The Best Free WordPress AlternativesTop Blog Publishing & CMS Tools like WordPress

The best free alternative to WordPress is Drupal, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to WordPress and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to WordPress are Joomla, Ghost, Blogger and Grav.

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WordPress alternatives are mainly CMS Tools, but if you're looking for Blog Publishing Tools or Website Builders you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, .NET Framework, Website Builder, Linux, Free, Self-Hosted + Open Source and Self-Hosted. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to WordPress.
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Alternatives list

  1. Drupal icon

    Drupal

     493 likes

    Drupal is a free and open source CMS that has been created “by developers for developers”, and is therefore slightly more complicated to learn than a solution like Wix or WordPress. It's intended for an audience with technical skills, which is why it is perhaps less popular. This drawback can also be an advantage: thanks to the great flexibility of Drupal, it is possible to obtain much more advanced results thanks to more in-depth functionality. And like WordPress, it can also be extended with thousands of themes and modules.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    Drupal screenshot 1
     
    |
    8
    Drupal vs WordPress Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    1

    Wordpress is a good framework for absolute beginners, Drupal for more advanced users, imo

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    xu3e
    -1

    Some times ago Drupal started using Symphony Framework which is a great for some. Not for many. I am not sure why but anytime i tried Drupal on localhost or my VPS, it was very slow comparing to wordpress. Slower than WORDPRES?! No hell! I really do not see any advantages. But in a past, i had a big feelings for Drupal. Not anymore.

    Rakshit Panchal
    Positive
    0

    Drupal and WordPress are both popular content management systems (CMS), but they serve different needs.

    WordPress is known for its ease of use and is ideal for beginners and small to medium-sized sites. It has a large library of themes and plugins, making customization straightforward.

    Drupal, on the other hand, is more complex but offers greater flexibility and scalability. It’s well-suited for large, complex websites with extensive data and custom functionality.

    3 of 8 comments
    • Drupal is Free and Open SourceWordPress is Freemium and Open Source
  2. Joomla icon

    Joomla

     350 likes

    Joomla is another free and open source popular CMS. It's a powerful, versatile, and flexible platform with a large community of users and developers. It is known to be more accessible than Drupal, but more complex than WordPress. Like the other two, it can be extended with themes and extensions. Joomla still requires some technical skills and is primarily intended for developers.

    206 Joomla alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    Home Dashboard
     
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    3
    Joomla vs WordPress Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    All in one installation with extensions I need improve the security. No problem of compatibility of extensions when I update.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Joomla is the only CMS that allows you to make a simple website to a complex website with an optimal learning curve.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    -12

    Joomla is a CMS, Wordpress was more concepted for blogging - even if it's a CMS similar Sw today...

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Joomla is Free and Open SourceWordPress is Freemium and Open Source
  4. Ghost icon

    Ghost

     256 likes

    Launched in 2013, Ghost is a modern blogging platform that you can self-host or pay for a hosted version (a bit like WordPress). But unlike the three CMS mentioned above, it's not based on PHP but on NodeJS, which can be a good thing for JavaScript developers. Ghost has a very sleek interface and offers useful tools like subscriptions, memberships, analytics, and integrations to easily grow your audience. You can also download beautiful themes from their marketplace to speed up the process of launching your website.

    276 Ghost alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    • Node.JS
    Ghost screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Ghost vs WordPress Comments
    xu3e
    Negative
    -1

    Needs NodeJS, which means more powerful hosting or VPS that cost more than ordinary hosting. There is also less plugins and support. It is just a basic blog platform. Faster? Yeah. More secure? Yeah. Membership included? Yeah. But you have to pay more than on wordpress. And good luck with looking for an enthusiastic developers working for a smile. Wordpress is still the best platform. For a blogging i would choose anything but ghost.

    • Ghost is Free Personal and Open SourceWordPress is Freemium and Open Source
    • Ghost is Privacy focusedWordPress is not according to our users
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  6. Blogger icon

    Blogger

     224 likes

    Yes, the famous Blogger is still alive! Launched in 1999, and bought in 2003 by Google, it's the veteran of this list. It's a free blogging platform that offers most of the features you would need for blogging: a commenting system, built-in social features, ease of use, templates, the ability to use your own domain name… It's more limited than WordPress, but if what you're looking for is a simple solution to publish blog posts, this might be a good fit for you.

