Choosing a content management system (CMS) is like deciding on a car to take for a long road trip. You want something reliable, easy to operate, and flexible so you can handle anything you encounter on the road.
Two of the best content management systems are WordPress and Contentful. To help you decide which platform is right for your business, we’ll compare WordPress vs. Contentful and break down their key differences in terms of pricing, ease of use, scalability, and more.
Let’s dive in.
- Contentful vs. WordPress: A Quick Look
- When To Choose Contentful vs. WordPress
- Pricing
- Ease of Use
- Themes and Templates
- Scalability
- Support and Community
- Security
- Our Winner
- Other Platforms To Consider
Contentful vs. WordPress: A Quick Look
Contentful and WordPress are two very different CMS platforms, each with its own advantages and drawbacks to consider. Here’s a quick breakdown of how they compare across various features:
| Contentful | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| System type | Headless CMS | Open-source CMS |
| Pricing |
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| Ease of use | Uncluttered interface and straightforward for developers and those with technical experience | User-friendly and accessible for nontechnical experience |
| Themes and templates | Over 30,000 templates and themes available | No pre-built templates, but can integrate with third-party providers |
| Scalability | Highly scalable | Scalable, though performance and plug-in complications may arise |
| Support and community |
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| Security | Comprehensive security program via the platform’s ISMS | Secure platform as long as plug-ins and themes stay up to date |
What Is Contentful?
Founded in 2013, Contentful is a composable content platform that operates differently from traditional CMSs and is typically classified as a headless CMS. With this type of CMS, the front end (presentation layer) is separated from the back end (where content is stored), making it easier to distribute content across multiple channels.
Contentful is also API-centric, meaning you can retrieve and send data through API requests. This offers greater flexibility in website development since you have full control over your site. Plus, its scalability makes it a popular choice for larger enterprises. Examples of companies that opt for Contentful include KFC, BMW, and On Running.
Pros and Cons of Contentful
While Contentful shines with its impressive capabilities, the platform doesn’t fit every business. Here’s some pros and cons to consider:
Pros:
- Composable infrastructure allows you to reuse content across different channels and regions.
- API-centric nature allows for greater freedom and flexibility when building websites and applications.
- Comprehensive SDKs for Javascript, Python, iOS, and other programming languages.
- Scalable architecture allows your site to grow without the need for major updates to the site’s infrastructure.
Cons:
- Requires development and can be challenging to use for those lacking technical experience.
- Higher costs for enterprise-level subscriptions.
- Limited built-in features like themes, plug-ins, and templates.
What Is WordPress?
The most popular CMS, WordPress has been around for over ten years and powers more than 40% of all websites. Some recognizable brands that use WordPress include Sony Music, Time Magazine, Taylor Swift’s official website (and Siege Media!).
WordPress is an open-source software, which means it’s available for anyone to use. It’s generally considered to be one of the most accessible and simplest ways to create a business blog or website.
Pros and Cons of WordPress
WordPress has been the go-to CMS for decades, but growing businesses should be mindful of some potential drawbacks. Here are key advantages and considerations to keep in mind:
Pros:
- Easy to use and intuitive even for non-experienced users.
- Open source software.
- Thousands of themes and templates are available for effortless customization.
- Self-hosting setup allows for complete control of the site.
Cons:
- Scaling requires comprehensive optimization and can pose challenges for complex sites.
- Requires frequent updates and maintenance to keep plug-ins and security features running smoothly.
- Plug-in conflicts can cause performance issues.
When To Choose Contentful vs. WordPress
Whether you should opt for Contentful or WordPress largely depends on your specific business, goals, and capabilities. Here are some scenarios to help guide you:
Choose Contentful if:
- You need to manage content across various channels, such as websites, mobile apps, and wearables.
- You expect high amounts of growth and traffic to your site.
- You require a high degree of flexibility and customization.
Choose WordPress if:
- You need to get your website up and running quickly and easily.
- You’re looking for an easy-to-use platform for publishing content.
- You prefer to use templates and themes for customization.
Questions to ask when evaluating your options:
- Do you have developers with strong technical skills, or do you need a user-friendly platform that beginners can use?
- Do you need to manage content across your website, mobile apps, and other platforms?
- Would you prefer to use pre-built themes and templates or create the website design from scratch?
- Will your website need to scale quickly and manage high volumes of content and heavy traffic?
- What’s your budget?
Pricing
Costs are a key consideration when deciding which CMS to use for your business. Here’s a look at the pricing structures of these platforms:
Contentful Pricing
Contentful pricing is subscription-based. The platform offers a free plan, although it’s mostly ideal for individual projects and testing out the platform. The Basic plan, which costs $300 per month, supports up to 20 users, making it ideal for small businesses. The Premium plan offers custom pricing billed annually depending on the number of users, API calls, and bandwidth your business requires.
WordPress Pricing
Since WordPress is an open-source software, it is free to use. However, there are still costs associated with running a website on this platform. You’ll need to cover the costs for hosting and domain fees, premium themes, and plug-ins.
Most businesses would likely need to opt for a paid WordPress plan, which varies in price depending on features like transaction fees, bandwidth, support, and security.
