What is CMS? What is the best CMS software for building a website and How to choose the best CMS platform for your website?
There are over 1000 CMS, but which one is right for your website?
What is CMS?
CMS (Content Management System) provides a user-friendly user interface that allows you to build and manage professional websites without coding HTML, CSS, or any other programming language. In more straightforward language, CMS is a tool that helps users automate design and development processes so they can create, manage, and maintain various types of content.
Most CMS software enables users to create a website without writing any code. We compared the best CMS Platforms to help you find the best content management system for your specific needs. There are plenty of content management systems on the market for people of varying technical skill levels, and we will review them below.
1. WordPress
WordPress is the CMS that most people have heard of. The platform was introduced in 2003 and has become a significant internet component, It was first developed as blogging software but has now developed into the most frequently used content management system (CMS) ever. The open-source platform is often utilized in the publishing and blog-friendly sectors since it focuses on editorial capabilities like article and blog posting. Users often look for the best CMS Hosting to help them build a website with the best performance. It has over 40% of the worldwide CMS market and is the most widely used CMS software. It may be helpful for smaller firms just developing their web strategy or need more design knowledge because of its interface and website themes’ ease of use.
WordPress is really one of the most widely used platforms for creating an online shop, thanks to the WooCommerce plugin.
WordPress offers a variety of plugins and other customizing options if you’re a tech-savvy web editor or developer who wants to tweak your site.
Best for editorial teams, individual websites, and general blogging requirements in small to big enterprises
Customizability
WordPress is one of the most extensive libraries of plugins and themes that can be downloaded to alter the look and feel of a website. over 30,000 WordPress themes are available for download or buying from the official repository and third-party marketplaces, and there are more than 55,000 plugins in the official directory; some are free, and others are not. These enable you to create a unique CMS experience utilizing a wide range of prebuilt templates.
Users with little technical expertise may develop fully-functional websites using these plugins and pre-designed theme templates.
However, you must confirm that these add-ons are current and compatible with your website. They may be a significant security concern if they aren’t.
Pros Points
- Beginner-friendly (simple to use, requiring no developer to launch the website)
- the largest selection of themes and plugins
- It might take time to maintain a plugin and a website.
- Flexibility and freedom to create any type of website
- WordPress is designed to be simple enough for non-programmers to use. Thanks to its user-friendly dashboard, every user may customize their site’s design, create blog entries, install plugins, alter the permalink settings, and more.
- WordPress is not in charge of backups and security. However, these problems may be resolved if you choose Managed WordPress Hosting Services from Cloudways.
- Being an open-source CMS, WordPress has a sizable and devoted community. You may obtain assistance with any issues you encounter by joining WordPress Forums and Discussions.
- You will need to install and set up various WordPress plugins or add code to your files to expand your WordPress site’s functionality in various ways, such as by displaying a list of random articles in the sidebar. Although it may be fine for developers, it will make it more difficult for amateurs to create intricate websites with cutting-edge capabilities.
- If you wish to switch to another platform in the future, WordPress offers an XML download option for all of your content.
Suggested content: XML Blogs and Websites: Best and Most Popular
Cons Points
- Domain names and hosting accounts with a web host must be purchased by website owners. Domain registration, hosting, premium plugins, and themes have different prices. And you’ll also be responsible for things like security and backup.
- When you’re just starting out, WordPress may often seem a bit intimidating since it provides so many choices and flexibility. For this reason, many new users of WordPress employ drag-and-drop page builder plugins.
Key characteristics:
- User management: assigns roles and access to different user types: administrators, editors, authors, contributors, and subscribers.
- Media management: When adding photos, use alt text and captions to boost SEO.
- Built-in comments: allow visitors to comment on pages and posts.
Security
Hackers and malevolent users may exploit any CMS. Open-source CMS systems with portions of their code that are out-of-date or unmaintained are especially susceptible to assaults. In actuality, an older version of WordPress was being used by 49% of affected WordPress sites in 2019.
Sites created using open-source CMS platforms may be more susceptible to assaults if they use outdated or incompatible plugins. Unfortunately, plugin vulnerabilities account for over half of all known hacker access points.
This is why website owners need to update their plugins and software often. You can easily make these upgrades with one click thanks to WordPress’ integrated updating mechanism.
Nevertheless, some upgrades may only work with extensions on your website. Because of this, updating software and plugins, particularly for more significant websites, may be labor-intensive.
