14 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2024 for Website Builders and Developers

If you’re searching for the best WordPress alternatives, you’ve come to the right place. While WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems, there are several other platforms that offer unique features tailored to different needs. Whether you need a user-friendly website builder or a more advanced CMS for complete customization, these top WordPress alternatives provide excellent options to build a successful website without compromising on functionality.

For those seeking a highly customized website, WordPress itself might not always be the perfect fit. If you’re looking for a platform that offers more design flexibility or easier customization without the constraints of WordPress, there are alternatives worth considering. However, if you’re still inclined to use WordPress, a WordPress Theme Builder can provide more creative freedom without the need for coding. Alternatively, if you want to create a WordPress theme from scratch or explore CMS options with more versatility.

In this article, I’ll be listing and comparing the top WordPress alternatives in 2024, helping you find the best platform to suit your website’s specific needs and goals.

CMS WordPress Alternatives- List:

Best WordPress Alternative: Comparison Table

Here is a comparison chart to compare some of the best WordPress alternatives-

Joomla

Joomla is an open-source CMS (content management system) alternative to WordPress. It comes with a lot of extensions that can help extend its core functionality. Moreover, creating a Joomla site is considerably easy with a Joomla Template Creator. Joomla has some nifty features built in such as management for multilingual web pages. However, such features can lead to some complexity in the interface. On a more positive note, it is considered more secure than WordPress since WordPress is often targeted by hackers because of its popularity. Moreover, Joomla has built-in 2-factor authentication that makes it much harder for unauthorized visitors to break into your website. Furthermore, you can always move from Joomla to WordPress. Also, take a look at these 25 useful Joomla code snippets that can be useful to you.

Features

1. There are thousands of free Joomla Templates available.
2. Huge third party community that offers extensions and plugins for Joomla.
3. Better management for multilingual websites
4. Flexible modules layout is available in Joomla
5. Manage sites with ease even with hundreds of sub-pages.
6. SEO-friendly URL generation.
7. Easy to get started with.
8. Additional features and extended documentation.

Pros

• Easy to get started with
• Great security
• Open source platform

Cons

• Bit more complex than WordPress, yet powerful

Pricing

Open source and free of cost

Pro Tip: Plan for Scalability
If you’re building a large-scale site or expect significant traffic, consider more scalable platforms like Drupal or BigCommerce, which are built to handle complex websites and higher traffic volumes.

Drupal

Drupal is another open source CMS that is available for free. It comes with a lot of useful modules that can help you extend its core functionality. Moreover you can use TemplateToaster, a Drupal website builder that help you create your Drupal website quickly and offer free Drupal themes. However, it may not be as user friendly as WordPress but it can help you build a secure and custom solutions and advanced functionality. Overall, it is not beginners-friendly but is an excellent choice for experienced developers or large enterprises. In case you are concerned about its security, you can use some addon modules to enhance its security.

Features

1. Modular structure offers flexibility to build versatile content
2. A lot of add-ons to enhance functionality.
3. Free themes available to vary presentation.
4. Reliable and highly secure
5. Throw in integration with external services to starter-kits and create your customized solution.
6. Supports media files such as audio, video, and image files.
7. Mobile-first approach
8. Customizable workflow

Pros

• Greater security
• Flexible and versatile solution
• Rich media support

Cons

• Not beginner-friendly

Pricing

Open source and free of cost

Blogger

If you want to create a basic blog, then blogger can be a good alternative to WordPress. It was introduced in 1993 and has never looked back since then. All you need to do is log in to Blogger and enter the name for your blog. Proceed and elect your choice of theme and start publishing blogs immediately. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about hosting services as Blogger takes care of it as well.

Features

1. Pretty easy to set up and get started with.
2. Allows you to start your blog immediately.
3. Offers great blog monetization options like Google AdSense
4. A lot of efficient tools to makes best out of your blog
5. Best suitable for beginners to get started
6. Offers a lot of tools to expand your audience

Pros

• Beginner-friendly
• Easy and useful blog monetization option
• Allows you to start blogging immediately

Cons

• Doesn’t offer full control on your website.
• Suitable for blogging site only

Pricing

Free to use.

Ghost

Ghost is a wonderful solution for anything and everything that involves creating and publishing writing such as blogs, magazines, news, or kind of writing. Since it includes powerful and latest publishing tools, you are entitled to get fully managed secure services. Moreover, you can opt between self-host your own Ghost-powered website and Ghost servers. Overall, it is the professional publishing platform with a considerable collection of useful publication tools.

