In the early days of the Internet, you needed to manage and maintain webpages individually using FTP. This process was cumbersome, making it challenging to maintain a large website. Today, a range of platforms (content management systems) make managing web content easy.
If you’re comparing Drupal vs. WordPress for your site, there are a few things to consider. These two popular CMS platforms have legions of dedicated fans. While both are open-source platforms, there are some key differences in functionality. Drupal is generally better for someone who has coding skills, while WordPress can be used by almost anyone - even if they don’t know the difference between HTML and JavaScript.
At Inclind, we partner with businesses and organizations to provide a full range of website development, design, and maintenance and support services. When you work with our team, you won’t need to worry about coding, SEO, or web hosting. We’ll take care of it all for you so that you can focus on your core business. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to us to speak with a member of our team.
An Introduction To WordPress And Drupal
About WordPress
WordPress is an open-source CMS founded in 2003. Originally a fork of b2/cafelog, it was designed to empower individuals to publish personal blog content. The platform quickly evolved and expanded beyond personal blogging to support the creation of a wide array of sites.
Since its inception, WordPress has remained committed to creating a platform that is as easy as possible for anyone to use. With its basic out-of-the-box features, individuals without any coding knowledge can still use the platform. This ease of use has allowed WordPress to grow rapidly. Today, WordPress is the web’s most popular CMS system, powering over 40% of all websites on the internet.
Some of the largest brands using WordPress include:
About Drupal
Like WordPress, Drupal is also an open-source CMS. Drupal was launched as an open-source project in 2001. It originated as a small news site with a web board where students could network. The name for the platform was originally supposed to be Dorp, which means village in Dutch. The name was mistyped when securing the site URL as drop and drop.org was purchased. When Drupal became an open-source platform, it was renamed to Drupal, which was derived from the Dutch word, druppel, which translates to drop in English.
Drupal really took off in 2003 when US presidential candidate Howard Dean launched his DeanSpace site using Drupal. Today, the CMS powers roughly 1% of all sites on the web. Drupal has historically prioritized developers over the average person, which has made it more difficult for individuals to use that are not tech-savvy. However, Drupal has made great strides in improving the platform’s interface and making the CMS more straightforward.
Some of the most notable names using Drupal include:
Which CMS Is Better for Your Site?
Drupal and WordPress are two of the most popular CMS platforms available. When comparing WordPress vs. Drupal, the two platforms differ, but they also have similarities. Before focusing on the differences between the two platforms, it’s also important to understand their commonalities. Below are some of the features Drupal and WordPress have in common:
- Both are PHP-based and require similar web hosting technologies
- Both have the ability to use Gutenberg for page-building
- Both use a plugin/module ecosystem for adding features beyond what is available out of the box
Each has advantages and disadvantages. Keep reading to learn more about each platform so that you can make an informed decision about which will work best for your website.
| Factor | WordPress | Drupal |
| Installation | Complete installation can be accomplished in under 5 minutes | Could be installed in 5 minutes, but takes more technical knowledge and could take much longer to install |
| Cost | Could range anywhere from $0 to $100,000+ to build and $30 - $3,000+ per year to maintain | Could range anywhere from $0 to $100,000+ to build and $30 - $3,000+ per year to maintain |
| Ease Of Use | Easy to use and can be learned within a day | Steeper learning curve, but easy to use once you’re familiar with the platform |
| Security | Can be secure, but vulnerabilities in third-party plugins can leave the site vulnerable to an attack | Very secure, with security modules that can be added for additional protection |
| SEO Features | Easy to optimize for search, and plugins are available to extend capabilities | Easy to optimize for search, and modules are available to extend capabilities |
| Customization | Easily customizable with over 59,000 free plugins and over 12,000 free themes. Developers are readily available for custom dev work extending beyond available plugins | Features can be added with over 50,000 existing modules and over 3,000 free themes. Can be more expensive to customize due to the smaller developer pool and fewer extensions |
| Speed | Can be fast, but the speed largely depends on the plugins and theme used | Built to scale and offers fast server communication to handle the loading of large websites more effectively |
| Support | Live chat support is available 24/7 for WordPress paid plans. Free WordPress users have access to the public forums for support | Support is available through community docs and forums. Drupal also has an issues queue that can be used to report issues with Drupal Core |
| Usage | Powers over 40% of all websites on the internet | Powers roughly 1% of all websites on the internet |
Installation
The first consideration for the two platforms is installation, the first step in setting up a new site. WordPress has a long-standing reputation for being easy to install, with its famous 5-minute install time. The files simply need to be copied to your host via FTP, and then a database needs to be created using phpMyAdmin. Certain managed hosting providers will actually set up your WordPress installation for you so that you don’t have to.
