4/16/09

Comparing Open Source Content Management Systems: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone (A report comparing these systems. Free to download, but must submit basic information.): http://www.idealware.org/comparing_os_cms/

Phoebe Owens via Holly Ross

In 2008 NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network) put out their 2008 CMS Satisfaction Survey. You can find the full text and numbers for this survey on their web page, though it will cost you $50 if you are not a member of NTEN. The survey is nonprofit focussed, ideal for connec+ipedia's audience. Here is a summary of that report.

Firstly, their original survey had almost 30 CMS systems on it, and yet about 40% of respondents chose, "none of the above." This highlights how there are many different CMS out there to choose from (see this list for an idea of the CMSs available to you). The survey helped to highlight what the best choices would be. Over 1000 people participated in the survey, with 650 completing the full survey. Only 9 systems received 10 or more assessments, so usage is widespread. Industries the organizations served varied widely.

They split their report into small, medium and large organizations. In small and medium sized organizations, and also in the numbers for overall usage, the most commonly used systems were Drupal, Plone and Joomla (in that order). All three of these are major open source projects and are free to download and use. Large organizations mostly used Convio and GetActive WSM, followed by Drupal and Blackbaud. Drupal was first in both small and medium sized organizations, with Plone and Joomla well back, but still well ahead of the rest. Drupal's real dominance/strength seemed to be in medium-sized organizations where they were used by 22.6% of nonprofits, with Plone second on just 7.5% and Joomla third with 7%.

They also graded systems on various categories, and open source systems not only dominated usage, but also dominated satisfaction grades, getting mostly As and no score lower than B. With the exception of Antharia, they scored generally higher than commercial systems. Custom CMS were at the bottom of the pile. You might expect the opposite, but the truth is there is no competing with a larger CMS. Drupal, Plone and Joomla fared about the same in this area, with some variation. The verdict? Again, use the open source systems. They're better and they are free.

Surprisingly, only about a third of respondents currently use open source CMSs. One would have expected that number to be higher amongst nonprofits, illustrating again how quality open source software has so many mindset obstacles to overcome. Just why do organizations choose proprietary over open, when the research shows that the open system is better, and/or a better value? Well, this is happening less and less. The trends are strongly towards open source CMS, particularly Drupal.  NTEN agreed that nonprofits should be using one of the open source options and the report finished by recommending that organizations use an open source CMS for the following reasons:

• No fees for acquisition
• No maintenance fees if it is a low to medium traffic site
• Low hosting costs
• Solid software: for most organizations, as good, or better than a system they would pay for
• Active development and communities mean lots of improvements and new features, plus lots of help
• Generally easy installation and maintenance
• Very customizable - easy to add custom functionality

You could add that open source projects, like nonprofits, are part of the common good. They are a fellow gift-community and are part of the pay-it-forward mindset that we value.


Drupal came out of this survey as a clear leader and a good first choice, with Plone and Joomla also looking very good. However, as they state in the survey, there is no one CMS perfect for every organization, so be open to advice and suggestions. Picking one of those three is probably the way to go, no matter your size. There are also other surveys aplenty out there and new ones come out all the time, so be sure to do a web search for others, or for example see this one: Idealware compares Drupal, Joomla and Plone.

Weaknesses of the NTEN survey include the inclusion of Wordpress, which, while it can mimic basic CMS functionality, is not really a CMS. However, it does highlight that if your needs are light and limited to a blog and very simple content, then WordPress is a better option than a CMS.

Strengths are the fact that the respondents in the survey were fellow nonprofits. There is no better judge than peers.

If you want the specific numbers involved you will have to purchase the report.