Unlike the other Content management system, WordPress has come a long way and has stood the test of time to shake off competition. In terms of popularity, WordPress is hard to surpass when it comes to content management systems. It is used by almost 20% of all websites, which equals to 75 million! And its outstanding adaptability is one of the reasons for its enormous size. It may be used to power portals for major corporations, tiny personal blogs, and even e-commerce websites.
Another reason why WordPress is so popular is because of its extensive plugin library, which has almost everything you’ll need to extend WordPress’s core capabilities. As a result of this, given the vastness of its community, you can receive help and discover instructions and manuals for nearly everything.
The same can be said for the pre-made themes and templates, as well as the SEO capabilities.
Then there’s the convenience of use, which allows you to create a website without knowing anything about coding or computer languages. However, WordPress is not the only content management system available. There are a number of rivals that provide comparable features, including Joomla, Drupal, Wix, and Squarespace. Let’s take a look at what each of them has to offer and how they compare to WordPress.
1. Joomla
Joomla! is the second most popular content management system. Although 2.8 million websites are powered by Joomla!, it is still a significant quantity when compared to WordPress’ 75 million.
It’s similar to WordPress in that it’s simple to use and set up and doesn’t require any extensive technical skills. You may also select from more than 1000 free themes and 5000 plugins. While WordPress also allows you to create an e-commerce website, Joomla! may have the edge here because it’s so simple to create an online store to sell your handmade goods or an online essay writing business.
In case you didn’t know, Joomla! is also self-hosted and completely free to use. Joomla! and WordPress, as you can see, are very similar. The main difference is that WordPress has a lot more to offer, with over 3000 themes and over 44.000 plugins to choose from.
2. Drupal
Drupal is the CMS of choice for over 1.3 million websites, and with over 2000 free themes and 26.000 plugins, it comes closest to WordPress in terms of the versatility of any CMS. It’s also self-hosted and free. The difference between Drupal and any other CMS, though, is that it’s the ideal foundation for creating something really complicated. The problematic thing is that it necessitates a solid understanding of coding concepts, putting it out of reach for most casual users and newcomers. The advantage of this method is that you will become less reliant on plugins, which can be resource-intensive, and your websites will run better as a consequence.
WordPress and Drupal were introduced just a few years apart, and WordPress’s ease of use plainly appeals to the bulk of users and website owners, whilst Drupal is reserved for individuals with a deeper technical understanding.
3. Wix
Wix is the most user-friendly of the lot, which is why it’s been used to create over 1.2 million websites. You won’t have to install anything on your computer because it’s a hosted cloud-based service. Wix, like the other three tools mentioned above, is also free. However, this is only true if you want to build a website with only the most basic features and functions.
Of course, plugins and themes may be used to enhance it, but the number of free options is limited. If you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of money to spend, this may be an issue.
Furthermore, why would you pay for anything on Wix when WordPress offers it for free? It does, however, have one standout feature: eCommerce compatibility, which allows you to accept payments from your clients using PayPal.
4. Squarespace
Squarespace is on par with WordPress, Wix, and Joomla in terms of simplicity of use. It offers hosting in the same way as Wix does. However, you are only entitled to the basic plan for free.
You will have to pay for everything else. It will cost you money every time you need to add a feature, and you may not be able to acquire the precise functionality you desire. Apart from hosting, you can get all of this for free with WordPress, which is very simple to use and has a large number of themes and plugins.
5. Medium
If you’re looking for a system that can handle all of your blogging needs rather than a full-fledged CMS, Medium is a good option. Medium’s popularity has risen in recent years, thanks to the convenience with which authors may post their pieces, as well as the fact that it acts as a community.
Medium provides a clean and straightforward writing experience for bloggers, as well as the ability to communicate their thoughts to the proper audience.
It’s very much the same when it comes to the user-side interface, and it’s responsive, which means it’ll read and look nice on any device. All of the simplicity and clutter-free design, however, comes at a cost. We’re not discussing hosting because Medium already does that. However, we’re referring about a lack of themes, plugins, or other tools that would allow you to alter or increase the functionality of your site. You don’t even have the option of creating your own custom domain, however, Medium has said that this will change in the near future.
