ResearchBrand Center Benchmark 2026, part 2 of 3
Brand Center Benchmark 2026: the platforms behind 788 brand centers
Which platforms 788 public brand centers run on: CMS, brand platforms, DAMs, custom builds and site builders, by type and sector, with products named.
- 28%
- open-source CMS
- 22%
- custom builds
- 17%
- brand platform or DAM
- 82
- platforms in all
On this page(10 sections)
Teams that plan a brand center usually ask which tool to build it with before they ask what to put in it. This part of the Brand Center Benchmark answers the first question with counts: which platforms the 788 public brand centers on brandcenter.gallery run on, how that changes by type and sector, and where the sites live.
Part 1 covers what the sites contain, and part 3 covers downloads and logins. All three parts use the same dataset, which you can download from part 1.
What do brand centers run on?#
Each site was assigned the platform its pages are served from, read from the page markup: CMS signatures, script and asset hosts, generator tags and known class names. The platforms fall into seven kinds.
- Brand platform or DAM13717% sites
- Custom build17322% sites
- Open-source CMS22028% sites
- Enterprise CMS9011% sites
- Headless CMS537% sites
- Website builder648% sites
- Other or not detected516% sites
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Platform read from the page markup of each site.
- Open-source CMS: WordPress, Drupal, TYPO3 and similar, usually the organisation's main website CMS.
- Custom build: a site built on a framework with no CMS signature.
- Brand platform or DAM: software made for brand guidelines or asset libraries, such as Frontify, zeroheight, Brandpad or Brandfolder.
- Enterprise CMS: Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore, Optimizely and similar.
- Headless CMS: Contentful, Sanity, Prismic and similar, behind a custom front end.
- Website builder: Webflow, HubSpot CMS, Framer, Squarespace and similar.
- Other or not detected: documentation tools, static site generators, shop systems and the 18 sites with no clear signature.
Most brand centers run on the same software as the organisation's main website. Open-source CMS and custom builds together hold half the sites. Dedicated brand platforms and DAMs hold 17%.
| Platform kind | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand platform or DAM | 137 | 17% | 19% | 45% | 3% |
| Custom build | 173 | 22% | 23% | 11% | 23% |
| Open-source CMS | 220 | 28% | 31% | 15% | 26% |
| Enterprise CMS | 90 | 11% | 9% | 16% | 14% |
| Headless CMS | 53 | 7% | 5% | 3% | 12% |
| Website builder | 64 | 8% | 7% | 9% | 10% |
| Other or not detected | 51 | 6% | 5% | 1% | 11% |
Which platforms are used most?#
Leaving custom builds aside, WordPress (117 sites) and Drupal (84) are the most common platforms, ahead of Frontify, Adobe Experience Manager and Contentful. Frontify is by far the most common brand platform, on 50 sites; zeroheight, Brandpad, Brandfolder, Standards and Corebook follow. In total the dataset counts 82 platforms, and 56 of them appear on three sites or fewer.
- Custom build17322% sites
- WordPress11715% sites
- Drupal8411% sites
- Frontify506% sites
- Adobe Experience Manager456% sites
- Contentful314% sites
- Webflow284% sites
- zeroheight182% sites
- HubSpot CMS172% sites
- Brandpad152% sites
- Brandfolder111% sites
- Sanity111% sites
- Standards101% sites
- TYPO391% sites
- Corebook°81% sites
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Brand platforms and DAMs in the accent colour. 82 platforms in all.
| Platform | Kind | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom build | Custom build | 173 | 22% |
| WordPress | Open-source CMS | 117 | 15% |
| Drupal | Open-source CMS | 84 | 11% |
| Frontify | Brand platform or DAM | 50 | 6% |
| Adobe Experience Manager | Enterprise CMS | 45 | 6% |
| Contentful | Headless CMS | 31 | 4% |
| Webflow | Website builder | 28 | 4% |
| zeroheight | Brand platform or DAM | 18 | 2% |
| HubSpot CMS | Website builder | 17 | 2% |
| Brandpad | Brand platform or DAM | 15 | 2% |
| Brandfolder | Brand platform or DAM | 11 | 1% |
| Sanity | Headless CMS | 11 | 1% |
| Standards | Brand platform or DAM | 10 | 1% |
| TYPO3 | Open-source CMS | 9 | 1% |
| Corebook° | Brand platform or DAM | 8 | 1% |
| Optimizely CMS | Enterprise CMS | 8 | 1% |
| Sitecore | Enterprise CMS | 8 | 1% |
| Astro | Other or not detected | 7 | 1% |
| Framer | Website builder | 7 | 1% |
| Bynder | Brand platform or DAM | 5 | 1% |
| Lingo | Brand platform or DAM | 5 | 1% |
| Magnolia | Enterprise CMS | 5 | 1% |
| Prismic | Headless CMS | 5 | 1% |
| CoreMedia | Enterprise CMS | 4 | 1% |
How does the platform change with the type of site?#
The type of brand center changes the platform more than anything else. Brand portals are the one type where dedicated platforms lead, with 45% of portals. Press kits almost never use one (3%): they sit on the newsroom or the main website, on the same CMS as the rest of it.
