Drupal vs WordPress: Best CMS for Your Website
WordPress vs Drupal: Which one is the better for your website?
There’s a myth that Drupal is complicated and difficult to understand. People often compare it to WordPress, which is quite easy to use, because they think Drupal is difficult to use. Drupal vs Wordpress: Which CMS is Right for Your Website?
It’s not just about ease and difficulty. The reasons these two are often compared are clear. Both platforms are free, have a large library of plugins and modules to add additional functionality, users and developers have a loyal following, and both are open-source technologies. Despite being released a few years apart, WordPress has become much more popular over the years.
WordPress and Drupal are both excellent tools and ideal for different websites. However, Drupal and WordPress differ in many important ways. Therefore, your website needs will determine which platform is best for you. While there are many good reasons to use WordPress, WordPress isn’t the only way to create a website.
So, in this article, we’ll examine Drupal, another popular content management system, and look at its differences from WordPress.
Before we delve into the details, let’s take a quick look at WordPress and Drupal.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system. Launched in 2003 as a blogging platform, WordPress now powers 35.2% of all websites and controls 35.2% of the known content management system market.
Some of the famous websites that use WordPress include:
What is Drupal?
While Drupal lacks WordPress’s impressive market share, it has been around longer than WordPress. First released in 2000, Drupal powers 2.3% of all websites and holds a 4.6% share of the content management system market.
Some notable websites running on Drupal are as follows:
NOT: According to previous reports, NASA.gov previously used Drupal. However, in recent years, NASA.gov has moved its main website entirely to WordPress.
Looking at Google Trends in 2004, a year after WordPress’s launch, we see that both platforms were growing quite rapidly, but Drupal is now in a state of decline. But these are just trends. Looking at market share growth, both WordPress and Drupal have grown significantly over the years.
What are the Advantages of WordPress and Drupal?
If you delve into the WordPress and Drupal debate, you’ll encounter numerous enthusiasts on both sides. While each side has distinct strengths, why do people choose either platform?
Now, let’s look at the advantages of both platforms:
WordPress Advantages
1. Ease of Use
WordPress is significantly more user-friendly, especially for non-developers.
2. Flexibility
WordPress’s third-party theme and plugin communities make it easy to use WordPress without needing custom development. Some people claim that with the right extensions, WordPress can do everything Drupal can.
3. Ease of Getting Help
WordPress’s massive global community means it’s easy to find support for any issues you encounter.
4. Lower Development Costs
WordPress offers more “off-the-shelf” solutions, and WordPress developers are generally more affordable than Drupal developers.
Drupal Advantages
1. Custom Content Types and Views
While WordPress offers custom post types, many people find Drupal’s custom content types to be a bit more flexible.
2. Access Controls/User Permissions
WordPress comes with a basic set of five users per site, while Drupal has a built-in access control system where you can create new roles with individual permissions.
3. Support for Multilingual Sites
While multilingual functionality is a core feature in Drupal 8, WordPress sites must turn to third-party plugins.
4. Taxonomies for handling large amounts of data
Drupal’s taxonomy is more flexible than WordPress’s, making it ideal for large amounts of content.
How Easy is It to Work with WordPress and Drupal?
When it comes to building a website on either platform, WordPress wins hands down in terms of ease.
Why?
1. WordPress Ease of Use and Learning Curve
WordPress makes it significantly easier to build a good-looking, fully functional website from scratch.
With WordPress, you can find a theme specific to your niche and set it up in no time. The WordPress interface is simple enough for even most casual users to grasp quickly. Furthermore, the numerous plugins make it even easier for casual users to create meaningful and unique content.
How Many Plugins and Themes Does WordPress Have?
While the sheer number of plugins doesn’t necessarily mean WordPress is better, it is a good indicator of the size and importance of the third-party WordPress ecosystem.
WordPress includes:
53,000+ free plugins and thousands of premium plugins.
5,000+ free themes and thousands of premium themes.
You May also like this 👉 Joomla vs WordPress Comparison
2. Drupal’s Ease of Use and Learning Curve
While Drupal, like WordPress, has themes, most Drupal websites include a custom-coded theme or at least a highly customized theme. This means you’ll often need a developer to create a good-looking site.
Beyond this, the Drupal interface is, at least at first glance, incomprehensible to most casual users and even many developers.
Generally, people expect a much richer user experience for content creation than Drupal offers. Much of the functionality people consider standard for a CMS is missing in Drupal.
While Drupal is functional at a very basic level, it doesn’t exactly provide the most user-friendly content creation experience, especially when compared to WordPress.
