WordPress vs Drupal: Choosing the right CMS

Introduction

WordPress vs Drupal is one of the most sought-after comparisons among the Content Management Systems (CMS), the former with a market share of around 60% and the latter with 1.5%. The popularity of WordPress can be attributed to its ease of use by different sets of people and integration compatibility with a vast ecosystem of plugins and external platforms. While being used by a relatively smaller percentage, Drupal can be extremely valuable to certain people, businesses, or government agencies owing to its top-rated security, SEO functionality, and more. Read further to learn more about different aspects of CMSs and make an informed choice based on your requirements.

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Features to consider

There are many overlapping functionalities and features between WordPress and Drupal, but certain differences in features make them suitable for different sets of users. Here are a few of the important features under comparison to help you narrow down the right CMS:

Cost

WordPress and Drupal are free from upfront license costs, as they both are entirely open source. Costs are incurred for hosting, domain name, and other functionalities, which are included with the help of premium plugins or modules.

Apart from the above, WordPress has a low barrier to entry and contains easy-to-use page builders making it a cheaper option compared to Drupal which requires technical expertise for building the website and can prove costly.

Content Management

WordPress offers straightforward, easy-to-use content management tools like block-based page editors for page building, agile post management, and reusability of earlier created blocks which makes content management simple and accessible for a diverse range of users in the company.

While Drupal also offers many content management features like content tagging, in-place editing, and mobile editing, their intended users are developers owing to the technical knowledge required and the complexities involved in the process.

Security

Plugin vulnerability alone contributes to more than half of the WordPress security threats. So, proper updates to the website core and regular maintenance of the plugins and themes can ensure safety despite the common misconception about the lack of security in WordPress. In addition to this, the most active and big WordPress developer community serves as an invaluable front line against security threats and vulnerabilities.

Drupal is one of the most secure CMS platforms available making it the top priority pick among government organizations. While Drupal may also be subject to security threats, regular updates as mentioned for WordPress can prove to be highly effective.

Integration

WordPress offers great flexibility in integration with various third-party platforms and brings in different new functionalities through compatibility with a huge ecosystem of plugins owing to its open-source code base. In addition to this, WordPress plays a prominent role as a back-end in headless deployments with different front-end technologies.

With an open-source code base, Drupal’s role in the back-end for headless deployments remains similar to that of WordPress while its developer-centric nature restricts people other than developers. Drupal’s main mode of integration is through modules which is similar to that of WordPress’s plugins while the modules are limited to find and use for required functionalities.

Versatility

WordPress continues to be an option for different kinds of websites from brands to eCommerce stores, learning portals, and much more. It can be one of the best choices for creative projects owing to its agility and flexibility. In addition to this, WordPress’ maturity as an enterprise solution makes it an attractive option compared to closed and developer-heavy open-source systems. WordPress can adapt quickly with UX paving the way for testing and implementing changes to the design quickly.

While Drupal can also be considered for different kinds of websites, it is ideal for data-heavy websites with numerous customization requirements that will require little plans to adapt and change over time. Less adaptability with UX proves to be one of Drupal’s disadvantages compared to WordPress.

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Conclusion

WordPress is an intuitive CMS platform making it popular among different kinds of users from technical to non-technical. Drupal is a complex and developer-centric platform that has a steep learning curve making it relatively less prevalent. Choosing the right CMS for your website can boil down to cost and some of the important features of the CMSs like content management, security, integration, and versatility explained above. Hope our insights about the important features in WordPress vs Drupal comparison provided you with the required information to make the right choice.

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