- Guidelines sites499Brand platform or DAM 19%, Custom build 23%, Open-source CMS 31%, Enterprise CMS 9%, Headless CMS 5%, Website builder 7%, Other or not detected 5%
- Brand portals74Brand platform or DAM 45%, Custom build 11%, Open-source CMS 15%, Enterprise CMS 16%, Headless CMS 3%, Website builder 9%, Other or not detected 1%
- Press kits215Brand platform or DAM 3%, Custom build 23%, Open-source CMS 26%, Enterprise CMS 14%, Headless CMS 12%, Website builder 10%, Other or not detected 11%
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Shares of each type; rounding can move a row off 100%.
Guidelines sites sit in between. One in five runs on a brand platform, and the rest are split between the website CMS and custom builds.
How does it change by sector?#
By sector, the split follows how each sector runs its websites. Universities are the clearest case: 57% of their brand centers run on an open-source CMS, mostly Drupal and WordPress, the same as their main sites. Finance and transport have the highest share of brand platforms (32% each). Consumer goods (26%) and finance (23%) have the highest shares of enterprise CMS. Media and entertainment companies build their own most often (46%).
- Technology262Brand platform or DAM 15%, Custom build 30%, Open-source CMS 15%, Enterprise CMS 5%, Headless CMS 11%, Website builder 15%, Other or not detected 10%
- Education145Brand platform or DAM 9%, Custom build 15%, Open-source CMS 57%, Enterprise CMS 14%, Headless CMS 1%, Website builder 1%, Other or not detected 1%
- Public sector96Brand platform or DAM 17%, Custom build 26%, Open-source CMS 42%, Enterprise CMS 9%, Headless CMS 1%, Website builder 1%, Other or not detected 4%
- Finance53Brand platform or DAM 32%, Custom build 15%, Open-source CMS 6%, Enterprise CMS 23%, Headless CMS 11%, Website builder 11%, Other or not detected 2%
- Media & entertainment52Brand platform or DAM 19%, Custom build 46%, Open-source CMS 17%, Enterprise CMS 0%, Headless CMS 8%, Website builder 8%, Other or not detected 2%
- Transport & logistics38Brand platform or DAM 32%, Custom build 11%, Open-source CMS 16%, Enterprise CMS 16%, Headless CMS 13%, Website builder 8%, Other or not detected 5%
- Travel & hospitality37Brand platform or DAM 27%, Custom build 11%, Open-source CMS 32%, Enterprise CMS 11%, Headless CMS 8%, Website builder 3%, Other or not detected 8%
- Non-profit35Brand platform or DAM 23%, Custom build 11%, Open-source CMS 34%, Enterprise CMS 9%, Headless CMS 3%, Website builder 11%, Other or not detected 9%
- Retail35Brand platform or DAM 29%, Custom build 17%, Open-source CMS 17%, Enterprise CMS 11%, Headless CMS 11%, Website builder 6%, Other or not detected 9%
- Sports31Brand platform or DAM 23%, Custom build 35%, Open-source CMS 16%, Enterprise CMS 10%, Headless CMS 3%, Website builder 6%, Other or not detected 6%
- Consumer goods27Brand platform or DAM 26%, Custom build 15%, Open-source CMS 11%, Enterprise CMS 26%, Headless CMS 7%, Website builder 4%, Other or not detected 11%
- Food & drink25Brand platform or DAM 16%, Custom build 4%, Open-source CMS 32%, Enterprise CMS 20%, Headless CMS 12%, Website builder 4%, Other or not detected 12%
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Sectors with 25 entries or more; a site can belong to two sectors.
Which brand platforms and DAMs appear on brand centers?#
The main platform is not the whole story. Many sites built on a CMS link to or embed a brand platform or a DAM for their downloads, for example a logo library on Brandfolder behind a WordPress guidelines page. Counting every brand platform or DAM seen anywhere on a site gives the chart below. Bynder is the clearest case: it appears on 10 sites and serves 5 of them. Brandfolder appears on 14 and serves 11.
