hosting with no server overhead | You need data sovereignty, your per-seat Contentful bill is growing, or you want editors to have a full back-office rather than an API-only CMS |
| Sanity.io | More mature back-office for non-developer editors, PHP ecosystem, no per-seat pricing on self-hosted, stronger multisite support, larger agency community | Real-time collaboration, GROQ query language, more developer-friendly schema-as-code approach, stronger for complex structured data | Your editorial team is non-technical, you need a full back-office CMS experience rather than a headless-first developer tool |
| Umbraco | PHP vs .NET — broader hosting options, Matrix field flexibility, stronger creative agency community, lower initial cost, better for editorial-first builds | .NET enterprise infrastructure, stronger UK public sector adoption, Umbraco Cloud managed hosting, better GDPR and compliance tooling | Your team is PHP-based, you need editorial content flexibility, or you want a CMS with a strong creative agency community |
“WebAnts built something better than I’d ever imagined — shipped faster than any agency I’ve worked with.”
LaTisha Ebanks
Marketing Director, North Pointe Marketing
Start a project
Free 30-min call.
Flat written quote.
No prepayment.
Tell us about your Craft CMS project — content structure, Matrix field requirements, platform, and timeline. We’ll review it and send a flat quote within 24 hours.
★★★★★ 4.9 on Google
★★★★★ 5.0 on Clutch
★★★★★ 5.0 on Upwork
Top Web Designers 2025 — DesignRush
FAQ
Craft CMS questions, answered directly.
What is Craft CMS?
Craft CMS is a flexible, PHP-based content management system built for agencies and developers who need structured content modelling without the limitations of a WordPress theme. Its defining features are Matrix fields — a built-in page builder that lets editors add and reorder content blocks without plugins — a clean, intuitive control panel, native GraphQL and REST APIs for headless builds, and Craft Commerce for ecommerce. Craft is self-hosted, open-source, and designed to fit your content model rather than forcing your content into a predefined structure.
How much does Craft CMS development cost in London?
A standard Craft CMS marketing site from WebAnts starts from £4,000 for a basic build with up to 20 pages (3–5 weeks). A full Craft build with complex Matrix fields and integrations costs £8,000–£18,000 (5–8 weeks). Headless Craft with Next.js and Craft Commerce builds cost £18,000–£35,000. Enterprise or multisite builds with custom plugin development start from £35,000. Flat written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call — no hourly estimates, no deposit.
What is the difference between Craft CMS and WordPress?
Craft is built around a fundamentally different philosophy: you design the content model, then Craft builds the editorial interface to match it. WordPress gives you a theme-based structure with plugins bolted on. Craft's Matrix fields create a genuine page builder without ACF or Gutenberg workarounds. Craft's Twig templates produce cleaner HTML with less plugin bloat than WordPress PHP themes. The trade-off is a smaller plugin ecosystem and higher initial development cost — Craft is the right choice for complex, custom-structured content.
What are Craft CMS Matrix fields?
Matrix is Craft's built-in flexible content field. It lets you define a library of content blocks — text, image, video, pullquote, CTA, gallery — and editors can add, reorder, and configure them on any entry without touching code. Unlike WordPress Gutenberg or ACF Flexible Content, Matrix is deeply integrated into Craft's architecture — no plugins required, no third-party UI, and no bloat. It's the primary reason agencies and publishers choose Craft for content-heavy, editorially flexible builds.
Is Craft CMS headless?
Yes. Craft has a native GraphQL API that exposes your entire content model as a queryable schema. We build headless Craft + Next.js sites where Craft handles all content management and editorial workflow while Next.js handles the frontend — with live preview via Craft's Preview Targets, Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR), and TypeScript types auto-generated from the GraphQL schema. Craft also supports a REST API for integrations that don't use GraphQL.
What is Craft Commerce?
Craft Commerce is the official ecommerce plugin for Craft CMS. It adds a full ecommerce engine — product catalogue, variants, promotions, discount codes, tax rules, shipping configuration, and payment gateway integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Klarna). Craft Commerce sits on top of Craft's content model, meaning product pages can use the same Matrix field page builder as editorial content — giving brands editorial-quality product pages alongside a functional checkout.
Craft CMS vs Contentful — which should I choose?
