Content Management System (CMS) allows users to create, manage, and modify website content with an intuitive, no-code visual builder. With Content Management Systems content creators create various types of websites like blogs, portfolios, e-commerce stores, and more.
There are 4 benefits of using a Content Management System (CMS) as listed below.
- Allows users to create and format content using a drag-and-drop interface.
- Offers content and team collaboration features for content management.
- Provides optimization tools to enhance content performance.
- Connects with third-party tools and apps to add more functionality.
Geekflare has researched and listed the best Content Management Systems (CMS) based on features such as user interface, e-commerce functionalities, integration possibilities, and pricing.
- WordPress – Best for Blogging
- Drupal – Best for Complex Sites and Security Needs
- Joomla – Best to Build Community-driven Websites
- TYPO3 – Best Enterprise Sites with Multilingual Needs
- Concrete CMS – Best for User-Friendly In-Context Editing
- Magnolia – Best for Enterprise Cloud CMS
- Umbraco – Best for .NET Developers
- Kentico – Best for Hybrid CMS Approach
- Adobe Commerce (Magento) – Best for Large-scale E-commerce
- Shopify – Best for E-commerce Beginners
- PrestaShop – Best for Open-Source and International E-commerce
- Contentful – Best for API-driven Content Delivery
- Storyblok – Best for Visual Editing and Developer Experience
- Contentstack – Best for Scalable Headless CMS
- Directus – Best Open Source Headless CMS
- Webflow – Best No-Code Web Design with CMS Capabilities
- Appy Pie Website Builder – Best for Beginners and Budget-Focused Needs
- Grav – Best for Flat-File CMS and Developer Speed
- Sitecore – Best for Enterprise Personalization and Omnichannel
- Sitefinity – Best for Marketing Automation and E-commerce Integrations
- Crownpeak – Enterprise-level Digital Experience Management (DXM)
- ButterCMS – Best API-first CMS for Developers
- Hubspot Content Hub – Best for Integrated Marketing and CRM
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Plugins/Add-ons
Extensive
Multilingual Capabilities
via Plugins
Customer Support
Email, Live Chat
WordPress powers is a well-known CMS used by major sites like The Walt Disney Company, The New York Times, and CNN.
WordPress is user-friendly and highly customizable, with 12,000+ themes and 59,000+ plugins. Its SEO-friendly structure and mobile-responsive designs help improve search engine rankings and ensure websites perform well on all devices.
The active WordPress community provides robust support and resources, making it suitable for blogs, websites, and online stores. Due to its stable performance and regular security updates, WordPress is one of the best CMS platforms for scaling your online website or business.
For website development, users have Gutenberg, WordPress’ native page builder that creates stunning websites. Alternatively, WordPress integrates with popular page builders like Elementor, Divi, Oxygen, Beaver, and more to help you create your websites.
For bloggers, WordPress offers a clean, fast interface for creating and managing posts. It supports various media types and simplifies content formatting. It’s a cost-effective choice, free to download and use, and generally has lower hosting and domain costs.
Offers security through a multi-level security approach, including malware scanning and removal, SSL/TLS encryption, real-time backups, and DDoS protection.
Provides easy site creation, management, and growth through the Jetpack App available on Android and iOS.
Comes with dedicated tools for design and editing, marketing, monetization, performance, etc.
SEO-friendly architecture speeds up websites and helps in rankings.
Wide variety of themes, plugins, and blocks to customize your website.
Seamless integration with WooCommerce.
Free to download and use.
Sometimes, the core updates lead to website crashes.
Since WordPress is open-source, you must rely on a reliable security plugin.
Too many plugins slow down website.
WordPress Pricing
WordPress has 5 pricing plans, the most popular of which are listed below.
Plan | Price | Offering |
---|---|---|
Starter | $4/month | Free domain for 1 year, access to premium themes, fast DNS with SSL, etc. |
Explorer | $8/month | Allows upload of 4K videos, unlimited automatic shares in social media, site activity log, etc. |
Creator | $25/month | Priority 24/7 support allows installation of plugins and themes, unrestricted bandwidth, etc. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Major
Multilingual Capabilities
100 languages
Customer Support
Email, Forum
Drupal is a leading open-source CMS that is highly flexible and customizable. It enables users to build diverse websites and web applications without advanced programming skills.
Drupal’s modular design offers 40,000+ free modules for easy website customizations. It offers powerful content management tools, including custom content types, in-place editing, and content versioning.
Drupal supports high-traffic websites and complex web applications, making it a preferred choice for large organizations, governments, and media companies.
Drupal offers tremendous security features, with its large community continuously reviewing and patching code. It provides out-of-the-box multilingual support for more than 100 languages.
While Drupal itself is free, building a Drupal website involves other costs, such as web development services, hosting, and maintenance. However, these costs are common across various free and open-source CMS platforms.
Provides various modules (40,000+) and themes (2500+).
Offers accessibility through built-in multilingual capabilities.
Has an active community of over 1 million developers for support.
Strong community and ecosystem of developers and contributors.
Out-of-the-box multilingual capabilities for translating website content.
Easily integrates with third-party tools and APIs.