Features

1. Latest and powerful publishing tools
2. Fully managed secure service.
3. Fully extensible content editor.
4. Rich support for media files such as images, text, videos, and embeds.
5. Complete SEO optimization
6. Integrated AMP support
7. Full RSS feeds
8. Slack integration hook

Pros

• Writing and publishing specific tools
• Easy to use
• Dynamic routing

Cons

• Designed specifically for bloggers and publications

Pricing

Self-host Ghost websites are free to run. However, it also offers three premium plans.

eCommerce alternatives

Here are the eCommerce alternatives for WordPress-

Shopify

Shopify is one of the best WordPress and WooCommerce alternative that allows you to create eCommerce stores. It is a hassle-free and easy-to-use alternative to build an eCommerce sites. It is a flexible website builder to build interactive and responsive designs. Moreover, it offers easy payment processors and charges a transaction fee for each sale. On a more positive note, you can create product variants, manage taxes and shipping effectively, with Shopify.

Features

1. Complete hosting available
2. Offers priority based 24/7 technical support
3. Avails a lot of interactive and stylish themes
4. Offers easy-to-navigate backend facilities
5. Allows you to showcase as many items as you want with unlimited disk space.
6. Real-time shipping details available.
7. Easy payment transaction with PayPal and Shopify POS integration.
8. Discount codes available.

Pros

• Efficient features for online stores.
• Free website builder available
• Easy payment gateway integration

Cons

• No plugins to extend SEO like WordPress.

Pricing

It is a paid eCommerce platform.

Pro Tip: Consider Hosting and Maintenance Costs
If you choose a self-hosted option like Joomla or Drupal, factor in the additional costs and time for hosting, regular maintenance, and security updates. But for managed options like Wix and Shipify etc. plan for higher monthly running costs.

Magento

Magento is one of the most prominent platforms for building an eCommerce site. Its rich features library allows users to rely on this platform for any business from small, medium, to large corporates. Magento was launched in 2008. Moreover, users can handle several stores under one admin panel without a hitch. It is very easy to create a Magento Theme manually otherwise you can use Magento Theme Builder. Furthermore, users can optimize the performance of their Magento site to skyrocket their sales with little to no efforts.

Features

1. Offers a well-organized cluster of features
2. Generates SEO-friendly URLs for better marketing.
3. Allows users to handle several  stores under one admin panel.
4. Built-in multilingual functionality available
5. Offers support for various payment methods including PayPal, Credit Card, Google Checkout, Authorize.net, and more.
6. Delivers an SEO friendly site that allows you to make your products visible on search engines as well.
7. Lots of free Magento Themes are available.
8. Easy-to-use and well-organized backend.

Pros

• Support for multiple payment gateways
• Fully responsive website
• SEO-optimized site and URLs

Cons

• Complex and long initial Install Magento process.

Pricing

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is one of the essential eCommerce platforms. It is considerably easy-to-use with a huge amount of features. Moreover, it comes with an ample of templates to offer a modern and professional look to your online store. It offers a mobile-first approach that makes your site highly responsive to mobile devices. Furthermore, there are some advanced eCommerce features available including abandoned cart saver functionality, user ratings and reviews, checkout, dropshipping, stock alerts, and more.

Features

1. Makes it possible to import product data with CSV files.
2. Allows you to define shipping costs per item to avoid any surprise costs.
3. Offers added security with SSL certificate and embeds HTTPs sitewide.
4. Allows you to sell physical as well as digital goods on your online store.
5. Provides three ways to create coupon codes: percentage basis, fixed amount, and free shipping.
6. Supports various payment methods including PayPal, 2Checkout, credit cards, Authorize.net, and more.
7. Allows your customers to write reviews about your products
8. Enables you to create your product’s variants.

Pros

• Little to no transaction fee
• Offers easy selling options
• Real-time shipping quotes from UPS, FedEx, and other shipping companies.

Cons

• Limited free themes

Pricing

It offers different plans.

You also have the option to go for tailored solutions that offer enterprise plans with a dedicated account manager. You need to contact them for a quote.

Blogging WordPress Alternatives

Here is a list of blogging WordPress alternatives-

Medium

Medium is a popular publishing platform due to its existing reader base of over 100 million monthly active users. It is a great platform to create and expand your reader-base. In fact, it might not offer as much flexibility and control over your blog as you might want but is a great place to start. It allows you to add some elements like a cover photo, bio, profile picture, list of posts and an URL. Basically, your blog will look like a profile on a social media platform.

