A CMS manages structured content that pages are built from. Baton lets a client change the words, pictures and links on a page that already exists, directly on the live page. They solve different problems, and many sites are better served by one than the other. This is a plain comparison.
The short version
Choose a CMS when your content is a large, structured collection. Choose an in-page editor like Baton when your pages are mostly fixed and the client needs to change words, photos and details without calling a developer. Use both when a site has a structured section and a handful of ordinary pages.
How a CMS works
A CMS keeps content in a database, with fields such as title, body, image and date. Templates turn that content into pages. This is powerful for blogs, catalogues and anything repeated, but it means the site has to be built around the CMS, and the editor works in a form, away from the page the visitor sees.
How Baton works
Baton adds an editing layer to a website that already exists. A developer adds one script or connects GitHub. The client then opens the live page, clicks any text or picture and changes it. Changes are drafts until the client presses Publish. Every publish is saved, and any version can be rolled back. On GitHub sites, an edit arrives as a pull request with only the changed words, for the developer to review.
Side by side
Setup: a CMS usually shapes how the site is built. Baton is added to a finished site in a few minutes.
Editing: a CMS edits fields in an admin area. Baton edits the real page.
Best for: a CMS suits structured, repeated content. Baton suits marketing pages, portfolios, landing pages and small business sites.
Control: in a CMS the structure is set by the developer. In Baton the developer keeps the code and the client changes only content.
Cost: CMS costs vary widely with the product and hosting. Baton is free for developers to connect and hand over, with a free plan for one live site and paid plans from $4.99 a month.
What Baton does not do
Baton is not a content database. It does not model structured content, manage several languages as one set, run scheduled publishing, or power an online shop鈥檚 catalogue. If your site needs those, you need a CMS, and Baton can still sit alongside it for the ordinary pages.
How to choose
List what the client will really change in the next year. If it is mostly words, prices, hours, photos and links on fixed pages, in-page editing will be quicker for them and cheaper for you. If it is dozens of structured entries, use a CMS. If it is both, use both.
You can try the Baton editor on a sample site, with no account, at batonedit.com/demo.