WordPress and Drupal are the major and most accessible Content Management System (CMS) that are used by web developers all around the world. Both platforms offer free and open-source CMS and have many similarities and differences among them. Though the discussions about which one among ‘WordPress and Drupal’ is best, the answer to it depends on the questions like the type of business you have, what are the requirements of your business and what is the purpose of using a CMS?
Let us have a look at the similarities and differences between WordPress and Drupal, before going for the decision of which one is best.
Similarities:
Following are some of the facts that make both WordPress and Drupal the great CMSs that they are:
- Open source solutions: WordPress and Drupal both are open source solutions, meaning; they both are free to use and further development. You can customize both the CMSs as per the requirements of your business. This feature makes both the platforms affordable, even for the beginners.
- Easy to use: Both WordPress and Drupal are easy to use, i.e., they are very user-friendly. They both allow the users to write directly on the platform.
- Excellent customer support: Both the platforms are well known all around the world. In case you find any difficulty in using the platform, both WordPress and Drupal have a good team of developers ready to help you with everything you need.
Differences:
Though both WordPress and Drupal are quite similar in a lot of ways, they also have some differences between them, such as:
- Pricing: WordPress is free to use in the initial stages. But as you prepare to host your entire website content through it, you will need to make some investments in it. The investment amount is based on the type of customizations you need to make for your website. WordPress is an affordable option to have if you don’t need a highly complex site in the near future.
Drupal is a bit more expensive than WordPress, as it requires more of the technical expertise to make your website up and running. Initially, you might even need to hire a developer to set up the platform for you.
If you want your CMS platform to be less costly and, then you should go for WordPress. But your services are going to get complex at any time in the future; you need to think of getting a more customized platform like Drupal.
- Purpose: What is the type of content that you are going to publish on your website? Is it going to be articles or something like albums? Articles are about putting up the whole information in one place while albums have a variety of content pieces that can be sorted, cross-linked, etc. based on various aspects.
If your content is more article aligned, and if you have a website-first approach, then it is better to go for WordPress. Though you may mind some difficulty while publishing a multilingual content on WordPress.
But you make your content more in the form of albums; Drupal will be your best choice. It also helps in pushing content on many other platforms like mobile apps, kiosks, etc. along with the web. It is also the best platform to publish multilingual content.
- Customization: WordPress offers many free themes, along with many free plugins. It provides unlimited customization opportunities through its themes and added functionalities. Also, the customization for WordPress is easy and can be done on your own. It is not necessary to hire a WordPress website designer for customizations and extensions.
Drupal comes with built-in functionalities that will be required for customization so that you don’t have to go for third-party plugins. Also, Drupal is more efficient in managing a large amount of data and content. But the customization on Drupal might require you to seek the services of a software developer.
- Learning curve: WordPress is easier to use even for the beginners. It is very user-friendly, and even a non-programmer can create his website through WordPress without any technical issues.
Whereas the Drupal platform is a bit complicated than WordPress. It is difficult even for the new developers to get hold of the platform for setting up a website. One needs to be familiar with the usability requirements before starting on Drupal.
In case you opted to use Drupal for your business, and now you are finding it difficult to work on and achieve the required results, you can migrate to WordPress. Drupal to WordPress conversion is very easy due to the convenient plugin system provided by WordPress. Thanks to its plugins, one can migrate easily on his/her own.
Final Verdict
After discussing all the aspects that are common and different between Drupal and WordPress, all we can say is that both are equally good and reliable. But when the question arises as to which platform you should use for your business, it depends on the purpose you want to use it for. If you don’t have a large amount of content and want a fast set-up with a low initial investment, WordPress is the best option for you. You can later customize and extend the functionalities through plugins as per your requirements with some investment. But if your website has a large amount of data and content and you want a robust and complex solution for your business, you should go with Drupal. You might need to seek the services of a software developer for the set-up but will also get various functionalities already added in the main theme.
At last, the final choice is yours. Don’t just go for the word of mouth or the prices, also consider what is best for your business, as it is what will benefit you the most in the last.