The Ultimate Drupal vs Joomla CMS Comparison Guide
Drupal or Joomla – Which CMS solution is ideal for your project?
Both Drupal and Joomla are open-source content management systems (CMS) that are used for publishing web content. Drupal follows a built-from-scratch approach that allows for greater versatility, while Joomla’s built-in “core” content types facilitate faster and easier implementation. These two industry-leading CMS solutions are developed in PHP and licensed under the free GNU General Public License (GPL).
If you’ve fallen into the dilemma of Drupal vs Joomla comparison, here’s an ultimate comparison guide that will help you select the right CMS solution for your project.
Drupal vs Joomla CMS Comparison at a Glance
| Comparison Features | Drupal | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) and content management framework (CMF). It is based on PHP and distributed under the General Public License (GNU). It is used as a back-end management system for at least 1.5% of all web. | Joomla is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) for publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets. It is a Model-View-Controller (MVC) Web app development framework that can also be used independently for writing web and command-line apps in PHP. |
| Release Time | 2001 | 2005 |
| Operating System | Cross-platform | Cross-platform |
| Written in | Perfect for blogging sites | Not specifically built for blogging. |
| Type | Content management system, Content management framework, Community and Blogging site development platform | Content management system, Content management framework |
| License | GPLv2/GPLv3 | GNU General Public License |
| Number of Downloads | >15 Million | >30 Million |
| Memory Space Consumed | 32 MB | 256 Mb |
| 3rd-party Plugins/Extensions Available | More than 45,000 Drupal modules | Over 7,500 Joomla Extensions |
| Contributors to the Core Code | 8,513 different individuals and 1,137 different organizations. | WordPress has had 4,969 commits by 70 contributors |
| Available in | Multilingual | Multilingual |
| Accessibility | Not beginner-friendly; a steep learning curve | Very accessible, flexible; user-friendly |
| SEO Capabilities | Strong SEO functionality and capabilities. | Limited SEO functionality and capabilities. |
| Usage Stats | Drupal is used by 2.5% of all the websites whose content management system we know. This is 1.5% of all websites. | Joomla is used by 3.7% of all the websites which is 2.2% of all websites. |
| Recommended for | Used for building Enterprise-level Systems, Intranet Applications. | Suitable for creating Extensive Product Catalogues and Online Forums,. |
| Security | High-end security | Relatively weak security |
| Free Themes | 1800+ | 900+ |
| Ranking of CMS | Ranks 3rd in the most popular CMS worldwide. | Ranks 2nd in the most popular CMS in the World. |
| Available in | Multilingual | Multilingual |
| Scalability | Moderate | Low |
| Performance | Loads quickly and has faster response times. | Needs adjustment to prevent quick resource consumption |
| Community/Forum | Ever-growing, technically-heavy | Huge volunteer network |
Need Help in Choosing the Right CMS for Your Project?
Pros and Cons of Drupal vs Joomla Development
Joomla
Pros
- Joomla offers a user-friendly site admin panel to manage huge chunks of information.
- Joomla is suitable for content-heavy websites.
- You can preview the configuration before installation starts.
- In Joomla, most hosts offer installation using cPanel without requiring any technical skill or knowledge.
- It maintains a perfect balance between the ease of use and complexity of functionality.
- It is best-suited for a multi-user environment, for e.g, university sites.
Cons
- Built-in performance is very sluggish.
- Most of the plugins are paid.
- Weak logging
- It is not developer-oriented.
- Limited marketplace for extensions.
- Provides less customizable options for features and functionality.
Drupal
Pros
- Creating Panels, Views, and Web forms is simple and highly secured
- With Drupal development, you get access to modules with attractive options for customizations.
- Drupal allows you to build highly secure websites.
- Drupal provides an understandable and clean codebase.
- Facilitates the management of complex websites, multi-domain.
- Drupal offers several built-in options for site management.
- You get access to thousands of modules and themes
- With Drupal development, you can customize every aspect of your digital experience.
Cons
- The CMS solution is complicated to learn.
- Requires web hosting and domain name because it doesn’t offer hosted services like Joomla or WordPress.
- It takes a lot of time to set up if you’re using a lot of modules.
- You need to have a basic knowledge of HTML and web development.
- The newer versions of extensions are not always compatible with the backend system.
