WordPress is a content management system that has been around for almost two decades now, and yet it’s one of the most popular platforms for blogging, website creation, or even online store creation.
The simplicity, convenience, and low costs are some of the WordPress benefits. However, WordPress might not be ideal for people who want the quickest loading websites, websites that don’t rely on integrations, and no vulnerability due to the system it’s based on.
Therefore, in this article, you’ll find 20 best WordPress alternatives that will offer better features to add everything WordPress is missing.
Best WordPress Alternatives
WordPress is versatile and convenient, so it’s safe to say it wears many hats. But, on the other hand, these alternatives provide a specific solution for one or only a couple of needs, so you know you can only expect the best from such dedicated alternatives.
1. Weebly
Weebly is the most similar alternative to WordPress because it is also a hosted website platform with a content management system. You can also create beautiful websites from pre-built templates.
Even though Weebly has quite a limited eCommerce support (it isn’t any better than WordPress’s eCommerce support), its advantage is that you can have all self-hosted features of WordPress on a hosted Weebly platform.
Features-wise, Weebly has similar features to WordPress, including integrated tools, so you will be able to recreate any WordPress website in Weebly.
Design-wise, Weebly seems to be a lot easier to understand and use, but it is a lot more ideal for smaller websites since you’ll enjoy creating a new website using Weebly’s attractive website designer.
Weebly helps you create stunning websites, and ecommerce stores in quick time. Simply pick a theme and get started. What's more, it's entirely free.
2. Drupal
Drupal is a less known alternative that is WordPress’s competitor. Even though it powers only about 2% of websites on the internet, it has a great community full of developers who are striving to improve the platform further.
This might be why Drupal is used to power the White House, State of Georgia, The Economist, and many other high-profile websites.
Just like WordPress, Drupal comes with plugins (modules) and themes you can use to create your websites, so you won’t have to design or code anything from scratch.
You’ll also need hosting, just like you would need with WordPress. But since Drupal is based on the same technology, any regular hosting will do just fine.
Design-wise, Drupal can be a bit more complicated to learn, but it offers a lot more customization than WordPress, which can be worth learning the interface.
3. Joomla
Joomla is a straightforward WordPress competitor because it works similarly, it can do almost everything WordPress can, and even more due to its ability.
What gives Joomla an advantage over WordPress is that it was started as a content management system for portals. Therefore, Joomla can fit anything from small blogs and websites to larger business and corporational portals.
In comparison with WordPress, Joomla is a bit more developer-oriented, and it’s made for skilled users who would like to take advantage of better customizability.
4. BigCommerce
WordPress doesn’t have many eCommerce advantages, and if you plan on running a store using WordPress, you’ll have to rely on third-party plugins and integrations.
With BigCommerce, you get drag-and-drop tools that help you build strictly eCommerce stores where payment gateways come integrated into the system.
On top of that, BigCommerce has plenty more analytical features that help you track your store’s performance, make direct changes to the store, and are very compatible with other third-party apps that might be necessary to run an online store successfully.
What’s interesting enough is that BigCommerce has a WordPress integration, so you can run a store using BigCommerce and still rely on WordPress for content.
5. Shopify
WordPress might not cut it if you’re all about building an online store, and Shopify is a great alternative because it’s built for that exact purpose.
Shopify isn’t just another content management system, yet it is a go-to platform for website store creation.
It provides all tools necessary to build an online store, prepare it for the customers, and start making money.
It is a simple setup type of platform where everything will wait for you, and you can create a store from preexisting templates instead of having to start from scratch.
WordPress can’t offer anything like Shopify without third-party integrations, while Shopify integrates almost everything you will need to sell products online.
6. Medium
If the idea of creating your blog using WordPress only to publish posts and share your thoughts might seem like a daunting idea, Medium is an easier solution than WordPress.
Medium is a content platform that allows users to create an account and start blogging directly using the Medium platform instead of allowing users to build blogs.
It only takes a couple of minutes to register for an account, and you can start publishing interesting stories and things you know. In addition, you won’t have to worry about bringing in traffic to your posts since you will have access to Medium readers who will come across your posts if people find them interesting.
