WordPress Vs. other CMS: how does it stack up?

WordPress as an open-source, fully flexible CMS

If you’re in the market for a website, you have probably heard WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, and a dozen more. But which one should you use? When it comes to selecting WordPress vs other content management systems (CMS) and website platforms, the right choice depends on your individual needs.

In this article, we’ve rounded up our verdicts on the top website hosting platforms and determined who might benefit the most from using them.

If you’re curious about WordPress vs the competition, read on.

WordPress is a versatile, open-source CMS that offers a large amount of freedom for website owners. There are two types of WordPress:

WordPress.com is a popular free option for those who are just getting started with setting up a basic blog or website. It’s built on the WordPress SaaS (Software as a Service) platform and offers a number of free themes to get started.

WordPress.org offers website owners the capacity to build self-hosted websites with their own domain names. While it’s still open source, it offers much more flexibility and control.

From personal blogs and membership sites to major brand websites and e-commerce, WordPress is equipped to support sites of all sizes and kinds.

There is no limit to what users can do. In terms of customisation, WordPress.org offers both free and paid themes.

Additionally, users can integrate apps and plugins to further tailor their sites to what they need.

There are over 55,000 plugins and 10,000 themes in the official WP.org repository alone.

The immense versatility and easy operation quickly took WordPress to the top of the CMS market. WP is firmly dominating the industry, holding over 65% share, which translates to 455+ million websites.

And that’s only counting the projects where you can identify the underlying technologies that make them up.

The lead ahead of the competition is startling, and it doesn’t seem to be going away soon with nearly one-third of the top 1 million websites being built with WordPress.

The CMS showdown

How does WordPress compare to Blogger?

Blogger is one of the best blogging platforms focused mainly on content creation. On the other hand, WordPress has evolved into a full, general CMS that allows users to create powerful, fully-customizable websites.

For users who need a quick, easy blog, the Blogger SaaS is a solid option. Getting started is simple, it’s fairly straightforward to use, plus it comes with analytics and adsense.

Blogger is a product of Google, so you’ll need a Google account to link to in order to set it up.

Blogger however is not a full CMS and therefore cannot be used for eCommerce, or for running online courses. The platform is very standard with WYSIWYG, there isn’t a lot of room for customisation or integration with other modules and features.

If you’re looking to just get content out in the world, and have a platform you can use to voice your views, then Blogger will do this brilliantly.

However, for anything more complex than this, you’re going to need an alternative.

How does WordPress compare to Drupal?

Drupal is a full CMS that targets the same demographic as WordPress does. Like WordPress, it’s both free and open-source, and it’s available for quick installation from most web hosting providers.

Both platforms offer users a modular experience that gives users the flexibility to create and scale the kind of site they want.

Like WordPress, Drupal offers plugins and add-ons which are created by the ‘Drupal Community’ but it is very much aimed toward users who have at least some experience with web design, whereas WordPress is easier to navigate.

The Drupal community now includes around 1.4 million members, and about 10% of those are actively contributing with resources for the developer-friendly CMS.

This is an excellent number considering the not-so-big market share, so you will be sure to find enough assistance if you need it.

One of the reasons why many government organizations and big enterprises prefer Drupal stems from its great website protection options.

The app developers are even more active and transparent than WordPress when it comes to security improvements and patches

WordPress acclimates its users to the ecosystem, while Drupal drops users right in without much guidance.

If you’re new to the world of web design, this isn’t very helpful. If you’re already a web developer, Drupal is worth considering as an option for your website hosting, however if this is your first rodeo, we think WordPress is a much better option.

How does WordPress compare to Joomla?

Joomla is WP’s closest market competitor, but the multifunctional CMS only holds about 6.5%, compared to the 60%+ for WordPress.

Jooma from the outset was designed to be a full-site CMS whilst WordPress began primarily as blogging software, which then scaled up to a CMS.

That means its foundation is still rooted in blogging features.

Joomla is a platform that developers can use out of the box with straight code, such as CSS, HTML, PHP, and JavaScript.

It appears less friendly to beginners, as its back-end is more technical to navigate than WordPress is. Customizing a website in Joomla is more difficult overall than WordPress, particularly for beginners.

How does WordPress compare to SquareSpace?

With WordPress, complete personalisation and flexibility comes with add ons and extensions whereas Squarespace is fully geared toward beginners, and the platform has everything you need right from the get-go.

Because this focus is on ease of use, there are limitations where customisations are concerned and relies on in-built features for SEO as opposed to the potential that can be unlocked with WordPress plugins.

No matter what CMS, we’re here to help you!

When you’re weighing WordPress vs other websites and CMS platforms, there are many options available. In the end, it comes down to your individual needs and the kind of website-building experience you want to have.

But if you’re weighing a choice between WordPress vs any of its competitors, we’ve got you covered.