Steeper learning curve compared to some other CMS as users need to have prerequisite skills or learn SQL database setup, configuration of Apache 2, etc.
While it provides major plugins, there is a limitation on the variety.
Requires technical expertise to set up and maintain.
Plugins/Add-ons
Major
Multilingual Capabilities
70 translation packs
Customer Support
Live Chat
Joomla, an open-source CMS founded in 2005, is managed by Open Source Matters, Inc. It uses PHP and a model-view-controller framework and supports MySQL, MS SQL, and PostgreSQL databases. Joomla’s global community has developed over 5,400 extensions, which are available in its directory.
Joomla powers nearly 2 million active websites, from corporate sites and online magazines to e-commerce stores and community portals. Its strong SEO and security features and a wide library of extensions and themes make it a popular choice for businesses and organizations.
In summary, Joomla is a robust and flexible CMS suitable for diverse web projects. Its extensive community support, rich extension library, and powerful features ensure it meets the needs of businesses and organizations of all sizes.
Joomla is free to download and use. However, you will have to pay for hosting and a domain name. Using premium themes or plugins will increase your expenses.
Supports a WYSIWYG editor for real-time editing.
Offers advanced user management and permission levels.
Provides responsive, mobile-friendly layouts for best website performance.
Provides language packages for 70+ languages.
A large and active community of developers for support.
Open-source and free to use.
Limited plugins and add-ons make it difficult to customize.
The administrative interface is more complex in terms of navigation.
No built-in page builder to create websites.
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
Major
Customer Support
Email
TYPO3 is an open-source and free-to-use Content Management System written in PHP. Due to its advanced features like editorial workplace, workflow, frontend editing, scalability, and maturity, it is perfect as an enterprise-level CMS.
TYPO3 is a web-based CMS that requires self-hosting. It runs on various web servers and operating systems.
TYPO3 is a powerful and flexible CMS that is well-suited for large-scale, enterprise-level websites and applications, especially in Europe. Its advanced features, scalability, and strong community support make it a compelling choice for organizations seeking a robust and customizable content management solution.
TYPO3 is open-source software, meaning there is no monthly fee for using the core CMS. However, businesses may need to pay for professional services, hosting, and any custom development or extensions required for their specific needs.
Provides high-speed content delivery through CDN (Content Delivery Network) support and advanced page caching.
Comes with a fully integrated e-commerce platform and personalization.
Separates content and layout, allowing for flexible template management.
Modular architecture offers high scalability and flexibility.
Offers DAM (Digital Asset Management) integration.
Provides adaptable, granular user access rights for better control during collaboration.
Its flexibility and features make it challenging for beginners.
Limited number of third-party integrations.
Due to a smaller community of developers, there might be support issues.
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
12+ languages
Customer Support
Ticket, Form
Concrete CMS, formerly concrete5, is a content management system popular for its in-context editing. It allows users to manage website content directly on the page rather than a separate admin interface.
Concrete CMS offers comprehensive built-in functionality, eliminating the need for additional extensions. Its collaboration and permissions system provides fine-tuned control over access and content approvals.
The platform ensures robust security and compliance, including ISO 27001 certification and HIPAA compliance. Version control and change tracking are available for all content edits. An extensive developer API supports custom functionality through add-ons.
With a large and active community of 250+ contributors, Concrete CMS is trusted by organizations like the U.S. Army and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Concrete CMS is open-source and free to download and use. However, most of its themes and add-ons are paid, and users also need to pay for hosting and domains.
Integrates with various cloud services for added functionality.
Allows for real-time editing of website content, enabling quick updates and changes.
Offers a wide variety of extensions to add more functionalities to your website.
Modular editing system for non-technical users.
Active user community and support forums.
Easy integrations and allows expansion of functionality through third-party apps.
Provides only two free themes.
Since it has a smaller community, it is difficult for users to get solutions.
E-commerce plugins for integration with platforms apart from Shopify are missing.
Concrete CMS Pricing
Concrete CMS has three pricing plans, which are listed below.
Plan | Price | Offering |
---|---|---|
Starter | $4.99 | 1 site editor, configuration support, 10,000 page views per month, 2 GB of storage space. |
Business | $19 | 5 site editors, nightly backup, 50,000 page views per month, 20 GB storage space |
Custom SLA | Custom | Unlimited support questions, continuous backup & restoration, large data stores, etc. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
via plugins
Customer Support
Ticket
Magnolia is one of the best content management systems (CMS) for large enterprises and organizations. It is based on the Content Repository API for Java (JCR) and was developed by Magnolia International Ltd., a company based in Basel, Switzerland.
Magnolia excels in omnichannel content delivery, managing content across multiple websites, brands, and channels from a single platform. It offers tools for personalizing digital experiences and optimizing content performance.
Magnolia provides generative AI to automate tasks like generating copy, metadata, and image tagging. Its advanced features and powerful workflow tools ensure brand consistency and control.
Magnolia CMS’s key strength is security. It holds key security certifications like ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and national certifications such as ENS (Spain) and NIST (US).
Has headless CMS capabilities for omnichannel content delivery.
Comes with a modular design, which makes it easy to add or remove functionality as needed.
