Traditional CMS

A traditional CMS manages content and renders the website in one system, with themes, plugins and an admin area all in the same installation.

Best for Content-heavy sites that want a large plugin and theme ecosystem

Platforms in this category

Ranked by our overall score. Open a profile for strengths, watch-outs, pricing and features.

Craft CMS SaaS or self-hosted 4.2 PHP CMS with flexible content modelling, by Pixel & Tonic Solo free · Team $279 or Pro $399 per project · Craft Cloud from $120/mo

Umbraco SaaS or self-hosted 4.1 Open-source .NET CMS with an optional managed cloud CMS free · Umbraco Cloud from €45/mo

WordPress SaaS or self-hosted 4.1 The open-source PHP CMS behind a large part of the web Free software · WordPress.com from $4/mo per site

HubSpot Content Hub SaaS 4 HubSpot's CMS and AI content tools, built on its CRM Free tier · Starter from $20/seat/mo · Professional from $450/mo

Drupal Self-hosted 3.9 Open-source CMS framework for complex content and permissions Free software · hosting from about $41/mo (Pantheon Basic)

Joomla Self-hosted 3.6 Free, open-source PHP CMS for websites and web apps Free · free hosted trial site · paid hosting from $10/mo

Traditional, or monolithic, platforms handle editing, templates and delivery together. They are quick to start and have huge communities, but the site and the editor are tightly coupled, which can limit flexibility and performance.