Interpreting the Differing Philosophies of WordPress & Drupal
This does not mean that only Drupal integrates with other systems or only WordPress allows fast-paced publishing. Rather, WordPress and Drupal have chosen to prioritize different advantages, which also entails certain trade-offs. Figuring out where these line up with your priorities is the key to making an informed decision.
So which CMS is better, Drupal or WordPress?
That’s an interesting but incomplete question. Better to ask “Which CMS is better for my project?” Pantheon’s platform has both Drupal and WordPress built in. Our team has deep experience in both CMS ecosystems, and supports teams doing both. They’re great tools, but we think picking the right one for you depends on your organization and project.
WordPress and Drupal are both powerful tools to build great websites and power compelling digital experiences. They have meaningful differences but those differences aren’t about being good or bad—they’re about who and what each CMS has chosen to prioritize. What’s more important, speed or scale? How about ease of setup versus controlling all the details? Do you want to optimize the work of authors, editors, designers, developers or others?
Drupal and WordPress have chosen different answers to these questions throughout their history, giving each a distinct flavor. The one that best lines up with your answers to those same questions is the better tool for your project.
And don’t worry. We all want our websites to be fast, powerful, beautiful, AND easy to manage. That’s achievable with either system.
Educated + Impartial
If you search the web for Drupal vs WordPress you’ll find tens of thousands of results, generally from organizations that specialize in one or the other. Most start with some quick high level facts and then spend the rest of the article working to convince you that:
1. They’ve correctly chosen [WordPress / Drupal].
2. You should make the same choice.
Drupal and WordPress are both built into Pantheon. We understand them both and think they’re great tools. There are meaningful differences between them, however, and we think you deserve to understand them before you commit to one or the other.
That’s why we wrote this Drupal vs Wordpress guide—because choosing between the top two open source tools on the web isn’t always easy. We want you to pick the best one based on your own goals, not based on the bias of someone who chose one or the other for their own needs at some point in the past and now wants you to choose the same one.
Drupal vs WordPress: the Big Picture
This guide looks at the high-level decisions made by each system. There are not many cases where it’s a black and white decision, as both systems can be extended and customized to do many things. Think of these as being a spectrum, where WordPress leans towards one end, and Drupal the other.
Shared Strengths
Of course, Drupal and WordPress have a lot in common and many shared strengths. They’re both open source content management systems built on the LAMP stack. They both have a large ecosystem of contributed functionality and themes. Developers who build with either CMS can use a Command Line Interface and connect to a built-in REST API. If WordPress and Drupal were biological organisms, they’d share 99% of their DNA.
If WordPress and Drupal were biological organisms, they’d share 99% of their DNA.
Both systems also have very active communities of many thousands of professionals who hold regular events, deliver trainings, write books, host podcasts, help each other in forums and much more. Both are full of wonderful, passionate people who care about their CMS and want to make it work for you and your project - both today and long into the future. The activity and enthusiasm of those communities is effectively long-term insurance for anyone choosing to use Drupal or WordPress today. Both of these CMS’s have a robust long-term future, unlike many other proprietary technologies.
