The popularity of open-source software has been boosted in recent years, and most businesses are creating their websites on platforms like WordPress and Drupal. Many companies face difficulty choosing between these two leading CMSs for their website, blog, or online store. They have to consider how much time they want to spend on updates and maintenance and what platform will allow them to accomplish their goals.
When deciding the platform to use for your website, you must consider what kind of business you own, as there are platforms for different requirements. In this blog, we will compare Content Management Systems, Drupal & WordPress, to help you make the best decision that suits your needs and personal preferences.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is a well-known Content Management System on the internet. Since its introduction in 2003, it has grown to power over 30% of all websites on the internet. WordPress allows you to create any website you visualize. WordPress Development enables your business to showcase its offerings online.
What Is Drupal?
Drupal is an open-source website management software written in PHP and released under the GNU General Public License. Individuals can build various web projects with Drupal's template resources that promote user-friendly results.
Drupal has numerous advantages, but Drupal Web Development is complicated. Companies have to hire Drupal developers. If your company isn't tech savvy or doesn't have an IT department to support it, Drupal might not be a good CMS choice for your business. As Drupal continues to evolve, these differences will become less significant.
Pros & Cons of Drupal
Drupal web development takes time, effort, knowledge of coding, or talent in HTML & CSS. The services might be the correct answer if your business's needs are less complex than those of a large enterprise company. It has many advantages that might sway you to make this choice:
Pros of Drupal
1. Drupal web development services are highly flexible and can be applied to many domains.
2. It supports different workflows, allowing collaboration between designers and developers.
3. Drupal web development services have a robust plugin architecture for a better user experience.
4 . Drupal web development services have great built-in functionality and are easy to use, thus making them perfect for startups and large corporations.
5. And lastly, there are no restrictions on what languages you can use for development when using Drupal.
Cons of Drupal
Let us have a look at the cons of Drupal web development to understand both the CMSs better:
1 - Drupal requires more time and knowledge of code or HTML/CSS to customize your site to meet your needs fully.
2 - It doesn't allow for collaboration between designers and developers.
3 - The learning curve for Drupal web development services is steep, meaning that new hires must understand how databases function to build websites with this technology.
4 - Drupal also does not come preloaded with templates as Wordpress does, so it's easier for companies who need web designs from scratch.
Pros & Cons of WordPress
One of the leading CMS platforms, WordPress might have won the heart of developers and entrepreneurs, yet it has some pros & cons:
Pros of WordPress
1 - WordPress provides an easy-to-use interface that enables users to install plugins & themes easily. The CMS also features various drag-and-drop editors that allow users to customize their website's layout with a few clicks.
2 - The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly templates are available, making it easier for you to get your site up in Google's search results.
3 - WordPress customization can be done by following simple steps in the plugin repository or theme marketplace.
4 - It provides a security update every time there is a new update, which makes it safe from any cyber attack or hacking incident that may happen in the future.
5 - Web development costs will be lower when you opt for WordPress developers rather than hiring someone else who doesn't know much about this CMS.
Cons of WordPress
Let us have a look into the cons of the WodPress that limits its users:
1. WordPress development comes at a cost. Many companies offer WordPress development services and often charge exorbitant rates.
2. Hiring WordPress Developers comes with a certain level of risk. You cannot assure whether these programmers will work efficiently enough to provide desired outputs and complete tasks within deadlines.
3. You need to hire people with the necessary skills for handling WordPress development projects and people who are familiar with the coding language to ensure successful project completion within the deadline without any issue arising from a lack of expertise.
4. In the case of WordPress, there is always a cost involved in ensuring that your site runs smoothly. There will be technical issues where you will need to hire someone from outside to fix those issues within stipulated deadlines without breaking your budget.
Security Features
WordPress, like most other CMSs, is not impenetrable by any means. However, WordPress developers are familiar with its security vulnerabilities, which help mitigate them as they know what to be aware of when developing a site or plugin.
For example, SSL (https) on the web host level is one of the major features that should be considered to better protect your website from security breaches. According to W3Techs, only 79.6% of all websites use https:// protocol. You might have heard about https before - it is a vital extension you will see in your browser address bar next to http in a URL.
It is often used when entering passwords or making a payment on an e-commerce website, which adds a significant layer of security. However, if WordPress doesn't support https, then there is no way to add this type of protection. There are ways around this, though; plugins such as BulletProof Security can help fill in the gaps until you can implement a more secure environment.
Security Plugins In WordPress & Drupal
The Drupal web development service provides several security plugins that help protect against SQL injections, account hijacking, cross-site scripting, brute force attacks, SQL injections, and more. These plugins are highly configurable, so they're up to the task no matter how large or small your site may be.
Drupal makes it easy to configure these features without compromising your site's loading speed. This is an important advantage of using Drupal, as many security plugins can make your site load slowly. With Drupal, you won't sacrifice performance when adding multiple layers of security to protect your website.
Wordpress development cannot run modules, which is one reason why WordPress development will always lag Drupal in terms of functionality. The CMS is more vulnerable than Drupal because of its widespread use by hackers. WordPress developers are easier to come by than their counterparts in Drupal due to their availability on almost every computer system worldwide.
What Are The Maintenance Costs?
Drupal is more expensive to maintain than a WordPress website. Because its websites have a complicated learning curve and are not easy to modify, you might have to hire a Drupal developer for smooth functioning.
On the other hand, WordPress is a more affordable platform to use for your business website. If you are on a budget and can afford it, WordPress is ideal. You will get access to various free themes to choose from, which will help keep your costs low while also providing you with customization capabilities.
And hiring a WordPress developer won't be necessary for you as the platform is easy to operate. Therefore most small businesses opt for WordPress to build their website.
Final Words
If you choose the wrong CMS, your battle with creating a successful website may be much more difficult from the very beginning. Along with many features, Drupal also has complexities restricting its users and requires developers for its efficient use. You can Hire a Drupal Developer in India at an affordable budget for your project. On the other hand, WordPress is very intuitive and user-friendly. You can create simple and complex sites even if you're an inexperienced user. Since WordPress is so popular, you'll be able to find tons of tutorials and online help in case you run into any problems.
In conclusion, WordPress seems more promising than Drupal; however, users can make their decisions per their business requirements.