Choose Craft CMS if you want: self-hosted data ownership, no per-seat pricing, a full editorial back-office for non-technical teams, Matrix field page building, or an existing PHP development team. Choose Contentful if you want: managed hosting with no server overhead, a developer-friendly API-first CMS, a global CDN out of the box, or a large integration marketplace. WebAnts builds in both — we'll advise on the call based on your team composition, content complexity, and budget.
Craft CMS vs WordPress — which is better?
WordPress is better for: lower budgets, WooCommerce ecommerce, a large plugin ecosystem, or teams that need a non-developer-configurable CMS. Craft is better for: complex, structured content models, editorial page-building without plugin bloat, clean Twig templates, teams that want a CMS that fits their content rather than a theme they adapt content to. For most agencies and publishers with complex editorial needs, Craft produces a more maintainable long-term result than WordPress.
Craft CMS vs Sanity.io — what's the difference?
Craft and Sanity are both developer-first CMS platforms with structured content models and headless API support. Craft is PHP-based, has a full back-office UI built in, and is stronger for editorial teams that need a traditional CMS experience. Sanity is JavaScript-based with a schema-as-code approach and stronger real-time collaboration features — it's more developer-friendly but less immediately usable for non-technical editors. WebAnts builds in both — the right choice depends on your team's technical background.
Can Craft CMS handle multisite?
Yes. Craft has native multisite support from a single installation — multiple sites, domains, and languages managed from one control panel. Each site can have its own content hierarchy, field overrides, templates, and editorial team with separate permissions. Shared asset libraries and content types mean you avoid content duplication across sites. Multisite is available on the Craft Pro licence, which is required for all commercial projects.
What is Craft CMS 5 and what's new?
Craft CMS 5 (released 2024) is the current major version. Key updates include a redesigned control panel, updated Matrix field architecture with nested Matrix support, improved performance, PHP 8.2+ requirement, and significant changes to field types and plugin APIs. Some Craft 4 plugins are not yet compatible with Craft 5 — WebAnts audits plugin compatibility as part of all new Craft 5 builds and upgrade projects.
Is Craft CMS open source?
Craft CMS has a tiered licensing model. Craft Solo is free for personal or hobby use. Craft Pro (required for most commercial projects) is $299/year per installation. This is a one-time annual licence fee — significantly lower than per-seat SaaS CMS costs at scale. Craft Commerce is a separate paid plugin. WebAnts includes Craft Pro licence cost in all project quotes.
What templating language does Craft use?
Craft uses Twig — a clean, expressive PHP templating language designed for web applications. Twig's syntax is cleaner than raw PHP, with template inheritance, macros, and includes that produce well-structured, maintainable template files. Craft also supports static templates compiled to plain HTML for the fastest possible front-end delivery, and GraphQL with a JavaScript frontend for headless builds.
Can Craft CMS use GraphQL?
Yes. Craft has a native GraphQL API built into the core (no plugin required). It exposes your entire content model — sections, entry types, fields, assets, users — as a queryable GraphQL schema. We use this API for headless Craft + Next.js builds where the frontend queries content from Craft using typed GraphQL queries. We also configure live preview via Craft's Preview Targets so editors can see changes rendered in the frontend before publishing.
How do you migrate from WordPress to Craft CMS?
WordPress to Craft migrations typically use Craft's Feed Me plugin for content import, or custom PHP migration scripts for complex or large content sets. We map WordPress post types, custom fields, and taxonomies to equivalent Craft sections, entry types, and fields. Every existing WordPress URL gets a 301 redirect in the Craft Retour plugin or at server level. Media is migrated to Craft's asset management system with original filenames preserved.
What hosting do you recommend for Craft CMS?
We recommend Craft Cloud for most projects — the official managed hosting platform provides one-click deployments, managed PHP and database infrastructure, daily backups, and a 99.9% uptime SLA. For self-hosted requirements, we configure Forge on DigitalOcean, AWS Lightsail, or Vultr — PHP 8.2+, MySQL or PostgreSQL, Redis for caching, and queue workers for background tasks.
Is Craft CMS good for SEO?
