Craft CMS vs WordPress: Pros and Cons
Last updated on November 27th, 2023 at 08:38 am
A Content Management System (CMS) is a useful tool for keeping your website organized.
It allows you to easily change or remove, and edit any content including text, video, images, and audio.
When we talk about CMS, the name of two popular CMSs comes to the fore, the reigning titan WordPress, and the challenger Craft CMS.
In this article, we will share with you the pros and cons of both these Content Management Systems. This will help you to make up your mind about which one to choose for your website.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open-source content management system written in PHP and usually combined with a MySQL or MariaDB database. Among all the CMS available in the market, WordPress is considered one of the most popular. Let’s quickly go through the pros and cons of WordPress.
Pros of WordPress:
Here are some of the advantages of WordPress.
Easy To Use
WordPress has a very intuitive interface that allows even a layperson to use this powerful CMS in a short period.
One important feature of WordPress is an inbuilt dashboard that allows you to create new pages, post a blog, change the themes, and others.
Responsive Design
As WordPress allows you to create a responsive design that can function smoothly over a wide range of devices, you do not have to create different websites for multiple devices.
Media Management
You can easily add different media elements to your WordPress website to improve the quality of the content.
Wide Range of Themes
WordPress allows you to install themes to completely change the look and navigation of your website.
Use Different Plugins for Customization
In a WordPress website, you get the option of using a wide range of plug-ins to add any features that you think are important to improve the user’s experience.
Flexibility
WordPress offers flexibility in creating different types of websites that can include full-fledged websites, an e-commerce store, or even a personal blog.
It Requires Minimal Coding
As WordPress comes with a range of user-friendly tools, the need for coding is reduced to the minimum.
Self-Hosted Platform
WordPress is a self-hosting platform, which in simple terms means you can host it on any hosting provider.
Huge Community Support
The huge online community of WordPress ensures reliable support for developers whenever they face any challenge while creating a website.
SEO Friendly
The search engine crawlers find it easy to read the content of a WordPress website and index it. Furthermore, it gives you control of the SEO components of each page, which you can use optimally to ensure your website gets a higher ranking.
Easy To Scale Up
If you use WordPress to create your website, then you can scale it up as and when the need arises.
Cost-Effectiveness
This open-source CMS is free and maintaining a WordPress site is not very expensive.
Cons of WordPress:
Here are some of the disadvantages of WordPress.
A Lot of Plugins
If you want to add new features, then you have to search for the right plugin. While most are free, some premium ones are available for a fee.
Additionally, many of them become outdated and pose a security risk for the website.
Slow Page Speed
WordPress is a slow platform. If you upload a large image, then it can affect the page opening speed which in turn would affect the user experience adversely.
Security
You have to frequently update the themes and plug-ins otherwise they can become vulnerable and hackers can use their vulnerability to hack your website.
What is Craft CMS?
Craft CMS is a highly adaptable and user-friendly content management system great for developing excellent digital experiences for users on the web and more. It offers developers powerful tools to create websites that look attractive and have high-end security features and the latest functionalities.
Pros of Craft CMS:
Here are some of the benefits of Craft CMS.
Easier To Use
It is easier to learn than WordPress. The control panel of Craft CMS is quite straightforward (compared to WordPress).
Security
The craft CMS gives you the flexibility of creating customized access to individuals on all levels and areas of the website, which makes it more secure.
Managing the Contents
The Craft CMS uses a matrix block architecture. In this system, the website is broken down into a series of components called design units.
You can easily edit these highly responsive units, rearrange them, or even disable them according to your needs.
Performance
The Craft CMS uses the MVC framework. This model provides specific components when they are needed. This ensures faster performance.
Search Engine Optimization
Craft CMS offers greater control and functionalities of its inbuilt SEO tools. The SEO tool used by the Craft CMS automatically creates site maps for Google as well as renders metadata in addition to other advanced SEO functionalities.
Cons of Craft CMS:
Here are some of the drawbacks of Craft CMS.
Pricing
While there is a free version, it has limited functionalities. The Pro-Craft CMS pricing begins at $299 and it is to be made one time only.
Hard To Find Craft Developers
As the Craft CMS is relatively new, therefore, the number of developers who use it is far less compared to WordPress.
The online community of this CMS is very small which is a big disadvantage if you face any challenge while creating a website.
No Themes and Limited Plugins
There are no themes available for Craft CMS and the number of plug-ins is also limited.
Conclusion
As you have seen, both these CMSs have their pros and cons. After going through all these points, you can make an informed decision regarding which one would be ideal for your needs.
If you’re still facing issues making a suitable decision, you can consider several essential Craft CMS vs WordPress factors.
By thoroughly knowing all these factors, you can understand the difference between these content management systems and choose the best CMS for your project.
