Now is the time when every business needs a website. If some time ago it was necessary to know programming languages to build one, now content management systems (CMSs) give you many opportunities to make a website by yourself and even for free. 

In this post, we'll have a look at the two main competitors: WordPress and Drupal CMS.

What is a content management system?

A CMS is an open-source software that allows you to build a website and manage its content. A CMS helps you create a website from blocks like a builder. It’s convenient because CMSs have many modules and plugins. Depending on the goals of your project, you choose features you need. Nowadays CMSs are used not only for blogs but for any type of a project.

Advantages of using a CMS

• It's free. If you need a simple website with a standard set of features, you can create it by yourself. But be aware: there are some plugins, modules, and themes which need to be paid for.

• You can edit the content on a website without the developer's help.

• It's fast. It takes several days or months, depending on the complexity of a website.

• It's easy to understand how to use the platform. A CMS offers a large selection of modules, themes, and plugins. To create a gallery of photos, calendars, coupons, menus, tag clouds, and many different blocks of information, you just need to find an appropriate module or plugin for your CMS.

• Solving website problems is easy. A CMS is a popular tool, there is a big community of developers, so you can always get advice from them.

How to choose a CMS

The market offers hundreds of different platforms for creating websites, and choosing the best can be quite difficult. In this article, we give a comparison of Drupal and Wordpress. Below you’ll find their advantages and differences, so it's easier to choose the best CMS for you.

→ User-friendliness

Wordpress

There are two quick steps before starting work: one-click installation and choosing suitable plugins. WP offers 5,000 free themes and 53,000 free plugins.

Disadvantage: not all ideas can be implemented in WP.

Drupal 

Easy to install, a bit harder to manage. There are the same two steps before starting to work as in WP. Drupal offers more than 2,500 free themes and 39,000 free modules.

Be aware: if you need an advanced set of features or a custom design for your project, you may face some obstacles if you don't have technical skills.

Advantage: with Drupal, you can implement any idea that comes to your mind.

→ Speed

Wordpress

Speed can be either very slow or lightning fast. It depends on the webmaster, hosting, and proper optimization.

Good news: even beginners can easily optimize their websites in WordPress to increase productivity.

Drupal 

Drupal provides fast response speed.

Advantage: the Drupal CMS offers all the possibilities for website optimization.

→ Security

Wordpress

WP is the most frequently hacked CMS.

The main security problem with WP websites is related to the vulnerability that occurs when you download third-party plugins. Whenever a plugin is uploaded to WP, the site becomes vulnerable to malicious hacking. 

Drupal 

The Drupal CMS is one of the most secure CMSs. Drupal is used to host government websites such as the website of Prime Minister of Canada or the website of the French government.

Advantage: the Drupal security team constantly tests the performance of new modules and helps developers fix errors in the code.

→ System update

Wordpress

A WP system update can be done in a few clicks on the WordPress control panel. 

Advantage: the massive WP community will help resolve any issue.

Drupal 

An update of this system can be difficult if you are not a website developer. 

Disadvantage: You will not be able to update Drupal from the user interface, you will have to find a professional specialist to help.

→ What kinds of websites can be made on each platform

Wordpress

Personal branding websites, websites for freelancers and bloggers, small businesses, consulting services (finance, marketing, advertisement), company websites. 

Drupal 

Digital service providers, travel and tourism websites, websites for creative agencies, educational websites and e-learning platforms, governmental websites, news and entertainment websites, healthcare websites.  

Here is a tip! Make sure you know the exact goals of your business website, learn essential information about platforms under consideration, and then make a decision about which platform to use.

Conclusion

If you don’t want to waste time learning, WordPress will be the best choice for building your first website. The WordPress platform is available for users with any level of technical skills. Just find the right combination of plugins, choose a theme and high-quality hosting, then you can create large and customizable websites, but do not forget about security, especially if you plan to create a website for your business.

Drupal is a multifunctional and secure CMS. It is translated into 110 languages ​​and allows you to implement any project you may think of. Ecommerce websites, social networks, large corporate sites have been successfully created on Drupal. You can create large projects with a unique set of functions, but you will have to spend time learning or finding a web developer for help. 

To learn more about Drupal, we recommend you to read this post: Why you should migrate your site to Drupal

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