The pros and cons of open source solutions
Open source CMSs currently dominate the market and account for more CMS-driven web sites than any of the other categories combined. The popularity of open-source content management systems is pretty easy to understand once you examine their pros and cons.
Open Source Solution Pros
- Free – these platforms have no licensing fess at all
- Most currently hosting plans offer single-click installs of the most popular open-source CMS
- Extensive developer communities
- Frequent updates
- Security patches, bug fixes, code improvements
- New modules, extensions, and plugins to increase platform abilities
- Global 3rd party communities of qualified developers for custom projects
- Open source platform means you are able to modify the source code to your specific needs
- Multiple modules and wide input
- Often cleaner and better code
- Scalable
- Portable and adaptive
Open Source Solution Cons
- Open source systems can have hidden costs to implement
- Support not assured
- Software updates and security fixes not assured
- Lack of investment development
- Technical skills are required to manage an open source CMS
- May not be optimal for enterprise-level websites
- Larger organizations will need experienced staff or outside consultants to manage the platforms
- Costs can be open-ended if not properly planned for
- Poor planning often means that consultants are only engaged after failure
- Support
- Direct support can be hard to find with a community based CMS
- User forums, existing documentation, or FAQ’s are frequently the only support available
- One-on-one support will require you to find a developer that specializes in support contracts
- The open source CMS market is so large, it can be difficult to find the right choice for your project
Open Source Solution Examples
Without a doubt, the open-source CMS market is the most crowded of all the CMS categories, with literally hundreds of open- source content management systems to choose from. There is simply no way possible for me to perform an overview of all of the different types of open-source CMS solutions in this setting.
The most popular open source content management systems available today are Drupal, Joomla! and WordPress.
WordPress
Without a doubt, WordPress is one of the most popular CMS platforms with 60.5% of the overall CMS market (and over 33.6% of the overall Internet)!
WordPress is incredibly robust and can build sites ranging from a simple blog to a full functioning eCommerce store will still retaining a user-friendly backend.
You do not have the worry about the security patches on this platform because the development community is very active at keeping the platform up-to-date with new features and fixes.
Pros
- A huge plugin/theme repository
- User-friendly
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
- Highly Customizable
- Easy SEO-Integration
- Multi-purpose CMS
Cons
- It’s tough to implement a custom website template
- Plugin compatibility with new WordPress versions might be an issue (most of the time)
Joomla!
Joomla is the second most popular open source CMS with 5.2% of the CMS market (and 2.9% of the Internet).
I wouldn’t recommend building an e-commerce site on top of Joomla, but it would make an ideal site creation tool to build a blog or a portfolio site. Overall, the user interface is very impressive – but not very easy-to-use.
If you’re thinking of adding interesting new features to your website – look no further and utilize WordPress.
Pros
- Impressive User Interface
- Highly Customizable (Front-End)
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
- Multi-purpose CMS
Cons
- Not as flexible when compared to WordPress
Drupal
Drupal is considered to be one of the best enterprise open source CMS with 3.4% of the overall CMS market (and 1.9% of the Internet). The platform is not as easy to use as WordPress, so you need to read some documentation before jumping into the platform.
Similar to WordPress, Drupal offers modules (as plugins) to add more functionality to your website. Of course, you do not get a lot of modules (when compared to WordPress). But, it is perfectly customizable (and somewhat close to WordPress).
Drupal is a good platform for e-commerce web portals.
Pros
- Highly extensible
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
- Tailored for e-commerce portals
- Multi-purpose CMS
Cons
- Not recommended for a full-fledged blog/publication
Ghost
Ghost is a simpler alternative to WordPress if you just want to focus on your content structure and SEO. You won’t really get the ability to add unique features to your website because Ghost is specifically tailored for publications/blogs.
If you want your content to stand out along with a modern website design (and no fancy features) – Ghost should be the perfect open source CMS in that case.
Pros
- Simplicity
- Modern Website UI elements
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
Cons
- Not much extensible
- Lacks customization
- Only tailored for professional publications
Jekyll
Jekyll isn’t a full-fledged CMS but a static website generator. You can utilize Jekyll coupled with GitHub pages to host your web pages for free. If you want to create a basic portfolio site (or a site that contains basic information) – Jekyll with GitHub pages should do the trick.
Hugo is a similar open source static website generator that you can consider.
Pros
- Free web page hosting with GitHub pages
- Optimized static website generator
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
Cons
- Lack of customizability and extensibility
- Not Easy-to-Use
TYPO3
If you do not want modern UI elements on your website – TYPO3 – is a great open source CMS. It offers a very easy-to-use interface and is perfectly optimized to create and manage enterprise landing pages.
It’s not ideal for bloggers, but is good candidate for a static site about your business and you do not want to maintain it often.
Pros
- Simple & Easy-to-use
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
Cons
- Lacks a lot of features
- Does not support modern web UI elements
Magento
Magento is a popular open source CMS tailored for e-commerce businesses. You will need to purchase a license in order to unlock all the premium features of Magento, but the community edition (or the open source edition) – is free to use and also houses a lot of necessary functionalities as needed for a web blog or an e-commerce site.
Pros
- Tailored for e-commerce businesses
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
Cons
- You need to buy a license in order to unlock premium features
Microweber
If you are on the lookout for something very easy and that lets you manage your content in no time – Microweber a good choice to consider.
It supports e-commerce integration but with a limited set of features. The marketplace for this CMS isn’t huge but features a lot of modern website designs.
Overall, it is a no-nonsense open source CMS to showcase your content by utilizing modern website templates and while being able to manage it very easily.
Pros
- Multi-purpose CMS
- Easy-to-use
Cons
- Not regularly updated/patched – which might pose a threat to your site’s security.
PyroCMS
PyroCMS is a fairly new CMS that has been evolving since 2015. It aims to make the website creation process a lot faster and simpler. With a variety of modules, you can add more functionalities to your website.
I would not recommend PyroCMS if you’re trying to create a full-fledged blog, but is a reasonable candidate for a simple and elegant blog – with no plans to add advanced functionalities to the site.
Pros
- Focuses on simplicity
- Good user interface
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
Cons
- Not much customization or extensibility
SilverStripe
SilverStripe is similar to an old-school CMS with basic website design templates. Unless you have some coding skills or hire a web developer, SilverStripe won’t be easy to customize as per your liking.
Pros
- Old-school website generator
Cons
- Lacks customization or extensibility
- Fairly Secure
Fork
The fork is another basic CMS with a couple of handy extensions available. It has been around since 2010 and is still being actively maintained. If you;re looking for an easy CMS coupled with few useful extensions/themes, Fork might be right choice for you.
Pros
- Easy-to-use Interface
- Secure (Regular Updates & Patches)
Cons
- Less number of extensions/theme available in the marketplace
Zenario
Zenario is an interesting open source CMS which is often not discussed. It offers a very simple yet innovative platform to manage content. It is being utilized to make online portals for IoT (Internet of Things) applications and portfolio sites. It also offers a couple of advanced features but isn’t an all-in-one CMS.
Pros
- Tailored for online portals with IoT applications
- Advanced framework for a specific usage
Cons
- Not much customization or extensibility