1. WordPress: The most commonly used CMS! WordPress has a HUGE variety of available themes, both paid and free for use. The diversity in theme offerings gives a little something for everyone. The website itself has free personal use plans as well as business plans for $25 a month. The business plan gives you full access to the theme store, unlimited storage, and a custom domain. With a WordPress account, you are able to host your website with WordPress or you are able to download the software to host it via your own server.
2. Squarespace: Squarespace is very beginner-friendly. They also offer a wide variety of premade themes to choose from so you can get your site up n’ running in no time. Prices vary quite a bit on Squarespace, a personal plan runs $12 a month, Business plan $18 and a commerce option for webstore building for $26 a month. Squarespace however does not have an open-source option of downloading to your server. Their services are only available via hosting with them directly.
3. Magnolia: Magnolia is a very security-based CMS service. Their architecture separates the website’s public and private elements to prevent and combat cyber attacks. The java-based cms is designed for companies that need a quick website builder that can handle everything from commerce, analytics, marketing automation, social media, customer relations management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The price of their services is tailored on a case to case basis based on what your business needs.
4. Weebly: Weebly is a WYSIWYG drag n drop website builder. They offer a free to use service as well as basic paid service to connect a custom domain for only $6 a month, up to a higher level performance option that costs $26 a month. Their drag n drop format allows for easy adding of elements and media on the website. Weebly’s business plans offer extra features like password protection on webpages as well as an added bonus tax calculator for your taxation filing ease.
5. Wix: Wix focuses on an easy to use and mobile-friendly drag n drop system. Their website building features many different plugins that can be added to give your website a truly custom and perfect fit for your personal or business needs. They feature elements like email marketing, commerce, contact forms, and community forums options. Wix offers a basic free plan with limited access to templates, unlimited pages, and free hosting. To obtain access to extra features like extended bandwidth, extra storage, domain connection, longer video length uploads, ad removal, and more Personal plans range from $13-39 a month. Business and Commerce plans run a bit more with their basic plan starting at $23 a month and going up to $49 for self-service features. They also offer an Enterprise package that includes access to support form Wix professionals, industry-leading experts, extra security and maintenance reports, and everything included in the VIP business plan. This top of the line access will run you a whopping $500 a month!
The majority of CMS websites are hosted by cloud-based applications. Meaning you access them via the internet from wherever you are and the content of the site is stored elsewhere on a server. This makes creating a website not only super easy with these breezy CMS functions, but the convenience of being able to access them and update from anywhere is huge. Website building is not only for the pros and web developers these days. The only exception on this list is WordPress. With WordPress’s ability to be downloaded and used on a server it is actually considered a SaaS (Software As A Service) on-premise service. But with the flexibility of also having a hosted option with WordPress for those who do not have the ability to self-host on location. Having the ability to self-host I think is what has made WordPress the top CMS online for years! The flexibility and customization options truly put it above the rest in many categories.
References:
- Techradar.Pro – Nicholas Fearn – June 2020 https://www.techradar.com/best/cms
- Workbench – Justin Gardner – March 2017 https://www.workbenchcentral.com/blog/on-premise-cloud-hosted-saas-what-does-it-all-mean-and-what-is-right-for-me