Joomla! vs WordPress
| Tagline | Battle-tested open-source CMS powering millions of websites | World's most widely used open-source CMS and blogging engine |
| Category | Blogging & CMS | Blogging & CMS |
| Replaces | WordPress.com, Squarespace, Contentful | WordPress.com, Squarespace, Medium |
| GitHub stars | 5.1k | 21k |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | today |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Joomla!
- Admin UI is complex and dated compared to modern CMSes; steep learning curve for new users
- Extension quality is inconsistent; vetting third-party plugins for security requires effort
- Headless/API capabilities were added late and are less polished than dedicated headless CMSes
- Page builder and WYSIWYG experience falls behind Squarespace or WordPress.com in ease of use
WordPress
- Plugin-heavy setups can become slow without caching layers and optimization expertise
- Security surface area is large; requires regular plugin/core updates and hardening
- The block editor (Gutenberg) has a steeper learning curve than Squarespace's drag-and-drop builder
- Default multisite and headless configurations require significant additional configuration
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose WordPress for the larger community and ecosystem. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.