Craft's clean URL structure, fast Twig template rendering, and SEOMatic plugin integration make it one of the stronger CMS platforms for SEO. SEOMatic handles per-entry meta titles, descriptions, Open Graph, Twitter Card, JSON-LD structured data, XML sitemaps, and robots.txt — all configurable from the Craft control panel without developer involvement. Craft's code-first approach means no bloated plugins adding unnecessary scripts that slow Core Web Vitals scores.
How long does a Craft CMS project take?
A standard Craft CMS marketing site takes 3–5 weeks. A full build with complex Matrix fields and integrations takes 5–8 weeks. Headless Craft with Next.js or a Craft Commerce store takes 8–14 weeks. Enterprise multisite or custom plugin builds take 14–20 weeks. WebAnts provides a firm delivery timeline in the written proposal and sends weekly staging updates throughout.
Do you offer Craft CMS maintenance retainers?
Yes. After launch you can take full control or continue with a monthly maintenance retainer covering Craft and plugin updates, security patches, content model evolution, performance optimisation, and ongoing development. Retainers start from £350/month as a fixed monthly scope or block-of-hours drawn down as needed.
Can Craft CMS handle large content archives?
Yes. Craft's database-backed content model handles large content archives well — thousands of entries across multiple sections, with efficient queries through Craft's Element API or GraphQL. For very large content sets (100,000+ entries) we configure database indexing, eager loading, and caching layers (Redis) to maintain control panel and frontend performance. Craft's CMS performance at scale is significantly better than WordPress with large post counts.
(Related services)
Content modelling, finally done right. →
Free discovery call. Flat quote. 4–8 week delivery. No prepayment.
About WebAnts — Craft CMS Development Agency in London
WebAnts is a London web design and development agency specialising in Craft CMS website development. 4.9★ rated on Google, 5.0 on Clutch, 5.0 on Upwork. Named Top Web Design Agency 2025 by DesignRush. Based in London, serving creative agencies, publishers, ecommerce brands, and professional services firms across the UK and 14 countries.
What is Craft CMS?
Craft CMS is a flexible PHP-based content management system built for agencies and developers who need structured content modelling without WordPress plugin bloat. Its defining features are Matrix fields — a built-in page builder for editors to add and reorder content blocks without plugins — a clean, intuitive control panel, native GraphQL and REST APIs for headless builds, and Craft Commerce for ecommerce. Craft is self-hosted, open-source under a commercial licence, and designed to fit your content model rather than forcing content into a theme structure.
What Craft CMS services does WebAnts offer?
WebAnts offers 12 Craft CMS services: custom Craft CMS design and build, headless Craft with Next.js and GraphQL, Craft Commerce store development, Matrix field architecture design, Craft CMS multisite setup, custom PHP plugin development, Craft CMS SEO optimisation with SEOMatic, WordPress to Craft CMS migration, Craft CMS 4 to 5 upgrade, Twig template development, content modelling consultation, and monthly Craft CMS maintenance retainers from £350/month.
How much does Craft CMS development cost in London?
A Craft CMS marketing site from WebAnts starts from £4,000 for up to 20 pages (3–5 weeks). A full build with complex Matrix fields and integrations costs £8,000–£18,000. Headless Craft with Next.js or Craft Commerce builds cost £18,000–£35,000. Enterprise multisite or custom plugin builds start from £35,000. Flat written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call — no hourly estimates, no deposit.
What makes Craft CMS Matrix fields different from WordPress page builders?
Craft CMS Matrix fields are built into the CMS core — no plugin required, no third-party UI, and no additional bloat. Editors create pages from a library of content blocks (text, image, video, CTA, gallery) that can be added, reordered, and configured without developer involvement. Unlike ACF Flexible Content or Gutenberg blocks in WordPress, Matrix fields are deeply integrated into Craft's content model and produce clean semantic HTML output from Twig templates.
What makes WebAnts different from other Craft CMS agencies?
No offshoring. No prepayment. Milestone payments so you own every deliverable as it lands. Direct access to the developer building your Craft site. Content modelling consultation included upfront on every project — we design your Matrix field architecture before any code is written, not after. 20+ Craft CMS sites shipped for London and UK clients. Editor training session included as standard on every project.
Dream Algorithm Ltd, trading as WebAnts · London, UK+44 20 3983 9795hello@webants.io