The Best WordPress AlternativesTop Blog Publishing & CMS Tools like WordPress

WordPress is described as 'Open-source software for creating websites and blogs with an emphasis on accessibility, ease of use, performance, and security' and is a leading Blog Publishing tool in the development category. There are more than 100 alternatives to WordPress for a variety of platforms, including Web-based, Self-Hosted, SaaS, Mac and Windows apps. The best WordPress alternative is Drupal, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like WordPress are Joomla, Ghost, Grav and Blogger.

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WordPress alternatives are mainly CMS Tools, but if you're looking for Website Builders or Blog Publishing Tools 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

     494 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
     
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    8
  2. Joomla icon

    Joomla

     353 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.

    208 Joomla alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    Home Dashboard
     
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    3
  4. Ghost icon

    Ghost

     258 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.

    278 Ghost alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    • Node.JS
    Ghost screenshot 1
     
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    1
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Pixpa icon
    Pixpa

    A comprehensive platform aiding photographers, designers, and artists to easily build portfolio websites, manage clients, sell products, and publish blogs without any coding. It offers a drag-and-drop interface, customizable them...

    https://www.pixpa.com
    Learn More
  6. Grav icon

    Grav

     138 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.

    190 Grav alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    The dashboard
     
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    6
  7. Blogger icon

    Blogger

     225 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.

    200 Blogger alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    Blogger screenshot 1
     
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    3
  8. Squarespace icon

    Squarespace

     84 likes

    Squarespace is a versatile CMS, suitable for bloggers, e-commerce, companies wanting to present their activity, musicians, photographers… The platform has few themes, but they are all of high quality. The administration interface is clear and well-thought-out - which has not always been the case. Several statistical data are also provided: page views, RSS feed subscriptions, most popular pages… Squarespace is proprietary and doesn't offer any option to self-host it, so you'll have to pay between $12 and $54 per month to get started.

    361 Squarespace alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Squarespace screenshot 1
     
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    3
  10. 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.

    137 Medium alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    Medium screenshot 1
     
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    4
  11. Jekyll icon

    Jekyll

     127 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.

    134 Jekyll alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Jekyll screenshot 1
     
  12. Write.as icon

    Write.as

     124 likes

    Write.as is an online platform that allows you to publish an article and even an entire blog on the web in a few seconds. It comes in the form of a minimalist and distraction-free online word processor, and reduces the technical part of online publishing to a strict minimum while respecting your privacy and anonymity. Write.as can be used without even having to log in. The interface is as simple as it gets: just choose a title and start writing. Write.as is an open source and ads-free platform that you can use for free, or you can pay a monthly subscription (from $6 to $30) to get more features (custom domain, themes, private blog, custom CSS, and more).

    101 Write.as alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Kindle Fire
    Write.as screenshot 1
     
  13. Hugo icon

    Hugo

     93 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.

    109 Hugo alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

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

    Webflow

     88 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.

    260 Webflow alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

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

    Bear Blog

     45 likes

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

    88 Bear Blog alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Bear Blog screenshot 1
     
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