7. Webflow
While WordPress relies on themes that you can further customize with quite limited options, Webflow is a similar alternative that integrates a visual canvas that requires no coding.
Yet, on the other hand, Webflow allows you to directly edit anything you can see with your own eyes on your website from one editor.
Of course, Webflow’s visual builder is the biggest advantage over WordPress. Even though Webflow isn’t as capable as WordPress, it allows you to be on top of the HTML5, Java scripts, and CSS without writing a single line of code.
8. Ghost
If you ever tried creating a blog using WordPress and keeping it as your main blogging platform, you might have had a hard time trying to figure out what’s important for your blog and what’s not.
That’s why Ghost is a great WordPress alternative for everyone who wants to focus only on blogging. Ghost provides only features a blogger would need and allows easy blog creation that you can grow without experiencing any limits along the way.
Not only is it ideal for bloggers, but the readers will love it since all Ghost themes are made to be used for blogs. On top of that, Ghost integrates tools for bloggers that WordPress doesn’t, so this is just another advantage.
9. Jimdo
Creating a website using WordPress is pretty simple since no coding is required, but things with WordPress can always get technical.
Jimdo is a WordPress alternative with an artificial builder, which is still something rare to see.
With artificial intelligence assistance, you can create a website in an even simpler way. Even though it doesn’t offer and support as many features as WordPress does, it still provides a great way to create a website of any size without thinking twice about it.
However, templates and themes are a lot more customizable in Jimbo. Apart from the blogging section, Jimbo also offers an online store builder aimed at everyone from beginners to experienced marketers.
10. Wix
Wix is best known as one of the most advertised content management systems. It’s a similar WordPress alternative that simplifies things. Even though it doesn’t offer as many features as WordPress, Wix’s biggest advantage is the easy-to-use website builder.
With this website builder, you can create a professional-looking website of any type without hiring a developer.
This editor also gives users a lot of flexibility when editing and adjusting pre-existing themes so you can express all your creativity to create a unique website.
11. Squarespace
Squarespace is an all-in-one alternative that comes with a website builder and hosting in one platform.
With pre-built templates and a very neat visual editor, you can create unique and creative websites. The biggest difference between Squarespace and WordPress is that Squarespace doesn’t integrate with any plugins, yet it has everything you would need right within the platform.
While this might be limiting users at times, others find it super convenient since Squarespace is a lot more straightforward than WordPress.
12. Blogger
Blogger is one of the oldest content management systems built for bloggers, and it’s still relevant to this day.
It’s very similar to WordPress and comes with all pre-built features that help users build and run a successful blog.
Blogger is ideal for people who would like to base their blogs around something personal, around a narrow niche, Blogger is a better solution because of its simplicity.
You won’t get confused by Blogger while WordPress is a lot more robust and easier to scale, but it might give you a harder time as a beginner.
13. PrestaShop
If you are trying to build an online store that won’t depend on any proprietary platform and will provide you with more benefits than WordPress can, PrestaShop is the right choice.
PrestaShop is a content management system focused on eCommerce as it allows users to build online stores on a self-hosted hosting account while relying on open-source code.
While PrestaShop and WordPress are open-source code platforms that you can self-host, PrestaShop has many more features aimed at eCommerce owners.
These features include product integration, payment gateways, and the ability to scale your store easily.
PrestaShop is a bit more complicated to use than WordPress or even Shopify, but it offers many more options and improves functionality with the help of 3,800 modules and over 2,000 themes.
With so many add-ons, PrestaShop is ideal for larger shops with more product catalogs or for stores that want to scale easily with unlimited extensions.
14. CMS Hub
If you own and run at least a couple of sites, CMS Hub is a platform from HubSpot, which might be a better solution than WordPress, and here’s why.
Instead of keeping all your sites on one hosting account, you can directly host or create your websites in the CMS Hub. This gives you the advantage of being able to manage all your websites from one interface.
On top of that, CMS Hub includes domain manager, file manager, visual content editor, necessary blogging tools, and much more.
