Platform comparison
Showing 10 of 10 platforms
| Platform | Architecture | Hosting & upkeep | Cost | Front-end design | Languages & sites | Content portability | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drupal | Traditional or headless | Hosting: Self-hosted or managed hostMaintained by: Your team | License: FreeBuild & upkeep: $$ | Fully custom | Built in | Full: you own the database | Developer-heavy builds, and major-version upgrades take planning. |
| Framer | Hosted builder | Hosting: Vendor onlyMaintained by: Vendor | License: Subscription $Build & upkeep: $ | Custom, within the builder | Languages: paid add-on. One site per project | Very limited | Built for marketing sites. Complex content and integrations hit limits fast. |
| HubSpot CMS | Traditional, CRM-connected | Hosting: Vendor onlyMaintained by: Vendor | License: Subscription $$–$$$Build & upkeep: $$ | Custom themes | Paid plan | Partial: content exports, themes don't | Costs climb with each Hub tier, and leaving HubSpot means rebuilding the site. |
| Kentico | Traditional or headless | Hosting: Self-hosted or vendor SaaSMaintained by: Your team or vendor | License: Commercial $$$Build & upkeep: $$–$$$ | Fully custom | Built in | Full: you own the database | Commercial licensing, and a smaller pool of .NET specialists. |
| Squarespace | Hosted builder | Hosting: Vendor onlyMaintained by: Vendor | License: Subscription $Build & upkeep: $ | Template-bound | Limited | Partial: some content types only | Fixed URL patterns, limited SEO and accessibility control, no staging or approvals. |
| Strapi | Headless | Hosting: Self-hosted or Strapi CloudMaintained by: Your team or vendor | License: Free core; paid plans $–$$$Build & upkeep: $$ | Fully custom | Languages: built in | Full: you own the database | Approval workflows sit behind costly plans, and editors work in forms rather than on the page. |
| Wagtail | Traditional or headless | Hosting: Self-hosted or managed hostMaintained by: Your team | License: FreeBuild & upkeep: $$ | Fully custom | Built in | Full: you own the database | Smaller ecosystem, so more features are built custom. Requires Python developers. |
| Webflow | Hosted builder | Hosting: Vendor onlyMaintained by: Vendor | License: Subscription $$Build & upkeep: $–$$ | Custom, within the builder | Languages: paid add-on. One site per project | Partial: code and CSV exports, no CMS logic | CMS item limits by plan, so costs rise as content grows. |
| Wix | Hosted builder | Hosting: Vendor onlyMaintained by: Vendor | License: Subscription $Build & upkeep: $ | Template-bound | Languages: built in. One site per account plan | Very limited | Can't switch templates after launch, limited SEO and code control, no real export. |
| WordPress | Traditional or headless | Hosting: Self-hosted or managed hostMaintained by: Your team | License: Free; paid plugins optionalBuild & upkeep: $–$$ | Fully custom | Languages: plugin. Multisite: built in | Full: you own the database | Plugin sprawl means constant security patching and conflicts. Page builders add bloat. |
In Cost, license is the platform's own fees; build & upkeep is the design, development, hosting, and maintenance effort around it. Both are relative: $ lower, $$$ higher.
Last reviewed October 2026
Still narrowing it down? Start from the situations most teams find themselves in.
Back to choosing a CMSAbout front-end themes, templates, and custom design
The CMS manages your content. The front end is what visitors see, and it's a separate decision. Most platforms support more than one approach, and the right one depends on your budget, your timeline, and how much your site needs to stand apart.
Off-the-shelf template
Start from a pre-built design and swap in your content.
Pros
- Fastest to launch
- Lowest upfront cost
Cons
- Your site looks like every other site using it
- Layouts bend only as far as the template allows
- Speed and accessibility depend on the template's author
Available on nearly every platform. The main option on Squarespace and Wix.
Customized theme or builder design
A designer works within a theme framework or a visual builder.
Pros
- A distinctive look at a moderate cost
- Faster to build than fully custom, since layouts and features start from an existing framework
Cons
- Still bound by the theme's or builder's structure
- Heavy customizations can break when the theme updates
- Every theme, builder, and plugin combination edits differently, so experience on one site rarely carries over to the next
Common on WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Webflow, and Framer.
Fully custom design and front end
Designed from your brand and content up, and built as your own code.
Pros
- Looks and moves exactly as designed
- Speed and accessibility built in from the start
- Reusable components editors assemble pages from
Cons
- Highest upfront investment
- New components need a developer
Common on Strapi, Wagtail, Drupal, Kentico, and WordPress.
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