Is your company looking for an alternative to WordPress? If this giant does not match your web project, you can choose between two open-source CMS, Drupal or Joomla. Find out which option best suits your needs here.
Drupal vs. Joomla: overview of their features
| Drupal | Joomla |
|---|---|
| High scalability for large and complex projects | Suitable for large companies and complex projects |
| Numerous interfaces for extensions and add-ons | Easily extendable through an extensive library of plugins, templates, modules and extensions |
| Flexible multilingual creation of individual data structures for a large number of content types, for example via WYSIWYG | Multilingual integration |
| Quick and easy editing of content via “Quick Edit” | Convenient user management and access rights |
| SEO and Responsive design for all devices | Extensions and features dedicated to SEO |
| Fewer security vulnerabilities than WordPress | Relatively high degree of security via SSL and 2FA |
Why not simply use WordPress?
WordPress is one of the most popular options in the field of site creation. Be that as it may, the security flaws linked to its heavy dependence on third-party extensions may lead to looking for alternatives. Fortunately, CMS reviews reveal the full range of WordPress alternatives available. Drupal and Joomla are two options that stand out.
From a statistical point of view, they cannot be compared to WordPress. While WordPress can boast about gathering around 65% of the CMS market share and forms the basis of 43% of websites, Joomla represents 3% of market share. Next comes Drupal with only 2%. WordPress has captured this place at the top of the game with its easy to use and intuitive interface. It also boasts a huge selection of WordPress plugins, themes, and templates.
Anyone who aims to create unique websites with complex page structures or larger web projects won’t regret using Joomla or Drupal. However, it involves a steeper learning curve and familiarization time. They also require a basic understanding of site building.
What are the strengths and limitations of Joomla or Drupal?
It can be interesting to know where each stands in relation to the market leader. But to better expose you the assets of Drupal and Joomla, we must go into details. When looking at the functionality of both systems, it becomes clear why they remain an attractive alternative to WordPress.
Drupal
Drupal first appeared in 2000 as an open-source CMS. It is therefore older than WordPress. Even today, large companies that need set up complex projects prefer to use Drupal to WordPress. It is also highly regarded for building social networks as a community framework.
Drupal has also proven itself to be a content hub, thanks to its different types of content. And as a CMS, it offers individual data structures for articles, news, product groups, events or blogs. Her multilingual operation, its 47,000 modules, practical interfaces, versatile themes and templates allow flexible configurations and offer a wide range of extensions. Editing content is also easy to use, thanks to quick edits and input fields for content types.
Anyone considering building a website with Drupal will be lucky to benefit from the great attention they pay to responsive design, as Drupal sites are compatible with all devices. The CMS also offers the advantage of generating more traffic via SEO optimized websites.
Additionally, features such as block system and the “Views” module allow you to manage content in blocks, as well as create and configure content lists. Due to its performance, individual extensibility, relatively high security, and professional community, Drupal enjoys great popularity. Among its most important customers are multinationals such as Tesla, Twitter and eBay.
| Benefits of using Drupal | The limits of using Drupal |
|---|---|
| ✔ Free open-source CMS including a myriad of features, themes and plugins | ✘ Relatively long learning curve and significant learning curve for configuration |
| ✔ Flexible creation of individual and complex sites and data structures once the CMS is in hand | ✘ Complex updates from old version to new |
| ✔ Many additional modules, interfaces for extensions and responsive design for all types of devices | ✘ Presence of security vulnerabilities due to additional modules similar to WordPress |
| ✔ Particularly suitable for large projects / websites with high traffic | |
| ✔ Easy editing of content via “Quick edit” | |
| ✔ Multilingual operation, HTML5, Twig templating engine and PHP 5.4+ | |
| ✔ CMI (Configuration System) for direct configuration code export |
Joomla
In 2006, the famous CMS was born under the name “Joomla! “. The current version is called Joomla 4.2 (as of August 2022). Independent of the operating system of the same name, this object-oriented CMS written in PHP can be used to create simple websites according to the MVC (Model-View-Controller) concept. Alternatively, he can help set up complex and large-scale projects involving many participants.
It’s very easy to add the features you need thanks to the extensive library ofaround 8,000 extensions, plugins, modules and components. The CMS also works with databases such as MySQL, Microsoft SQL, as well as PostgreSQL.
