Optical vs Sitecore (XM)

Refer to the comparison below to understand the differences between both products:

Comparison Criteria	Optical	Sitecore
Simplicity	✅ Real-time dynamic mirroring of database schema and content. ✅ Product with minimal bloatware.	✅ Content tree listing approach and sidebar-based navigation similar to a file explorer. 🔻 Content creation requires predefined ordering and layering of items.
Loading Speed	✅ Decoupled architecture reduces server load. ✅ Content can be pre-rendered into static HTML sites. ✅ CDN supported.	✅ HTML output and data caching available to reduce loading time. ✅ CDN supported. 🔻 More compute resources required to ensure website performance.
Security	✅ IM8 compliant, hosted on GCC. ✅ Decoupled front-end reduces attack surface. ✅ API level security measures. ✅ Audit trail feature for content modificiation history. ✅ 2FA login authentication configurable out of the box.	🔻 Requires agency to manage IM8 compliance and security implementations through bulk tender or own development team. ✅ Audit trail feature for content modificiation history. ✅ API level security measures, authentication, and rate limiting. 🔻 MFA solution configurable with an authentication provider.
Permissions	✅ Intricate user account and permission management. ✅ Custom-built teams solution for content restriction at a team level.	✅ Extensive configuration of user accounts and permissions.
Interaction	✅ Page creation allows for hidden fields which supports dynamic form structures based on user input.	✅ Dynamic form structure allowed with built in personalisation capabilities.
Templates	✅ Out-of-the-box page templates for quick start usage. ✅ Subsequent innersource templates will be added to releases.	🔻 Organizations create their own page templates from scratch. 🔻 Limited template sharing across organizations.
Revision Tracking	✅ Unlimited revision tracking.	✅ Supports revision history and comparison. ✅ Allows locking of an item by a single user to prevent concurrent amendments.
Comments	✅ Comment function available at a page level, allowing commenters to mention users in comments to send in-app notifications. ✅ Able to share specific content with outside collaborators without giving them access to a project.	✅ Comment function only available as part of a workflow sequence. 🔻 Out of the box product does not support comments within individual items.
Workflow	✅ Customisable workflows to suit organizational needs with email and in-app notifications for multiple approval levels. ✅ Workflow automation for simple tasks or complex processes.	✅ Built-in workflow integration with multiple approval levels. 🔻 Requires customisation for integration with complex processing tasks such as webhooks.
File Library	✅ Able to transform, crop and resize images within the platform. ✅ Integration with GovTech's Digital Asset Management, MediaDax is coming soon.	✅ Able to transform, crop and resize images within the platform. ✅ Sitecore's DAM service supports tagging and labelling of images. 🔻 High yearly subscription cost for add-on DAM service
Data Visualisation	✅ Built-in dashboarding capabilities for quick and user-friendly dashboards.	✅ Experience Analytics for quick visualization of site visit statistics.
Content Retrieval	✅ Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs.	✅ REST and GraphQL APIs supported.
Site Deployment	✅ GovTech SaaS offering with ease of deployment.	🔻 Managed by bulk tender vendors or own development team.
CMS Maintenance	✅ Infrastructure and CMS updates are handled by Optical team.	🔻 Version upgrades are managed by bulk tender vendors or own development team.
CMS Support	✅ Managed by Optical team. ✅ Online community in the growth state	🔻 Managed by bulk tender vendors or own development team. ✅ Mature online community.