How Many Plugins and Themes Does Drupal Have?
Drupal includes:
39,000+ modules
2,500+ themes
However, if you only include modules compatible with Drupal 8.x, these numbers drop:
4,000+ modules
250 themes
Drupal vs Wordpress Security
Both WordPress and Drupal are secure systems. However, Drupal is generally considered more secure.
Why?
1. WordPress Security
While WordPress itself is secure, its massive third-party ecosystem contributes some negative security implications to the platform.
According to a survey by Wordfence, plugins account for 55.9% of all known entry points for vulnerabilities, meaning WordPress is at risk.
74% of the hacked websites analyzed by Sucuri are WordPress. Given its market share of 59.8%, it’s more than expected that 74% of the hacked websites in Sucuri’s analysis were WordPress.
WordPress is secure when used correctly, but its heavy reliance on third-party extensions makes it more vulnerable than Drupal.
You may also like this: Scan WordPress for Malware with 10 Best Malware Plugins
2. Drupal Security
One of Drupal’s key selling points is its lockdown security. This makes it a popular content management system for government agencies and other major security-conscious players. Unlike WordPress, Drupal only accounts for 2% of the hacked websites analyzed by Sucuri.
Beyond its enterprise-level security, Drupal also publishes detailed security reports and is more transparent about its security than WordPress.
WordPress vs. Drupal: Which Is Better?
You’ve probably found the answer to your question in this article, but it’s impossible to say whether WordPress or Drupal is “better.” Instead, a more helpful question is, “Which platform is better for which website?” So, instead of asking which one is better, you should focus on choosing the right tool for your project.
WordPress is very popular and easy to use. Therefore, it’s easy to say that WordPress is always the best solution. However, this wouldn’t be fair. If you’re building a site with complex data organization that needs to be customizable and flexible, Drupal may be the better choice.
Just remember that you shouldn’t use Drupal unless:
Are you a developer? | Are you ready to work with a developer?
WordPress should be the default tool for most people building a website because:
- Adding functionality is user-friendly and easy for developers.
- You can quickly create an attractive and functional website.
- It’s easy to find both free and professional help.
This doesn’t mean WordPress is the best tool for all situations, just that it’s the best tool for most situations. If you don’t already know why you need Drupal’s offerings, sticking with WordPress will likely make your web journey easier.
The White House Website: A Tale of Two CMS Giants
The fact that the official White House website (whitehouse.gov) has used both Drupal and WordPress at different times is one of the most telling case studies in the content management system (CMS) world. It’s not a story of one being “better” than the other, but rather a perfect illustration of how these platforms have evolved to meet the highest possible standards for different needs.
Here’s a breakdown of what this story explains:
1. The Drupal Era (Circa 2009 – 2017)
The Message: When the Obama administration chose Drupal, it was a monumental endorsement. The message was clear: Drupal is secure and powerful enough for the most high-profile target on the internet.
Why Drupal? At the time, the White House needed a platform known for:
Top-Tier Security: Drupal’s reputation for robust, enterprise-grade security was paramount.
Customization: The site likely required complex, custom content types and workflows that Drupal handles natively.
Handling Scale: It had to reliably serve traffic from every citizen and news outlet in the world without crashing.
The Impact: This move put Drupal on the map for every government agency and large institution globally, proving it was a viable tool for the public sector.
2. The WordPress Era (Circa 2018 – Present)
The Message: The migration to WordPress during the Trump administration (and maintained since) sent a different but equally powerful message: WordPress has matured into a enterprise-ready platform that combines power with usability.
Why WordPress? The reasons for the switch likely included:
Ease of Use: WordPress’s intuitive interface allows non-technical staff and communicators to publish and update content much more quickly and easily.
The Ecosystem: Access to WordPress’s vast library of plugins and themes can speed up development and add new features rapidly.
Cost-Effectiveness: Finding WordPress developers is generally easier and less expensive than finding highly specialized Drupal developers.
Modern Capabilities: WordPress had closed much of the gap with Drupal in terms of security, scalability, and flexibility, making it a capable choice for even this level of project.
What This Story Teaches Us?
The journey of whitehouse.gov underscores the core strengths of each platform and a key trend in the CMS industry:
Drupal’s Strength: It remains the gold standard for highly complex, custom-built digital experiences where security and specific, intricate functionality are the non-negotiable top priorities.
WordPress’s Strength: It has evolved from a simple blogging tool into a versatile and user-friendly powerhouse that can scale to meet the needs of almost any organization, including the most famous one in the world. Its focus on content publishing efficiency is a major advantage.
