Modall's AI-Powered Headless CMS | CMS Development Case Study

As a software development company that owns the product lifecycle end to end, managing content at scale across the custom web apps and products we build became a real challenge. Because everything we ship is custom coded with frameworks like Next.js, it was hard for our non-technical clients to edit or extend their sites by themselves.

We looked at headless CMS platforms like Sanity, Payload, and Strapi, but decided to utilize our CMS development services to build our own solution instead (with even better features). That solution is HyperSpeed CMS, and I'm using it right now to write this case study (it's like the movie, inception!)

• Product: HyperSpeed CMS (built & owned by Modall)

• Service: CMS Development

• Purpose: Manage content across the custom software, web apps, and websites we build for clients and ourselves, with the speed and flexibility non‑technical and technical teams need.

• Footprint: Powers 40+ client and internal projects

Off the shelf headless CMS options did not give us the features and workflows we needed for our custom Next.js development services. We wanted to give non‑technical users the ability to edit rich, component‑level pages. We also wanted built‑in SEO tooling and AI assistance that other platforms just didn't offer.

Rather than squeezing a square peg into a round hole, we stopped trying to make other content management systems fit and built our own solution with all the features we wanted, plus a few bonus capabilities our teams love!

HyperSpeed is our in-house CMS designed to work hand in hand with our Next.js and React projects. We built it to be as dynamic and flexible as possible, as its being used across SaaS platforms, marketing sites, web apps, internal ERPs, and more.

Every client gets a dedicated, branded portal where they can sign-in, add team members, and manage their account. Teams can create, edit, and publish content in a markdown editor, assemble landing pages with reusable components (Structs), or use both. Content lives in what we call "Collections", and assets are managed in a unified media library.

Built-in AI writing tools and SEO analysis help teams ship optimized content quickly, keeping content management fast, simple, and reliable. AI features are integrated across the platform, from generating branded replies to form submissions, to creating images, to producing full articles in one click with structured headings, external links, and clean markdown.

• Frontend stack: Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS, Headless UI, shadcn/ui, Radix UI

• Media: ImageKit for upload, storage, optimization, and delivery

• Integrations: Stripe for billing and invoices, OpenAI API, Pexels and Unsplash API's for images

• AI engine: OpenAI API powering an AI Writer and in‑editor assistance

• Scalability: Multi tenant platform with dedicated, branded instances per client and role-based access

The result is a single tool that feels simple for editors and powerful for developers.

HyperSpeed keeps things simple for teams and powerful for developers. Below is a quick look at the core features.

Structs are custom, headless building blocks that let editors add dynamic JSX content. Think of them like MDX without the usual constraints. Because our sites are custom coded, Structs provide a safe, reusable way to compose complex layouts.

This is how the corresponding "Simple Bento Cards" Struct looks on the frontend of our website!

Through Structs, we give non-technical teams the ability to build bespoke landing pages with custom UI components easily. Open the editor, select and arrange the Structs in the layout you like, add your content and media, and publish!

• Reuse a curated set of Structs across pages to ship consistent layouts fast.

• Create custom landing pages by mixing and matching Structs, no developer needed

• Keep content in HyperSpeed while code controls layout, performance, and branding

The Struct below is an example taken from our Endorsa case study (a review management platform we built). With Structs, it allows us to add custom components throughout our content, or build entire landing pages with them!

Collections are how we use HyperSpeed to create organized groups of pages within a site. Use them to separate content types and tailor the UI for each. On TFI Canada, for example, we use Collections for Products, Blogs, Models, and Services.

• Create, edit, publish and unpublish content within each Collection

• Attach Collection-specific Structs (for example Stats, CTA) to add tailored UI components

• Benefit from automatic internal linking: grouping related content inside a Collection builds a connected web of links between entries and their category hubs. This improves crawl coverage, distributes link equity, and helps users navigate related topics

With HyperSpeed, our goal was to make it as dynamic and flexible as possible. Define the fields and schema you need, then map them cleanly to your frontend.

Use the advanced form builder to shape each Collection. Pick the inputs you need (Text, Paragraph, Whole Number, Decimal Number, Date, URL, Media, Media Gallery, Dropdown, Checkbox, Custom JSON, Tags, Icon, Boolean, Rich Text, Structured Array), then set labels and field names, mark required fields, add help text, and optionally add regex validation.

You can also go a level deeper and add categories inside a Collection to segment further. In TFI Canada’s Products Collection, items are grouped by brand (for example Henny Penny or Taylor) and by product category (for example Soft Serve Machines or Deep Fryers). A product can belong to both, which makes browsing and filtering simple.

Here are the fields in the Products Collection, including Brand and Equipment type.

Once a collection is created, you can navigate to it inside HyperSpeed. The image below shows the collection of product pages on TFI Canada.

Each item in a Collection uses the fields you created. In this example, the product’s category, brand, and equipment type are selected in the right sidebar.

Those fields map to the frontend so visitors can filter products by brand or equipment type.

Because categories were added inside that Collection, each category now has its own page on the site.

Each organization who has a HyperSpeed account gets their own media library. Upload images or generate them with AI, then easily use them when creating content. Name files, add alt text, and find what you need fast with search. We also integrated the Pexels and Unsplash APIs so you can find royalty free images without ever leaving HyperSpeed.

