WordPress vs. Joomla vs. Drupal: The Final Showdown

Featured article by Loana Briean, Independent Technology Author

The world has changed significantly since 1998. Back then, the vast majority of site owners would create websites using CSS, HTML or Flash. Nowadays, content management systems (CMS) have started to dominate the online world. There are a few reasons which justify the use of CMS. First of all, a CMS is cheaper. It is also faster, but most importantly, it is easier. You don’t have to be a programmer or know much coding to create your own website.

If you are thinking of building a powerful website, there are only three, real options in terms of CMS: WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. These three names have established themselves as leading experts for the CMS industry. Obviously, each has its strengths and weaknesses, but the idea is the same for all: to facilitate the quick and easy creation of website. Deciding on the perfect service provider for your needs is essential, because once you have chosen, there is no going back. This is exactly why we have decided to write an in-depth comparison for all of them.

If you don’t have time to read each description, feel free to take a look at the chart I created.

Summary:

WordPress: This platform is without a doubt the best choice for beginners. It performs incredibly well with medium sized websites & personal blogs. It has the largest collection of plugins & tools.

Joomla: Performs particularly well for Ecommerce websites. It requires some basic knowledge of technical coding.

Drupal: The most difficult framework to work with, but also the most powerful CMS in the list.

1. WordPress

WordPress is hands-down the most popular content management system at the moment. Initially, it was a platform designed for blogging. Because it was incredibly successful it moved to the CMS industry. It has advanced significantly since its inception, and now it also offers themes, plugins & widgets for non-coders.

The Good:

The best thing about WordPress is the fact that virtually no coding skills are required. It works mainly with drop-down & drag-and-drop menus. Its intuitive interface will make setting up your new website or blog a breeze. There are also many web hosting companies that offer automatic installation of WordPress websites. As far as the community is concerned, it is one of the friendliest. Since WordPress is so popular there are countless of webmasters and designers willing to offer their expertise.

The selling-point of WordPress is undoubtedly the extensive tool & plug-in market. WordPress has over 2000+ plug-ins, themes, tools & fully-customizable widgets. For example, SEO Yoast will take care of everything that has to do with search engine optimization, while the Fancy Author Box will add personalized descriptions under your posts, and there are many more features that you can add to your website.

The Bad:

Like every website building platform, WordPress also has its downsides. While the idea of not having to code sounds tempting, the framework is not recommended for larger websites. Firstly because it is difficult to change without having problems. Secondly, there have been many complaints that WordPress cannot handle too much information, or it requires significant server resources to keep up. Security might also be a problem. So if you want to build a more robust website, you should try Joomla or Drupal.

Price: The platform is free to install & use by anyone who wants. In addition to this, most of the plug-ins are also free. Only several themes & plug-ins with special features are paid.

Bottom Line:

WordPress is simple, user-friendly & effective. You can set up a website with it in a matter of minutes. As long as you are not planning on becoming the next Forbes any-time soon, it is more than enough to get you started.

Installation: WordPress Installation Forum

2. Joomla

Many webmasters consider Joomla the compromise between WordPress & Drupal. Unlike WordPress, it is more difficult to set-up (a certain level of technical experience is required), but it also offers more customizing possibilities. In other words, it has both power and the much required user-friendliness for building powerful websites.

The Good

Joomla also offers a wide selection of plug-ins and themes that will speed-up the construction process. You can literally make your website or blog function in any way you desire. Its selling point is the social networkingaspect. This platform makes it extremely easy for users to create & manage social networks.

Have you ever read Joomla’s Help Forum? It’s the perfect place to find technical answers and advice.

The Bad

As we already mentioned, some technical skills are required for Joomla. The learning curve isn’t steep, but it might intimidate newbies. Another thing that we found disgruntling about Joomla is the lack of SEO capabilities. You will have to work very hard to get on the same level of SEO friendliness as WordPress websites. Last but not least, Joomla has limited ACL support. Access Control List refers to permissions that are granted to users on specific pages.

Price: The platform is free but it does not have an option to host your website on free servers (like WordPress has).

The Bottom Line:

Joomla has discovered an incredible market by combining the benefits of WordPress and Drupal. It is perfect for users that are ready to try out something a bit more powerful than WordPress, but who are not ready to use Drupal just yet.

We recommend Joomla to people who are setting up websites, which will grow quickly in the first few years.

Installation: Joomla Installation Forum

3. Drupal

The last platform on our list is Drupal. It is the oldest and most difficult to use CMS on the list. Many webmasters are happy to learn a thing or two about coding because they know just how powerful Drupal is. It is the number one platform choice for feature rich, data-extensive websites such as Data.gov.uk or Witehouse.gov.

The Good:

The first thing that you should know about Drupal is the fact that it uses very few resources, so upgrading to a more expensive hosting plan will not be a problem.  In addition to this, Drupal pages load faster, are more stable, work better and have quicker response times than that of Joomla and WordPress. Like the previous examples, Drupal also has a great market for tools, plugins and themes.

If SEO is one of your primary concerns you can rest assured that Drupal has you covered. It was designed with search-engines in mind, it offers strong ACL capabilities and it can handle hundreds of pages of content without breaking a sweat.

“Having at least basic knowledge of HTML, PHP and other common web programming languages is highly recommended for anyone using Drupal”

The Bad:

The biggest problem with Drupal is its steep learning curve. Moving from WordPress to this platform is literally impossible without expert advice. Also, even if there are plenty of plugins to choose from, they come with a price. Drupal plugins are called modules, and the best ones are expensive. Lastly, Drupal offers no themes. In other words, you will need a good designer if you want your website to look anything like a WordPress one.

Price: The platform is free, but there are no Drupal hosted servers.

The Bottom Line:

Drupal is a CMS beast that should only be used by knowledgeable web-site creators. It is strongly recommended for larger projects where power and usability is prioritized over appearance.

Installation: Drupal Installation Forum

About the Author

Loana Briean trained as a writer. A self-taught enthusiast, she began her part-time collaboration with WireSeek, a company that organizes TV and internet providers by zip code. At present, she manages the SEO efforts of the Wireseek team, with a focus on local search and content marketing. You can follow Loana on Twitter for more updates.