6. Tumblr
Tumblr has been around for a long, and while Yahoo hasn’t been able to transform it into anything greater, it’s still a popular site. To be clear, almost all of the functionality is pre-installed, and the only thing you can alter is the theme. It’s not a CMS, like Medium, but it’s a realistic alternative for a personal blog, particularly among younger people. It’s also quite simple to build a following. Tumblr could suffice if all you want to do is share photographs and write brief articles.
It’s really simple to use, it’s free, and it doesn’t require any technical skills.
However, there isn’t much in the way of flexibility, and Tumblr is very much free to shut down your blog at any time, resulting in the loss of all of your work. You get all of the functionality you need for free with WordPress, and it’s also not too difficult to use.
7. Ghost
Ghost is a platform that doesn’t give the same level of freedom as WordPress, but it does employ cutting-edge technology and is primarily targeted at professionals who want to write and publish. You won’t be able to pick from thousands of plugins, but you will be able to choose from a variety of themes.
When it comes to hosting, you have the option of installing Ghost on your own server or having them host your blog for you. If all you want to do is blog, Ghost could be a good fit, but if you need more, WordPress is the way to go.
8. Craft CMS (Content Management System)
Craft CMS is one of the systems that aren’t commonly acknowledged, which is a mistake because it does offer something unique. Craft CMS allows you to personalize almost every aspect of your website or blog, making it even more flexible than WordPress in this regard. The only drawback is that it’s largely geared for programmers.
Craft CMS, for example, acts as the back-end for your website but does not have a front-end as WordPress does. You won’t get any themes, but you will get a template builder to utilize to create your own website.
Also, there are no preset content kinds. Craft CMS allows you to build up to 18 different sorts of fields. It’s also worth noting that Netflix uses it as a content management system. Craft CMS is clearly not intended for hobbyists or novice users, but it does provide a lot if you are a seasoned expert. For personal projects, the platform is free to use.
You’ll need to choose one of the premium options for business projects.
9. Shopify
Shopify is a platform that allows you to sell your products
Although Shopify is not a content management system, it is included on this list because of WordPress plugins like WooCommerce that allow users to construct their own e-commerce store. This indicates that these two platforms are in direct competition with one another. Unlike the majority of the solutions discussed in this article, Shopify was created to assist you in creating your own online store to sell your items. There is just one choice for hosting, and that is to have Shopify host and maintain your website. However, you have the option of selecting your own custom domain.
What’s great about Shopify is that you can use plugins and applications to enhance or increase the functionality of your online business. If all you want to do is create an online store, Shopify is an intriguing alternative. WordPress is a superior solution if you need additional features, such as a blog or an official website.
10. Google Sites
If you only need to create a modest website, Google Sites is a good choice. It’s akin to Wix and Squarespace, for example. It is, however, quite easy to use and comes with free hosting. Furthermore, you may create your own unique domain.
It features a WYSIWYG editor and does not require any coding skills. But, because there isn’t much you can do in terms of customization, the simplicity of use comes at a cost, which is why you might want to choose WordPress if you need a more complicated website.
11. Blogger
In case you were wondering, Blogger is still alive, and it’s hard to beat when it comes to basic blogging options. While WordPress outperforms it in terms of capabilities and versatility, it does have certain advantages over other blogging-only platforms. You have the option of choosing a subdomain or creating your own unique domain. Themes and templates may also be used to customize the look of your blog.
There’s also a comment area and social media integration. The best aspect is that, because Blogger is owned by Google, you can add Google AdSense to your site in order to monetize it.
12. Pulse CMS (Content Management System)
Pulse CMS is a small company with a big reputation, but it stands out in one way. It’s a flat CMS, which means it doesn’t use a database, which sets it distinct from WordPress and the rest of the solutions on our list. All websites you develop using Pulse CMS will remain static as a result. If you are a developer, it also allows you to add features such as back-end editing.
When compared to WordPress, Pulse CMS looks to be more of a specialized platform, meant for usage in very narrow situations, whereas WordPress handles almost everything else.
Conclusion
As you can see, there aren’t many reasons to pick WordPress over any other CMS. Because of the extent of flexibility and performance, Drupal is the only alternative worth considering, but you’ll need to be a coding expert to do so. There are also other specialized solutions and solutions focused specifically for bloggers that may work, but WordPress can still accomplish everything.
WordPress will supply you with all you will ever need if you are a user who is not a developer and does not want to deal with coding.