Provides multilingual and multi-site support.
Native AI integration for content creation and task automation.
Additional support for Google Translator, AT Language Solutions, DeepL, and Microsoft Translator.
Native VR, AR, and MR capabilities.
There is a steeper learning curve because more functionality needs expertise.
Paid plans are costlier than most other CMSs.
Limited add-ons are available.
Magnolia Pricing
Magnolia offers three plans, which are listed in the table below.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Open-source CMS | Free | Core content management capabilities, standard support, standard availability, and community learning. |
Self-hosted DXP | Starts at $3,000/mo | High availability development, multisite management, dedicated customer success program, and unlimited non-production environments. |
Cloud DXP | Custom | Pre-configured CI/CD pipeline, platform enablement and onboarding, enterprise platform, and product SLA. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Very Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
Major
Customer Support
Form, Email
Umbraco is a leading open-source CMS known for its developer-friendly approach and flexibility. Popular among enterprises and agencies, Umbraco excels in building custom websites and web applications.
With a strong community of over 200,000 users and contributors, Umbraco offers a free, open-source platform for small businesses and premium hosting and support plans for enterprises. Its customizable nature allows it to meet the specific needs of any organization.
Umbraco is designed for developers, making setting up, managing, and maintaining websites easy. It is secure and reliable, with a solid track record of minimal security vulnerabilities. The platform handles large amounts of content and traffic without compromising performance.
Multilingual support is built-in, making Umbraco a suitable choice for international organizations. Additionally, Umbraco offers a cloud-based hosting solution that includes automatic updates, security, and scalability.
Supports embedding of links, images, sound, video through Umbraco WYSIWYG editor.
Allows unlimited content management users.
Is suitable for websites requiring external systems integration, including single sign-on.
The platform is specially designed for developers.
Built-in support for multiple languages.
Offers powerful cloud-based hosting plans.
Relatively small plugin ecosystem with limited MySQL support.
Difficult to learn for someone with no development knowledge.
Some users have reported issues with XML caching and XSLT scripting.
Plugins/Add-ons
Major
Multilingual Capabilities
Languages application
Customer Support
Email, Form, Ticket
Kentico should be on your list if you are looking for one of the best headless CMSs. It is essentially a digital experience platform (DXP) that is easy to use and packed with essential low-code, no-code tools.
Kentico is designed mainly for marketing teams that want to craft memorable customer journeys to boost website engagement without depending on developers. It integrates SEO optimization, email marketing, and visitor analytics to enhance digital marketing efforts.
Kentico Xperience is ideal for managing complex content hierarchies and multilingual websites. Its features include content versioning, hierarchical structure, and efficient workflow management. The platform offers customizable templates and responsive design for a seamless user experience.
Kentico Xperience includes robust e-commerce features like product management, payment handling, shopping cart, product catalog, inventory management, and order processing. It supports integration with third-party applications and CRMs.
Supports multiple languages, currencies, and tax rules to handle a global customer base.
Comes with a wide range of pre-built website templates and widgets for custom website design.
Offers native digital marketing features for marketing campaigns.
Variety of hosting options – On-premise, Cloud, and Hybrid.
Headless CMS functionality enables faster and more flexible implementation.
Built-in e-commerce capabilities.
It is expensive for small businesses and individuals.
Limited add-ons and native integrations make it difficult to get full functionality.
Kentico Pricing
Xperience by Kentico is available on subscription. Users are provided with an option to buy either as SaaS or a self-managed/license-only solution.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
SaaS (Standard Tier) | $2,050/mo | Cloud hosting, one website channel. |
SaaS (Advanced Tier) | $2,610/mo | Cloud hosting, multiple digital channels. |
License-only (Standard Tier) | $1,050/mo | No cloud hosting, one website channel. |
License-only (Advanced Tier) | $2,110/mo | No cloud hosting, multiple digital channels. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Major
Multilingual Capabilities
Languages packs
Customer Support
Tickets
Adobe Commerce, formerly Magento, is a top e-commerce platform for B2B businesses. It offers flexible hosting options, including on-premises and cloud hosting. Integration with other Adobe products like Analytics and Experience Manager provides data-driven insights and personalization.
Designed for scalability, Adobe Commerce includes powerful developer tools for unlimited growth. Its intuitive, customizable interface allows merchants to personalize storefront designs. Mobile responsiveness ensures a seamless shopping experience across devices, and robust security features protect customer data.
Adobe Commerce offers API availability, customizable templates, and third-party integrations for optimal storefront creation. Comprehensive reporting and analytics tools track sales and customer behavior. The platform supports various payment gateways, including credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and voucher cards.
Adobe Commerce integrates with Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s artificial intelligence and machine learning platform, to provide advanced personalization and optimization features.
Provides frictionless integration with other Adobe products.
Offers a unified platform for multi-site management.
Has an extensive gallery and extensions.
Offers AI capabilities for boosting conversions.
Provides robust security expertise by Adobe.
Has powerful e-commerce capabilities.
Very few themes are available on the Adobe Marketplace.
No fixed pricing plans to determine cost.
Less experience users will have a steep learning curve due to the complexity in management and resource-intensiveness.