Drupal vs Joomla Development – Key Comparison Parameters to Consider
Drupal
Drupal was first released in 2001 by Dries Buytaert. Drupal is one of the oldest CMS solutions, that is still popular today. Drupal’s name has been derived from the English pronunciation of the Dutch word ‘drupel’ meaning ‘to drop’. Drupal was originally a message board, and today the CMS software is run by the Drupal Association. Drupal’s underlying language is PHP.
Joomla
Joomla was first released in 2005 as a fork of the Mambo CMS by part of the Mambo development team. The term Joomla is derived from the phonetic spelling of the Swahili word ‘jumla’, which means ‘all together’. The software is governed by Open Source Matters, Inc.it is written in PHP language.
When comparing Drupal vs Joomla development, both of the platforms share many useful attributes. Both Drupal and Joomla are free, open-source platforms and are backed by large active robust development community bases. Their underlying language is PHP, and are licensed under a GNU General Public License, that allows users to use, modify, study, and copy the application. This liberty enables the huge Drupal and Joomla developer communities to enhance the functionality of both the CMS solutions by developing a wide range of expansions and modules.
Drupal
Developers favor Drupal for its built-from-scratch approach. This provides great flexibility in functionality, at the cost of a steeper learning curve. It also offers higher scalability as websites and applications can be developed from scratch for large, complex functions.
Joomla
Joomla braces the standard functionalities of a web 2.0 website along with extensive support for themes. It offers code flexibility and has a flattened learning curve. It offers more ready-to-use built-in options in the form of extensions and templates that allow for faster and easier implementation at the cost of flexibility and complexity afforded by Drupal.
Drupal
Drupal is organized properly into several tabs. For example, if the content editing tab is opened, you can complete only that task. Luckily, the controls adjust according to what’s relevant to the page you’ve opened. However, it closes off certain options compelling you to move to a new panel.
Joomla
For the Joomla CMS solution, every editing option appears at once. The options include article manager, content editing, image selections, design options, etc. Everything is present for an appealing view.
Drupal
Drupal CMS is an inherently complex platform and has a steeper learning curve. There’s no toolbar editor on the platform; users need to have strong expertise in HTML and know how to implements the code correctly into the text for editing the text.
Joomla
Joomla provides a toolbar and an HTML editor on the platform. Joomla is more accessible due to the limitations placed on extensions, the design layout, and the size of the website out-of-the-box, upon immediate software download.
Joomla’s ‘Instant-On’ option reduces all the intense, complex coding features and makes it a basic website editing system, as compared to Drupal that requires a design for every website, theme, and project from the ground up.
In the Drupal vs Joomla CMS comparison, both the software are very well protected. Drupal’s high-end security backed by a proven track record. However, when researching the overall compromised sites worldwide, Joomla is considered to be far more protected.
Drupal
Drupal is backed by a large active tech community. Its users are smaller in number and the technical assistance is complicated yet very useful if understood. Users must know the technical aspects of your website. Drupal CMS is financially supported by Acquia Corporation.
Joomla
Joomla is supported by a much larger community, but the users are a bit less tech-savvy than Drupal users. Joomla’s large community is completely volunteer-based.
Popular Solutions Built on Drupal vs Joomla
Drupal
- Tesla
- Pinterest Blog
- Tourism Fiji
- Warner Music Group
- Lush
- BBC Good Food
- Australian Government
- Whitehouse.gov
- Youth on record
- Redhat
- NBA
- Doctors without borders
- Viber
- Mint
- Nokia
Joomla
- Harvard University
- Ikea
- Linux
- Lipton Ice Tea
- The Fashion Spot
- Holiday Inn
- The Hill
- United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe UNRIC
- ITWire
- Guggenheim
- Timble
- Workwave
- Construct
- Digital
Drupal vs joomla – which is the right cms solution for your project?
If you want to build a social network or eCommerce store, then Joomla CMS is the best solution. It is user-friendly for those who understand PHP coding language, however, it is simple enough for anyone to use and learn. Drupal, on the other hand, is the most robust CMS solution, however, it is ideal for experienced internet users and programmers.
Above all, it’s completely up to you to pick the right one for your website. You may use this Drupal vs Joomla CMS comparison guide to decide between Drupal vs Joomla development. If you still can’t decide which CMS solution you should choose, then you should consult with our web development experts. We have proficiency in both Drupal and Joomla, and we are always ready to listen to your ideas.
