The 12 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2024

WordPress can do almost anything. Whether you need a blog, portfolio, business site, or online store, WordPress is usually the go-to option, but it's not the only one.

We want to introduce you to some of the most popular WordPress alternatives, explain what they're best for, and review their pros and cons.

Which WordPress alternative is best depends on several factors:

While WordPress meets all needs, some better than others, there are many content management systems (CMSs) and website design platforms that cater to specific niches or target groups.

We divided our 12 alternatives into four categories: website builders, self-hosted CMSs, ecommerce solutions, and blogging platforms.

Website builders are great for beginners because you don't need any programming knowledge to use them. With a good eye for design – and even that isn't a must – anyone can create a stylish and professional-looking website.

Visual content editors help with your website's design, allowing you to edit its content in a front-end-like environment. Design templates provide a framework for freely arranging and adding your content.

With website builders, you also don't need to worry about web hosting or security settings: Your monthly subscription fee includes everything needed to run and operate a website.

There are many website builders available. Here are some of our favorites:

The clear editor with drag-and-drop functionality offers a good balance of user-friendliness and flexibility: You can design content more freely than with other builders (like IONOS or Jimdo), but it isn't overwhelming for beginners.

Wix users also benefit from its huge assortments of templates, layouts, elements, and third-party apps.

Wix is free, but if you don't purchase a premium plan, you'll have to deal with ads, limited storage, and other restrictions. Premium ad-free plans with a domain start at $17 per month.

Read more about Wix costs here:

Squarespace is known for its elegant templates. Combined with its intuitive editor and straightforward site management, users without coding or design skills can create a visually appealing and modern website with just a few steps.

Hosting, a domain, and all other services you need to run your website are included. Just sign up, choose a plan, and get started.

Squarespace's pricing is straightforward: A personal website costs $16 per month with an annual plan, while an online store will set you back $23 per month. You can find out more about Squarespace's costs here:

By the way, if you can't decide between these two builders, check out our comparison of Wix and Squarespace.

Weebly is a powerful website builder that greatly simplifies website creation for beginners thanks to its intuitive editor. The provider's well-designed smartphone app also makes it easy to edit your website on the go.

However, Weebly doesn't offer as much room for creativity as other solutions. It doesn't have free drag-and-drop like Wix, which restricts how much you can customize your site. But, the platform scores with its powerful ecommerce features.

Weebly has a free plan that ties users to a Weebly.com subdomain, includes ads, and has other limitations.

There are also two premium plans: The ad-free Professional plan with a custom domain costs $12 per month (billed annually), while the Performance plan with advanced ecommerce features costs $26.

Website builders are both more limited and less flexible than WordPress. If you need the power of a content management system but don't want to use WordPress, there are other self-hosted CMSs.

The CMS alternatives to WordPress don't have anywhere near as much market presence, but they do offer similar freedom—at least for those who know how to use them.

Drupal is an open-source CMS that you can use to create blogs, websites, and even social networks. It's especially suitable for experienced developers who want to build complex websites.

Drupal itself is free, but there are costs for its modules (plugins) and getting your website online.

Joomla is a dynamic, open-source CMS that's also very popular. It's considered more versatile than WordPress but simpler than Drupal, making it a nice compromise for less experienced developers.

Joomla is also free to use and doesn't have any license fees. However, costs can arise elsewhere, such as for paid extensions.

In recent years, CMSs have gone headless. This means that their backend functions (like creating and managing content) are separated from those of their front end (presenting content).

Separating the two makes it easier to display content across different channels after it's been created.

One of the most popular headless CMSs is Contentful. You can use it to define content elements and page types before filling them with content and displaying it in various ways. Once this basic structure is set up, no further action is needed to adapt content for different media and channels.

Contentful has a free plan, but it's only suitable for small projects and trying out the platform. Team subscriptions start at $300 per month, so the platform isn't exactly cheap.

WordPress offers ecommerce features and add-ons like WooCommerce, but there are also dedicated CMS platforms designed for this. If your main goal is to set up an online store, you might prefer one of these options.