Plugins/Add-ons
Major
Multilingual Capabilities
Translate & Adapt app
Customer Support
Chat
Shopify is a cloud-based e-commerce platform for building, managing, and growing online businesses. It integrates with dropshipping apps like DSers, Zendrop, and Spocket to enhance online sales.
Shopify’s user-friendly admin interface ensures efficient store management for beginners. It provides 200+ customizable, responsive themes for creating custom store designs. Its built-in SEO features include auto-generated canonical tags, robots.txt, sitemap.xml, and title tags with your store name.
Shopify provides robust security features, including SSL certificates and fraud prevention tools like Shopify Protect and Card Testing Protection. Advanced analytics offer valuable insights into sales and customer behavior.
Shopify supports 100+ payment gateways and various solutions, such as PayPal, Razorpay, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Affirm, Klarna, and credit cards. It has a native payment gateway called Shopify Payments.
Comes with a built-in payment system, SEO features, fraud detection tools, and all the tools you need for e-commerce business.
Offers a wide variety of themes and plugins are available to customize your online store.
Provides in-depth analytics on sales, customer behavior, and inventory management.
Offers integrated Point of Sale (POS) system.
Native tools for advertising and marketing campaigns.
Most beginner-friendly e-commerce platform.
Monthly fees and third-party apps can lead to higher overall expenses.
Fees are higher if you use other payment solutions than Shopify Payments.
Theme customizations costs extra.
Shopify Pricing
Shopify offers four plans with free trials. Payment processing rates decrease as you go for higher plans. For complex businesses, Shopify has a Plus plan starting at $2,300 per month. Here are the monthly prices of annual plans.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Basic | $29/mo | Up to 77% shipping discount, 10 inventory locations, 24/7 chat support, localized global selling (3 markets), and POS lite. |
Shopify | $79/mo | Everything in the Basic plan, and up to 88% shipping discount and insurance, and 5 additional staff accounts. |
Advanced | $299/mo | Custom reports, in-depth analytics, add additional markets, 15 additional staff accounts, and 10X checkout capacity. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
via Crowdin
Customer Support
Chat, Email, Phone
PrestaShop is a popular e-commerce CMS. The Classic (free) plan requires separate hosting, while the Hosting (paid) plan includes shared hosting with Gandi. It is free and open-source, but themes and add-ons from the PrestaShop Addons marketplace incur additional costs.
PrestaShop integrates various payment gateways, including Mollie, Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and more. Add-ons like Newsletter Pro, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Yotpo enhance functionality. Security features include PCI compliance, IP whitelisting, and customer account protection, with additional security via premium add-ons.
PrestaShop is highly scalable, handling high traffic and large product catalogs when properly configured on robust hosting. Its admin interface is comprehensive but slightly outdated. Core and most third-party themes are mobile-responsive by default.
The PrestaShop Addons marketplace offers over 4,000 modules for extended functionality. Paid add-ons support multichannel selling and integrate with platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Facebook.
Offers integration with popular payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Pay, etc.
Has a unified dashboard for multi-site management.
Provides advanced statistics for better decision-making.
Has built-in SEO capabilities.
Provides native multilingual and multi-currency support
Allows unlimited product listings.
Limitations on modules reduce functionality.
The hosted plan offers limited bandwidth.
PrestaShop Pricing
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Classic | Free | Customizable classic theme, PrestaShop checkout, automated ads on Google networks, marketing automation shipping service, and PrestaShop Metrics. |
Hosted | €24 excl. VAT/mo | Hosting with Gandi (50GB), automatic VAT calculation, GDPR compliance, and 6-day customer support via email or phone. |
Custom | Custom | Based on requirements. |
Plugins/Add-ons
110+
Multilingual Capabilities
via Locales page
Customer Support
Ticket
Contentful Platform is a headless CMS designed for standardizing and synchronizing content across multiple brands, regions, and channels. It features a comprehensive content graph that centralizes all content assets, including images, text, and articles.
Contentful separates content management from content delivery, enabling publication across multiple digital channels and devices. Content is delivered via APIs, offering greater flexibility and scalability.
Contentful’s API-first design includes robust Content Delivery and Content Management APIs. This allows developers to access and manipulate content programmatically, making it highly customizable and easy to integrate with other systems.
Contentful offers advanced content modeling capabilities, allowing teams to define custom content structures and relationships. This feature is more robust than traditional CMS platforms. It integrates AI-powered features, like the Content-Type Generator, to design content models and streamline workflows, enhancing the productivity of content teams.
Comes with built-in multi-site and multilingual capabilities.
Offers AI-powered tools to streamline content creation.
Provides unified management of all content assets.
Shared workspace with concurrent revisions and updates.
Visual structure for content modeling.
Robust API support for delivering content to any digital channel.
May require technical expertise to set up and integrate with other systems.
Has costly paid plans.
