Choosing a website platform is mostly about content workflow, long-term ownership, and how much maintenance you want to carry. WordPress remains a widely used CMS, yet many teams prefer alternatives that package hosting, design tools, and updates into a single service.
A recent market snapshot of detected content management systems shows WordPress at 43.0% of all websites and 60.1% of sites that use a known CMS. In the same dataset, Shopify sits at 5.0% of all sites, Wix at 4.2%, and Squarespace at 2.5%.✅Source
| Platform | Platform Category | Measured Usage (All Websites) | Hosting Model | Typical Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress (Reference) | Open-Source CMS + Ecosystem | 43.0% | Self-hosted or managed hosting | Flexible sites with themes, plugins, and editorial workflows |
| Shopify | E-Commerce Platform | 5.0% | Fully hosted | Online stores with product, checkout, and payment tooling |
| Wix | Hosted Site Builder | 4.2% | Fully hosted | Visual site building with bundled services and templates |
| Squarespace | Hosted Site Builder | 2.5% | Fully hosted | Design-led sites, portfolios, and small business pages |
| Joomla | Open-Source CMS | 1.3% | Self-hosted or managed hosting | Structured content sites with extensions and templates |
| Webflow | Hosted Visual Builder + CMS | 0.9% | Hosted (export available on some plans) | Design-heavy marketing sites with controlled publishing |
| Drupal | Open-Source CMS | 0.8% | Self-hosted or managed hosting | Complex content models, governance, and large sites |
| Duda | Hosted Site Builder | 0.7% | Fully hosted | Client sites with templating and team workflows |
| GoDaddy Website Builder | Hosted Site Builder | 0.6% | Fully hosted | Simple business pages with an all-in-one approach |
| GitHub Pages | Static Publishing | 0.2% | Static hosting | Documentation, project pages, and static sites |
| Hugo | Static Site Generator | 0.1% | Static hosting (any provider) | Fast, file-based publishing with build pipelines |
These numbers help frame popularity, not quality. In practice, platform choice hinges on editing, integrations, ownership, and what “maintenance” means in your environment.
Table of Contents
Platform Types and Where They Fit
- Hosted Site Builder
- Runs as a managed service with templates and a visual editor. Hosting, updates, and many features ship together.
- E-Commerce Platform
- Optimized around catalog, checkout, payments, and order operations, usually with a large app ecosystem.
- Open-Source CMS
- Software you can self-host and extend. You typically gain control and portability, while taking on more operations.
- Headless / Static
- Content is delivered via APIs or built into static pages. This shifts “platform” toward architecture and deployment.
What WordPress Usually Covers
WordPress combines a core CMS with a very large ecosystem of themes and plugins. The official directory lists over 60,000 free plugins, which is a key reason WordPress supports so many site styles and workflows.✅Source
Common WordPress Strengths
- Content flexibility with posts, pages, and custom content types via plugins and development.
- Theme variety for many design directions, from minimal blogs to complex layouts.
- Integration breadth because many tools publish WordPress connectors or plugins.
- Hosting choice, from budget hosting to managed plans and optimized stacks.
Typical Tradeoffs to Understand
- Operations can include updates, backups, and performance tuning, depending on hosting.
- Ecosystem choices can vary in approach, so governance matters for consistency.
- Cost structure often mixes hosting, premium plugins, premium themes, and optional services.
Hosted Site Builders
A hosted builder usually bundles hosting, templates, and a visual editor into one product. The model is attractive when you value predictable operations and prefer a platform that keeps infrastructure and updates largely in the background.
Wix
Wix is a hosted website builder centered on drag-and-drop editing, templates, and a broad set of built-in services (including blogging and commerce add-ons). Its plans are subscription-based, and the official plan terms include a 14-day refund window for the initial upgrade to a premium plan.✅Source
- Editing model: visual builder first, content second.
- Extensibility: marketplace apps plus platform features.
- Ownership: hosted environment with export limits that vary by feature.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a hosted platform known for design-forward templates, built-in blocks, and a unified editor for pages and content. Its official help center states it offers a 14-day free website trial with no credit card required to start, which is useful for evaluating fit without committing early.✅Source
- Editing model: section and block-based page building.
- Commerce: integrated selling features on eligible plans.
- Operations: hosting, updates, and many platform concerns are managed.
Webflow
Webflow blends a visual designer with hosting and optional CMS features. On the official pricing page, Webflow notes that accounts include a free Starter site plan and that the free tier can support 2 Starter sites without a paid Site plan.✅Source
- Editing model: designer-led layouts with an editor experience for publishing.
- Export: code export may be available on certain workspace plans, with limits for dynamic content.
- Best fit: marketing sites where design control and structured content both matter.
If your priority is a visual workflow and managed hosting, hosted builders can reduce the surface area of platform maintenance. If your priority is deep extensibility or full portability, an open-source CMS or a headless approach may be more aligned.
E-Commerce Platforms
When the main job is selling online, platforms designed around checkout, payments, and order operations can simplify the stack. WordPress can power commerce through plugins, while dedicated commerce platforms often ship with native tooling and a large app ecosystem.
Shopify
Shopify is a hosted commerce platform built to manage catalog, checkout, and multichannel selling. The official pricing page lists third-party transaction fees that depend on plan tier: 2% for one tier, 1% for another, and 0.6% for a higher tier, where applicable.✅Source
- Commerce focus: products, inventory, shipping, and payments are first-class features.
- Extensibility: app ecosystem plus platform customization options.
- Fit: stores that want a managed commerce core with scalable operations.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a commerce platform that emphasizes storefront capabilities and catalog management with a hosted core. Many teams look at it when they want a commerce-first platform while keeping flexibility for front-end choices and integrations.
