Any person who wants to create their own website needs a content management system as a basis. So the question is not whether a CMS is needed, but which one is really suitable. We therefore make the comparison: WordPress vs Joomla.
With a market share of over 40 percent, WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems. The CMS is an open source system that can be used for all types of website projects free of charge and in just a few steps. But not only WordPress is an open source system, but also the CMS Joomla.
Both systems score with the fact that installation and setup only takes a few minutes, that even inexperienced users can get by quickly without a long training period and numerous plugins and themes are available.
But can Joomla really keep up with its big competitor WordPress?
WordPress vs Joomla: WordPress at a Glance
The content management system WordPress was developed in 2003 and has been continuously developed since then. The latest update, WordPress 6.1, is due in November 2022. The large community not only takes care of the further development of the CMS, but is also available for questions and problems.
WordPress is open source software that can be downloaded for free in minutes. Due to the simple structures and the possibility of basically being able to create any type of website, WordPress is often the first port of call for many website operators.
Create your website with WordPress hosting at IONOS now
To better understand what WordPress is, let’s look at plugins, installation, usability, updates and maintenance, search engine optimization, modern web design, and costs.
- Plugins: In the plugin directory, users have a large selection of free and paid plugins. With the plugins, websites can be easily and quickly expanded. For example, if blog operators also want to run an online shop on the website. At the same time, too many plugins make administration confusing.
- Installation: The installation is uncomplicated and usually done in a few minutes. So you have the opportunity to start building your website in no time.
- User friendliness: WordPress is very easy to use, especially for inexperienced users.
- Updates and maintenance: WordPress requires a lot of maintenance. Especially if you use a lot of plugins. While there is an option to turn on automatic updates, it’s not recommended.
- Search Engine Optimization: The basic version of WordPress does not have any settings for search engine optimization. These can be easily added with plugins.
- Modern Web Design: In the WordPress theme directory you will find numerous free and paid themes for your website. However, it is only possible to manage one theme per website.
- Cost: Basically, WordPress can be downloaded completely free of charge. However, you have to take care of the hosting yourself.
Pros and cons of WordPress
In the following we will give you an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of WordPress.
| Advantages of WordPress | Disadvantages of WordPress |
| Quick and easy installation and setup | Great maintenance required |
| Large plugin and theme directory with free and paid offers | Many plugins make the website confusing |
| Intuitive user interface, easy even for inexperienced users | A website can only manage a single theme |
| Large community that supports with questions |
WordPress vs Joomla: Joomla at a Glance
The content management system Joomla was created a little later than WordPress, in 2005. It is also an open source software and the CMS is available for free for this reason. Numerous tutorials are available for inexperienced users, but the large community will support you if you have any questions.
Create your website with WordPress hosting at IONOS now
In order to better understand what Joomla is exactly, let’s take a look at the structure, operation, user management, templates, multilingual use, security and costs below:
- Construction: Joomla is structured in three different levels: the functional level, page content and the layout of the website. There are many different templates available to users for this purpose.
- Service: Thanks to the WYSIWYG editor, operation is basically very simple and flexible.
- User management: In contrast to WordPress, user management in Joomla is much simpler. For example, user groups can be created.
- Templates: There are many different templates, i.e. design templates. These are usually available free of charge if the basic version is sufficient. Due to the large selection, inexperienced users are quickly overwhelmed.
- Multilingual use: With Joomla, multilingual use is possible and already integrated.
- Security: Due to the open source structures, Joomla, like WordPress, is considered vulnerable.
- Cost: The content management system Joomla is generally available free of charge. Many of the templates are also available free of charge in the basic version.
Pros and cons of Joomla
In the following we will give you an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of Joomla.
| Benefits of Joomla | Disadvantages of Joomla |
| Simple and intuitive operation | Large selection of templates for inexperienced users: quickly overwhelmed |
| Several templates possible on one website | Easily vulnerable to hackers |
| Large selection of modules and extensions | Training time for modules and extensions necessary |
| Multilingualism is directly integrated in Joomla |
WordPress vs Joomla in direct comparison
Even if WordPress and Joomla look similar at first glance, since both CMS are open source systems, they differ greatly in detail. We therefore compare both content management systems in the following table.
| WordPress | Joomla | |
| Installation | Fast and easy, no programming knowledge required | Easy to install, training required for modules and extensions |
| user friendliness | very high, easy to understand even for the inexperienced | very high, thanks in particular to the WYSIWYG editor |
| user management | only by default | very detailed possible |
| updates and maintenance | All updates are free of charge and can basically be carried out by anyone | Easy maintenance with the update manager |
| language settings | only possible with plugins | possible without plugins |
| security | slightly vulnerable to attack | slightly vulnerable to attack |
| Plugins | very large selection of free and paid plugins | large selection of extensions |
| Cost | basically free of charge, costs for plugins and individual programming are rather low | basically free of charge, costs for individual programming rather high |
WordPress and Joomla differ in many ways. The question of which of the two content management systems is really better is difficult to answer. It depends much more on how much experience the users have and what they expect from a system.
If website operators do not have great programming knowledge and cannot spend a lot of money on plugins and individual programming, but still want a website with many functions and a user-friendly backend, WordPress is the right choice.
If a company or a private individual wants to create a very individual website, this is easier to do with Joomla due to the numerous templates. Here, however, a longer training period is required than with WordPress.
In summary, both content management systems are constantly evolving, the respective community is always available to answer questions and problems, and both can be used to create professional websites.
This article is part of our content hub for web hosting, cloud services and domains and is sponsored by IONOS.
Source: https://www.basicthinking.de/blog/2022/10/07/wordpress-vs-joomla-vergleich/