If security is your primary concern, consider looking at Drupal as a WordPress substitute.
Pricing
Downloading WordPress is free since it is open-source software. However, if you want to use premium plugins or themes, you will need to pay for a domain name, hosting, and any of those things.
Although this means that the expenses associated with developing and maintaining WordPress sites vary greatly, they are often relatively affordable. costs much less than buying a website builder, According to Website Builder Expert, a WordPress site will cost you $150 to create and between $10 and $30 each month.
Average price: $10 to $30 per month plus a $150 one-time charge
Famous WordPress Websites That You Will Recognize:
- Vogue, Microsoft News Center, PlayStation, Snoop Dogg, TechCrunch, TED Blog, BBC America, Skype, New York Post, Facebook Newsroom, The Walt Disney Company, Star Wars Blog, Etsy Journal, Yelp, MTV News, cPanel Blog, Usain Bolt, Evernote, Angry Birds, Flickr, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Matt Mullenweg.
- IKEA: Internationally-known furniture and home goods retailer IKEA utilizes the WordPress CMS for its website.
The platform is responsive, safe, and SEO-friendly. It’s the ideal option for websites with plenty of material, like blogs.
More than one-third of the Internet is run by WordPress. This platform is the most extensively used content management system globally. Millions of individuals all across the globe have this belief.
2. Joomla
Joomla combined the versatility of Drupal with the user-friendliness of WordPress and was created to be the middle ground in the open-source CMS marketplace. Over 2% of all websites run on the open-source Content management system Joomla.
Like WordPress, it was initially made available in 2005; thus, it has been around for a while. With so many features, Joomla can be installed with only one click on various web hosting. It could be a better choice for novices, but it’s a great CMS platform for programmers and seasoned website designers.
Pros Points
- Regarding pricing and usability, WordPress and Drupal are in the middle.
- There are more than 7,000 extensions, but they are challenging to install and administer.
- Sites are exposed due to a lack of integrated capabilities for scheduling automated upgrades.
- Even if you never intend to touch a line of code, you may still utilize Joomla since it is very helpful for developers. Content editing is simple.
- Similar to WordPress, Joomla is open source, and if you run into problems, there is a ton of community help accessible.
- There are extensions for running an online shop on Joomla so that you can do so.
- If your server utilizes cPanel or a similar common interface, Joomla can also be installed with only one click. After installation, you can access the admin dashboard by logging in.
- Joomla offers more functionalities out of the box than other open-source CMS systems. Thanks to its built-in features, you may develop pages in several languages, manage hundreds of users, and create unique post kinds that use various templates or themes. Your site’s content, banners, menus, media, redirects, and SEO settings may be customized.
- However, you’ll have to do this on your site’s back end. Because of this, you are learning Joomla is difficult for novices. On the other hand, users with some web programming knowledge may leverage Joomla’s built-in flexibility to construct more complicated sites immediately.
Cons Points
- Joomla may need help, even among its supporters. You may need to work with a developer depending on what you want to accomplish with it.
- There are only a few choices for more extensions. If you’re accustomed to a CMS like WordPress, which includes hundreds of free themes and plugins that enhance the basic capabilities, Joomla could let you down.
- There can be some compatibility problems if several different extensions and modules are installed.
- Excessively complicated system.
Customizability
Despite the extensive built-in capabilities of Joomla, you are not constrained to the options the platform offers. Any of the 7,000 extensions listed in the official directory may be downloaded to provide you more control and functionality over your website.
When comparing WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, CVE data shows that since its 2005 inception, Joomla has had the most vulnerabilities discovered. Most of these weaknesses are coding errors that let attackers insert shellcodes and trick the system into giving them administrator rights.
Although the 13-person security team at Joomla routinely deploys security fixes, the absence of built-in capabilities for automatically scheduling updates offers attackers greater possibilities to exploit well-known flaws. 90% of attacked sites in 2019 were using an old version of the Joomla software, according to research by Sucuri.
A brief overview of Joomla’s pricing
Free, But to establish and maintain a Joomla site, just like with the other open-source platforms discussed above, you’ll need to pay for domain registration, hosting, themes, and maintenance. In general, Joomla sites cost more to host and design than WordPress sites but less than Drupal sites.