Contentful Platform Pricing
Contentful has two other pricing plans apart from its free version, which are as below.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Free | Free forever | 5 users, 2 locales, 1M API calls/mo, structured content, 1 intro space, and more. |
Basic | $300/mo | 1 Intro Space, plus an optional upgrade to Medium Spaces, 20 users, 4 locales, 2M API calls/mo, and 0.75TB/mo CDN bandwidth. |
Premium | Custom Pricing | Custom number of users, roles, and locales, unlimited API calls/mo, dedicated customer success, custom amount of CDN bandwidth, and Contentful Studio compatibility. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
Major
Customer Support
Live Chat
Storyblok is a cloud-native headless CMS designed for flexibility and integration. It lets developers build and publish content across any service or technology. Marketers are able to independently create and scale content using its visual editing interface, collaborative tools, and custom workflows.
Storyblok’s API-first design ensures seamless integration with any front-end framework or technology. It includes AI-powered tools to enhance content personalization and automation.
Storyblok handles increasing content and traffic without compromising performance or security. Users are equipped to build custom components, apps, and integrations to meet specific needs.
With extensive multi-language support, Storyblok is ideal for global businesses. It enables the management of multiple websites and digital experiences from a single platform. Developers and marketers favor Storyblok for its flexibility, scalability, and customization.
Offers robust security with an ISO 27001 certification.
Consolidates content management with a central Content Hub.
Has partnered with Virtual Identity to create an AI Suite – a collection of AI-powered tools.
Powerful APIs (REST, GraphQL) for content delivery.
Extensive integrations with e-commerce, analytics, and other third-party tools.
AI-powered Ideation Room for content collaboration.
The pricing is expensive for individuals and small businesses.
$9/additional seat in a single space.
Storyblok Pricing
Storyblok offers a free plan with 10 user seats, a visual editor, custom field types, and more. For advanced features, users need to opt for one of the paid plans as listed below.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Entry | $90.75/mo | 5 users, up to 30 user seats, 500GB traffic/mo. |
Business | $778.25/mo | 20 users, up to 40 user seats, 1TB traffic/mo. |
Enterprise | Custom pricing | Custom users, custom additional user seats, SSO add-on, custom traffic, 2 spaces. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
200+ languages
Customer Support
Chat, Form
Contentstack is a cloud-based, API-first headless CMS designed to empower developers and marketers. It provides a decoupled architecture, allowing content to be managed independently of the presentation layer. This makes it highly flexible and scalable for powering digital experiences across the web, mobile, IoT, AR/VR, and more.
Contentstack offers flexible content management tools for streamlined content publishing. Its enterprise-grade scalability and performance offer a guaranteed 99.95% uptime SLA. With its native multi-lingual capabilities, users are allowed to localize their website from its impressive list of over 200 languages offered.
Contentstack’s headless architecture and cloud-based delivery model make it an attractive choice for enterprises and mid-market businesses looking to create and manage content for omnichannel experiences.
Offers Knowledge Vaults to centralize brand assets.
Provides a visual editor with modular blocks lets you create pages or apps with ease.
Allows A/B testing for informed decision-making.
Built-in OAuth support for the best security standards.
Pre-built automation recipes for easy integration.
AI capabilities for content creation.
Basic native e-commerce capabilities; required third-party integrations.
Very limited add-ons.
No fixed pricing plans for quick comparisons.
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
64+ languages
Customer Support
Email
Directus is an open-source headless CMS and BaaS platform that transforms any SQL database into a robust REST and GraphQL API. It offers a no-code interface for easy content and data management.
Directus’ intuitive admin interface allows both developers and non-technical users to manage content and data models effortlessly. The platform provides unmatched flexibility in data modeling, allowing you to shape your content without constraints.
Directus is highly modular and scalable, with the Extensions SDK enabling custom functionality. Directus Flows lets you create complex designs and event-driven workflows and automate data processing tasks.
Directus balances flexibility for developers and ease of use for content editors. Its headless architecture, instant APIs, and extensible design make it a strong choice for building modern, data-driven applications.
Provides a live preview of content changes without waiting for long build times.
Offers multilingual support with 64+ languages through their multilingual app.
Has an intuitive no-code app for non-technical users to manage content.
Robust authentication options like SSO, OAuth, and LDAP.
Built-in automation for custom, event-driven data processing and workflows.
A fully customizable app makes white-labeling any brand easy.
Limited extensions for customizations.
Challenging for non-technical content creators as set up and integration of headless CMS is difficult.
No built-in design templates or tools.
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
via plugin
Customer Support
Email
Webflow is a visual, composable CMS that empowers designers and marketers to create, edit, and publish content without writing any code. It includes a content management application (CMA) for building the site and a content delivery application (CDA) for updating site content.
Webflow allows designers to connect dynamic content to any layout without being restricted by specific designs. Editors are able to manage various content types, such as colors, images, text, and numbers, and define the necessary content structures.
Content creators integrate their website with over 750 third-party services through Zapier, automating workflows and reducing manual tasks through Webflow. Webflow offers robust SEO controls, enabling customization of alt text, meta descriptions, URL slugs, and page titles to improve search rankings.
Webflow’s visual-first, composable design expands creative possibilities, allowing custom content structures and data from multiple collections. Webflow automatically populates rich content embedded with CMS field data.
Offers visual design tools with a drag-and-drop interface that makes building websites easy.
Has built-in SEO features like customizable meta tags, URL slugs, and schema markup.
