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The Top 10 Content Management Systems (CMS)

Discover the top CMS solutions to help you create, manage, and deliver web content for your audience.

Last updated on Jul 16, 2024

Written by Megan Rees

Technical review by Joel Witts

The Top 10 Content Management Systems include:

1. Adobe Experience Manager Sites
2. Contentful
3. Contentstack
4. Drupal
5. HubSpot CMS Hub
6. Joomla!
7. Kontent.ai
8. Shopify
9. Sitecore Experience Manager (XM)
10. WordPress

A web Content Management System (CMS) is a piece of software that’s built to make creating, managing, and publishing web content a simple and efficient task for non-technical users.

Need to create or an update a webpage without coding? No problem. A CMS can handle it for you, with an interface that makes uploading a webpage as easy as uploading a social media post.

How it works: A robust CMS will offer a user-friendly dashboard, an easy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) content editor, publishing support, SEO optimization, and built-in security controls.

Yes, but: Not all CMSs are created equally. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging in features and functions.

Some CMS providers might tailor their offering around a specific industry—like e-commerce, for example.

Types of CMS: There are multiple different types of CMS, including ‘coupled,’ and ‘headless’ CMS. Some are open-source code, others offer a proprietary, license-based product.

Feeling lost? Let us help you find your way.

We’ve hand-picked each solution based on the quality of its offering, the strength of its feature set, and its user reviews. We’ll give some background on each vendor, explore their solution’s key features, and recommend the business size and industry that it would best suit.

To learn more about CMS and how it works, head to our FAQs section at the end of this article.

Adobe Experience Manager Sites

Kicking off our list is Adobe Experience Manager, 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

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

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

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 CMS Hub

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!

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

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

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 Experience Manager (XM)

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

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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why do I need a CMS?

Some of the key benefits of using a CMS to manage your web content include:

Easy content creation without needing to know how to code
Built-in SEO optimization
Keeping cost down
Built-in security features
Easy collaboration and workflows
24/7 access and remote editing
Content scheduling capabilities
Easy integrations with existing tools and applications
Community and developer support

Can anyone use a CMS?

In theory, yes. CMSs are designed to help anyone—whether they have deep technical knowledge, or not—to easily create and publish content. But the type of CMS that you invest in does factor into how easily you’ll be able to manage it.

If you choose a coupled CMS, then non-technical users—such as marketers and content editors—should have no issue with creating, modifying and publishing content without needing to engage developers. But if you go with a decoupled or headless CMS, then you’ll usually find that non-technical users can still easily create and manage content, but you’ll need a developer or two on hand to help with building and connecting to your frontend display.

What’s the difference between coupled, decoupled, and headless CMSs?

To answer this question, we need to get a little more technical—so bear with us.

A website is generally built up of two core components. These are the frontend, which is the forward-facing part of your site that visitors will be able to see and interact with, and the backend, which is hidden from visitors and is where you can edit, store, and arrange content. The backend is also where your databases, APIs, servers, and operating systems live.

A coupled CMS, as the name suggests, is one that couples the frontend and backend together on one system. A decoupled CMS, on the other hand, separates the frontend and backend into two different systems which connect to each other via API. And a headless CMS lacks a frontend altogether, but can connect to any system on any channel via API.

You’ll often see the terms “decoupled” and “headless” used interchangeably—but they aren’t quite the same thing. Headless is actually a subset of decoupled. So, a headless CMS is always decoupled, but a decoupled CMS isn’t necessarily always headless.

Do I need a coupled, decoupled, or headless CMS?

As with all types of software, there are advantages and disadvantages to whichever CMS you end up choosing.

Coupled: Because the frontend and backend are wrapped up into one system, using this type of CMS will enable you to easily modify and manage how content looks on the frontend. But the main disadvantage is that it’s designed to deliver to web browsers, and so will struggle to convert content for omnichannel, multi-device viewing.

This type of CMS is great for more basic websites, or smaller organizations that don’t have a technical team to support the website.

Decoupled: Because the frontend and backend are decoupled, this type of CMS facilitates omnichannel delivery and allows a higher degree of flexibility. A decoupled CMS is also frontend agnostic but does come with a built-in frontend, which is optional to use. A key disadvantage is that this type of CMS is more complex to use and configure.

We recommend this type of CMS for growing websites that need a product that can scale alongside them and that have a developer or two on hand to support the platform.

Headless: Because this type of CMS doesn’t come with a frontend, content will exist in raw form on the backend. But what’s great about that is that it means it can be delivered to any channel or device via API. Key disadvantages of using a headless CMS are that you’ll need developer help as well as another system to act as your frontend. Headless CMS also often won’t allow live previews of content before it goes live, or personalization of the user experience.

Headless CMSs work best for organizations looking to deliver content across a range of channels—including apps and IoT devices—as opposed to creating complex websites. We’d recommend this type of CMS larger organizations that have a team of developers on side to support the project.

What’s the difference between an open source and proprietary CMS?

Every piece of software you come across is based on a source code. This essentially functions as instructions for an application or solution, telling it how to work and act. And, if you want a piece of software to behave differently, then making changes to the source code will do the trick.

An open source CMS is one that’s built on source code that’s not only free for anyone to use, but also free to modify and share. Open source software is popular because it often comes with a community of developers that contribute to the platform, and it’s also a lot more flexible in terms of the control you have over your website.

A proprietary/closed source CMS, on the other hand, means that the source code legally belongs to an organization or individual, can only be used under license, and can’t be modified or shared. Proprietary software is great if you’re looking for a stable, easy-to-use piece of software that’s under the responsibility of the provider to fix if anything goes wrong.

Megan Rees

Content Writer & Journalist

Megan is a writer, editor, and journalist. For Expert Insights Megan has covered a wide range of IT and cybersecurity topics in depth—including cloud software, biometric technologies, identity and access management solutions, and threat intelligence—and conducted interviews with dozens of industry experts. Megan has a master’s degree and First-Class Honours bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Swansea University.

Joel Witts

Content Director

Joel Witts is the Content Director at Expert Insights, meaning he oversees all articles published and topics covered. He is an experienced journalist and writer, specialising in identity and access management, Zero Trust, cloud business technologies, and cybersecurity. Joel is a co-host of the Expert Insights Podcast and conducts regular interviews with leading B2B tech industry experts, including directors at Microsoft and Google. Joel holds a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from Cardiff University.