People often struggle to choose between the right CMS platform to launch their website after choosing a hosting provider. And if you, too, don’t know which platform to go with. You ‘re in the right place. Of all available platforms, WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are popular and leading options.

According to the CMS usage distribution report on the top 1 million sites, websites over 34.31% use WordPress as their CMS platform, followed by Drupal, which is used on only 2.64% of websites, and then Joomla, which is used on 1.62% of websites.

Each of them excels in certain areas. Some are optimized for blogging, some for e-commerce, some for large-scale websites, etc. Choosing one of the best of the three options is always a difficult job, especially when there are many similarities between them.

The easy-to-use nature of modern CMS platforms means that anyone can build a great-looking website on their own. You don’t need to be a web developer, a designer, or have any previous experience building a website.

In this article, I have tried to make a brief comparison of these three platforms. Also, I’ve made comparison posts between Webflow vs WordPress, WordPress vs Squarespace and WooCommerce vs Magento, make sure you check these posts and understand what these platforms are offering.

What Is a CMS Platform?

The CMS platform is a system used for creating and managing the website. Websites have been created in the past by separately coding each web page using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. By adding more dynamic tools like PHP (for dynamically created pages) and SQL (for databases), skilled web developers have created systems that have enabled pages with less input and more functionality. WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are three of the options developed using these new methods.

Creating a website on a Web platform like these is much simpler. Instead of developing each page, you can use templates to create various sections of the pages. For example, the WordPress page includes a header, a body, a sidebar, and a footer. You can separately design each of these parts and then reuse them as much as you want without copying and pasting the code into a new file. Creating a page is as simple as writing content for a page, and splitting the rest of the page around it using the platform.

A web platform’s most powerful aspect is its ability to help you create a website without having to work directly with the source code. Code learning is the same as learning a different language (or several languages that work together), giving it a broad learning curve. CMS platforms rarely allow you to work with code directly, rather than using a predefined system or interface. WordPress page and post screens are good examples of how an interface like that works.

Let’s learn more about these three platforms.

WordPress

Currently, WordPress is the most popular of the three. It is used on more than half of the websites of the world. This is because it is small and user friendly, even for beginners. Many people find it very easy to set up and start managing a WordPress web site in a matter of minutes. Plus, it’s tiny compared to the other options, so small hosting plans will work well.

Plugins and Themes

WordPress has more than 55,000 plugins and a huge amount of themes in its comprehensive library. Those plugins and themes can be used to increase the site’s versatility. Third-party WordPress themes and plugins make it very easy to extend WordPress without the need for custom development.

Also, WordPress has several third-party markets where you can find free and premium plugins and themes for your website. Some popular markets are the Code Canyon, Mojo Marketplace, ZetaMatic.

Price

WordPress is a free to use platform. You’ll need to pay for the domain, hosting plan, any premium plugins or themes you ‘re using, however. You’ll get a free domain with some hosting plans so that the domain expenses can be gone.

If you want to incorporate more complex features, then you may need to invest in a developer.

If you have a very small budget, still, you can use WordPress where you just need to invest in the hosting, and you can start your website without investing in anything else.

Support

The benefit of choosing WordPress is the enormous amount of support available to the platform. Whether your problem is small or large, there are official and non-official forums available, many dedicated blogs and youtube channels available to guide you through every step of your problem.

Of course, it’s all free, but you’re going to have to do the work and research on the problem you’re experiencing.

Security

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world. That also means that this is the first target for hackers looking for random websites. Nevertheless, WordPress is safe. The developers ensured the code would be as stable as possible. You should also expect regular updates to keep the system safe the entire time.

Moreover, It’s up to you most of the time to keep things safe and secure. Keep updating the plugins and themes as you get any update from the developers. Also, it is best practice to use a security plugin. So, make sure to use one to keep your website safe.

Best for

Most people prefer WordPress because it’s user-friendly and easy to add functionality to non-developers. Also, using WordPress, you can quickly create an attractive and functional website. Getting help is easy as well.

Joomla

Like WordPress, Joomla is an open-source CMS that allows you to generate web content and powerful applications. It has been available since 2005 and has been a good alternative to WordPress ever since. Joomla is different from the very beginning – unlike WordPress, it allows for several database options that are important to tech-savvy people. But if you’re not in the process of serious web development, those features won’t mean that much to you.

Joomla was designed for larger websites. The code and interface are designed to make the management of pages across a wide range of pages and posts much easier. Because of how it is structured, you won’t run into performance issues when you scale up your website.

Plugins and Themes

Joomla doesn’t fall far behind WordPress. It also provides essential templates and extensions which can help you do many things on the web. There are more than 7,500 extensions currently available in Joomla’s library. These numbers are very less compared to WordPress. Because it’s less popular than WordPress, So, you’ll find a lot less number of templates and extensions.

The extensions you get on Joomla are a bit simpler than the ones you get on WordPress.

Price

Joomla is free software like WordPress. You ‘re going to have to pay for the hosting plan to start using Joomla. And, of course, if you need any expert help, you’ll also have to pay for it.

Support

Joomla has an active community of users, who can help you find answers to any of your website’s problems. Also, you can find help, in the form of tutorials, articles, and videos. There are also quite a few active forums available where you can ask for help but you should check the official support page if you are a beginner.

Security

When it comes to security Joomla isn’t very different. The developers here are also working hard to fix bugs and update the security of the platform on time. Just like WordPress, some great security extensions will help you with the site. Also, remember to keep the system and extensions up-to-date to minimize the chance of being exploited.

Best for

Joomla is best suited for complex websites that require greater flexibility. This also includes websites of medium-size businesses and comprehensive websites with content such as Wikipedia. You have all the tools you need to operate an important website. With Joomla, you might even have a complex business web site.

Drupal

Drupal is similar to Joomla, but it is designed for complete freedom when it comes to content management and website development. It is based on a content management system web design but lets you fully customize the entire structure and content of the site.

Plugins and Themes

Drupal offers 2,869 themes and 45,575 modules (plugins). Which is less than that of WordPress but more than that of Joomla. However, much of the functionality needed to customize the platform is already incorporated into the main themes, eliminating the need to rely heavily on plugins from third parties.

And, many consider Drupal because of its flexibility and efficiency when it comes to organizing large amounts of data and content. Customizing Drupal themes, however, often requires custom development, thus requiring the help of a professional web developer.

Price

Drupal is a free, open-source content management (CMS) system with a wide community of users. Millions of people and organizations across the globe use this to build and manage their websites.

Support

It is also well known and used throughout the world of web development. If you have a problem or don’t know how to do something, you have access to a community of developers and users who can help you find the best solution. You can also find answers to your questions through a wide range of blogs, videos, and forums.

Security

Are you looking for a full range of plug-ins to choose from? Do you want more extensions and freedom in web design to improve the functionality of your site? If you aren’t sure which is best, reach out to your web hosting provider. Companies like Bluehost have a support team that can help you get your website started.

Best for

It fits well for larger corporate websites, as all the improvements and templates you need can be built. It fits best for large, complex websites although it can be used for smaller projects. However, it comes with a lot of extra work that you don’t have to do to use it on a smaller project.

Finally

WordPress is the most user-friendly and fastest way to set up a website. For beginners, too. You can easily create your blog sites, e-commerce websites, portfolios, etc. using WordPress.

If you want to create a robust and more complex website then Drupal and Joomla certainly do the job. These platforms focus mainly on full-customization and come with more built-in features. It can help professionals build more complicated websites because it offers more technical options right from the start.

I hope you may have to find the answers to your questions. So, which platform you chose, please let us know in the comments.