Features

1. Allows you to create brand awareness.
2. Add elements like a cover photo, bio, profile picture, list of posts and an URL.
3. Easy sharing on other social  media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
4. Allows other users to recommend, bookmark, reply, and share your stories on other social media platforms.
5. Suitable for individuals, publishers, and brands.
6. Users can add headings, images, GIFs, block quotes, etc, to make your blogs more engaging.

Pros

• Huge reader base
• Easy to use
• Considerably cheap

Cons

• Little to no control
• All other blogs look the same
• Can suspend you blog if it’s found in violation of Medium Rules

Pricing

Good Free Plan.

Tumblr

Tumblr is another highly-visual publishing platform that combines social networking with blogging. It allows you to select from hundreds of free and paid theme skins to create a professional-looking site with multiple pages, social sharing buttons, sidebars, comment sections, and more. Moreover, you can publish your blogs with rich media files like GIFs, photos, feature text, audio files, chat dialogue, video files, and more.

Features

1. Offers a user-friendly and minimalist interface.
2. Convenient learning curve.
3. Combines social networking with blogging, therefore, greater fan base.
4. Allows users to create rich media blog posts for your blog articles.
5. Offers unlimited elements to make your blog look attractive.
6. Allows your readers to easily like, comment, and share your blog posts on other social media platforms as well.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Offers greater reader base
• Allows you to easily export all the content of your blog in Tumblr if needed

Cons

• Most attractive themes are paid
• Less control over your blog
• Can suspend your blog anytime if it violates Tumblr’s Guidelines

Pricing

You can sign up for free but the costs can vary depending upon the domain or themes you select.

Website builder alternatives for WordPress

Here is a list of Website builder alternatives for WordPress-

TemplateToaster

TemplateToaster is a desktop-based WordPress Website Builder. It could be considered as one of the best WordPress Website Creation Software. It offers a drag-and-drop editor and WYSIWYG environment to create a highly functional and beautiful looking website. Moreover, it offers better control over your site. In fact, users can also edit and change their website’s code in IDE. Furthermore, it offers a rich library of free website templates to choose from.

Features

1. Offers a drag-and-drop editor and WYSIWYG environment to create a highly functional and beautiful looking website.
2. Enables better control over your site since it works with all the CMSs.
3. Allows users to edit and change their website’s code in IDE.
4. Comes with a rich library of templates to choose from.
5. Also offers you the option to build your site from scratch.
6. Allows you to work with third-party CMS plugins.
7. Offers 24×7 customer support through live chat, tickets, and forums.
8. Just pay a one-time payment and build an unlimited number of websites.

Pros

• No data connection is required to build websites
• A wide selection of professionally designed themes available
• Allows you to switch templates easily.

Cons

• You need to download and install the software on your local PC to use this website builder.

Pricing

A one-time payment of $49 for lifetime use, pretty cheap!

Wix

Wix is a beginner-friendly website builder. It comes with an innovative drag-and-drop editor that allows users with no coding experience to build a professional-looking website. Moreover, it offers templates that can be customized according to your requirements. When it comes to flexibility, it is falling behind when compared to WordPress.  This the perfectly suitable platform building website who wants everything taken care of without having to code. However, if you plan on building and expanding your blog, you should steer clear of this platform since it offers only a handful of blog-specific features. Therefore, most bloggers end up migrating from Wix to WordPress.

Features

1. Offers drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor for powerful and easy to use website building experience.
2. Enables you to customize templates according to your requirements with its powerful tools.
3. Comes with a lot of ready-to-use templates covering a wide category of business industries.
4. Offers an advanced AI-based Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) that helps you build personalized websites.
5. Comes with an easy mobile-editor to easily adjust the mobile view and build a responsive website as a result.
6. A cloud-based solution makes it available and accessible from anywhere, anytime.
7. Comes with an app market that allows you to find the extensions to help users out.
8. Offers a wide selection of features including website building, SEO, social networking integration, free plan, and more.

Pros

• Beginner friendly and easy to use
• Long list of features
• Affordable plans

Cons

• Can’t switch templates after choosing one.
• Not a lot of options available when it comes to themes and plugins.
• Free plan displays endless ads.
• Building a site from scratch is not possible.

Pricing

Comes with a free version that offers limited features. Paid plans start at $13/month.