Drupal can technically be installed in five minutes, but it does take knowledge and experience to get there. The installation process is a bit more complex. You’ll need to download the files using Composer and install the dependencies before running an installation script. Like WordPress, some hosting providers offer one-click installs to make installation easier.
Cost
As open-source platforms with marketplaces full of free plugins/modules and themes, both CMS platforms can be relatively inexpensive. If you only use free plugins/modules and themes and build the site yourself, then your only cost could be hosting, no matter which CMS you use. Your total cost will ultimately be based on the developers you work with and the functionality you need for your site.
For either CMS, development could cost anywhere from $0 (if you do everything yourself) to over $100,000, depending on the complexity and size of your site. Maintaining the site could cost anywhere from $30 to over $3,000 annually, depending on hosting costs, development costs, and costs associated with plugins, modules, or themes.
There is a misconception that Drupal is more expensive than WordPress. Drupal is popular with government agencies, higher education institutions, and enterprise organizations with large and complex sites. Sites for these institutions cost more to build, which has created the perception that Drupal is more expensive. However, you can build a Drupal site for cheaper than some WordPress sites and vice-versa. Drupal can actually be more affordable than WordPress because all of the modules offered by Drupal.org are truly free, while many WordPress plugins operate using a freemium model.
Ease Of Use
WordPress was designed from the ground up to be very user-friendly. In the platform's early days, the WordPress team hired a web design company to conduct an extensive usability study and re-design the admin user interface. The result was a layout that still largely persists today. WordPress can be learned in a day, and a fully functional website can be created in as little as 24 hours.
Drupal isn’t necessarily more challenging to use, but there is a learning curve involved with getting familiar with the platform. Drupal may take over a day to learn, but once you’re familiar with the platform, it becomes easy to use. The platform has also gotten much easier to use over time. Like WordPress, Drupal now supports drag-and-drop editors, and recipes can be used to add pre-configured functionality with a few clicks.
Security
Drupal wins on the security front, which is why it’s one of the most preferred CMS platforms for larger institutions and government entities. Drupal has a dedicated security team that works around the clock to find vulnerabilities and provide patches and updates. Drupal has several security modules that can be added to enhance site security, and each module available on Drupal.org must undergo a thorough security audit before deployment.
WordPress can also be very secure and there are security plugins available to enhance the site's security. However, WordPress is susceptible to more vulnerabilities with third-party themes and plugins. Third-party themes and plugins are not fully vetted, which can increase the risk of a security breach. It’s important to work with a developer knowledgeable in site security best practices and capable of vetting plugins from a security standpoint if you decide to create a WordPress site.
SEO Features
Both Drupal and WordPress are great options for building search-friendly sites. Drupal and WordPress offer features like title editing, content architecture structuring, and integrations with Google Analytics. Both CMS platforms offer extensions in the form of plugins or modules that can be used to add features like metadata editing, XML sitemap generation, and schema markup insertion. Neither platform has more of an advantage over the other when it comes to SEO.
Customization
Both platforms offer a great degree of flexibility and customization. WordPress can be customized with over 59,000 free plugins and over 12,000 free themes. If you can’t find a theme or plugin that supports the features you’re looking to add to your site, WordPress developers are readily available and easy to find for custom development work.