Provides team features and content workflow for collaboration and management.
Powerful cloud hosting with AWS.
Custom content structures for full control over your website.
Highly scalable due to enterprise-grade hosting and infrastructure.
Integration of third-party apps is required through Zapier, for which technical know-how is required.
Limited apps and tools integration.
No CMS functionalities in the Basic plan.
Webflow Pricing
Webflow offers a free plan for hobby and staging sites, but this puts limitations on visitors and bandwidth. For advanced features, the priced plans are required. With yearly billing, save up to 22%.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
CMS | $23/mo | Custom domain, 150 pages, 2K CMS items, 1K/mo form submissions, 200GB bandwidth, and 250K visitors. |
Business | $39/mo | 10K CMS items, 2.5K/mo form submissions, 10 content editors, 400GB bandwidth, and 300K visitors. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
Major
Customer Support
Ticket
Appy Pie offers various tools for building websites, mobile apps, chatbots, and more. One of the tools is an AI-powered website builder that allows you to create professional websites without any coding.
Appy Pie offers 10,000+ mobile-responsive templates to create your CMS website. You get built-in e-commerce features like a shopping cart, payment processors, business emails, and more if you decide to make an online store with Appy Pie.
Appy Pie offers many free tools, such as a free domain name, hosting, business email, and a free app that matches your website to complete your brand.
Has a drag-and-drop website builder with a user-friendly interface.
Provides E-commerce capabilities, including online store, shopping cart, and payment processing.
Offers analytics and reporting to track website performance.
Secure hosting on AWS cloud with GDPR, HIPAA, SOC, and PCI compliance.
10,000+ mobile responsive templates.
Powerful AI tools to create websites easily.
Limited customization options.
Not as many features as in a dedicated website builder.
Paid plans are expensive for more complex websites.
Appy Pie Website Builder Pricing
Appy Pie has 2 plans as have been listed below.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Start | $16/mo | Basic features, unlimited bandwidth, 50GB storage, SSL certificate, 2 moderators, automatic backup, and more. |
Grow | $36/mo | All core features, unlimited storage, advanced site customizations, advanced marketing and monetization tools, and 1000 push notifications/mo. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Limited
Multilingual Capabilities
Unspecified
Customer Support
Forms
Grav is a free, open-source, and self-hosted CMS written in PHP, first released in 2014 by Trilby Media. Designed for simplicity, speed, and ease of use, Grav prioritizes performance over many built-in features.
Grav uses a flat-file database, storing content and configuration data in text files rather than requiring MySQL or PostgreSQL. This makes it easy to set up, maintain, and back up. It’s ideal for developers and website owners who value simplicity and flexibility.
Grav is lightweight and customizable, making it a cost-effective and reliable choice. Its open-source nature and large community support add to its appeal for those prioritizing speed and ease of use.
Provides a flat-file, database-free architecture for speed and simplicity.
Offers pre-built 50+ website skeletons are available to get started with Grav.
Has an active and engaged open-source community.
Secure, as there is no admin area or database to hack into.
Uses modern technologies like Twig templating and Markdown for content creation.
Being a flat-file CMS the admin panel provides only required features.
Better suited to smaller projects and websites with a simple database and less data.
Due to a smaller community, support is limited.
Plugins/Add-ons
Not disclosed
Multilingual Capabilities
via Translations.com
Customer Support
Form, Support Portal
Sitecore is a leading CMS founded in 1999, serving over 10,000 customers. It delivers personalized digital experiences across web, mobile, and social media. Sitecore’s user-friendly platform allows easy content creation and management without extensive technical skills.
Sitecore’s advanced personalization tailors content based on customer data, while omnichannel capabilities ensure consistent brand experiences.
Sitecore integrates with CRM, marketing automation, and e-commerce platforms to keep customer and product information up-to-date. A/B testing and optimization identify effective strategies and built-in analytics provide valuable insights.
Sitecore offers flexible pricing for on-premises and cloud hosting, ideal for medium to large enterprises. Its scalable platform meets growing demands without sacrificing performance or security.
Offers robust security features like role-based access control, SSL encryption, and regular software updates.
Supports personalization capabilities with real-time data and analytics.
Provides marketing automation features to automate campaigns, track user behavior, and send personalized messages.
Hybrid headless CMS offers flexibility and ease of use for marketers and developers alike.
Seamless integration via APIs.
Has a strong community of 25,000
Needs technical skills and so not suited for non-technical users.
Limited functionality for small businesses with basic requirements.
Plugins/Add-ons
Very limited
Multilingual Capabilities
via Translation service
Customer Support
Phone, Email, Form
Sitefinity is a popular CMS by Progress that enables businesses to create, manage, and deliver engaging digital experiences across multiple channels. It offers an intuitive platform for both content creators and developers, providing a comprehensive digital marketing hub for building websites, portals, and applications.
Sitefinity integrates seamlessly with customer and enterprise data, enhancing digital interactions and enabling faster development and deployment of digital experiences. The user-friendly interface simplifies content creation and management, supporting personalization and multichannel experiences.
One of Sitefinity’s standout features is Sitefinity Cloud, an enterprise infrastructure for managing and delivering customer-centric digital experiences at scale, available as both SaaS and PaaS.