SquareSpace

If Wix doesn’t impress you, you can try Squarespace. It is a versatile builder for building portfolio sites, blog sites, online stores, and more. It recently managed to get a lot of popularity due to its easy to use interface. All you need to do is choose a template, make the required changes, and publish your site to get started. Moreover, it comes with a free logo maker to create a unique logo for your website. When it comes to comparison with WordPress, it may not be as flexible in terms of extensions. You can find and add extensions from its app market but it can make the total expense higher than you’ve had estimated. Read this entry for a detailed Squarespace vs WordPress

Features

1. Comes with a drag-and-drop editor to build websites easily.
2. All-in-one solution for building various kinds of websites such as portfolio sites, blog sites, online stores, and more.
3. Its ready-to-publish themes allow you to build and make your life in no time.
4. Comes with minimalistic stylish dashboard design with easy-to-use interface.
5. Comes with 100 customizable templates for different business industries.
6. Offers quite a selection of blog-specific tools to build and handle blogging sites.
7. Quick to get started with as it requires you to just sign up and use.
8. Delivers rock solid customer support via email, phone support, and chats.

Pros

• Easy to use editor
• In-built SEO friendly structure
• No coding knowledge and experience is required

Cons

• Limited Features for eCommerce sites
• Little control over site

Pricing

Its is a paid platform.

Weebly

Amongst the wide range of website builders available, another name that comes to mind is Weebly. It is a fully hosted online site builder that allows users to create professional looking websites without any coding. Similar to WordPress, Weebly comes with a selection of built-in tools and other features. Moreover, it has a considerable selection of pre-designed templates. Furthermore, Weebly editor enables users to add elements such as image galleries, contact forms, blog posts, etc, easily. Furthermore, you can create as many complex navigation menus as you want to create a complex navigation menu.

Features

1. A fully hosted online site builder that allows users to create professional looking websites without any coding.
2. Comes with a selection of built-in tools and other features.
3. Its app center has over 100 apps.
4. Offers a considerable selection of pre-designed templates.
5. Offers mobile-optimized templates that allows you to create responsive websites.
6. Enables users to add elements such as image galleries, contact forms, blog posts, etc, easily.
7. User-friendly backend as well as outlook.
8. Allows you to create as many complex navigation menus as you want to create a complex navigation menu

Pros

• Suitable for beginners and novice users
• Offers fast loading speeds
• Ready-to-publish templates

Cons

• Difficult to add advanced marketing tools
• Migration is slightly more complex and time-consuming

Pricing

Offers one free and four paid plans.

Related: Free Website Builders Compared Related: Wix vs Weebly vs TemplateToaster

How to choose the best WordPress Alternative

It’s important to note that no platform can serve you everything. Therefore, asking yourself some questions might help you select the right platform. You need to ask yourself following questions to pick the right WordPress alternative-

• What is the degree of your coding knowledge and experience?
• How much control would you like to have over your website?
• Which specific audience base are you trying to reach?
• Will you have multiple users helping you run and handle your website?
• Will you add a blog to your site?
• Are you planning on scaling your site in the coming future?

Ask these questions to yourself and then select the platform accordingly. Moreover, you can also consider the following given factors-

1. User friendly

Consider the degree of user-friendliness and ease of use offered a certain platform before deciding one.

1. Budget

Budget can play a major role while selecting a platform. However, make sure that it is not the only factor you are considering while selecting the platform. You might be tempted to get the cheapest one but it will be useless if it doesn’t serve the purpose.

1. Future plans

You might be building an online store that sells digital goods for now but might want to add and expand a blog later. Therefore, make sure you get a platform that can support both- eCommerce and blogging features.

Best WordPress Alternatives FAQs:

Why should I consider using a WordPress alternative?

You might consider using a WordPress alternative if you need more design freedom, easier customization, or built-in eCommerce tools. Some platforms provide better support for beginners or advanced features for developers, which can make them a better fit for certain projects.

Are there free WordPress alternatives?

Yes, there are several free WordPress alternatives, such as Joomla, and Drupal. These platforms offer free versions or plans with basic features, but you may need to upgrade to access premium features.

Can I migrate my WordPress site to and from an alternative platform?

Yes, many WordPress alternatives allow you to migrate content from your WordPress site and back to WordPress. However, the process varies by platform, and you may need to use specific tools or third-party services to ensure a smooth migration.

Can WordPress alternatives handle large websites and high traffic?

Yes, many WordPress alternatives are capable of handling large-scale websites and high levels of traffic. For instance, platforms like Drupal and Joomla are well-suited for complex websites with extensive content management needs, while Shopify and BigCommerce are optimized for large eCommerce stores with many products.