12 Popular WordPress Alternatives That Are Useful in 2023

The templates, themes, extensions, tools, and plugins provided by content management systems (CMSs) help developers to reduce the time and effort required to build custom websites. Over 64 million live websites currently used CMSs. But the latest market share data posted on several websites suggest that over 27 million live websites currently use WordPress. Also, WordPress dominates the worldwide content management system (CMS) market with a whopping share of 44.29%.

The growing popularity of WordPress makes many market analysts forecast that the CMS will soon power 50% of all websites. But the experienced web developers understand that WordPress, like other CMSs, has several shortcomings. They focus on these shortcomings to make the WordPress website deliver a superior user experience. Also, many developers opt for popular WordPress alternatives in 2023 to build websites that stand out from the crowd.

According to the latest CMS stats posted on several websites, some of the popular alternatives to WordPress (in terms of market share) are Wix, Squarespace, Joomla, GoDaddy Website Builder, Weebly, Duda, and Blogger. But you cannot use market share as the primary criterion to compare the WordPress alternatives while choosing or switching CMS in 2023. You should remember that each of these popular CMSs and website builders has its own pros and cons.

You can choose the right WordPress alternative only by evaluating the pros and cons of these CMSs and website builders. It is also important to compare these CMSs and website builders with WordPress. The comparison will help you to choose a CMS that enables you to build websites that meet precise business requirements and deliver a superior user experience in the future. We are helping you to choose the right alternative to CMS by comparing some of the popular CMSs.

12 WordPress Alternatives to Consider While Choosing or Switching CMS

1) Wix

The drag-and-drop website builder helps you to build custom websites without writing code. In addition to allowing you to choose from over 800 customizable website templates, Wix provides access to a full-stack development platform like Velo. It further comes with solutions for various industries – music, photography, events, hotels, and restaurants. You can further add functionality to the website by integrating a variety of business tools – emails, phone numbers, online scheduling, reports, and analytics.

Wix makes it easier for you to increase website traffic and engage website visitors by offering useful tools for email marketing, social media posting, video creation, lead capturing, and community management. But you must remember that Wix is not a CMS. It does not allow you to change templates after launching the website. Likewise, it does not provide any solutions or tools to boost the website’s search visibility. Many developers opt for this WordPress alternative to develop and launch websites rapidly.

2) Weebly

You have the option to choose from four distinct editions – free, connect, pro, and business – of Weebly. Each edition of Weebly comes with features to help you build a website that grows to accommodate your business growth. Weebly accelerates the development of custom websites by providing a wide range of tools – drag-and-drop builder, responsive themes, custom fonts, site search, audio, video, video background, and image editor. Also, it helps you to build online stores and e-commerce websites using customizable themes, email templates, and search engine optimization (SEO) tools.

You can access the App Center set up by Weebly to integrate the website with a wide range of apps related to marketing, communication, e-commerce, social, and website features. But you can optimize the website for search engines using the SEO tools provided by Weebly only when you are familiar with various SEO techniques. Also, you can optimize and modify the Weebly themes only when you have experience in writing code.

3) Squarespace

The easy-to-use website builder is designed with features to help users build a variety of websites without putting in extra time and effort. Squarespace accelerates website development by providing themes and templates for different types of websites – marketing, fashion, fitness, travel, photography, food, health, beauty, art, technology, gaming, consulting, and education. In addition to choosing from varying templates, you also have the option to use e-commerce features and business tools.

However, Squarespace still lacks some of the robust features provided by WordPress. Also, you lack the option to sell products or services to customers living in various regions as Squarespace does not support multicurrency sales. Often web developers opt for Squarespace as an alternative to WordPress while building small and simple websites. At the same time, Squarespace is often rated as one of the best website builders for beginners.

4) Joomla

Like WordPress, Joomla is an open-source CMS. It curtails web development time by providing thousands of templates and extensions. Web developers use Joomla to build a variety of websites. Also, over 70 translation packs offered by Joomla help developers accelerate the development of multilingual websites. At the same time, Joomla makes it easier for developers to boost the website’s search performance using robust SEO tools.

But Joomla is popular only among experienced and skilled web developers. Beginners have to put extra time and effort to build websites using this WordPress alternative. The developers often need assistance and support to resolve various plugin issues. The open-source nature of Joomla makes it essential for developers to rely on online communities and forums to get technical support.

5) Jimdo

The website builder leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help self-employed professionals develop new-generation websites and online stores. Jimdo allows you to choose from four distinct products – domain, logo, website, and online store – according to their precise needs. Also, you can use the AI-powered website builder by choosing from four pricing options – play, start, grow, and unlimited. Jimdo is often regarded as one of the beginner-friendly alternatives to WordPress.

Like WordPress, Jimdo allows you to choose from a wide range of templates. But you have to put extra time and effort to customize and finetune the templates provided by Jimdo. Jimdo further lacks some of the robust features provided by other CMSs and website builders. But Jimdo is currently being used by over 20 million live websites.