- Frontify52 sites
- zeroheight18 sites
- Brandpad15 sites
- Brandfolder14 sites
- Standards11 sites
- Bynder10 sites
- Corebook°9 sites
- Lingo5 sites
- Orange Logic4 sites
- Papirfly4 sites
- Acquia DAM (Widen)4 sites
- Monigle BEAM3 sites
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Counts the main platform and any brand platform or DAM the pages link to or embed, for example a download library on a WordPress site.
Where do brand centers live?#
Almost every brand center lives on the brand's own domain. Half are pages of the main website (www.example.com/brand), and half have their own subdomain (brand.example.com). Only 30 sites, 4%, are served from the platform vendor's own domain.
- Guidelines sites499Pages of the main website 38%, Own subdomain 57%, Vendor domain 5%
- Brand portals74Pages of the main website 23%, Own subdomain 73%, Vendor domain 4%
- Press kits215Pages of the main website 77%, Own subdomain 22%, Vendor domain 1%
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Read from the address of each site. Vendor domain: served from the brand platform's or site builder's own domain.
Brand portals take a subdomain most often (73%), because the software behind them is usually separate from the website. Press kits are pages of the main website in 77% of cases.
Does the platform make a difference to what the site offers?#
Sites on a brand platform show fewer features on their public pages than the other kinds. A quarter of them show four or more of the seven features counted in part 1, against about half of sites on an enterprise, open-source or headless CMS. The median brand-platform site shows 2.
- Brand platform or DAM25% percent
- Custom build34% percent
- Open-source CMS45% percent
- Enterprise CMS52% percent
- Headless CMS45% percent
- Website builder27% percent
- Other or not detected25% percent
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. Features seen on the public pages; content behind a login is not counted.
That is not the same as saying they offer less. Brand platforms host many portals, and portals keep their libraries, templates and search behind an account, which the capture does not enter. What the public sees first is often a short page and a sign-in button.
Logins do not explain it fully. Sites on a brand platform show a login in 25% of cases, close to the average of 21%. Headless CMS sites show one most often (36%).
- Brand platform or DAM25% percent
- Custom build19% percent
- Open-source CMS16% percent
- Enterprise CMS18% percent
- Headless CMS36% percent
- Website builder28% percent
- Other or not detected18% percent
brandcenter.gallery, 788 published entries, 2026-10-27. A sign-in link, form or wall seen on the captured pages.
The tool decides less than the brief. A WordPress page with a clear logo section and a downloads area does what most visitors need, and a brand platform behind a sign-in hides its strengths from anyone without an account. Decide first who must reach the site without logging in.
How to read this if you are choosing a platform#
- Start from the audience, then pick the tool. If most users are staff and agencies with accounts, a portal on a brand platform or a DAM suits them. If most users are partners, press and the public, a section of the main website reaches them with no sign-in.
- Most teams already own a platform that works. Half the sites in the dataset run on the organisation's website CMS. Our guide on how to design a brand center covers what to put on it.
- Plan where the files live. Many CMS-based sites hand their downloads to a separate library. Part 3 covers which file formats sites offer.
How the platforms were detected#
The capture saved the markup of each site's pages. A detector matched it against signatures for 196 technologies (generator tags, script and asset hosts and known markup). For 247 of the 788 sites, where several signatures matched or none did, a language model gave the verdict from the same evidence, with a one-line reason kept for each. A site with a framework and no CMS signature counts as a custom build. Brand platforms and DAMs seen on a site but not serving it are counted separately, in the chart of products seen anywhere on the site.
Limits: a site behind a proxy or a static export can hide its CMS, and a custom build may use a CMS the detector does not know. The full method is in part 1.
Frequently asked questions#
Among 788 public brand centers, 28% run on an open-source CMS (mostly WordPress and Drupal), 22% are custom builds, 17% run on a brand platform or DAM, 11% on an enterprise CMS such as Adobe Experience Manager, 8% on a website builder and 7% on a headless CMS.
Frontify, with 50 sites served from it and 52 where it appears anywhere on the site. zeroheight (18), Brandpad (15), Brandfolder (11 as the main platform, 14 anywhere), Standards (10) and Corebook (8) follow.
Yes, and many organisations do. WordPress serves 117 of the 788 brand centers in the dataset, more than any brand platform. Open-source CMS like WordPress and Drupal are most common in education (57% of sites), the public sector (42%) and non-profits (34%).
Yes. 45% of brand portals run on a brand platform or DAM, against 19% of guidelines sites and 3% of press kits. Portals also take their own subdomain more often (73%).
Both are common: 47% of the sites are pages of the main website and 49% use a subdomain. A subdomain is usual when the brand center runs on separate software, such as a brand platform. Pages on the main website are usual for press kits and guidelines kept by the web team.
Found a wrong figure or a missing product? Report an error with a source. How the data was collected is in the method section.