Content Management Systems Compared: Finding the Right Fit

Choosing a content management system shapes how you'll interact with your website for years. The right CMS makes content updates easy; the wrong one creates ongoing frustration. This comparison helps you understand the options and make an informed choice.

What a CMS Does

A content management system separates content from code. Instead of editing HTML files, you work with user-friendly interfaces to:

• Add and edit pages and posts
• Upload and manage media
• Organise content into categories
• Manage menus and navigation
• Control who can edit what

Without a CMS, every change requires a developer. With one, your team can manage day-to-day content independently.

Traditional vs. Headless CMS

Traditional CMS platforms (WordPress, Drupal) handle both content management and website presentation. You manage content and see how it looks in one system.

Headless CMS platforms (Strapi, Sanity, Contentful) manage content only. The content is delivered via API to separate frontend applications. This offers flexibility but adds complexity.

For most businesses, traditional CMS is simpler and sufficient. Headless makes sense when content needs to serve multiple platforms (website, mobile app, digital signage) or when using modern frontend frameworks.

The Major Players

WordPress

Market share: Over 40% of all websites. The dominant CMS by far.

Strengths:

• Huge ecosystem of themes and plugins
• Familiar to most content editors
• Extensive hosting options
• Large community and resources
• Relatively low development costs

Weaknesses:

• Security requires vigilance (popular target for attacks)
• Can become slow with many plugins
• Quality of plugins varies wildly
• Customisation often requires developer involvement
• Not ideal for complex, structured content

Best for: Blogs, small-to-medium business sites, content-heavy websites, clients who want independence.

Drupal

Market share: ~2% of websites, but common in enterprise and government.

Strengths:

• Excellent for complex content structures
• Strong multi-site capabilities
• Robust user permissions and workflows
• Better security track record than WordPress
• Handles large-scale sites well

Weaknesses:

• Steeper learning curve for content editors
• Higher development costs
• Fewer themes and modules than WordPress
• Requires more technical expertise to manage

Best for: Complex enterprise sites, government organisations, multi-site setups, content-heavy organisations with structured needs.

Strapi

Type: Open-source headless CMS

Strengths:

• Flexible content modelling
• API-first architecture
• Self-hosted (control your data)
• Modern JavaScript-based development
• Customisable admin interface

Weaknesses:

• Requires separate frontend development
• More technical setup and hosting
• Smaller ecosystem than traditional CMS
• Less familiar to typical content editors

Best for: Custom applications, multi-platform content delivery, developers wanting modern architecture.

Sanity

Type: Cloud-hosted headless CMS

Strengths:

• Excellent content modelling
• Real-time collaboration
• Highly customisable editing experience
• Strong developer experience
• Generous free tier

Weaknesses:

• Cloud-only (data not self-hosted)
• Requires frontend development
• Costs can scale with usage
• Learning curve for customisation

Best for: Content-focused teams, complex editorial workflows, projects requiring rich content modelling.

Contentful

Type: Enterprise cloud headless CMS

Strengths:

• Robust infrastructure
• Strong enterprise features
• Good APIs and integrations
• Localisation support

Weaknesses:

• Expensive at scale
• Complex pricing model
• Vendor lock-in concerns
• Overkill for simple projects

Best for: Enterprise with multi-platform content needs, well-funded projects requiring reliability.

Key Decision Factors

Who Will Manage Content?

If non-technical staff manage content daily, editor experience matters most. WordPress and similar traditional CMS offer familiar, intuitive interfaces. Headless systems require more training and comfort with abstracted content.

What Content Structure Do You Need?

Simple pages and blog posts? Any CMS handles this. Complex content types with relationships (events with speakers with sessions with locations)? You need a CMS that handles structured content well—Drupal, or a headless CMS with custom content modelling.

How Important Is Performance?

Traditional CMS generates pages dynamically, which can be slow without caching. Headless CMS with static site generation can be extremely fast. For performance-critical sites, architecture matters.

What's Your Budget?

WordPress sites can be built inexpensively. Drupal requires more development investment. Headless CMS requires separate frontend development. Cloud-hosted CMS carry ongoing platform costs.

The cheapest option isn't always cheapest long-term. A WordPress site drowning in plugins might cost more to maintain than a cleaner architecture built properly.

Multi-Platform Needs?

If content needs to appear on website, mobile app, and other channels, headless CMS makes sense—the same content serves all platforms. For website-only, traditional CMS is simpler.

Making the Decision

There's no universally "best" CMS. The right choice depends on:

• Your team's technical capability
• Content complexity
• Budget and timeline
• Integration requirements
• Long-term maintenance considerations

Avoid choosing based on what's trendy. Headless architecture is powerful but adds complexity many projects don't need. WordPress is unglamorous but often perfectly appropriate.

Our Approach

We don't have a one-size-fits-all answer. We evaluate each project's specific needs, team capabilities, and long-term requirements before recommending a CMS.

Sometimes WordPress is exactly right. Sometimes Strapi with a custom frontend makes more sense. Sometimes a simple static site with no CMS is appropriate.

If you're choosing a CMS for a new project or considering migration from an existing platform, contact us. We'll help you evaluate options honestly and choose what actually fits your situation.