HubSpot COS Vs WordPress CMS Vs Drupal Vs Headless CMS: Pick the one that Suits Your Needs

Quick Summary

A Content Management System (CMS) helps simplify the publication of content on your website. It is the vehicle that drives your content marketing campaign to success. Thus, one has to be smart about choosing the right platform.

This post contains a detailed comparison between the most popular CMS: HubSpot, WordPress, Drupal, and Headless CMS. Now you can make an informed decision!

How Does One Choose the Perfect CMS Platform?

Choosing a suitable CMS platform is much like selecting a spouse. You need to complement each other’s needs and requirements for a perfect marriage. Additionally, your overall goals and aspirations should fall in line if you wish to make it work in the long run.

As our CEO Jaymin Bhuptani believes, your CMS selection may vary based on the features and functionalities offered by the CMS platform, which is to be taken in consonance with your content strategy.

Typically, the three factors that form the pillars for choosing the perfect CMS include:

Vendor and Community Support
Omnichannel Presence
Stability and Scalability

Hubspot COS vs. WordPress CMS vs. Drupal vs. Headless CMS

HubSpot, WordPress, Drupal, and Headless CMS are some of the most powerful CMS in the market. Let’s review these one at a time.

HubSpot COS (CMS Hub)

HubSpot has earned itself a solid reputation for being a premium marketing and sales automation software. Given the interdependence of these entities with content, it was only a matter of time until it stepped into the CMS playfield.

Enter HubSpot’s cloud-based CMS - CMS Hub.

It combines simplicity with automation and analytics to bring forth a top-notch content management system.

Pros and Cons of CMS Hub

Pros	Cons
- Easy to use with drag-and-drop functionality for content creation and customization - Built-in SEO capabilities - Integration with other HubSpot tools for marketing automation, lead generation, personalization, etc. - Comes equipped with SSL - Responsive web design that ensures multi-device compatibility	- With a basic package starting at $200 per month, it can get a little pricey - The ease-of-use trades off for loss in control with no access to server-side code - As a new player, CMS Hub has several bugs and issues that need to be ironed out. - Site customization requires HubL developers and experts, who are fairly uncommon.

Why Code on CMS Hub?

CMS Hub is ideal for business websites that are focusing on marketing and lead generation/nurturing. It is easy-to-use with managed hosting capabilities, which takes away the hassles of maintaining the website. Working with a HubSpot partner agency, like Uplers, will help you unlock the true potential offered by this cutting-edge CMS platform.

Big Brands Using CMS Hub

Trello
The Chopping Block
AmeriFirst Home Mortgage

Key Takeaways

CMS Hub offers an excellent out-of-the-box experience for marketers as it ties together an all-in-one solution to meet a variety of business requirements. However, it does come at a somewhat hefty price tag, which may discourage users.

WordPress CMS

Wordpress is the ultimate CMS leader that occupies about 63.6% of the market share of on-premise and hosted CMS platforms. It has played an instrumental role in allowing small-time businesses to major enterprises to set up an online presence without any technical support.

Pros and Cons of WordPress CMS

Pros	Cons
- Extremely easy to use with high usability and flexibility - Highly active community of users and developers - Supports a wide range of plugins for additional features - Dedicated SEO plugins that offer visibility to the website - Open-source and free platform with a high degree for customization - Available at low-cost and no-cost options, making it suitable for various organizations	- Requires frequent updates that may break the functionality of plugins - You would need a developer to create truly personalized themes - Being an open-source platform, security may be a concern for some WordPress users - Integrations may feel a little choppy - Responsiveness is not available by default

Why Code on WordPress CMS?

WordPress CMS unlocks a world of opportunities if you have the technical background to work under the hood. It offers scope for personalizing and customizing the themes and get more from the plugins.

Big Brands Using WordPress CMS

TechCrunch
BBC America
Sony Music
PlayStation

Key Takeaways

WordPress is loaded with features and functionalities that support the content strategies for an assortment of businesses. That being said, the charm of WordPress lies in the fact that absolute rookies with no technical knowledge can use it to float their website!

Drupal CMS

As WordPress enjoys popularity amongst regular users, Drupal enjoys a similar status in the developer community. It supports complete customization, which helps create complex, feature-rich websites. On the other hand, Drupal can be quite tough to figure out in the hands of a beginner.

Pros	Cons
- Comes with customizable out-of-the-box features that offer absolute design flexibility - Highly secure - Free or low-cost development with only hosting fee charges - Supports a wide variety of content - Active community and developer support - Open-source platform with high scalability	- Steep learning curve, especially for those who are not coders or developers - Regular updates may disrupt your website - Consumes too many resources, which can slow down systems - You will have to find qualified Drupal developers

Why Code on Drupal?
Drupal is every coder and developer’s dream destination. It follows stringent coding standards, and despite being an open-source platform, it maintains a high standard of security. You can virtually achieve anything over Drupal! However, despite several updates, the clunky admin interface has constantly come under fire even after the release of Drupal 8.

Big Brands Using Drupal

eBay
Twitter
Pinterest
Tesla

Key Takeaways
If you possess the technical competency, Drupal could be ideal for your content-heavy website. However, code maintenance and technical-dependence can severely cripple how businesses manage the website without any back-end developers.

Headless CMS

Headless CMS is a type of cloud-based, back-end only CMS where the content repository and the presentation layers are decoupled. A RESTful API bridges this front-end with the content database. Some well-known, open-source Headless CMS platforms include Strapi, Ghost, Netlify CMS, and Directus.

Pros and Cons of Headless CMS

Pros	Cons
- Greater flexibility and functionality when compared to traditional CMS - Allows businesses to cherry-pick their preferred tools for building the application - Unifies data into a single content hub - Supports simultaneous processes and collaboration - Highly scalable with room for building unique UI/UX - Evergreen and future-proof	- Since front-end technologies are not integrated with the system, you may have to decide on the apt technologies - Complex templates with decreasing functionality - Formatting issues due to non-availability of previews - Cost for setting up and maintaining infrastructure can be high (starting at a minimum of $249/month)

Why Code on Headless CMS?

Headless CMS is more suited for businesses that find traditional CMS too rigid. For this reason, it is extremely popular amongst mobile developers as the API-first approach offers flexibility for content delivery to Android and iOS directly.

Big Brands Using Headless CMS

Vogue
Netflix
Starbucks
Spotify

Key Takeaways

Headless CMS platforms are easy to use and cost-effective. They also give rise to faster and more responsive websites. It could play a major role in defining the CMS of the future. However, at present, it has a lot of scope for development.

Conclusion

As with any other major technology-related decision, choosing the best CMS platform depends on your requirements and preference. Any CMS platform that offers you control over your content marketing plan is good enough to get your website live. You may have to compromise on some features to find the ones that meet your business needs. Eventually, it is all about striking the perfect balance of what matters the most to you.