Drupal may not have as many themes or plugins to choose from compared to WordPress, but there is still a large variety. Drupal offers over 50,000 free modules and over 3,000 free themes. More development work can be required to customize Drupal sites, and Drupal can be more expensive to customize with a smaller pool of Drupal developers available.
Speed
Drupal is a fast CMS. The platform is coded to offer lightning-fast server communication and response times. Drupal’s infrastructure is better equipped to handle loading large sites, equating to faster load times for bigger sites.
WordPress can also be a very fast CMS. However, a WordPress site's speed largely depends on the theme and plugins used. Too many plugins or poorly optimized themes and plugins can significantly slow down WordPress sites. Working with
Support
It’s important to have some form of support system in place when you run into site issues. If you pay for a WordPress paid plan, you’ll receive 24/7 live chat support and email support. Free WordPress users can find support through the public WordPress support forums.
Drupal offers support through community docs and forums. The Drupal community may not be as large as the WordPress community, but its members are very active, and it isn’t hard to get help when needed. Drupal also offers an issues queue that can be used to report issues with Drupal Core.
Companies like Inclind offer WordPress support and Drupal support so that you can receive support from experienced developers with a monthly or annual subscription.
Usage
Usage may not be one of the most important factors to consider when deciding on a platform, but it’s still worth considering. If a CMS faces a dwindling user base, it may eventually no longer be supported, requiring you to re-platform.
WordPress currently powers over 40% of sites on the web, so it’s not going anywhere any time soon. Drupal currently powers around 1% of all sites on the web, but it’s used by some of the largest organizations in the world. Drupal also likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but usage has been declining.
Considerations When Deciding Between Drupal & WordPress
There is no one CMS that is universally better than the others. The best platform for your organization will depend on your organization’s unique needs, goals, and priorities. There are a few things to consider concerning your organization when deciding between Drupal and WordPress.
Industry
The industry you’re in could be a factor in helping you decide which platform to use. While any site could be created on either platform, WordPress does offer advantages for e-commerce sites. WooCommerce is a very robust platform that is easy to set up and integrate within any WordPress site. Drupal does have Drupal Commerce, which provides all of the e-commerce functionality you’d expect, but it’s slightly more complex than WooCommerce and can be more limited in functionality. Drupal’s scalability and security make it a preferred choice for the public sector, education sites, and larger corporations.
Organization Size
Drupal does offer advantages over WordPress for larger organizations. It features more advanced and customizable user permissions to allow your organization to more tightly control access and editing capabilities for different types of content. Larger organizations tend to have larger sites, which can also be easier to manage through Drupal.
Smaller organizations may prefer WordPress for its flexibility and ease of use. Team members often tend to wear more hats in smaller companies, and WordPress makes it easy for any team member to update your site.
Technical Capabilities
As previously mentioned, Drupal can have a steeper learning curve than WordPress. You should assess the technical capabilities of your team when deciding on a CMS. If your team isn’t very tech-savvy, it may make more sense to use WordPress instead of Drupal. Nevertheless, you could always work with a Drupal maintenance company to outsource any site changes or edits to a knowledgeable developer so that your team doesn’t have to worry about editing or maintaining the site.
Business Goals
Your business goals may be a significant driver in your CMS decision. If growing and scaling your website and digital presence is one of your goals, you may want to consider Drupal. On the other hand, if one of your goals is to create a very easy-to-use site that more of your team members can work on, then WordPress may be the CMS to look at.
Content Structure
How is your content structured and organized? Both Drupal and WordPress can help you organize and use pieces of content throughout your site. However, WordPress was built around publishing articles, whereas Drupal is designed around content comprising fields that can be displayed and connected in different ways. If you have different pieces of content and information that you’re using in different ways throughout your site, then you may prefer Drupal. If your content is instead structured more like articles where the information tends to only exist in one place, then you might like WordPress better.