Joomla vs. WordPress
With Joomla, you can handle several languages immediately, and you have greater user management tools. However, many of the current templates and extensions need to be updated, and the interface needs to be revised and made more challenging to use.
You may have to spend money on certain add-ons to give your website greater functionality. Depending on your goal, you may even want to budget for hiring a developer.
Brands using Joomla as a content management system(CMS)
The Joomla content management system powers the primary website of Chicago-based investment firm Ariel Investments. The website is simple to use and has the standard layout for an online property in the banking industry. Additionally, it allows customers to log in and communicate with the company through the internet.
Roger Federer
Joomla works well for business websites that many people handle. Consider the official website of professional tennis star Roger Federer. His portfolio is shown on this website, along with a news feed and a store.
Nintendo Nordic
Nintendo uses an unidentified CMS for its American sites, but according to Joomla, it has used its CMS for its Nordic areas. It is significant to note that compared to the Nordic example provided by Joomla and the site you see in the U.S., they are similar and on-brand with Nintendo. However, the Nordic version has a slightly better visual appeal.
3. Drupal
Drupal content management system is an open-source CMS targeted at various developers, marketers, and agencies. The CMS provides developers with the ability to design sites that can manage large amounts of data and high traffic or allows marketers with less experienced to establish a site from a template.
The Drupal platform is an excellent choice for developers and people who can hire developers. In particular, it works well when you need a site that will handle lots of data and is highly customized.
Sites built using Drupal offer excellent security and are hard to hack. You should always have the most current version installed on Drupal for optimal performance.
It’s the platform behind some of the world’s biggest websites, including The Economist’s site and several university sites.
Pros Points
Top characteristics and notable aspects include:
- Drupal makes adding content simple. There are many possibilities and flexibility in the custom content kinds.
- A huge array of themes and modules that can be easily customized (these work like WordPress plugins).
- Open-source systems with the best security reputation
- Building and personalizing a site often costs thousands of dollars.
- Multilingual; Over 100 languages are supported through automated language translation.
- Support is offered via community support channels, much like other well-known systems like Joomla and WordPress.
- Personalization; Using information about geolocation, browser history, device type, and behavior taxonomies, create a customized customer experience.
- provide a practical means for communicating with social media
- To fully use Drupal’s capabilities, you’ll need to have a working knowledge of PHP, HTML, and CSS since Drupal was created by developers for developers. Additionally, it will take longer to set up and configure your website than it would on, say, WordPress.
Cons Points
- It might be challenging to understand how to modify your site’s design or add new features while using Drupal. It surely isn’t as user-friendly for beginners as WordPress.
- Only PayPal and Authorize.net are accepted as payment methods by your online business.
- It is very common for Drupal websites to have a theme that has been heavily customized by the developer, which can be very expensive.
Customizability
The number of add-ons and templates available for Drupal is only slightly less astounding than that for WordPress, with over 46,000 modules listed in its directory and thousands of free themes accessible in its theme repository.
However, unlike many WordPress plugins and themes, Drupal’s modules and themes are extensively customizable. This implies that you can utilize these tools to build a site that accomplishes precisely what you want if you have the necessary coding expertise.
Security
When it comes to security, Drupal is a cut above the rest.
Drupal has 40 community members that offer more extensive upgrades every year and monthly security and bug fixes to help maintain the platform’s safety. However, site owners must remember to make these changes since they are not automated and must follow other best practices.
Database encryption, user access control, DDoS attack protection, automated updates and core validation, GitHub collaboration, information sharing security reports, and malicious data input prevention are some of the top security features.
Because of this, banks, governmental agencies, medical institutions, and other websites requiring strong security and scalability rely on Drupal.
A brief overview of Drupal’s pricing
You would have to pay for your domain name and hosting company even though Drupal is free and open source. For non-technical users, in particular, the expenses of creating and maintaining a Drupal site are much greater than those of WordPress.
WordPress vs. Drupal
The primary distinction between Drupal and WordPress is that the former was created especially for programmers, advertising agencies, and businesses. Although it contains sophisticated features such as core multilingual support, it may be challenging for novices to learn to utilize.
Its adaptable API architecture, created for expert web developers, enables many digital platforms. Drupal optimizes its built-in features for improved speed and security compared to Joomla and WordPress. It’s also important to note that Drupal websites get more traffic than those powered by competing CMS systems.
Brands using Joomla as a content management system(CMS)
Drupal manages Pinterest’s business website.