Shopify* is a website builder specialized in ecommerce that makes setting up an online store a breeze. Pre-made apps and Shopify themes, both free and premium, allow anyone to design an ecommerce website and showcase and sell products.

Shopify has three plans: Basic (from $29 per month, billed annually), Shopify (from $79), and Advanced (from $299). These differ mostly in the number of staff accounts, some features, and transaction fees. The last of these are only applied if you use an external payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments.

You can read more about Shopify's costs here:

BigCommerce* is another ecommerce website builder that includes hosting. Its drag-and-drop editor is perfect for beginners without coding experience. Users can easily create an online store and offer unlimited products.

BigCommerce supports popular payment methods like PayPal, Amazon, and Apple Pay, and allows third-party apps and extensions.

There are three regular BigCommerce plans: Standard (from $29 per month with annual billing), Plus (from $79), and Pro (from $299). Each differs in the number of storefronts and features. None of the plans charge transaction fees.

Magento by Adobe is an ecommerce solution for entrepreneurs with programming experience. With the right know-how, you can customize the open-source platform. It's also more complex and versatile than website builders like Shopify or BigCommerce.

Numerous marketing tools give you maximum control over sales activities, while various add-ons allow owners to tailor their store's website to their needs.

The amount you pay for Adobe Commerce depends on the size of your online store and your needs. Compared to simple website builders, the platform is much more expensive.

As an open-source solution, Adobe Commerce is free to use, but you need to account for hosting, development, domain, maintenance, and everything else. There are premium plans that include hosting, but these are fairly expensive (around $20,000 per year) and only an option for larger stores.

Read more about the costs of Adobe Commerce and other ecommerce platforms here:

Before WordPress became the versatile all-rounder it is today, it started as simple blog software. Many other options have since filled the gap it left behind.

Ghost, a content management system, was originally crowdfunded. This CMS caters to bloggers, journalists, and editorial teams—anyone who needs a text-focused website.

The platform is both much simpler and not as flexible as WordPress, but that's by design. Beginners and those who want an elegant, easy-to-manage website won't be overwhelmed by its features.

The amount you pay for Ghost depends primarily on the size of your audience. The more readers (or "members") your blog has, the more it costs. Prices start at $9 for 500 members and increase from there.

Additionally, plans vary in features, the number of staff users, available templates, and support options.

Medium and WordPress are hardly comparable. WordPress is a full-fledged CMS that offers almost endless possibilities, while Medium is a text-based blogging platform.

Even though Medium isn't for creating a website, it can help you build a home for your blog posts. The platform supports authors with publishing their posts, categorizing them with tags, and following other bloggers. In this way, you can design your own "online newspaper."

Medium is free, but for $5 a month or $60 a year, you can unlock a premium membership that includes unlimited access to stories, audio narrations, and other perks.

Blogger is a simple, free, and reliable service from Google that focuses solely on one thing: blogging.

Unlike WordPress, Blogger is not a CMS. It's a good choice if you're only interested in publishing what you've written on a clear and user-friendly platform. All that's needed to sign up is a Google account.

Blogger and the associated Blogspot domain are completely free.

Want to start a blog but don't know where to begin? Our step-by-step guide shows you how and tells you everything you'll need:

WordPress' dominance speaks volumes: More than 75% of the websites whose CMS integrations we could identify in our CMS comparison use it.

There are many reasons for WordPress' popularity, but it isn't perfect. Some of its possible disadvantages for your website project might include:

WordPress can be used to create great websites and has countless times in the past. Still, the market leader isn't the best platform for each case. One of the above alternatives might be a better choice for your project.

A look at the competition confirms WordPress' status as a true all-rounder. Comparisons with the most popular CMS on the market almost always favor WordPress.

However, depending on your programming experience, the type of project you're working on, and the compromises you're willing to make, there are alternatives that might be better suited to you or your business.

Website builders offer the best alternative for beginners who lack design and programming knowledge. In our website builder comparison, you'll find detailed reviews of 12 leading platforms.