The Top 11 Content Management Systems (CMS)

Wix Studio CMS lets you manage your website content efficiently, enabling you to scale content as required. Connect content to elements like galleries and tables to display it dynamically

What we like: The dynamic pages keep your website layout consistent while content updates automatically. It includes a full suite of SEO options to enhance search engine rankings. Its AI-driven features and no-code animations significantly streamline the development process.

• Responsive Editor optimizes designs for every screen size
• Seamless integration with dynamic pages
• Multi-site management with account-level analytics and SSO
• Intuitive client dashboard for safe content management
• Customizable data collection and management
• Translates your site into over 180 languages, automatically or manually
• Robust permissions and privacy settings

For developers: Wix Studio CMS combines the functionality of the Wix CMS, Wix Data APi and CRUD Permissions to select and write dynamic site visitor inputs to your site’s database with minimal hard-coding.

Use cases: Wix Studio CMS is ideal for designers and developers who need to build and manage complex content-driven websites, ensuring clients can update content safely and easily. Permission controls safeguard your sites, ensuring that edits cannot be made by unauthorized users.

The bottom line: Wix Studio CMS provides a robust web solution that allows you to manage content and easily collaborate with clients.

 Adobe Experience Manager is a leading headless CMS and digital asset management system used by more than 128,000 websites.

What we like: With Adobe you can easily build out websites using pre-built templates and components. Benefits include:

• GenAI feature adds brand-aware generative AI capabilities.
• Real-time universal and drop editor for easily creating web content.
• Automates key workflows and can be easily integrated with other tools.
• Multi-site and multi-language support for global businesses.
• APIs and integrations with Adobe and third-party service.

For developers: Adobe’s code foundation provides an optimized starting point for web development. It ensures a clear separation of code, content, and design for agile and efficient development. Edge-based architecture reduces latency and enables faster load times.

Use cases: It can be used to publish content for nearly any channel or platform. It’s a great option for running eCommerce sites as it integrates with Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, and WooCommerce.

The bottom line: Adobe offers an industry leading headless CMS allowing both developers and non-technical users to easily publish high quality websites.

Contentful is a headless CMS that helps users to create, manage, and deliver fast, seamless, and adaptable digital experiences across all channels.

What we like: Contentful allows you to create any type of content that can be published to any type of platform. Benefits include:

• The same content can be published across all digital channels via flexible APIs.
• Simple, modern and easy-to-use user interface.
• Easily publish content in multiple time-zones and locations.
• Role-based access and permission, including SSO integration.
• Deliver content for mobile, web and any other platform with the click of a button.

For developers:  Contentful offers reliable 24/7 content infrastructure. Flexible APIs provide engaging omnichannel digital experiences for users. It also integrates with in-house and third-party applications, tools, and extensions.

Use cases: We recommend Contentful for large enterprises across all industries, looking for powerful omnichannel content delivery. The solution is popular with Fortune 500 companies – but there is a free plan for individuals as well.

The bottom line: Contentful offers a modern, intuitive CMS platform to publish engaging omnichannel digital experiences for users.

Contentstack is a fully customizable headless CMS founded in 2018. The platform enables editors and developers to create engaging web content.

What we like: Contentstack makes it easy to create, edit, and publish content. Benefits include:

• Page elements are broken down into blocks – editors can drag and drop to edit.
• Real-time live content preview for all channels with one single click.
• Collaborative workflows with in-line comments and annotations.
• You can create multiple variations of pages and content.

For developers: As a headless, framework-agnostic CMS, Contentstack retrieves content via APIs, enabling multisite, omnichannel delivery for visitors.

• The platform is secure and supports role-based access and granular permissions, audit logs, SSO, two-factor authentication, a 256-bit content store, and more. It also integrates with third-party apps.

Use cases: We recommend the platform for mid-size to large organizations—particularly in e-commerce, hospitality, and finance looking for a cloud-based, headless CMS that empowers editors to easily publish the same content across all channels.