In contrast to other websites, Pinterest is made for scrolling rather than using a navigation bar. It is also fairly straightforward, with little text and a focus on images, vibrant backdrops, and calls to action. Instead of merely being straightforward and informational, this layout gives the website a more immersive and enjoyable sense.
The Economist
The Economist is a British weekly newspaper focusing on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. The Economist and several universities use the Drupal platform for their websites.
UNICEF
The UNICEF organization used the Drupal platform to create its website, which illustrates how organizations may benefit from the CMS’s robust internals to create a high-performing, aesthetically pleasing website.
4. Wix
Wix is one of the Best website builders on the market. And has a user-friendly drag-and-drop creation tool, which is why I enjoy it. As a result, Without writing a single line of code, you can use Wix to build a website, change your content, and publish it online. It is a popular option for non-technical people who wish to build a website from scratch because of its simplicity.
You can simply build HTML5 and mobile-optimized websites with Wix, a cloud-based web building tool.
You can create a Wix website in a matter of minutes even if you have no experience with design or coding.
I mean it. You don’t even need to have the slightest bit of technical knowledge to get started.
Use Wix Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to create a site for you or choose from hundreds of templates. Simply provide some information about yourself, your company, and your ambitions, and Wix ADI will instantly create a stunning website.
Wix assists you in keeping track of everything as you develop your website and add content. Navigating the dashboard is pretty simple. You may check both the number of visitors to your site and the most popular content. Nothing is more than a few clicks away.
How consistently quickly a CMS can send your material to site visitors is a crucial component. Wix has established a strong infrastructure of server centers that provide extremely stable load times and uptime.
Wix is also quite trustworthy. Their astounding uptime percentage of 99.98% guarantees that your website will be accessible almost always. With backups stored across 20 data centers and backup servers, Wix also keeps your data safe. It is just only a few clicks to restore your site if necessary.
Wix also comes with strong security measures that keep your website safe at all times. To identify and stop cyber security threats and vulnerabilities, they have a team of security specialists that work around the clock to monitor and improve the Wix infrastructure.
There, a lot of the work is done by powerful servers, but Wix also has auto-scaling technologies. In this manner, if your website suddenly becomes incredibly popular, Wix’s servers will adjust to provide your site the resources it needs to continue offering every visitor a top-notch experience.
Pros Points
Here is a brief rundown of the additional features that set Wix apart from the competition in addition to being a great CMS for beginners:
- 500+ no-cost templates
- Mobile and SEO-friendly
- Make membership pages with password protection.
- Tools for managing contacts on subscriber lists
- Product pages, payment processing, and shop administration are all features of e-commerce.
- Installs all security updates automatically
- scheduling and scheduling management
- tools for managing blogs with several authors and contributors
- Media management, video, and photography tools
- Free SSL certificate and hosting
- 24/7 managed security surveillance and response to incidents
- The content management solution offered by Wix is quite flexible all around. Restaurants, Musicians, Internet Retailers, Small Companies, Blogs and Websites in almost every sector rely on it.
Cons points
- Once selected, templates cannot be changed
- Data download and exporting is challenging
A brief overview of Wix’s pricing
You can really create a Wix website for free, just like WordPress. Unfortunately, the URL of the free site does include a Wix subdomain. To get the most out of your website and eliminate the Wix branding, you must upgrade to a premium plan.
Combo (For Personal Use): $16/month
Unlimited (Entrepreneurs & Freelancers): $22/month
Pro (Complete Online Branding): $27/month
VIP (First Priority Support): $45/month
The Business Basic plan, which the firm claims are suitable for small enterprises, may be chosen if you run a modest operation. With this plan, you get unrestricted bandwidth, plenty of storage, a free domain, a unique favicon, an online shop builder, and ad coupons.
Even while Wix is unquestionably the greatest website builder currently available, it has several limitations when compared to a pure CMS system, like WordPress. Having said that, it’s a great option for newbies, particularly when it relieves your concerns about security and dependability.
5. Shopify
Shopify is a Canadian multinational E-commerce company that provides trusted tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business of any size. Shopify makes commerce better for everyone with a platform and services that are engineered for reliability, while delivering a better shopping experience for consumers everywhere.
The greatest and one of the Best CMS Software for Ecommerce websites is Shopify. A website builder and content management system all-in-one with integrated payment processing for online sales. There is no need for you to purchase hosting, set up any software, or handle backups and upgrades.
