15 Best CMS Platforms of 2026

People experiment with various CMS platforms to build websites. Over the years, building personal websites, client projects, and numerous side projects, they've gained a deep understanding of the strengths of each CMS. While confident that WordPress is the best choice for most websites, each project has its own unique needs.

 

That's why TipsMake.com is doing a comparison of the best CMS platforms. This article will help you find the most suitable platform for your website, whether you're building a blog, a business website, or an online store.

1. WordPress.org

 

WordPress is the top choice for the best CMS platform. Many people have built all their websites using WordPress. WordPress is the most popular CMS software in the world and powers approximately 43% of all websites on the Internet .

Note that WordPress.org is different from WordPress.com. WordPress.org is a free, open-source CMS that needs to be installed on your preferred web hosting server to start building a website. WordPress.com, on the other hand, allows you to start building a blog immediately by signing up for a free account.

2. HubSpot Content Hub

 

HubSpot Content Hub is a fully integrated content management system designed specifically for marketers and business owners.

From testing, Hubspot Content Hub is the best choice for those who want a solution that combines CMS and CRM (Customer Relationship Management). This platform is built on HubSpot's CRM platform, including all kinds of marketing, sales, service, and operations automation tools.

3. Wix Studio

Wix Studio is a website builder designed for professionals who want better design control and more advanced features. It's a good option for freelancers, agencies, and businesses building websites for clients or needing more customization than a basic drag-and-drop builder.

 

One of the standout features is the integrated AI tools. These tools can help you create responsive layouts and fine-tune designs to work across different screen sizes, such as phones, tablets, and desktops.

Wix Studio also allows you to use advanced layout settings and connect your website to third-party services using custom code.

4. Joomla

Joomla is another popular free, open-source CMS platform that comes with a wide variety of templates and extensions. It's free to use, but you need hosting and a domain name. According to CMS market share reports, Joomla accounts for 1.72% of all websites.

First launched in 2005, Joomla, similar to WordPress, has been around for many years. Joomla is packed with features, and many web hosting providers offer one-click installation. It's an ideal CMS platform for experienced developers and website creators. However, it's not a good choice for beginners because its support community isn't as large as WordPress's.

 

5. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the world's most popular e-commerce platform. It's truly flexible and easy to manage.

Unlike most other CMS platforms discussed in this article, WooCommerce runs on a different CMS: WordPress. This means it's a WordPress plugin, not a full-featured CMS.

However, like other CMS platforms, many hosting providers also offer WooCommerce hosting, allowing you to quickly launch an online store.

6. Drupal

Drupal is another open-source CMS solution. It's the CMS behind several large websites, including The Economist and several university websites.

Drupal can be a good option for developers or those who can hire a developer. It's especially useful if you want to build a highly customized website that needs to handle a lot of data.

 

7. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted e-commerce platform, sometimes referred to as an all-in-one platform. Getting started is very easy, even for beginners.

BigCommerce hosts your website and provides the actual CMS platform. This platform also handles security, backups, and caching for you.

8. Shopify

Shopify is another all-in-one CMS hosting platform for selling e-commerce goods. You won't need to buy hosting, install any software, or manage issues like updates and backups.

Shopify has an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Shopify supports in-store sales, which is great if you have both a physical store and an online store.

9. WordPress.com

WordPress.com makes it easy to register a free WordPress website by creating an account. WordPress.org, on the other hand, gives you complete freedom to set up your website however you want and own it completely.

 

10. Ghost

Ghost is a CMS platform specifically designed for bloggers. You often hear it described as a "headless CMS," which might seem strange. This simply means that this CMS platform doesn't require content to be distributed in a particular way.

Therefore, the content or data you create may be displayed on the website, but it may also be sent to a mobile app or a completely different platform. However, if you are not a developer, or just want to use Ghost for blogging, you don't need to worry about this.

11. Magento

Magento is a powerful open-source e-commerce platform from the software giant Adobe. There is a free version that you can download and install on your web hosting account, called Magento Open Source.

If you want to use this platform, InMotion Hosting's Magento is the easiest way to get started. Alternatively, you can pay for Magento Commerce. This platform comes with full support and is hosted for you, but it's very expensive.

12. Text pattern

Textpattern is a simple, easy-to-use CMS platform that has been around since 2003. It's open source and has plenty of documentation to help you get started.

13. Blogger

Blogger was created in 1999. As the name suggests, it's a specialized CMS platform for blogging. It's a free service provided by Google . Blogs on Blogger typically have a blogspot domain, although you can use your own domain name.

Blogger is the best option if you want to monetize your blog without paying a single cent in hosting fees. Unlike Blogger, most free platforms don't allow you to earn money from your website in any way.

14. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a business tool that provides a CMS platform along with other features such as task management, project management, communication, and customer relationship management.

The basic version is free (offering up to 5GB of online hosting and 12 user accounts) and provides an all-in-one solution for small businesses. If you want a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, this could be a good option.

15. TYPO3

TYPO3 is a free, open-source CMS platform that has been around even longer than Blogger. It was first released in 1998. It's a CMS designed for businesses, meaning it's useful for both internal websites (company websites) and general-purpose websites.

There are several extensions available for TYPO3 that offer additional functionality.