Additionally, Sitefinity Insight is a native Customer Data Platform that captures customer interactions, optimizes campaign performance and facilitates data-driven decisions. The flexible framework scales with business growth and integrates with various technologies.
Offers native e-commerce features, such as showing products, managing inventory, processing payments, and more.
Supports personalization of content based on user preferences, demographics, or previous interactions.
Provides a drag-and-drop functionality and a WYSIWYG editor.
AI toolset for content creation and customer experience optimization.
Powerful marketing automation features.
Active community and extensive documentation.
Very few add-ons and integrations.
Steeper learning curve if you are unfamiliar with enterprise-level CMS.
Plugins/Add-ons
via DQM
Multilingual Capabilities
Very limited
Customer Support
Request, Support Portal
Crownpeak’s CMS, powered by FirstSpirit, streamlines content creation, optimization, and governance. Its flexible architecture supports headless APIs, static content delivery, or both and integrates seamlessly with existing digital infrastructure.
Crownpeak drives content natively to extend the life of digital touchpoints, avoiding costly rebuilds. It accelerates time to market by enabling IT and marketing teams to work in parallel, delivering content eight times faster than other providers.
Crownpeak is the only SaaS CMS with built-in digital accessibility and quality capabilities, allowing issue resolution during the editorial process. Crownpeak integrates with Dynamic Yield to create personalized customer experiences.
Designed for commerce, Crownpeak integrates with leading platforms and features an AI-powered product discovery solution to boost revenue. Its no-code visual editor and low-code developer tools offer flexibility and agility.
Offers an intuitive, no-code visual editor.
Provides hybrid headless CMS architecture that powers omnichannel digital experiences.
Has multisite and multilingual support.
Personalize customer experience with Dynamic Yield.
Delivers content globally at 8x the speed of other providers.
AI-powered product discovery feature makes e-commerce easy.
The pricing structure is not transparent.
No information is available on add-ons, tool integrations, and extensions.
Plugins/Add-ons
Unspecified
Multilingual Capabilities
via Localization
Customer Support
Phone
ButterCMS is ideal for building modern, API-driven web applications. Its headless architecture separates content management from presentation, offering flexibility and scalability.
ButterCMS scales effortlessly, handling increased content and traffic without performance issues. Its robust API integrates content into any application, and multilingual support is perfect for global businesses.
ButterCMS seamlessly combines content and commerce by integrating with popular e-commerce platforms. It manages multiple websites from one interface and integrates with cloud services like AWS and Google Cloud. Built-in analytics track content performance and user engagement.
As a true headless CMS, ButterCMS enables custom, API-driven digital experiences. Widely adopted, it leverages AI and ML for content personalization and optimization. Its flexibility, real-time editing, and robust features make it a top choice for advanced content management and personalization.
Offers a component-based architecture to create dynamic page layouts.
Has usage-based pricing plans that fit the needs of startups and medium-scale businesses.
Provides content collaboration features like version control and real-time previews.
Headless CMS architecture empowers building omnichannel experiences.
Robust API-first integration.
Client libraries and starter kits for popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.
A limited number of add-ons in the Butter marketplace.
Limitations on the number of blogs posted.
ButterCMS Pricing
ButterCMS has three pricing plans ranging from Micro to Small Business as listed in the below table.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Micro | $99/mo | 3 users, 5 pages, 50 blog posts, 50 collection items, WordPress migration, and 3 roles. |
Startup | $199/mo | Unlimited users, 50 pages, 300 blog posts, 500 collection items, components, and 3 roles. |
Small Business | $375/mo | Unlimited users, 100 pages, 600 blog posts, 1000 collection items, 5 locales, image editor, priority support, and 3 roles. |
Plugins/Add-ons
Extensive
Multilingual Capabilities
Automatic translations
Customer Support
Phone
HubSpot CMS Hub is a comprehensive content management system for marketers and business owners. It is built on HubSpot’s CRM platform, which includes marketing automation, sales, service, and operations tools.
The HubSpot CMS’ website builder is easy to use, even for those with minimal technical skills. Its drag-and-drop editor, built-in SEO tools, and contact attribution features simplify content creation and optimization.
Hubspot CMS’ smart content features let you personalize website pages for specific visitors or larger segments. Developers use serverless functions, flexible theme options, and command line tools for faster customization.
CMS Hub includes strong security features such as a global CDN, a Web Application Firewall, and a dedicated security team to protect against DDoS attacks and hackers. It integrates seamlessly with HubSpot’s email marketing tool and sales CRM, streamlining operational workflows.
Offers AI blog post generator to produce topics with titles, targeted keywords, and outlines.
Comes with a global CDN and Web Application Firewall for robust security.
Has extensive pre-built themes, modules, and add-ons to build and customize your website.
Built-in social media and email integration.
Seamless integration with Shopify and WooCommerce for e-commerce stores.
Add up to 100 products with the free Hubspot plan.
The free version comes with Hubspot branding.
The pricing plans are expensive for individuals and smaller businesses.
Only 3 seats are included in the Professional plan.
Hubspot Content Hub Pricing
Hubspot’s pricing plans have been elaborated in the table below.
Plan | Price | Offerings |
---|---|---|
Free | Free | Access to all the free Hubspot tools, 3 dashboards, add up to 100 products, 100 blog posts. |
Starter | $15/mo/seat | Access to all paid Hubspot tools, 10 dashboards, add up to 1 million products, and 10,000 blog posts. |
Professional | $450/mo (for 3 seats) | Access to all paid Hubspot tools, 25 dashboards, add up to 15 million products, and 10,000 blog posts. |
What is a Content Management System?
A Content Management System (CMS) is software that enables users to easily create, manage, and modify website content. Most CMSs offer an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for building and maintaining websites, making it accessible to non-technical individuals and teams.
Popular CMS software, such as WordPress or Shopify, allows content creators to create websites like static websites, e-commerce stores, membership sites, e-learning platforms, blogs, and portfolio sites.
Why Are Content Management System Platforms Used?
Content Management Systems are used by content creators, individuals, and businesses for these 5 features.
- Content Creation: Users create and format content using a drag-and-drop interface similar to Microsoft Word.
- Content Storage: Content is stored in a database for consistency and easy access.
- Collaboration Features: For collaborative content management, permissions are assigned based on roles such as authors, editors, and administrators.
- Publishing: The CMS automates content publishing, ensuring timely updates and visibility.
- Optimization: The system enhances digital experiences and provides tools to analyze content performance.
What Factors to Consider When Choosing a Content Management System?
When choosing a Content Management System (CMS), consider the 12 following factors:
- Ease of Use: Ensure the CMS is user-friendly, intuitive, and offers a no-code website building experience. Non-technical users should be able to create, edit, and publish content without extensive training.
- Customization and Flexibility: Look for a CMS that offers website templates, plugins, and themes to customize your site. Such templates and themes allow you to easily set up your store or website, and plugins let you add more functionalities.
- Scalability: Choose a CMS that scale with your business. It should handle increased traffic and content without affecting website speed or performance.
- SEO Features: Ensure the CMS has built-in SEO tools such as meta tags, URL structures, and keyword support to enhance your site’s visibility in search engines.
- Integration Capabilities: The CMS should integrate seamlessly with other tools and systems you use, such as CRM, e-commerce platforms, and marketing automation tools.
- Security: Security is the most important factor to consider. Ensure the CMS has robust security features, including regular updates, backups, and protection against threats.
- Multilingual Support: The CMS should support multiple languages and localization features if your business operates globally.
- Mobile Responsiveness: Ensure the CMS create mobile-friendly content and layouts. Mobile optimization is crucial for user experience and SEO.
- Cost: Consider both upfront and ongoing costs. Evaluate if the CMS offers good value for its features and if it fits your budget.
- Support and Community: Check if the CMS has strong customer support and an active user community. This is useful for troubleshooting and learning best practices.
- Content Management Features: Evaluate the CMS’s content creation, editing, and publishing capabilities. Look for features like version control, workflow management, and real-time editing.
- Performance and Speed: Ensure the CMS performs well and loads quickly. Performance affects user experience and search engine rankings.
How do CMS Platforms Support Ecommerce Functionality?
CMS platforms support e-commerce functionality either natively or via integrations. This enables businesses to manage and optimize their online stores effectively.
Here are the 10 key features and capabilities of content management systems:
- Product Management: CMS platforms allow you to add, edit, and organize products efficiently. This includes managing product descriptions, images, prices, and inventory.
- Shopping Cart and Checkout: Most CMS platforms provide built-in shopping cart and checkout systems. They ensure a smooth and secure purchase process for customers.
- Payment Gateway Integration: CMS platforms integrate with multiple payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe, and credit card processors. This allows businesses to offer various payment options to customers.
- Order Management: CMS platforms help manage orders from purchase to delivery. This includes tracking order status, processing returns, and handling customer inquiries.
- Customer Accounts: CMS platforms enable customers to create accounts, track orders, and save payment information. This enhances the user experience and encourages repeat purchases.
- Inventory Management: CMS platforms provide tools to track and manage inventory levels. They send alerts when stock is low and help prevent overselling.
- Mobile Responsiveness: CMS platforms ensure that online stores are mobile-friendly. This is crucial as more customers shop on mobile devices.
- Customization and Scalability: CMS platforms offer themes, plugins, and extensions to customize the online store. They scale to accommodate growing businesses and increasing traffic.
- Security: CMS platforms provide robust security features, including SSL certificates, data encryption, and fraud detection, to protect customer information and transactions.
- Integration with Third-Party Tools: CMS platforms integrate with various e-commerce platforms and third-party tools, such as CRM systems, email marketing services, and shipping providers. This creates a seamless workflow and enhances e-commerce functionality.
Is Shopify a Content Management System?
Yes, Shopify is a content management system (CMS) specifically designed for e-commerce. It allows businesses to create and manage their online stores, including product listings, inventory management, order processing, and customer interactions.
While Shopify is primarily focused on e-commerce functionalities, it provides basic content management capabilities for creating pages, blogs, and other content related to the store.
More About Content Management
- E-commerce CMS
- What is a Document Management System