The Shopify platform offers online retailers a suite of services including payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools. Shopify powers millions of businesses in more than 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Allbirds, Gymshark, PepsiCo, Briogeo, Pipcorn, Staples, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.
The global commerce platform
Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between. Shopify offers a simple drag-and-drop user interface. The software also has other tools for things like branding, selling through online marketplaces, selling on social media, and in-person sales processing with Shopify POS. With Shopify, you can sell both online and in stores. This is great for businesses with physical stores as well as online stores.
It’s the second most popular E-commerce shop creation method behind WooCommerce. Best for E-commerce and first-time sellers.
Why millions of entrepreneurs chose Shopify to build their business
- Millions of Merchants Worldwide
- 170+ Countries Represented
- 10% of Total US E-commerce
- $444b+ Global economic activity
Pros Points
- Manages your backups and software updates.
- Through Shopify Payments, the integrated payment system of Shopify, you may take credit and debit cards. One of Shopify’s default payment processors is also PayPal.
- Free SSL certificate
- For Shopify, there are lots of extensions and themes available. You may add a variety of features to your online business by purchasing third-party Shopify applications.
- Unlike with BigCommerce, you are not required to upgrade if your sales exceed a set monetary threshold.
- Built-in marketing tools
- The Shopify team provides 24/7 support via live chat, email, phone, and Twitter. Additionally, there is a lot of documentation (including how-to guides and video tutorials) as well as online forums.
- This is perfect for new shop owners.
Cons Points
- Your expenses may wind up being pretty significant, particularly if you want to add many third-party applications to your shop.
- You might want to add functionality that simply isn’t available: In comparison to plugins for WordPress, Shopify’s applications are more constrained.
Effortless Use
- The platform is simple to use and doesn’t call for any programming or development expertise. With Shopify, you can create and manage E-commerce content if you know how to use the internet.
- The CMS user interface is organized and tidy. You can also create, edit, and manage blogs, landing pages, and other elements of your navigation, in addition to managing products.
- With Shopify, managing an online shop is as easy as managing a WordPress.com website. Despite having less control over how it looks and functions, you’ll still receive a number of features, security, and support to assist you in managing your site.
- This can be excellent if you’re a shop owner or just lack the time or money to design every component of your website. You may launch your shop rapidly using Shopify’s built-in blogging capabilities, client reviews, customer-ready payment methods, abandoned cart recovery, and statistics on web traffic and items, among other things. In addition to managing your site on a daily basis, Shopify also handles software updates.
- Even a marketplace for hiring professionals is available on Shopify. So, whether you need help setting up your business or with SEO, you can find a qualified expert directly within the platform.
Customizability
You’ll have to sacrifice some customization options for this simplicity.
Shopify’s code cannot be modified, since it’s a proprietary platform.
However, you may alter the look and functionality of your website by choosing from more than 70 themes and over 5,700 premium and free applications in Shopify’s official shop. To fill in any gaps you may need to operate your company, several of the applications provide connectors between Shopify and other platforms like HubSpot.
This selection is limited; fewer templates and add-ons are available for this software than for the CMS software discussed above.
Security
Your shop must be PCI compliant in order to sell products online and accept payments made with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover. You don’t need to spend time or money getting a Level 1 PCI certification if you use Shopify. Every Shopify shop is by default automatically PCI compliant.
Shopify platform will manage security issues on your website, manually backup your website, and ensure your software is always up-to-date.
A brief overview of Shopify’s pricing
Three paid plans are available on Shopify’s proprietary platform. Shopify plans start at $29 per month and include with web hosting, an SSL certificate, and a Shopify subdomain (yourname.shopify.com). A custom domain is an extra expense that you will incur.
You may subscribe to “Shopify” for $79 per month for more seats and other advanced features like gift cards and more reports. If you want even more seats, analytics, and discounts on payment processing fees, you can upgrade to “Advanced Shopify” for $299 per month. When you pay for a year in advance, you get a discount.
The average cost of Shopify plans:
- BasicPlan costs $29 monthly.
Everything you need to create your store, ship products, and process payments. - ShopifyPlan costs $79 monthly.
Level up your business with professional reporting and more staff accounts. - AdvancedPlan costs $299 monthly.
Get the best of Shopify with custom reporting and our lowest transaction fees.