6) Craft CMS

Craft CMS empowers the entire creative process by providing solutions related to website designing, website development, eCommerce, content creation, and content strategy. In addition to being developed using open-source tools, Craft is supported by an active community. Craft simplifies and accelerates the development of custom websites. It offers a slew of useful features – templates, plugins, custom fields, tags, categories, versatile forms, image editor, user management, and live preview.

But Craft is often described as one of the developer-friendly WordPress alternatives. You can use the CMS to build and manage websites efficiently only when you know how to code. Also, the developers often lack the option to add functionality to the website by choosing the appropriate plugin. Professional web developers opt for Craft CMS to build complex websites without putting in extra time and effort.

7) Shopify

While building online stores, many developers opt for Shopify as a robust alternative to the widely used e-commerce plugin for WordPress – WooCommerce. Shopify helps entrepreneurs and professionals to start online businesses by availing solutions related to branding, online presence, and store setup. Also, it facilitates online sales by offering solutions like an online store, point of sale, buy button, and sales channels.

You can run retail stores efficiently by choosing from multiple versions of this popular e-commerce platform – Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify. Over 1200 themes and plugins provided by Shopify help you to build online stores without writing lengthy code. But you lack the option to avail of many free themes and plugins. Also, the e-commerce platform requires you to share a percentage of revenue in the form of transaction fees.

8) Drupal

The open-source content management framework focuses on building amazing digital experiences. You can create custom websites by choosing from several editions of Drupal – Drupal for Developers, Drupal for Marketers, and Drupal for Agencies. Experienced web developers opt for Drupal to curtail the time and resources required to build complex and multilingual websites.

In addition to facilitating the management of large amounts of data, Drupal is one of the WordPress alternatives that focus extensively on security. However, you can use Drupal to build complex websites rapidly only when you have coding knowledge. Also, Drupal is often considered to be one of the CMSs that are not easy to install and configure. Often businesses have to hire skilled web developers to build complex websites using Drupal.

9) Ghost

Like WordPress, Ghost is an open-source platform. The open-source platform is developed with the aim to simplify blogging and content publication. You should not consider Ghost as a WordPress alternative while developing large and complex websites. But Ghost helps you to speed up website development by providing hundreds of themes. Also, it makes it easier for you to preview and edit the content simultaneously by featuring an innovative editor.

You can add functionality to the website by integrating it with widely used applications and services like Google Analytics, Google AMP, GitHub, Shopify, LiveChat, and social networks. But you do not have the option to choose or use plugins while working with Ghost. You can use Ghost based on multiple pricing plans – starter, basic, standard, and business.

10) PageCloud

The cloud-based drag-and-drop website builder helps you to create custom websites without writing any code. PageCloud reduces the time and effort required to design, develop, and launch websites by providing customizable web templates pertaining to various categories – personal, business, landing pages, events, community & non-profit, art & design, entertainment & music, restaurant & food, and travel & leisure. You can edit and customize these templates using drag-and-drop functionality.

You can easily optimize the website for search engines by availing of the SEO features and customizable forms provided by PageCloud. Also, you can monitor user behavior and track site performance by integrating with Google Analytics. You also have the option to use PageCloud based on two annual pricing options – pro and business. But PageCloud lacks some of the robust features required to develop and run e-commerce websites.

11) Webnode

Over 100 customizable templates provided by Webnode help you to build custom websites without writing longer lines of code. Also, you can use the online service to book a domain and create up to 100 mailboxes. Webnode is one of the popular online platforms that simplify the development of multilingual websites. In addition to supporting over 20 languages, the website maker supports language-specific versions of the website.

Also, it makes it easier for you to divert traffic to the website from search engines by implementing SEO techniques. You have the option to choose from multiple editions of Webnode – limited, mini, standard, and profi. However, Webnode still lacks many features provided by other popular alternatives to WordPress.

12) Duda

The commercial web design platform allows you to choose from a slew of tools and solutions – website builder, client management solution, team collaboration tools, e-commerce, and app store. Based on your precise needs, you have the option to choose from multiple editions of Duda – Duda for Agencies, Duda for Hosts, and Duda for SaaS Platforms. In addition to accelerating custom web development, the templates provided by Duda help you to build websites that look both attractive and polished.

Further, you can use the customizable widgets provided by Duda to add functionality to the websites without writing longer lines of code. However, web developers often find it challenging to find the appropriate widgets to improve the website’s performance, user experience, and search visibility. Also, they lack the option to curtail website development costs using the free edition of Duda.

Many market analysts predict that 50% of all websites will be powered by WordPress in the near future. But the shortcomings of WordPress often impact the websites’ user experience adversely. That is why; you must compare several popular WordPress alternatives to build custom websites that deliver superior user experience as well as meet predefined business requirements in 2024.