Drupal vs Joomla
Our score, every feature we track, pricing plans, hosting and AI, side by side.
At a glance
The facts from each platform's profile, side by side.
| Metric | Drupal | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| Pricing | Free software · hosting from about $41/mo (Pantheon Basic) | Free · free hosted trial site · paid hosting from $10/mo |
| AI | AI module connects your own provider key: Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Bedrock or Azure | No AI in core; a developer AI framework and third-party MCP extensions |
| Hosting | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Source code | Open source | Open source |
| Created | 2001Drop.org | 2005 |
| Best for | Large, complex sites with detailed permissions and a development team | Community and small business sites on budget hosting |
| AI features | AI module connects your own provider key: Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Bedrock or Azure | No AI in core; a developer AI framework and third-party MCP extensions |
Features
How each platform offers a feature: free, in the cheapest paid plan, on a higher plan, or enterprise only. Open a feature to compare it across every platform.
Drupal
- AI content tools Free AI module with your own provider key; a site builder must install and configure it
- Content modeling Free Content types, fields and views
- Headless API Free Decoupled or traditional delivery
- Plugins and apps Free Large free module ecosystem
- Roles and permissions Free Fine-grained roles and permissions
- Self-hosting Free Needs a host that runs PHP and a database
Pricing
Every plan, cheapest first, and what the bill is counted by. Open a profile for what each plan includes.
Drupal
- Drupal (self-hosted)Free Free Developers and organizations hosting Drupal themselves
- Pantheon BasicPer site $55per site / month Small Drupal sites on Pantheon managed hosting
- Pantheon Performance SmallPer site $200per site / month Busier Drupal sites on Pantheon managed hosting
- Pantheon Performance MediumPer site $350per site / month Higher-traffic Drupal sites without an SLA
- Pantheon EliteCustom quote Custom Enterprise Drupal sites that need an uptime SLA
Prices checked Vendor pricing page
Joomla
- Joomla (self-hosted)Free Free Community and small business sites on own hosting
- Joomla Launch FreeFree Free People trying Joomla without setting up hosting
- Joomla Launch PaidPer site $10per site / month Trial users keeping their site long term
Prices checked Vendor pricing page
Strengths and watch-outs
From our review of each platform.
Drupal
Strengths
- Very flexible content modeling.
- Fine-grained roles and permissions.
- Free, open-source modules for almost anything.
- AI module with your own provider key, so no credits and no markup.
Watch out for
- Needs a host that runs PHP and a database (Pantheon Basic from $41/mo, paid yearly).
- Core and modules need security updates.
- Building and upkeep are specialist work, priced by the job.
- AI features are modules a site builder must install and configure.
Joomla
Strengths
- Free and open source, with no licence fees.
- Built-in multilingual support, user access control and menus.
- A large extension directory.
- A free hosted trial site on launch.joomla.org.
Watch out for
- No AI features in core; the official MCP server is still a proof of concept.
- The free hosted site has 500 MB of disk and must be renewed every 30 days.
- A smaller, slower-moving ecosystem than WordPress.
- Updates and security are your job when you host it yourself.
More comparisons
Everything on this page comes from our profiles of the two platforms, checked against each vendor's own documentation and pricing pages. Vendors change plans often: confirm prices on their site before you buy.