Wix-managed headless is the recommended path for building headless projects on Wix. It's a fully managed solution that combines Wix business solutions with managed infrastructure, automatic authentication, and a modern development stack, so you can focus on building your frontend while Wix handles the backend complexity.
Unlike self-managed headless, you don't need to configure OAuth, manage authentication tokens, or set up hosting. Wix handles builds, deployments, scaling, and security for you.
For a working example built with Wix-managed headless, see wix-headless.dev.
When you create a Wix-managed headless project, you get a complete development environment backed by Wix infrastructure:
Behind the scenes, the CLI creates a private app for your project that powers both authentication and extensions. You don't create, configure, or manage it yourself. For how it works, see Authentication and API Integration.
Self-managed headless gives you full control over your framework, hosting, and authentication setup. Wix-managed headless trades some of that flexibility for a faster, more automated development experience.
For a detailed comparison of both paths, including a feature-by-feature table, see About Headless Development Paths.