Scholl Communications

What Scholl Communications does

Scholl Communications AG is a German privately held software manufacturer founded in 1988 by Alexander Scholl in Kehl am Rhein, Germany. The company develops and licenses Weblication®, a proprietary XML/XSLT-based Content Management System continuously developed in-house since 1997 and available in two tiers: Weblication® GRID for large enterprises and complex portals, and Weblication® CORE for small and medium-sized businesses and agencies. The platform also offers add-on modules including Weblication® SEND for encrypted data transfer, the Verschlüsselter Briefkasten encrypted mailbox, Weblication® CLOUD for file sharing, Agentur Board for multi-project agency management, and CityWeb for public-administration sites.

The company serves more than 10,000 CMS customers, has completed over 1,500 web projects, and works with over 1,000 contracted web agencies (Vertragsdienstleister) that implement Weblication® for their own clients. End customers include Konzerne (corporations), Mittelstand (mid-market firms), public-administration entities, healthcare organizations, and non-profit associations, with named reference logos spanning Roche, SAP, GSK, Otto Group, L'TUR, Nero, BASF-Drucksysteme, and Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall.

Scholl Communications generates revenue through subscription software licensing (CORE and GRID editions), professional services for web development and strategy, hosting, and training. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is delivered on a custom-contact basis. The company operates an agency-led channel model complemented by direct enterprise sales and self-serve download of the CMS. It is 100% owned by founder Alexander Scholl, is fully self-funded with no external investors, and self-describes as highly profitable with continuous annual product releases through 2025.

Name

Scholl Communications

Legal name

Scholl Communications AG

Website

https://scholl.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Scholl Communications AG is a German software manufacturer founded in 1988 that develops Weblication®, a proprietary XML/XSLT-based CMS, serving over 10,000 customers and 1,000 web agency partners across German-speaking markets through subscription licensing and professional services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Content Management System

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Blogging & CMS Content Platforms (BPAMAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Newsroom/CMS Platforms for Publishers (MPACAIAH)

Keywords

• Content management system
• Website CMS software
• Enterprise portal solutions
• Web development services
• Web agency tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Kehl

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Licensing: Revenue from licensing Weblication® CMS software products including CORE and GRID editions. Customers pay for software licenses to use the CMS.
2. Professional Services: Web development, design, programming, conception, strategy, project management, quality assurance, and ongoing support/betreuung services.
3. Hosting Services: Web hosting services for websites built on Weblication® CMS.
4. Training and Know-How Transfer: Training services and knowledge transfer for customers who want to handle maintenance themselves.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Scholl Communications AG develops and licenses the Weblication CMS, a proprietary XML/XSLT-based Content Management System used by 10,000+ customers to build and operate websites, portals, intranets, and extranets. The company sells the software via annual subscriptions in two tiers (GRID for enterprises, CORE for SMBs/agencies), and supplements it with add-on modules (Weblication SEND, Encrypted Mailbox, Weblics components, Cloud, Agentur Board, CityWeb) and professional services including web development, hosting, training, and ongoing maintenance.

Product overview

Scholl Communications AG offers Weblication®, a proprietary XML/XSLT-based Content Management System available in two tiers: Weblication® CMS GRID (high-end enterprise solution) and Weblication® CMS CORE (flexible solution for SMEs and agencies). The platform includes ready-to-use components called Weblics® for quick feature additions. Add-on modules include Weblication® SEND for encrypted data transfer, the Verschlüsselter Briefkasten (Encrypted Mailbox) for secure communications, CLOUD for cloud storage, Agentur Board for agency project management, and CityWeb for public administration. The system supports AI integration (text generation, image analysis, translation) and accessibility features including Easy Language module.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Weblication CMS: XML-based Content Management System for building internet, intranet, and extranet portals. Available in two variants: Weblication GRID (enterprise solution) and Weblication CORE (for small/medium enterprises and agencies).
• Weblication GRID
• Weblication CORE
• Weblication SEND
• Verschlüsselter Briefkasten

Products and services

• Weblication CMS GRID High-end enterprise Content Management System built on XML/XSLT/PHP technology for large organizations, corporations, and complex portal projects requiring maximum scalability, customization, and performance. Used for corporate websites, intranets, extranets, and service portals.
• Weblication CMS CORE Flexible CMS designed for small and medium-sized companies and web agencies, offering a cost-effective entry point with full feature set including drag&drop editor, inline editor, automatic image scaling, SEO tools, responsive web design, and AI integration.
• Weblication SEND Encrypted data sending and receiving solution for secure file exchange. Recipients receive an email notification with a secure link to download encrypted files. Awarded 'Best of 2017' and 'Best of 2018' at Innovationspreis-IT in IT-Security.
• Verschlüsselter Briefkasten (Encrypted Mailbox) Secure encrypted mailbox feature for websites enabling confidential communication between website visitors and operators.
• Weblication CLOUD Cloud and share functions for Weblication webspace, enabling encrypted storage and file sharing capabilities within the CMS.
• Agentur Board Agency management tool for centralized control of all client projects. Free for agencies, enables monitoring updates across multiple customer installations from a single dashboard.
• CityWeb

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 70% annual cost savings on web presence compared to previous solutions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability8 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Web Agencies Network (1,000+ partners)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 1,000 web agencies (Web-Agenturen) as contracted service providers (Vertragsdienstleister) distributing and implementing Weblication CMS in German-speaking markets. These partners use Weblication to build websites for their own clients.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Drupal: Open-source enterprise CMS used by governments and large organizations globally. Comparable as a modular, customizable CMS platform serving complex web/portal projects, though with a much larger global open-source community.
• Contao: Open-source CMS with strong following among German-speaking web agencies and SMBs. Directly competes for the same Mittelstand and agency customer base as Weblication CORE.
• TYPO3: Open-source enterprise CMS with strong DACH market penetration and large agency/integrator ecosystem. Directly comparable to Weblication in target customer (German enterprises, agencies, public sector) and CMS category.
• Joomla: Long-standing open-source CMS used by SMBs, agencies, and some enterprises. Comparable in serving agency-led web projects with mid-market customization requirements.

Broad incumbents

• Sitecore: Enterprise digital experience platform with CMS capabilities used by large organizations. Comparable to Weblication GRID in serving complex, multi-site enterprise portals.
• WordPress (Automattic): Dominant open-source CMS globally with massive agency and SMB ecosystem. Competes with Weblication for the same Mittelstand and agency-led web project business, albeit at a much lower price point.
• Adobe Experience Manager: Enterprise-grade CMS/DXP from Adobe used by large corporations for web, portal, and content workflows. Competes with Weblication GRID at the high end of the enterprise CMS market.

Emerging players

• Contentful: Headless SaaS CMS platform targeting enterprises and digital teams. Represents the headless/composable CMS direction that enterprise CMS buyers are increasingly adopting, posing an emerging competitive threat to traditional CMS like Weblication.
• Ibexa (formerly eZ Platform): European-headquartered DXP/CMS vendor with headless and enterprise capabilities. Comparable as a European-headquartered alternative targeting complex enterprise portal use cases similar to Weblication GRID.
• Neos CMS: Open-source CMS originating in Germany, popular with agencies for custom web projects. Competes with Weblication in the DACH agency and mid-market segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scholl-communications-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scholl Communications