Jamstack is a modern approach to developing websites and more. The "Jam" in Jamstack stands for:

• Javascript: which handles dynamic functionality during runtime from the client. Popular frameworks include Gatsby, 11ty, and Next, but you can use any framework or library you like including non Javascript.
  
• APIs: short for Application Programming Interface. APIs let you access content and data in a way that is easy to use across a range of software and rendering solutions.
  
• Markup: is pre-rendered to a static site before deployment so that the client doesn't have to query a server every time they load a page.

The term "Jamstack" was coined by Mathias Billmann, founder of Jamstack hosting platform Netlify.

A traditional, or "monolithic" CMS couples your content to a particular output, like a web page. That coupled output is the head.

A headless CMS gives editors an interface for managing content, then provides that content over APIs for developers to build websites and apps with. This is why headless CMSes are a perfect fit for Jamstack content management: they’re one of the the many "A's" that you can query in your J.A.M. stack.

The point of a headless CMS isn't that you don't want or need a head, it's that you get to pick and choose which heads (outputs) you send your content to. And you don't have to settle for a single one:

1. It’s easier to build fast and secure websites that scale
2. Enjoy a better developer experience with modern tools and frameworks
3. Access content in a variety of ways including REST, GraphQL, and GROQ​
4. Store content as data in flexible Portable Text
5. Preview anything within your CMS
6. Deploy scalable Jamstack sites in minutes with Netlify and Vercel
7. A headless CMS will let your content travel further and do more things (not just the Jamstack!)

At Sanity we see today’s headless CMS systems as an evolutionary step that leads to an even better way of managing content – where structure is truly flexible, content is treated like data, and editors work in tailored real-time collaboration environments.

Sanity’s features go beyond the offerings of other headless CMSes, here’s why: