WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are the three best-known open-source content management systems, all written in PHP and all free to use. WordPress is by far the most popular and the easiest to start with. Drupal is the most powerful for complex, structured sites. Joomla sits between them, with strong multilingual and access-control features built in.
Where they stand today
By W3Techs’ count in autumn 2026, WordPress runs about 40% of all websites, Joomla about 1% and Drupal under 1%. WordPress’s share has dipped from its peak but is still far ahead. Joomla and Drupal have been losing share for a decade. All three are actively developed:
- WordPress 7 is the current major line.
- Joomla 6 launched in October 2025, with 6.1 following in April 2026.
- Drupal 11 is the current core. Drupal 12 is scheduled for December 2026, and Drupal 10 reaches end of life the same month. Drupal CMS 2.0, a ready-to-use package built on Drupal core with a visual page builder, arrived in January 2026.
Side by side
| WordPress | Joomla | Drupal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learning curve | Lowest | Moderate | Steepest |
| Content model | Posts and pages; custom types via plugins or code | Articles with categories, custom fields in core | Content types, fields and taxonomies in core |
| Extensions | Tens of thousands of plugins and themes | Smaller extension directory | Large module library, more developer-oriented |
| Multilingual | Needs a plugin | Built in | Built in |
| User permissions | Simple roles | Granular access levels | Very granular |
| Typical build | Owner or freelancer | Freelancer or small agency | Developer or agency |
| Typical users | Blogs, small business, publishers, shops | Membership and multilingual sites | Government, universities, large organisations |
WordPress
WordPress wins on ease and ecosystem. You can launch a site in an afternoon, almost every hosting company supports it, and there is a plugin for nearly everything. The block editor makes page layout accessible to non-developers. The trade-off is that complex sites become stacks of plugins, each of which needs updating and can conflict with the others. See the WordPress notes.
Joomla
Joomla includes features in core that WordPress needs plugins for: multilingual content, custom fields and fine-grained access control. That makes it a sensible choice for membership sites and organisations publishing in several languages. Its smaller community means fewer extensions and fewer developers to hire. See Joomla: the pros and cons.
Drupal
Drupal is built for structured content and complex permissions, and it scales to very large sites. It is the most demanding of the three to build and maintain, and usually needs experienced developers. Drupal CMS and its visual builder are designed to make it friendlier for marketers, but it remains the heaviest option. See the Drupal notes.
Cost
All three are free to download. The cost is in building and maintaining the site, and it rises from WordPress to Joomla to Drupal for comparable work. For a detailed breakdown, see what Drupal and WordPress cost and what it costs to run a Joomla site.
Which should you choose?
- Blog, business site or online shop, and you want to manage it yourself: WordPress.
- Multilingual or membership site, without paying for Drupal development: Joomla.
- Large, complex site with many content types, roles and integrations, and a development budget: Drupal.
If you are moving between them, the platform index covers how each one models content and what changes in a move.