Inclind Builds Both WordPress & Drupal Sites
Inclind isn’t a biased web development agency. We regularly build both WordPress and Drupal sites, and we don’t steer clients toward any one platform. Instead, we believe that different platforms work better for different organizations. Our team can evaluate your needs and goals to offer an unbiased opinion on which platform may be better for you. Below are some of the most recent projects we’ve completed for both WordPress and Drupal.
Empowering The National Veteran’s Training Institute Team With WordPress
The National Veteran’s Training Institute (NVTI) had a website built on DotNetNuke. The Inclind team helped NVTI design a new WordPress website and migrate from DotNetNuke over to WordPress. The result was a website that was easier for the NVTI team and for veterans to navigate.
Helping The US Travel Association Grow With Drupal
The US Travel Association engaged Inclind to create a custom Drupal site with refined site architecture and better content management. The new Drupal site has enabled the association to improve and exponentially add more content without site bloat.
Considering Switching CMS Platforms?
Is your site currently built on Drupal and you’re looking to switch to WordPress or vice versa? The developers at Inclind can help! Much of our work tends to be helping site owners migrate their sites from Drupal to WordPress and from WordPress to Drupal. We can help you seamlessly transition your site’s CMS without losing any functionality or styles your site currently contains.
When you work with Inclind in a migration, your site is in good hands. Our developers bring over 90 years of combined experience to the table. Reach out to our team if you’re considering a migration. We can provide demonstrations of both WordPress and Drupal to help you determine if a migration makes sense and walk you through our migration process.
How Inclind Can Help You Build a Great Site
Having an online presence is almost required for businesses and organizations. But even with drag-and-drop CMS platforms like Drupal and WordPress, creating, running, and maintaining a website can be challenging if you don’t have a dedicated tech team. We’re here to help.
Based in Delaware, Inclind works with businesses and organizations throughout the United States. We offer a range of services, from website design and redesign, custom integrations, accessibility audits, automation, conversion optimization, and more. Whether you choose Drupal, WordPress, or another CMS platform, we can help you create a thoughtful, well-designed site that helps you meet your goals.
Interested in learning more? Fill out our online contact form or hit the live chat button to talk to one of our experts about your website.
Drupal Vs. WordPress FAQs
What Is a CMS?
It’s important to understand exactly what a content management system (CMS) actually is. A CMS is a way to build and maintain a website without having to code the site from scratch. In fact, you can use a CMS to create a website without knowing anything at all about coding.
If you weren’t using a CMS for your website, you’d use HTML to add text, navigation bars, images, and other parts to create your site. You would then add CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to style those elements in accordance with your branding. If you wanted more advanced functionality for your site, you’d have to use JavaScript. Finally, you would need to upload the HTML file to your server.
Once your website is completed, you’ll be good to go - unless you want to make any changes to your site. This would involve downloading files from the server, opening them, and manually changing the HTML code. Before uploading the files to the server, you’d have to double-check to make sure that you didn’t break any links.
In other words, you would need some coding and website development expertise to build and maintain a website. A CMS is essentially a shortcut to website development. It gives you the building blocks to create and maintain your website. Instead of worrying about all of the coding, you can focus your energy on the content and style.
For most organizations, a CMS is a far better option than creating a website from scratch. No coding experience is required to build or change a website, and it’s easy to access and edit your site.
The question for most organizations and businesses isn’t whether or not to use a CMS. Instead, it is which CMS is best for their needs. Today, we examine two of the more popular CMS platforms we use at Inclind: Drupal and WordPress.
Can I Migrate From Drupal To WordPress?
Yes, you can migrate from Drupal to WordPress, and Inclind has helped many site owners. Drupal and WordPress share many similarities, so it is easy to migrate from Drupal to WordPress without many difficulties.
Can I Migrate From WordPress To Drupal?
Just like you can migrate from Drupal to WordPress, it is possible to migrate from WordPress to Drupal without much difficulty. Our team can help you do so and can also help you assess whether or not it makes sense to make the switch.