Joomla vs. WordPress vs. Drupal

Consider these pros and cons before you choose a CMS

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By
Bill Powell
Bill Powell
Freelance Contributor
  • Franciscan University of Steubenville
Bill Powell is an editor and web developer with over 10 years of professional experience.
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Updated on September 14, 2020

When choosing a content management system (CMS), you'll discover that there are plenty from which you can choose. However, you may only need to consider the Big Three: Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal. Even so, this choice can be a tough one.

Joomla vs. Wordpress vs. Drupal
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The Big Three Keep Getting More and More Similar

All three CMSs have had several years for the developers to learn from one another. Accordingly, these three systems are more similar than different.

Developers on all three projects are acutely aware of one another. Because of this healthy competition, developers keep adding features to their CMSs so they won't be left behind. Still, these three CMS platforms have some differences. Here are some of the features and pros and cons of each.

Joomla Pros and Cons

Advantages

  • The powerful admin interface is user-friendly and easy to customize.

  • The best out-of-the-box interface for managing a large number of articles.

  • Core functionality is available to monetize a website with ads.

Disadvantages

  • Middle of the spectrum. If you want extra features on your website, Joomla may not be the best choice.

  • The Joomla community offers tons of modules, which are hard to find and harder to maintain.

Joomla is a free and open-source award-winning content management system for publishing web content. It allows you to build powerful online applications. This CMS is currently used on more than 2 million active websites. High-profile Joomla websites include Lipton Ice Tea, Michael Phelps, Nintendo Nordic, and Kompan.

In addition to being easy to customize with a plethora of free video training classes, Joomla is fairly easy to get a handle on. It includes a lightweight PHP framework you can use to write web and command line applications in PHP. And it supports more than 70 translation packs for multilingual content management.

Joomla isn't as easy to use or as pretty as WordPress, and it's not as developer-friendly as Drupal.

WordPress Pros and Cons

Advantages

  • It's legendary for being easy to learn and use.

  • It accommodates multiple authors and content types.

  • It delivers responsive mobile sites.

  • Has more than 45,000 plug-ins available.

Disadvantages

  • The core WordPress program is updated frequently, which can break existing plug-ins and perhaps your site.

  • Some themes contain generic code that is unnecessary.

WordPress is open-source software useful for website, blog, and app creation. This content management system is used in 30 percent of the web. High-profile WordPress sites include The New York Times Company, The White House, Sony Music, and the Houston Zoo.

One of WordPress's strong suits is its impressive catalog of plug-ins. Use plug-ins to add a mailing list, forum, online store, or analytics to your website. However, frequent WordPress updates can create trouble with existing themes and plug-ins. It decreases the speed of the website and can cause slow load times.

Drupal Pros and Cons

Advantages

  • Useful for producing highly advanced sites that require complex functionality.

  • Add features with small modules, that are professionally maintained for large clients and often available for free.

  • If you've developed websites on other systems, Drupal will feel right.

Disadvantages

  • If you're not a developer, you may find Drupal difficult. However, recent releases have improved the user experience.

  • The power of Drupal modules means that the basic, out of the box core Drupal isn't exciting. The fun starts when you add modules.

Drupal is an open-source CMS you can use to deliver ambitious digital experiences. Drupal can do almost anything. High-profile Drupal sites include Greenpeace, Johnson and Johnson, Pinterest for Business, and MIT.

Drupal is a great choice for community platform sites and for sites that require advanced features and functionality. It's developer-friendly, but not if you're a novice. Users should expect some challenges along the way.

Final Verdict

Choosing between Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal is about knowing and adapting to your skill level. If you are an advanced developer, you may feel at home in Drupal's sophisticated module environment. If you prefer to stick to themes and self-contained plug-ins, go with WordPress. If you're somewhere in the middle, you might consider Joomla.

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Powell, Bill. "Joomla vs. WordPress vs. Drupal." ThoughtCo, Nov. 18, 2021, thoughtco.com/pros-and-cons-joomla-wordpress-drupal-756555. Powell, Bill. (2021, November 18). Joomla vs. WordPress vs. Drupal. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pros-and-cons-joomla-wordpress-drupal-756555 Powell, Bill. "Joomla vs. WordPress vs. Drupal." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/pros-and-cons-joomla-wordpress-drupal-756555 (accessed May 30, 2023).