- Commerce features: storefront tooling, promotions, and operational workflows.
- Integrations: tends to support a broad range of payment and service providers.
- Fit: businesses comparing hosted commerce cores with different plan structures.
Open-Source CMS Options
An open-source CMS can be attractive when you want hosting choice, data portability, and a clear software license. This category can suit teams that prefer structured governance and are comfortable with a platform that may involve more operations than a fully hosted builder.
Drupal
Drupal is an open-source CMS often selected for complex content models, permissioning, and governance. The official licensing information states Drupal and contributed files hosted on its ecosystem are licensed under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.✅Source
- Strength: robust content modeling and role-based access patterns.
- Extensibility: modules and themes; large community ecosystem.
- Fit: content-heavy sites with governance requirements and multi-team workflows.
Joomla
Joomla is an open-source CMS that supports structured content, extensions, and template-based design. Its official license statement notes that Joomla is distributed under GNU GPL v2.✅Source
- Strength: flexible content organization with a mature extension model.
- Ownership: self-hosted control with provider choice.
- Fit: sites that prefer open-source licensing and a configurable CMS.
Ghost
Ghost is an open-source publishing platform oriented around modern editorial workflows, memberships, and newsletters. The official developer documentation states Ghost is released under the MIT License, which clarifies how you can use and modify the software.✅Source
- Strength: publishing and membership features designed into the core product.
- Hosting: can be self-hosted, with managed hosting options available separately.
- Fit: publications and content businesses prioritizing subscriptions and editorial tools.
Headless and Static Approaches
“Headless” and “static” are less about one vendor and more about delivery. You separate content storage from front-end rendering, which can improve performance and simplify scaling, while shifting the platform choice toward tooling and deployment.
Static Publishing (GitHub Pages and Hugo)
Static publishing is a file-based approach where pages are served without a runtime database. GitHub Pages is commonly used for project sites and documentation, while Hugo is a popular static site generator designed for fast builds. This category tends to suit sites that prioritize speed, simplicity, and predictable deployment.
- Strength: minimal runtime complexity and very stable hosting patterns.
- Content model: usually files (Markdown or similar) with templates and builds.
- Fit: documentation, landing pages, and content that changes in defined releases.
Comparison Dimensions That Translate Well
When you compare WordPress alternatives, focus on dimensions that stay meaningful even as features evolve: content ownership, workflow control, and operational load. The points below are written to be platform-agnostic while still reflecting how teams decide in real life.
Ownership and Portability
- Hosting control: self-hosted platforms maximize provider choice; hosted platforms maximize convenience.
- Data export: check how pages, media, and structured content can be exported or migrated.
- Lock-in shape: lock-in can be technical (templates) or operational (workflows).
Editing and Governance
- Editorial roles: review flows, drafts, and permissions matter for multi-author sites.
- Content structure: some platforms are page-first, others are content-model-first.
- Design control: decide who can change layouts and who can only edit content.
Extensibility and Integrations
- Marketplace depth: apps and extensions can accelerate feature coverage.
- APIs: the breadth of APIs affects automation, headless builds, and custom apps.
- Upgrade path: evaluate how customizations behave across platform updates.
Cost Shape and Predictability
- Hosted subscriptions: costs are often packaged and easier to forecast.
- Self-hosted stacks: costs can be modular: hosting, development, maintenance, and add-ons.
- Commerce fees: fees may include payment processing and platform-specific charges.
A Compact Feature Coverage Map
| Capability | Hosted Site Builders | E-Commerce Platforms | Open-Source CMS | Static / Headless Approaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual page design | Strong | Varies | Varies | Depends on front-end tooling |
| Built-in checkout | Varies | Strong | Usually via extensions | Requires integrations |
| Plugin / app ecosystem | Often strong | Often strong | Strong in many cases | Tooling-driven |
| Hosting choice | Limited | Limited | Strong | Strong |
| Portability emphasis | Varies | Varies | Often strong | Strong by design |
FAQ
Is a Hosted Builder Always “Simpler” Than WordPress?
“Simpler” usually means fewer infrastructure decisions and less day-to-day operations. WordPress can be very streamlined on managed hosting, while a hosted builder can be simpler for publishing and design iteration, depending on your workflow.
Which Alternatives Are Most Focused on Online Selling?
Commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce prioritize checkout, payments, and order operations as core features. WordPress can also support selling, but dedicated commerce platforms often ship more native tooling out of the box.
Do Open-Source CMS Options Mean You Must Self-Host?
Not necessarily. Open-source CMS software is commonly self-hosted, but many providers offer managed hosting for open-source platforms. The main difference is that you typically keep hosting choice and code access even if you delegate operations.
What Does “Headless” Change Compared to a Traditional CMS?
Headless separates content management from front-end delivery. This can improve performance and design freedom, while shifting complexity into tooling and deployment. It is often chosen for multi-channel publishing.
Are Usage Percentages a Reliable Way to Pick a Platform?
Usage data is a helpful signal for ecosystem size and likely community momentum, but it does not measure fit. A smaller platform can still be ideal when its workflow and feature focus match your needs.
Can a Static Site Approach Work for Non-Technical Teams?
It can, depending on the publishing setup. Static sites emphasize predictable delivery and strong performance. Teams that prefer a classic in-browser editor often choose hosted builders, while teams comfortable with structured publishing pipelines can use static approaches effectively.
How Should You Compare Platform Costs Without Guesswork?
Compare the cost shape: subscription bundles versus modular costs like hosting, maintenance, and paid extensions. Also consider ongoing costs for changes, integrations, and support, since those can differ from base pricing.