Umbraco 16 at a glance: Headless API, Tiptap editor & segmentation in the new major release

Ready to make the switch to Umbraco 16?

Umbraco 16 is the most significant and forward-looking update yet for the popular .NET-based open-source CMS. The new version introduces a modern Tiptap editor, segment support, fine-grained permission management, and—for the first time—a fully integrated headless API. With this release, Umbraco specifically targets developers, digital agencies, and businesses that value flexibility, scalability, and modern content management.

What is Umbraco?

Umbraco is an open-source content management system based on .NET. Companies, agencies, and developer communities around the world rely on the system when it comes to flexible content modeling, full code control, and seamless integration into existing tech stacks. From classic corporate websites to headless apps or composable DXPs – Umbraco covers a wide range of digital projects.

New Umbraco 16 Backoffice

Umbraco 16 – Why This Major Update Matters

The new major version brings the CMS up to date with Microsoft’s latest technology (.NET 9), modernizes the backoffice, opens native headless paths, and lays the foundation for future scaling options such as backoffice load balancing. This makes version 16 the most important release since Umbraco 10 LTS.

What’s New in Umbraco 16?

📝Tiptap Editor Replaces TinyMCE

• Modern rich-text editor based on Tiptap
• Drag & drop, clean HTML, better table support
• Faster editorial workflows, less post-processing

🔐Property-Level Permissions

• Read and write access can be defined at field level
• Protects sensitive content from unwanted edits
• Ideal for large editorial teams or legally sensitive data

🧠Segment Support for Personalized Content

• Variants for target groups, A/B testing, and language versions
• No data duplication – ideal for personalization and marketing automation

🌐 Production-Ready Headless Content Delivery API

• Native JSON output for frontends like Next.js, React, mobile apps, or IoT projects
• No more workarounds or third-party packages needed

🔎Search Abstraction as a Package

• Examine becomes optional
• Support for Elasticsearch, Azure Cognitive Search, and future vector search
• Flexible search architecture for large, high-performance projects

⚙️Roadmap: Backoffice Load Balancing

• Multi-node support for editorial backends planned
• Target: Q4 2025 – essential for enterprise and high-availability environments

Technical Changes – What You Should Know

• .NET 9 is required: projects need to be updated (framework & NuGet)
• TinyMCE is no longer supported: existing plugins must be migrated
• New API namespaces: integrations with the content delivery API or segments require adjustments
• Examine is optional: check dependencies if using custom search logic

Why Developers Will Love Umbraco 16

With Umbraco 16, developers get a modern technology stack based on .NET 9, strengthened by the integration of the Tiptap editor and a fully modular search architecture. The new headless API allows easy integration of any frontend framework such as React, Next.js, or Vue.

Thanks to clearly defined extension points, developing custom packages and integrations becomes significantly easier, increasing both flexibility and maintainability. The consistently implemented headless-first strategy makes Umbraco 16 a future-proof CMS for anyone working with modern architectural approaches. Continuous integration and deployment also fit seamlessly into existing DevOps pipelines with the new setup.

What Companies and Agencies Gain

Companies primarily benefit from improved governance through property-level permissions. These allow precise access control and reduce the risk of publishing errors. At the same time, the native headless API combined with segment support shortens time-to-market for new campaigns, personalized content, or additional language versions.

The planned backoffice load balancing feature and the system’s container readiness lay the foundation for a highly available, scalable infrastructure – a crucial factor for larger digital projects or internationally oriented platforms. Umbraco 16 is therefore not just a technical update, but a strategic step toward future readiness.

Ready to Use Umbraco 16?

We’ll support you with migration, headless strategies, and technical implementation.

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