CMS Hub is a unique content management system that is ideal for website owners and team owners who operate across a couple of websites.
And on top of all website building tools and integrations CMS Hub offers, you can get access to HubSpot’s marketing tools such as marketing automation, CTAs, lead forms, and more that you can combine with your website.
So in comparison with WordPress, CMS Hub has a greater advantage because it combines website creation, website management, and marketing into one platform.
15. Tumblr
WordPress can help users create highly visual websites. However, if you are still struggling to find a perfect theme or lack customizability and prefer visual publishing content, creating a whole new site might not be what you need.
Instead, Tumblr is a great WordPress alternative since it focuses on visual content, it has everything set up, and just like Medium, you only have to register.
Tumblr is a bit different from WordPress since it combines blogging and social networking. You only need to register and you get to customize your profile, create your unique URL, and even have the ability to customize your profile further with the help of HTML.
All you have to do is follow Tumblr’s community guidelines and you’ll be able to have a free spot on the internet where you can blog or create & share great visuals.
16. Webnode
Webnode is a content management system that offers a simplified approach for users who want to create a website or an online business of any type.
What’s different about Webnode is its visual editor that allows you to create custom websites either from scratch or from existing templates.
The builder is very easy to use, and you only have to worry about design since Webnode will automatically ensure your website is responsive for all devices and screen resolutions.
In comparison with WordPress, Webnode is a lot easier to use, can be a bit limiting, but it’s very well worth it for someone who wants convenience and effortless editing features.
17. SITE123
SITE123 is a serious WordPress competitor for a couple of reasons. First, it provides a better editor than WordPress, yet it’s an all-in-one platform that provides free hosting and website builder.
Of course, the free hosting does come with limited bandwidth and storage, but it’s more than enough if you’re only starting.
As a premium user, though, you get more storage, better bandwidth, and advanced third-party plugins.
However, the upgrade is unnecessary for most average users since SITE123 also includes ready features such as search engine optimization, blogging features, design tools, and more.
On top of that, SITE123 offers some advanced features such as multilingual functionality, online booking, audio files support, and more.
18. Jekyll
If you are looking for a much more customizable content management system that doesn’t rely on a fancy interface and allows you to do everything from the code, Jekyll is a great solution.
In comparison to WordPress, Jekyll is a static site generator. Much more like old-school websites, but if you are good with HTML, you will be able to make a beautiful website from scratch that you can fully customize to your needs.
This is an ideal WordPress alternative made for developers who want full control over their website and database. If you’re skilled enough, you’ll have your website up and running almost as quickly as you would using WordPress.
19. Web.com
Web.com is an easy-to-use service that provides hosting and website builder that helps people create blogs, small websites, portfolios, landing pages, and business pages of any size.
Compared with WordPress, it’s a very affordable alternative, considering that you don’t need to look for third-party hosting.
With the help of the extremely helpful drag and drop builder, you only need to choose a theme, and you will enjoy building sites more than you would in WordPress, mostly because of the simplicity.
However, what’s interesting about Web.com is that they also allow you to create a completely custom website from scratch, so your options are open, and you are not limited in any way.
20. Zyro
Zyro is a content management system created by people behind the famous hosting company Hostinger.
They combined their hosting with Zyro, so you get the chance to create a website with the help of an easy-to-use editor for an affordable price.
Zyro offers much more unique features than WordPress. With Zyro, you will also get a logo maker, access to stock photos, and even a couple of artificial intelligence tools.
On top of that, Zyro includes marketing integrations, so whether you’re creating a small blog, a niche site, or an online business, you’ll be able to ensure others see your content.
Zyro is so versatile that you can even create an online store, import products, and start processing payments in no time.
Conclusion
WordPress might seem irreplaceable, but once you see how many alternatives there are, you’ll be able to find a solution that will fit your needs much better than WordPress.
In my book, Weebly is the best WordPress alternative because it is very similar to WordPress, and yet it adds a visual aspect that many non-technical users might require.
Also, a simplified process of building a website in an easy guided process is what users like the most about Weebly.
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