What Is Umbraco (And Why We Build With It)
Skye Technology
Engineering
When you say “CMS” in most rooms, someone will mumble “WordPress” within six seconds. Fair. It’s everywhere. But for developers and businesses who need actual flexibility, clean architecture, and a CMS that doesn’t collapse under real-world use, there’s a better option: Umbraco.
In this post, we’ll explain what Umbraco is, why it’s not just another open-source project with a fan club, and why we’ve decided to build our development and training services around it.
Spoiler: it’s not just because it’s open-source and .NET-based. That’s like saying you bought a car because it has tires.
What is Umbraco?
Umbraco is a .NET-based open-source content management system that offers developers full flexibility and gives editors a simple, powerful backoffice.
It’s designed to do one thing well: manage content without making your team miserable. You get:
- A fully customizable architecture
- A clean editing UI for content managers
- Extensibility through APIs, packages, and integrations
- First-party hosting (Umbraco Cloud) if you want it
- Headless support and REST APIs for modern frontends
Unlike other CMS platforms that claim to be flexible but have plugin forests and layout spaghetti, Umbraco gives developers full control over structure, data models, and behavior.
Why We Build With Umbraco
We’ve used a lot of CMS platforms. Some are fine. Some are crime scenes. Umbraco is the rare one that respects both the developer and the editor.
🔧 Developer-Friendly
- Built on .NET Core, modern and scalable
- Supports MVC out of the box
- Fully customizable backoffice and routing
- Easy to build structured, reusable content models
- Integrates cleanly with CRMs, APIs, and custom components
🖋️ Editor-Friendly
- Clean UI out of the box
- Intuitive content editing and preview
- The Block Grid Editor makes component-based editing easy
- Localization, workflows, and permissions are built in
🚀 Great for Projects of All Sizes
We’ve used Umbraco for:
- Startup sites with simple content models
- Complex multilingual sites with granular permissions
- Educational platforms that need to scale
- Clients who want to manage their own content but never touch code
Whether we’re delivering a quick MVP or a long-term product, Umbraco lets us build something robust without duct tape or regrets.
Who Should Use Umbraco?
Umbraco is perfect for:
- Developers and agencies tired of CMS limitations
- Businesses that want a long-term content platform
- Teams building headless, hybrid, or traditional web apps
- Anyone who needs editorial simplicity without sacrificing architecture
In short: if you’ve ever said, “This would be easier if the CMS just got out of the way,” Umbraco is your answer.
Our Services with Umbraco
We don’t just build Umbraco sites—we help teams master them.
Our services include:
- Full custom website builds
- CMS migrations (e.g., from WordPress or Joomla)
- Custom plugins and content model design
- Umbraco training for devs and content teams
Whether you need a site built from scratch or a team trained on how to use Umbraco effectively, we’ve got you covered.
Final Thoughts
Umbraco doesn’t try to be the CMS for everyone—it just tries to be a great one. And it is.
It’s fast, flexible, and built for teams who want control without chaos. That’s why we’ve made it our go-to platform for delivering clean, maintainable, content-driven websites—and helping others learn to do the same.
Ready to see what Umbraco can do for your project?