Drupal al­tern­at­ives

Drupal is a fre­quently used content man­age­ment system (CMS) that is open source and available free of charge. The software is consists of a building kit that can be in­di­vidu­ally adapted to the needs of the user in terms of scope and func­tion­al­ity. Users can access plugins (also called ‘modules’) in Drupal that can be extended as desired. However, ex­ten­sions tend to increase the degree of com­plex­ity.

There are a number of useful Drupal al­tern­at­ives, some of which make it easier for users to achieve the desired result. We present the most important providers to create in­di­vidu­al websites and integrate further func­tion­al­it­ies such as an online store.

Article up-to-date as of November 2021.

The selection of top Drupal al­tern­at­ives includes some well-known, but also lesser-known providers. Depending on resources, required pro­gram­ming skills or time re­stric­tions, modular kits or free open source solutions that let users compile functions may be preferred.

IONOS is a great al­tern­at­ive to Drupal because it offers different packages for website and online store creation. Even the basic package already includes all the important features and the Website Builder delivers pro­fes­sion­al results quickly and easily. The Website Builder is suitable for beginners and pro­fes­sion­als alike. The modular website builder can be expanded with com­pre­hens­ive online store functions at any time. The customer service is highly-rated, easy to access and answers any questions to help with setup and operation of your website or online store.

Service fees range from £1 to £20, making it a low-cost option when compared to other provides. Func­tion­al­it­ies are defined into packages with no hidden or follow-up costs. Users also receive an email address and can access image archives to design their sites. The IONOS web store can be added later in true modular design fashion and offers a vast range of templates to make the design process as smooth as possible.

Suitable for: Beginners, advanced, and pro­fes­sion­als

Shopify is worth a closer look if you are looking for a Drupal al­tern­at­ive for your web store. Like IONOS, Shopify is available in three different packages with added func­tion­al­ity as cost per month increases. The top end of the scale is approx. £250 per month – a package that boasts many features beyond those of a simple online store. Analytics tools and in­ter­na­tion­al domains are included to boost in­ter­na­tion­al sales strategies.

Shopify has a simple-to-use website editor to combine a website with an online store design. The editor is also useful to set up a blog or organise content on a content man­age­ment interface. Designing is made simple with templates and users can access numerous plugins, some of which incur ad­di­tion­al charges. All in all, Shopify is a great al­tern­at­ive to Drupal, es­pe­cially for beginners. However, users should be clear in advance about which functions they will require for their website and online store, and plan ahead ac­cord­ingly.

Suitable for : Beginners, advanced, and pro­fes­sion­als

Magento is a popular eCommerce solution that offers a wide range of options to design online stores. Magento is par­tic­u­larly ad­vant­age­ous for beginners because the Community Edition is free to download as an open source edition. Users can get started designing their web store right away. The En­ter­prise Edition takes into the account the scope of a project and can vary greatly in price – from five-figures and six-figures.

The func­tion­al scope of Magento focuses pre­dom­in­antly on eCommerce. If you plan on designing a corporate website alongside your store platform, you will need a second host for this purpose. However, if you already have an existing website, Magento is easy to integrate. Because of its scope, the Drupal al­tern­at­ive is more suitable for advanced users and pro­fes­sion­als, unless you are using the Community Edition.

Suitable for: Advanced and pro­fes­sion­al users (Community Edition available for beginners too)

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS that can be used for corporate websites, blogs, and online stores. The software solution provides an extensive selection of design templates and websites can be adapted through add-ons and plugins. Operating a pro­fes­sion­al website incurs monthly fees of around £20. Cheaper packages do not include special func­tion­al­it­ies such as search engine op­tim­isa­tion or plugin in­teg­ra­tion.

If you wish to integrate an online store, costs can increase to £36 per month, which is com­pet­it­ive when compared to premium offers from Shopify and the like.

However, WordPress functions are not all that self-ex­plan­at­ory, which means users should have some basic knowledge of website creation. To integrate a web store, users would need an idea of how to integrate plugins in WordPress.

Suitable for : Beginners, advanced, and pro­fes­sion­als

Joomla is a free CMS solution with an extensive arsenal of functions and ex­ten­sions. What is special about Joomla is the user community – neither customer support nor service staff will be available to help.

In com­bin­a­tion with the many func­tion­al pos­sib­il­it­ies of the CMS, the learning curve is steep for beginners. Creating a website with Joomla is less intuitive than using more modular systems. Ex­per­i­enced website de­velopers will be pleased with the pos­sib­il­it­ies Joomla provides, making it an excellent Drupal al­tern­at­ive for more advanced users. At just approx. £7 per month for hosting, Joomla is one of the cheapest website creation tools.

If you wish to launch an online store as part of your web service, the CMS provides a range of store in­teg­ra­tions. With a large number of store ex­ten­sions, some of which are free of charge, users only pay for the services they really need.

Suitable for: Advanced and pro­fes­sion­als

Weebly is similar to Drupal in that the CMS is struc­tured like a website builder. Users can create a website in just a few steps using drag-and-drop features. Basic functions include search engine op­tim­isa­tion and are free of charge. However, the web domain in the basic package is Weebly-branded. For per­son­al­ised domains, Weebly charges £4 per month. However, the Connect package doesn’t come with advanced func­tion­al­it­ies.

The Pro version costs £9 per month and boasts advanced features such as telephone and chat support, and extensive site stat­ist­ics to measure web traffic. Versions below the Pro package feature adverts. In the Pro package all adverts are removed.

Users can integrate a shopping trolley when selecting the Pro package. Although Weebly divides its offering into websites and online stores, the Pro and Business rates already include online store features. To manage articles or discount codes, you will need the Business package from £18 per month if paid annually.

Weebly is a great al­tern­at­ive to Drupal for beginners because of its ease of use. However, costs can add up for more advanced features. It is a good idea to compare Weebly’s pro­fes­sion­al packages with those of other providers before making a decision.

Suitable for: Beginners, advanced, and pro­fes­sion­als

The final Drupal al­tern­at­ive in our com­par­is­on is Webflow – a mixture of CMS and website builder. Once re­gistered, users can either use a ready-made template or design the desired website them­selves. Compared to WordPress only a few templates are free of charge. Other designs can incur charges of over $100 (approx. £80).

Webflow is special when it comes to creating a website. The system uses boxes that can be arranged on top of one another, next to each other, or nested inside each other. The final design of a website is based on a user’s ar­range­ment of boxes. In terms of operation, Webflow is more re­min­is­cent of an image editing program such as Photoshop or GIMP. In order to achieve the desired result some pro­gram­ming skills are ad­vant­age­ous, making Webflow less suitable for beginners.

Basic use of Webflow is free of charge. The Business package costs $36 (approx. £30) per month and lets users boost the number of permitted page views or functions and integrate forms, among other features.

An ad­di­tion­al $29 (approx. £22) per month is charged for online store in­teg­ra­tion which can increase to $212 (approx. £180) for the Advanced package, making Webflow’s pro­fes­sion­al package one of the more expensive solutions available at a total minimum cost of $248 (approx. £200).

Suitable for: Advanced and pro­fes­sion­als