The HyperSpeed editor is where content comes together. It works with any Collection you create, whether that is a blog, a service page, or a privacy policy, and it always has access to Structs, the Media Library, and AI tools.

Markdown-first editing: The editor is markdown. You can type markdown directly (for example, ## to create an H2) or highlight text and choose the formatting option.

Collection-aware fields: Each Collection can define its own fields, so the editor matches the content type. A Case Study might include a project name and no author. A Blog post might include category, author, and tags.

Compose with or without Structs: You can write in the rich text editor, or insert Structs to drop in branded components. Type “/” to open the command menu, then add components, media, embeds, or the AI assistance tools.

Media built in: Search your Media Library, pull images from Pexels and Unsplash, or generate new images with AI. Everything is optimized and stored for reuse.

AI at your fingertips: Use one-click AI to draft a post, or highlight text and choose "Ask AI" to improve writing, make it shorter or longer, continue writing, find a link, find a stat, or pull a relevant YouTube video.

Publish with confidence: Preview SEO titles and descriptions, run content checks for headings, links, images, and structure, then publish. Editors get a simple workflow. The frontend keeps design, performance, and branding consistent.

Before Modall, we ran Modall Media, and before that we ran a handful of blogs to learn SEO. Nearly a decade later, we have poured our expertise in content marketing and SEO into HyperSpeed, giving our clients (and us) the tools we wish we had back then.

Most teams do not have the SEO background or the time, so we built some pretty cool and very user friendly AI features (including one-click blog posts) into HyperSpeed that lets anyone create SEO optimized content in minutes.

The AI Writer is our custom built tool that uses a coordinated set of specialized AI agents to create an entire blog post in one click. It scans Google, analyzes competitor articles, pulls “People also ask” topics, proposes a heading structure, targets keyword density, finds reputable external links, and inserts markdown elements like tables, quotes, and YouTube embeds. It can also generate images. With our custom prompt engineering, we’ve fine tuned every step to produce high quality, optimized content.

• One‑click AI blog creation: Generate a complete post in one action

• Advanced AI blog creation: Set fields like meta title, slug, meta description, overview, keywords, and length, then generate

For example, I prompted it with "Write a blog on what content management systems are".

A minute later, I have a fully optimized blog thats formatted correctly, includes markdown elements, images, and more!

Inside HyperSpeed, we also added a bunch of AI tools inside the text editor to streamline your workflow. These include:

• Type "/" for AI completion based on nearby content

• Highlight text and choose Ask AI to Improve Writing, Make Shorter, Make Longer, Continue Writing

• Link Finder suggests a relevant external link

• Stat Finder inserts a relevant statistic and source link

• Video Finder embeds a relevant YouTube video

If you have ever written website content or blogs, you know finding images is always a pain, so we added an AI image generation tool! Open the Media Library, click Generate Image, set your dimensions, enter a prompt, and HyperSpeed creates the image and saves it to your library, ready to drop into any page or post!

As you write, HyperSpeed runs an SEO analysis that checks content length, subheading distribution, outbound links, image count, and heading structure, then gives you an overall score with recommendations. A built-in keyword analysis shows density, variations, and distribution so you stay on target. You can also edit meta titles and descriptions with a live preview of how your page will appear in search!

Beyond the core functionality, this CMS development project includes some other cool features that are worth mentioning: a branded Link Hub on your domain, a Stripe-powered billing portal, and an AI-assisted Leads Inbox for faster, consistent follow-ups.

We knew a few of our clients we're paying for LinkTree, so we built a native version in HyperSpeed to save them some money! Instead of sending traffic off-site, you now have a custom link hub on your own domain and can easily manage it directly in HyperSpeed. You can checkout few live examples on TFI Canada, PizzaForno, and Endorsa!

Here is how it looks on the frontend!

Each HyperSpeed instance has its own billing portal. Manage hosting subscriptions, update payment methods, and download past invoices through our Stripe integration. Clients can start or cancel hosting, view billing history, and keep account details up to date in one place.

For sites that use contact forms that are not connected to a CRM, submissions flow into the Messages tab. Teams can:

• Add their email and SMS details to get instant notifications

• View and manage all submissions in one place

• Use AI to generate a tailored reply based on your organization’s settings, tone, and branding

The result: faster follow-ups, consistent messaging, and a simple workflow for handling inbound requests.

If you are technical, we built a lightweight JavaScript SDK so you can see how HyperSpeed works under the hood.

Building HyperSpeed paid off. As new challenges came up, we kept refining the platform and shipped the features our team and clients needed. We have logged thousands of hours using HyperSpeed to plan, create, and manage content across real projects, and the impact shows up in speed, quality, and control.

We built HyperSpeed CMS because off-the-shelf tools could not keep up with the custom products we ship, and didn't have the specific features we needed. Today it powers 40+ projects and is used daily by our team and our clients to publish faster, rank better, and scale confidently. If you're looking for a CMS development company, you're in the right place.

Just as important, it shows what we can build for you:

• Scalable, multi-tenant platforms with branded client instances and clear roles

• Beautiful, responsive interfaces that non-technical teams can use with ease

• Authentication, user accounts, RBAC, payments, and billing

• End-to-end AI solutions, from model integration to custom prompt engineering

• Secure, scalable APIs with a lightweight SDK

If you need a technical team that can handle the product lifecycle end-to-end, reach out to us today!