The White House didn’t “fire” Drupal because it was bad, nor did it “hire” WordPress because it was finally good enough. Instead, its shifting choice reflects the evolving priorities of the institution and the evolving features of the platforms.
Then: The priority was ultimate security and customization, leading to a choice for Drupal.
Now: The priority is a blend of high security, exceptional ease of use, and development efficiency, leading to a choice for WordPress.
This story ultimately proves that both CMSs are capable of powering the most critical websites on the planet. The best choice depends entirely on the specific project’s goals, technical requirements, and resources.
Summary of WordPress vs Drupal Table
| Feature | WordPress | Drupal |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Release | 2003 | 2000 |
| Current Market Share | Powers 35.2% of all websites | Powers 2.3% of all websites |
| Ease of Use/Learning Curve | Significantly more user-friendly, simple interface, easier for non-developers. Wins hands down for ease. | Steep learning curve, interface often incomprehensible to casual users, often requires a developer. |
| Development Cost | Generally lower; more “off-the-shelf” solutions; developers are typically more affordable. | Generally higher; developers are less common and tend to be more expensive. |
| Flexibility/Ecosystem Size | Massive ecosystem: 53,000+ free plugins, 5,000+ free themes. Easily extended with third-party themes and plugins. | Smaller ecosystem: 39,000+ modules (or $\approx$4,000+ for Drupal 8.x), 2,500+ themes (or $\approx$250 for Drupal 8.x). Often requires custom-coded themes. |
| Security | Secure, but heavy reliance on third-party extensions (plugins) makes it more vulnerable to attack (plugins account for 55.9% of vulnerabilities). | Generally considered more secure; enterprise-level security is a key selling point, popular for government agencies (e.g., used by the White House 2009-2017). |
| Custom Content Types | Offers custom post types. | Offers custom content types that many find more flexible. |
| Access Controls/User Permissions | Basic set of five user roles per site. | Built-in access control system allows for creating new roles with individual permissions. |
| Multilingual Support | Requires third-party plugins for full functionality. | Core feature since Drupal 8. |
| Taxonomies (Handling Large Data) | Functional. | More flexible, making it ideal for large amounts of content. |
| Best Suited For | Most websites; personal blogs; small-to-medium business sites; sites where ease of use and rapid development are key. Default choice for most people. | Complex, content-heavy, high-traffic websites; sites needing intricate customization, top-tier security, and complex data organization. |
| Notable Users | The White House (Current), Vogue, Microsoft News, TechCrunch, TED Blog. | National Science Foundation (NFS), UNICEF, University of Oxford, UNESCO, The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Tesla. |
| Programming Language | PHP | PHP |
Frequently Asked Questions About Drupal
1. Is Drupal difficult to learn?
Drupal has a steep learning curve and is generally difficult to learn unless you’re a developer.
2. Why is Drupal used?
Drupal is content management software. It’s used to create some of the websites you use every day. Drupal boasts advanced features like easy content authoring, reliable performance, and excellent security. Its tools help you create the versatile, structured content needed for dynamic web experiences.
While WordPress is an excellent CMS, Drupal is the best choice for complex, content-heavy, and high-traffic websites. Generally, Drupal is better suited for large, complex domains.
3. Is Drupal still used?
Drupal 7, a long-established and still widely used software, was perhaps one of the most popular and beloved versions of Drupal, adopted by many websites. Drupal 7 still powers millions of websites worldwide.
4. How popular is Drupal?
According to the latest market share trends published on W3Techs.com, Drupal is currently one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) on the market. While used by fewer websites than WordPress and Joomla, Drupal is more popular than Magento, Blogger, Shopify, and Squarespace.
5. How many Drupal sites are there?
There are 568,141 live sites running on Drupal.
6. Is Drupal free?
Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) with a large and supportive community. It is used by millions of individuals and organizations worldwide.
7. Is Drupal the same as WordPress?
Drupal differs significantly from WordPress. WordPress is generally a platform that beginners can learn quickly, while Drupal is somewhat more complex. WordPress is extremely intuitive and user-friendly for non-programmers looking to build a website from scratch.
8. What language does Drupal use?
PHP. Therefore, every Drupal developer needs to know PHP.
9. What are the costs associated with Drupal?
While Drupal is free to download and install, building a website on this platform does come at a cost. If you need external development help, individual Drupal developers tend to be more expensive than WordPress developers because they are less common.
10. Why is Drupal so complex?
Drupal is so complex due to its module ecosystem.
Do you agree or disagree with us on WordPress vs. Drupal? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and we’ll improve our content with your support.