The bottom line: We rate Contentstack for its flexibility, intuitive interface, and advanced security features.

Drupal is a well-established CMS, with a license-free, open source, and PHP-based platform to help organizations globally to manage and publish powerful web content.

What we like: Drupal offers a wealth of useful features, including easy content editing, multilingual support and role-based user access. Benefits include:

• Supports multilingual delivery by offering automatic language translation and localized content.
• Modular design with thousands of add-ons and integrations available.
• Library of more than 2,500 website themes to ensure a consistent and professional look and feel.
• Each user’s experience can be tailored based on behavioral profiles.

For developers: Drupal offers more than 40,000 optional “modules”, which are collections of code that add additional webpage functionality and enable them to customize webpages in any way they want.

• Decoupled architecture and sophisticated APIs allows you to create content for all channels. In terms of security features, Drupal comes with role-based access and permissions, user access control, database encryption, and automatic updates.

Use cases: We recommend the solution for developers, marketeers, and brand agencies, particularly for e-commerce, finance, travel, and higher education. The solution is also popular with govern agencies.

The bottom line: Drupal offers a highly flexible, customizable, and reliable CMS.

HubSpot is leading customer relationship management platform that integrates CMS capabilities with tools to help you easily create websites and landing pages.

What we like: Hubspot is very easy to use for editors, but also flexible for developers. Benefits include:

• Library of 3,500 paid and free landing page templates, which can be edited using a simple drag-and-drop editor.
• Features like multi-language content, personalization, SEO recommendations, and custom reporting.
• Built-in security, including role-based access and user permissions, 24/7 monitoring and threat detection, as well as SSO.
• Integrated with Hubspot’s leading CRM.

For developers: The platform supports easy integrations with hundreds of third-party apps and tools and provides 24/7 phone support for customers.

Use cases: Hubspot CMS is best suited for small-mid-sized teams looking to create webpages and landing pages with an easy-to-use drag and drop editor.

The bottom line: Hubspot CMS is a great CMS for creating commercial sites with an integrated CRM component. It’s easy to use and can scale with your team.

Joomla! is an open source, coupled CMS that lets users create, manage, and publish digital content via one, easy-to-use platform.

What we like: Joomla! Is free and open-source, including free documentation, tutorials and an active forum. Benefits include:

• Packed with a range of features—such as easy content editing, SEO optimization, multilingual support.
• Extendable and customizable, with more than 8,000 extensions available in its library.
• Thousands of third-party extensions and templates available.
• Easy to use, drag, and drop content editor.

For developers: Joomla! is also built on a model-view-controller web application framework, which can be separated from the CMS.

• To create and modify content, users can choose from a variety of WYSIWYG editors—though Joomla! comes with TinyMCE as the default editor. Built-in 2FA and role-based access control for added security.

Use cases: We recommend Joomla! for teams of all industries—including governments, non-profits, publications, e-commerce, and corporates—that are looking for an easy-to-use, coupled CMS to manage basic websites.

The bottom line: Joomla! is a cloud-based, coupled CMS, which is not only easy for non-developers to get to grips with, but also packed with useful tools and free to use.

Kontent.ai, previously Kontent by Kentico, is a SaaS-based headless CMS vendor, designed not only to make creating, modifying, and publishing content a simple task for editors, but also to provide high levels of flexibility for developers.

What we like: With Kontent.ai you can easily build powerful pages with modular content. Benefits include:

• Content can be delivered seamlessly across all channels via API.
• WYSIWYG editing and live previews are still possible via their optional, paid plugin—Web Spotlight.
• Built-in content scheduling, editorial calendars, asset management, and personalization capabilities.
• Real-time collaboration and editing tools with an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard.

For developers: Kontent.ai can deliver the same content across all digital channels via RESTful API. Dev teams can use the software of their choice when creating websites and apps, and content will still seamlessly deliver to them. SOC 2, ISO 27001, and 27017 certified.

