Battle Of CMS: WordPress Vs. Joomla Vs. Drupal
Choosing a content management system (CMS) is one of the biggest decisions you face when you want to create your website .
You must evaluate in detail all the functionalities that offer you the different platforms and stay with the ones that best suit your needs and your pocket.
WordPress vs. Joomla vs. Drupal
In this post we will analyze each of these three CMS. But to prepare for those sections, we want to give you a quick summary of what you can expect from each platform.
| WordPress | Joomla | Drupal | |
| Market share | 58.6% | 7.2% | 4.7% |
| Price | Free | Free | Free |
| Suitable for beginners | Yes | More or less | Do not |
| Extra functionalities | With themes and plugins | With templates and extensions | With themes and modules |
WordPress - The most popular CMS in the world
WordPress is the CMS chosen by most of the beginners of the online world, thanks to its simple interface, its scalability and its great support community.
27.4% of all websites have been created with WordPress, managing to control 58.6% of the CMS market. (Source W3Techs )
Ease of Installation
Thanks to its popularity, 99.9% of hosts allow you to install WordPress through cPanel with just a couple of clicks.
In addition to that many hosting providers offer dedicated WordPress hosting. And some of these specific WordPress packages even include a preinstalled version of the CMS.
So even though you have zero technical knowledge, you'll probably be able to install WordPress.
WordPress extensibility - Themes and plugins
WordPress includes two easy ways to expand its design and functionality:
- Themes. Themes mainly affect site design, but some also add advanced features.
- Plugins. Plugins can do everything from a simple fit, to convert your WordPress site into an eCommerce store .
WordPress has thousands of free themes and add-ons available. If we add to the large number of premium options, you already have a platform with multiple possibilities. Neither Joomla nor Drupal can compete with the large number of WordPress extensions.
In WordPress.org you can find a directory of free themes and plugins, which facilitates the search by finding everything in a centralized location. Neither Joomla nor Drupal have a directory of plugins so well designed.
Pros and cons
PROS
- Suitable for beginners . WordPress is the easiest-to-use CMS for beginners.
- Community. Its great support community will facilitate the search of topics and plugins and will solve your doubts.
- Flexible. It has over 45,000 free plugins plus thousands of premium plugins.
- No code knowledge is needed. It has plugins page builders with which you can design complex pages without having code abilities.
CONS
It does not always scale well. WordPress is not the best option for handling large amounts of content or data compared to Drupal and Joomla.
Types of websites you can create with WordPress
- Static site: yes (no plugins needed).
- Blog: yes (no plugins needed).
- E-commerce store : yes (with a plugin).
- Forum: yes (with a plugin)
- Social network: yes (with a plugin)
How much does a WordPress site cost?
WordPress software is free.
In theory, all you need to run WordPress is a hosting and a domain name . So in principle you will only have to face these two expenses.
If you want a professional web your best option will be to buy a premium theme, which can cost you about 50 €.
Also you must evaluate if you need or not to buy some premium plugin. Some websites can operate exclusively with free add-ons.
Famous examples of WordPress
- BBC America
- Tech Crunch
- POT
Joomla - between WordPress and Drupal
Joomla is a good bridge between WordPress and Drupal. It retains some features of the usability of WordPress while moving towards the flexibility offered by Drupal.
Joomla is the second most popular CMS, although the difference between this and the first place that WordPress is enormous.
3.3% of all websites use Joomla and controls 7.2% of the CMS market.
Ease of Installation
As with WordPress, most hosts make it easy to install Joomla through cPanel. As long as your hosting provider uses cPanel, you will not need any technical knowledge to get started.
However, you are unlikely to find specific hosting for Joomla. Some hosts, such as SiteGround, offer it. But it does not have an offer as wide as that of WordPress.
Joomla Extensibility - Templates and Add-ons
Joomla offers templates (similar to WordPress themes) and extensions (similar to WordPress plugins).
The official Joomla website has an extensions directory, but lacks a template directory. So if you want to dive between the different options of templates, you'll have to go to a site like ThemeForest .
Pros and cons
PROS:
- Multilingual. Although you can create a multilingual website in WordPress by adding an add-on, Joomla includes this functionality by default in its main software.
- Greater flexibility to manage content. Joomla allows you to work with content in more ways than WordPress.
- Perfect for user communities. Joomla works very well to create platforms in which user communities are created.
- It is now easier to use . Some developers are creating page builders for Joomla, which makes creating Joomla sites friendlier for beginners.
CONS
- Curve of superior learning. Although not as complex as Drupal, it takes a while to learn how to manage Joomla.
- No official template directory. It's a little harder to find the right theme for your site.
Types of websites that can be created with Joomla
- Static site: yes (no extensions required).
- Blog: yes (no extensions needed).
- E-commerce store: yes (with an extension).
- Forum: yes (with an extension).
- Social Network: yes (with an extension).
How much does a Joomla site cost?
The costs of Joomla are similar to those of WordPress. The software is free, but you will need hosting and a domain name.
After that, you'll probably need to spend over € 60 on a premium template to customize the look of your website.
You may also need some premium extensions to get all the features necessary to run your site.
Famous examples of Joomla
- Harvard School of Arts and Sciences
- IHOP
- The Hill
Drupal - Flexible, but not for beginners
Used by large organizations like Oregon State University and London Gatwick Airport, Drupal can power high-traffic websites that store huge amounts of data. But to get the most out of Drupal, you'll need to spend a significant amount of time learning how the platform works.
2.2% of all websites use Drupal and controls 4.7% of the CMS market.
Drupal Installation Facility
As with both platforms, most cPanel hosts allow you to install Drupal with a single click.
Drupal Extensibility - Themes and Modules
Like WordPress and Joomla, Drupal offers two ways to extend its functionality: Modules and Themes.
It currently has about 20,000 modules and more than 2,400 topics in its directory. But the third-party ecosystem of Drupal is by no means as good as WordPress or Joomla.
Pros and cons
PROS
- Flexible. If you have the necessary knowledge to get it started, Drupal will offer you more flexibility and customization than the rest of CMS.
- Detailed taxonomies. Ideal for categorizing and organizing large amounts of data.
CONS
- Not my friend. If you do not have basic knowledge of HTML / PHP, it is not the right CMS for you.
Types of websites that can be created with Drupal
- Static site: yes (no modules needed).
- Blog: yes (with Blog module).
- E-commerce store: yes (with a module).
- Forum: yes (with a module).
- Social network: yes (with a module).
How much does a Drupal site cost?
Like its competitors Drupal itself is free, so all you technically need is to pay for hosting and domain.
However, you will need more time to configure everything.
Famous examples of Drupal
- Oregon State University
- The economist
- London Gatwick Airport
Can you migrate from one CMS to another?
Yes, but it is not recommended.
Although there are tools that help you to migrate between WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, it is best not to do so. Before creating your website, you value which CMS is right for you and stick with it.
What is the best CMS?
It depends…
If you just started in the online world your best option will be WordPress.
If you are a more advanced user you probably will not need to read this comparison, but Drupal or Joomla may be better for you, especially if you want to build a larger, more personalized site.
Thanks for the comparison!
ReplyDeleteThat was incredibly helpful
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