    199 Blogger alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    Blogger screenshot 1
     
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    3
    Blogger vs WordPress Comments
    ndlinn
    Negative
    0

    This is really in no way comparable to WordPress

    jgemmba9901
    Positive
    0

    Good ecosystem, blog builder

    Guest
    Positive
    -4

    Add JavaScript in post page easily.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Blogger is Free and ProprietaryWordPress is Freemium and Open Source
  7. Grav icon

    Grav

     136 likes

    Grav is a powerful and easy to use open source CMS written in PHP and based on the Symfony web application framework. Compared to other content management systems, it is a fast, simple and flexible file-based platform. This means that Grav doesn't use a database like MySQL or MongoDB, but stores all the information in YAML files. This also means that the learning curve is pretty straightforward, there are less security risks, and the websites are usually pretty fast. There's also a marketplace with themes and plugins, but don't expect to see as many as for WordPress, Joomla or Drupal.

    187 Grav alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    The dashboard
     
    |
    6
    Grav vs WordPress Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    6

    It's not a messy pile of spaghetti code. It uses modern tools like Composer and Twig.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    therojam
    Positive
    0

    Grav is easy to deploy by just extracting the downloaded archive. It got an terminal client where to install plugins/extensions like an administrative backend or other themes. It has spotless file structure.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    2

    The features you want, without the bloat you don't

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 6 comments
    • Grav is Free and Open SourceWordPress is Freemium and Open Source
  8. Medium icon

    Medium

     182 likes

    Medium is a new place on the Internet where people share ideas and stories that are longer than 140 characters and not just for friends. It’s designed for little stories that make your day better and manifestos that change the world.

    135 Medium alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    Medium screenshot 1
     
    |
    4
    Medium vs WordPress Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    14

    Médium is not a CMS. It is a website

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    fernandosoares
    Positive
    4

    Medium should not be classified as an alternative to WP, as of yet. It is way more limited than WP.

    jgemmba9901
    Positive
    0

    Easy to use website builder

    3 of 4 comments
    • Medium is Freemium and ProprietaryWordPress is Freemium and Open Source
  10. Jekyll icon

    Jekyll

     126 likes

    Jekyll is a static site generator (SSG) created in 2008 by Tom Preston-Werner, the founder of GitHub. It's coded in Ruby and requires NodeJS. It's very different from WordPress on many points. For starters, it's a static site generator, which means it takes your text and generates static HTML pages for your site (with no database).

    Like Grav, it's pretty fast and simple to use, but it requires a bit more technical knowledge as you don't have access to an admin dashboard to manage your website. One advantage, though, is that you can use the free hosting provided by GitHub Pages with Jekyll.

    132 Jekyll alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Jekyll screenshot 1
     
  11. Hugo icon

    Hugo

     92 likes

    Hugo is a general-purpose website framework for generating static web pages. Hugo flexibly works with many formats and is ideal for blogs, docs, portfolios and much more.

    107 Hugo alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Hugo screenshot 1
     
  12. Webflow icon

    Webflow

     87 likes

    Build custom websites using Webflow's platform with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Design, animate, collaborate, and host responsive sites, generating clean code. Users enjoy CMS integration for content, SEO control, and globalized experiences. Transform unstyled elements into reusable components.

    253 Webflow alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Webflow screenshot 1
     
  13. Bear Blog icon

    Bear Blog

     45 likes

    Privacy-first, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging. No trackers, no JavaScript, no stylesheets. Just your words.

    86 Bear Blog alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Bear Blog screenshot 1
     
  14. ProcessWire icon

    ProcessWire

     164 likes

    ProcessWire is a free and open source content management framework (CMF) and content management system (CMS). The backend is clean and structured for easy handling. This tool gives you all the freedom you need to design your website. It is not as well known as the giant WordPress or its competitors Joomla and Drupal, but this lightweight software stands out from the competition with certain advantages (ease of use, security, stable API, page templates…).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    ProcessWire screenshot 1
     
  15. Frappe Builder icon

    Frappe Builder

     14 likes

    Frappe Builder is an open-source low-code website builder built on the Frappe Framework, designed for simplicity, speed, and flexibility. Craft beautiful websites effortlessly with an intuitive visual builder.

    31 Frappe Builder alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Linux
    • Docker
    Frappe Builder screenshot 1
     
12 of 89 WordPress alternatives