Anyone looking to build a website with Joomla will find that Joomla distinguishes between “Articles” and “Categories”. It is therefore necessary to create categories for content types, which requires some practice and configuration. The list of options present on the admin screen of the user interface also takes some getting used to. Handy tools are also available as extensions, like the page builder.
With approximately 200,000 users, Joomla brings together a large community, helpful tutorials and solid support. As for the question “WordPress vs. Joomla? ”, companies working on large projects and scalable e-commerce sites often opt for Joomla, because of the degree of flexibility and individualization it offers them.
| Benefits of Joomla | Joomla limitations |
|---|---|
| ✔ Ergonomic due to its different types of content, its simple backend, its WYSIWYG editor and its MVC structure | ✘ Longer learning curve and mastery of extensions, options and modules |
| ✔ Many useful plugins and extensions | ✘ Possible security vulnerabilities caused by extensions |
| ✔ Useful administration and user controls | ✘ A large number of options and input require a longer tutorial and configuration phase |
| ✔ Built-in multilingual support | |
| ✔ Manage and use many templates | |
| ✔ Large community and good support | |
| ✔ Valuable SEO features |
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Answers to your questions about Drupal vs. Joomla
Which system is best for beginners?
Both Drupal and Joomla CMS allow you to create websites and online projects without in-depth programming knowledge. Although each system requires a longer learning and training phase than WordPress due to their more complex structures and less intuitive interfaces, Drupal and Joomla offer many functionalities for tailor-made Web projects and are suitable for multilingual and complex e-commerce sites. This means that you will need basic web development knowledge or the time to acquire it.
Which CMS offers the best extensions?
If we look at the number of extensions, Drupal wins with approximately 47,000 modules and extensions. Joomla provides access to around 8,000 extensions and additional modules for even better operation. Each CMS brings together large communities of developers. This means you can choose from high-quality extensions, relying on download numbers and reviews to judge their effectiveness.
What security features do Drupal and Joomla offer?
Whether you use Joomla or Drupal, you are already more secure than with WordPress. The huge user base and myriad third-party plugins of the CMS colossus lead to more and more security vulnerabilities. Add-ons and extensions are also available on Drupal and Joomla through third-party vendors and the developer community. This means that security vulnerabilities continue to emerge through the uncleaned code they contain. However, the likelihood of this happening is lower than with WordPress, especially since each of these systems also has two-factor authentication and SSL encryption for site creation.
Which CMS offers the best templates?
Ready-to-use templates or custom themes and templates. Whatever your needs, you can create a website that’s right for you with a huge selection of free Drupal themes and Joomla templates. Drupal has approximately 3,000 themes to meet your needs and Joomla offers around 1,000 free templates. Joomla allows you to use many templates on the same site. Thus, you can give your website and your store different appearances. The backend can also be customized using specific templates.
What about SEO features?
Many plugins and modules as well as options for meta descriptions, meta titles and keywords available on Drupal and Joomla allow you to ensure that your site is SEO optimized. Joomla also offers a URL optimizer to climb even higher in the results. Joomla’s “Mobile First” principle ensures optimization for all devices through responsive design.
Which CMS offers the best support?
WordPress benefits from a gigantic community against which Drupal and Joomla cannot compete. Nevertheless, the latter are considered by professional programmers and developers to be very popular CMS options. Large multinational companies and universities also use it for their Web projects. Therefore, it is not difficult to find reliable solutions within the community or via tutorials and support panels. Despite its relatively small market share, Drupal remains well established and provides good support through its community of 45,000 developers. Joomla has a members’ forum and two Facebook groups with 30,000 members.
In summary: Joomla or Drupal, two excellent alternatives to WordPress
Whichever CMS you choose, Drupal and Joomla represent a honest competition and viable alternatives to WordPress. The number of extensions and the size of the communities have nothing to do with those of the market leader. However, complex websites that map large-scale business processes and handle a high level of traffic will generally be better served with Joomla or Drupal. This comparison between Drupal, Joomla and others also reveals that both CMS are more than comfortable in the area of custom website design, which makes them particularly suitable for large and medium-sized businesses.
