WordPress vs Other CMS Platforms

Ryan Williamson
3 min readSep 30, 2021

It is not news that content management systems are in great demand of late, thanks to the digital realm in which we exist. You would agree it’s never been easier to build a website or blog, it is thanks to content management system (CMS) software. With a CMS, you don’t have to always write code to create pages or posts, nor do you have to know any CSS or HTML. This makes it easy to modify the look and feel of the site — all because of the themes and plugins.

When it comes to Content Management Systems (CMS), WordPress is a proven leader. The others just don’t come close. While on one end, you have the likes of Drupal and Joomla who have been around for so long, and on the other, you have WordPress — with a market share of approximately 33%. Of course, WordPress is the reigning champion, but what about the other options in the market, such as Joomla, Magento, and Drupal? Further, they even offer users powerful tools to successfully control multiple sites, integrate SEO best practices & much more. This popularity does, however, put the spotlight on one question: which content management system should you choose?

Now, Drupal and Joomla, are a little complex and pretty much legacy by today’s standards. To help you navigate this tricky choice we have put together a quick comparison between WordPress and some of its key rivals in the market.
1. Drupal:
• We will start with a similarity between Drupal and WordPress: Both these CMS are self-hosted. But the difference between Drupal and WordPress in the costs department becomes evident based on the plan one chooses. Oh, and the choice of platform indeed affects the website’s performance.
• WordPress is an omnipresent resource, which means hiring a WordPress developer is much cheaper than hiring one for building a Drupal-based site. This is because, between these two CMS, the market has more developers with experience with WordPress as compared to developers with experience of working with Drupal.
• There is no doubt that Drupal’s performance in the context of security is top-notch, which is why it is trusted for use to develop government websites all over the world. Now, while Drupal’s security features are A-grade, WordPress too isn’t far behind. One can make use of a variety of plug-ins et al to address any security-related issues and fortify the security of their website.

2. Joomla:
• Much like WordPress, Joomla too is free to use. However, with Joomla, you will likely spend extra on developers.
• WordPress and Joomla are both highly customizable platforms, thanks to customizable themes, etc. However, WordPress has an advantage on account of the sheer number of themes, etc. it offers.
• When it comes to maintenance and updates, Joomla and WordPress sites fare equally well. However, with Joomla, the updates are much more regular and also necessitate more effort.

3. Magento:
• Compared to Magento, WordPress is much easier to use since the latter’s key goal is to ensure accessibility to people with all levels of development skills. Whereas Magento is better suited for use by full-fledged developers.
• WordPress performs better in the content management department since it is a proper CMS. With Magento, however, one would need extensions for content management capabilities.
• Magento and WordPress both have similar design-related functionalities.
Now let us also take a look at the key benefits of WordPress
1. Open-source: WordPress can be downloaded, installed, and tailored without necessitating payment to the provider. Plus, it can be used for creating various types of websites.
2. Customization: A key advantage of using WordPress is that it offers immense scope for adapting the website following your unique preferences, requirements, etc. via graphics templates, theme, etc.
3. Add-ons: One of the most compelling advantages of WordPress is the abundance of plugins, widgets, etc. it offers access to.

WordPress is a leading option when it comes to CMS available in the market. Compared to its rivals, companies stand to gain much more with the behemoth that is WordPress. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start looking for a trusted name for WordPress development services right away.

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Ryan Williamson

A professional and security-oriented programmer having more than 6 years of experience in designing, implementing, testing and supporting mobile apps developed.