Use cases: Kontent.ai is a great option for larger organizations across all industries that are looking for an advanced, headless CMS that can easily facilitate omnichannel content delivery.

The bottom line: Kontent.ai is intuitive and easy-to-master, enabling teams to deliver optimized and engaging content across all digital channels, from one central hub.

Shopify is a market-leading e-commerce platform offering a CMS alongside other tools for running an online business, including order management, inventory management, and point-of-sale (POS).

What we like: Shopify is designed to enable users to set up and manage content without needing deep technical knowledge. Benefits include:

• One comprehensive dashboard for managing webpages, blog posts, product listings, customer orders, and analytics.
• Advanced reporting capabilities to track customer analytics and sales.
• More than 70 free and paid e-commerce templates.
• Built-in SEO features, such as meta tags and site maps.
• Supports international businesses – you can translate pages into more than 50 languages and support local currencies and tax rates.
• Great customer support.

For developers: Features a built-in headless CMS. Shopify is also level 1 PCI-compliant, supports role-based access and permissions, and leverages 128-bit SSL encryption. You can easily add additional functionality via their library of more than 6,000 third-party applications, or via the Shopify AP.

• Shopify can handle high-volume traffic and sales, making it suitable for peak shopping periods and business growth without compromising performance.

Use cases: We recommend Shopify for SMBs that are looking for a fully featured, scalable and easy-to-use e-commerce solution.

The bottom line: Shopify is a feature-rich and easy-to-use e-commerce platform that helps you create a consistent customer and brand experience for all customer touchpoints.

Sitecore helps organizations globally to create and manage personalized, omnichannel experiences for users, without the need for developers or technical knowledge.

• Sitecore Experience Cloud comprises four products. Experience Manager (XM), Experience Platform (XP), Experience Commerce (XC), and Content Hub—each can be used standalone or in combination.

What we like: enables editors to not only easily create and manage content, but also deliver a fast and seamless digital experience across all channels. Benefits include:

• User-friendly page builder with a drag-and-drop interface and WYSIWYG editor.
• Supports multiple websites, locations, and languages.
• Integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, and Sketch for managing digital assets.
• Library of more than 100 pre-built, customizable components, templates, and layouts.
• Supports multisite, multilingual publishing.

For developers: Deliver content via a RESTful API. Security features such as role-based access, granular permissions, and SSO capabilities across all accounts. XM can be deployed via the cloud or on-premises and integrates seamlessly with hundreds of business-critical third-party tools, applications, and plugins.

Use cases: We recommend Sitecore XM for mid-sized and large organizations—particularly in the commercial, financial, travel, healthcare, and manufacturing industries, looking to improve customer experience.

The bottom line: XM is a powerful, flexible, and scalable platform with granular editing capabilities for non-developers.

WordPress is the most popular and widely used CMS on the market used by 43.2% of all websites. WordPress offers an open-source, free-to-use web hosting platform.

What we like: With an easy-to-use interface for editors and a high degree of flexibility for developers, millions of businesses globally depend on WordPress to power content across their entire website—including webpages, images, and videos. Benefits include:

• Highly flexible and easy to use for both developers and non-technical users.
• Thousands of plugins and themes available.
• Intuitive user dashboard for adding posts, managing plugins, and viewing analytics.
• Drag-and-drop editor and live preview functionality.
• Extensive marketplace of 31,000 free and paid themes, as well as more than 57,000 plugins.

For developers: WordPress conforms to W3C standards, sites built in WordPress will work in any current browser and stay compatible with future browsers. In terms of security, the platform comes with role-based access permissions and rolls out hassle-free updates.

As an open-source platform, users are free to use, modify, and distribute the software and code in any way that they want, free of charge.

Use cases:  We recommend WordPress for SMBs and enterprises across all industries. WordPress is very popular with blogs and publishing websites.

The bottom line: WordPress continues to be the most popular CMS on the market because of its flexibility, customizability, and ease of use.