Here’s what WordPress pricing looks like for the different paid plans available:
- Personal: $9/month
- Premium: $18/month
- Business: $25/month
- Commerce: $70/month
- Enterprise: Starts at $25,000/year
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Ease of Use
To run your website effectively, you’ll need to know your way around your chosen CMS. Keep in mind that the learning curves of these two platforms differ in complexity. Here’s how:
Contentful
Contentful boasts a simple and uncluttered user interface that makes it easy to navigate. However, setting up a website in Contentful requires extensive coding and API integration. Overall, Contentful is user-friendly for developers, but inexperienced users will likely face a steep learning curve.
WordPress
One of the main reasons why WordPress is so popular is because it’s very easy to set up and use, even if you’re a content creator without any technical expertise or coding skills. When creating your site, you can pick from a number of themes and plug-ins to personalize it to your brand. You can also use page builders, such as Divi or Elementor, to simplify setting up the layout.
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Themes and Templates
If your business doesn’t have a large development and design team, you’ll probably rely on templates and themes to get your website up and running.
Contentful Themes
Contentful’s headless architecture of the platform allows for enhanced flexibility, allowing developers to build websites, mobile apps, and other platforms from the ground up using APIs.
Unlike most CMS platforms, Contentful doesn’t have pre-built templates and themes since it manages content through APIs. However, you can still integrate themes and templates from third-party providers.
WordPress Themes
WordPress offers an extensive collection of themes and templates for easy customization, including different layouts, color palettes, and font styles. You can also install plug-ins to add additional features to your website, such as animations, interactive content, icons, widgets, social media integration, and more. With WordPress, updating content design is a very simple process.
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Scalability
As a growing company, scalability is crucial when choosing a CMS — whether you’re expanding channels, entering global markets, or handling increased traffic.
Contentful Scalability
Thanks to its cloud infrastructure and headless architecture, Contentful is highly scalable. Its modular design lets you construct the platform tailored to your specific site’s needs. Additionally, the API-centric approach can handle high traffic volumes and easily accommodate multiple languages as your site scales.
WordPress Scalability
While WordPress is also scalable, there are some additional considerations you’ll need to take into account. For example, certain plug-ins and themes can have performance problems as your site scales. Additionally, you need to make sure you’re using the right web hosting provider that supports scaling. You can also use a content delivery network (CDN) to increase site speed and improve site performance.
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Support and Community
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert developer, having a strong community and support tools is essential for resolving any issues that may arise.
Contentful Support
Contentful offers an array of support resources including a Help Center and Discord community. Customers with paid plans also access the Support Portal for in-depth guides on technical subjects as well as the ability to submit a support ticket for more personalized help.
WordPress Support
All WordPress users have access to support guides, tutorials, and a very active community forum. Those with a Premium plan also have access to support from an expert team, while customers with a Business, Commerce, or Enterprise plan receive 24/7 support.
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Security
CMS security is key for business, or else you’re at risk of cyber threats. Here’s how their security features stack up:
Contentful Security
Contentful boasts a robust security program managed by its Information Security Management System (ISMS), which aligns with the ISO 27001:2013 international standard. The platform’s security protections include:
- Data encryption: Your data is encrypted at rest and in-transit to protect your content.
- Penetration tests: Annual penetration tests are run on infrastructure, web applications, and APIs to proactively detect and fix vulnerabilities.
- Web Application Firewall: A Web Application Firewall is employed to protect application endpoints from cyberattacks.
- Threat detection: Using AWS GuardDuty, threats are monitored and addressed in real time, detecting malicious IP connections, unauthorized activities, and more within our AWS accounts.
- Two-factor authentication (2FA): Contentful users can set up 2FA to safeguard their accounts.
WordPress Security
WordPress also offers a variety of security features to keep your website safe such as:
- Encryption: The platform encrypts all sites to boost security and protect privacy.
- Daily security scans: WordPress uses Jetpack Scan to check for weaknesses, malware, harmful plug-ins, and other potential vulnerabilities.
- Firewalls: The platform employs firewalls to analyze traffic and protect your site from attackers.
- Website data backups: WordPress data is backed up regularly so you can access it if your data is ever lost, such as during a natural disaster.
While WordPress offers security features, its effectiveness depends on users keeping the platform, plug-ins, and themes updated. Additionally, the platform’s extensive use of plug-ins and themes can lead to vulnerabilities. Note that while WordPress isn’t in compliance with ISO 27001:2013, certain hosts, like WP Engine, are.
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Our Winner: WordPress
Contentful is ideal for businesses that need top-tier security and scalability, but for most companies, WordPress is the better choice. Its flexible pricing, user-friendly interface, vast library of themes and templates, and large, supportive community make it the go-to option for a reason.
Other Platforms To Consider
Not feeling like Contentful or WordPress align with your needs? Not to worry — there are plenty of other CMS platforms out there that may be a better fit. Here are some additional options to consider:
- Webflow: Best for collaboration across development, design, and marketing teams.
- Drupal: Best for sites that require advanced security features.
- Joomla!: Best for global brands needing multilingual support.
- Shopify: Best for e-commerce businesses looking for a fully managed platform.
- Wix: Best for beginners looking for an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder.
- Squarespace: Best for users looking for an all-in-one solution.
- Adobe Commerce: Best for e-commerce brands that integrate with Adobe.
How To Get Your Contentful or WordPress Site in Front of Your Audience
No matter which platform you choose in the WordPress vs. Contentful debate, Siege Media can help grow your business’s online presence. Our content marketing services take the guesswork out of growth, ensuring your website ranks on search engines. With optimized blog design, high-quality content writing, and targeted SEO strategies, we’ll make sure your site reaches your target audience.
