Sitecore in Plain Words: XM or XP, Where Does It Run, and Who Runs What?

Verified October 17, 2026 against Sitecore's and Microsoft's own documentation.

The short answer

Sitecore is software for running large websites: your team edits pages in it, and it shows them to visitors. XM (Experience Manager) is the content management part. XP (Experience Platform) is XM plus a visitor database and marketing tools. You can run it on your own servers, on Microsoft Azure, let Sitecore run that Azure setup for you (Managed Cloud), or use SitecoreAI, Sitecore's SaaS platform, where Sitecore runs everything.¹ The real difference between those options is who does the maintenance. Every installed version also has a support end date: 10.0 and 10.1 leave extended support on 31 December 2026.²

The series, part by part

This page is Part 1. Each part answers one question in a few minutes, with labeled diagrams that use Sitecore's real names (CM, CD, xConnect) plus a plain-words subtitle.

Sitecore in Plain Words, the series:

1. Sitecore in Plain Words: XM or XP, Where Does It Run, and Who Runs What?
2. What Is the Difference Between Sitecore XM and XP?
3. Where Can Sitecore Run? Six Hosting Models, Layer by Layer
4. Who Looks After What in Each Sitecore Hosting Model?
5. Why Does Sitecore Need More Than One Server, and What Is Headless?
6. Will Your Sitecore Version Lose Support, and Should You Upgrade or Migrate?

Glossary

• CMS: content management system, the software your team uses to edit and publish web pages.
• XM (Experience Manager): Sitecore's content management part.
• XP (Experience Platform): XM plus a visitor database and marketing tools.
• xDB (Experience Database): the visitor database in XP.
• xConnect: the secure doorway to xDB; other parts of Sitecore read and write visitor data through it.
• CM (Content Management): the editing server. Only your staff use it.
• CD (Content Delivery): the servers that show the website to the public.
• Identity Server: the login service for Sitecore's editing tools.
• Processing and reporting: background roles in XP that turn visitor data into reports.
• Solr: the search engine Sitecore uses for its search indexes when you host it yourself.
• On-premises: running the software on servers in your own data center.
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): renting virtual machines, here on Azure; you manage everything from the operating system up.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): renting managed hosting such as Azure App Service; Microsoft maintains the machines and operating system.
• Containers: software packed into standard sealed boxes (Docker) and run by a scheduler (Kubernetes; on Azure, AKS).
• Managed Cloud: Sitecore's hosting service: XM or XP on Azure, monitored and maintained by Sitecore.
• SaaS (Software as a Service): the vendor runs everything, you just log in.
• SitecoreAI: Sitecore's current SaaS platform; its CMS was formerly called XM Cloud.
• Headless: the CMS only stores and serves content; a separate front-end app draws the pages.
• MVC: the traditional way, where Sitecore's delivery servers build each finished page.
• JSS / Content SDK: Sitecore's toolkits for building headless front ends in JavaScript.
• Experience Edge: Sitecore's content delivery service that front ends read through an API.
• Mainstream / Extended / Sustaining: Sitecore's three support phases for each version.

References