11 Best Content Management Systems (CMS) in 2025 – Simpalm

A 2022 statistic reveals that around 67% of the websites use a CMS platform, the count of which has stupendously increased over the past 3 years. So, planning on starting your brand website on a CMS might give you a lucrative advantage over the competitors in many ways. You can deploy your site faster while ensuring all the major functionalities are integrated as plugins into it.

However, choosing the right CMS has a great impact on the user experience you offer on your website, and how efficient it is for your teams to manage & operate. Not just that, but choosing an ideal CMS platform also helps you extend and scale your website to the future needs. 

If you have been looking for the best CMS platform to build your website, this article will help you with brief highlights on the top options you can count on. Beyond that, you will also get an insight into a few factors to consider before finalizing on the ultimate CMS for your website.

11 Best CMS Platforms for Website Development

Here is the list of 8 top CMS platforms that you can use for building your website, operating, and managing it with effortless and seamless measures:

1. WordPress

Talking about CMS-based website development, WordPress will always be at the top! It is an open-source Content Management System that is ideal for even beginners to use and get started with. You get a set of simple core features that can be extended using third-party plugins. 

Some of the key features of WordPress CMS are as follows:

• You get a user-friendly website editor that is easy to learn and master, especially for non-technical users. 
• There are ready-to-use templates, thousands of which are free. You also get premium paid themes, allowing you to achieve sophistication for your website design without the need for any coding efforts. 
• A vast plugin library is ready for you to customize your website and add unmatched functionalities to it. 

2. Drupal

Drupal is yet another popular open-source CMS that can be used as a headless website development solution through customizations. This CMS is more like a developer-centric platform, offering endless flexibility and a steep learning curve. Drupal is ideal for businesses that seek a complex and immensely customized website, backed by a strong team of developers. 

Some of the features of Drupal as your CMS platform are:

• The API-based architecture of Drupal will give your developers immense freedom to integrate the site with third-party functionalities and extend the operational capabilities. 
• When compared to other open-source CMS options, Drupal offers faster performance through advanced scaling mechanisms and caching. 
• The content data in Drupal is given a proper structure, independent of the front-end presentation. Therefore, it is possible for you to add complex applications and use cases, beyond mobile or web sites. 

3. Joomla

Joomla is a popular monolithic and open-source CMS, which is possibly a middle-ground preference for website development. It means Joomla is considered more versatile than WordPress CMS, whereas it is more user-friendly than Drupal. This CMS is ideal for professional websites that serve simple and well-explained user cases. 

The key features of Joomla are as follows:

• User management is seamless with Joomla, as it provides you with access controls. You can use them for creating custom accessibility groups with varying levels of edit or view abilities.m 
• You get native support for more than 70 languages for your website when using Joomla as your CMS. It allows you to create multilingual websites without even needing a specific plugin. 
• You get the liberty to use different templates, sourced from third-party providers, for varying pages. With Joomla, you won’t have to stick to just one theme for the entire website. 

4. HubSpot Content Hub

HubSpot is a monolithic and SaaS CMS, designed to seamlessly integrate and work alongside other built-in tools. For instance, HubSpot has its own CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool and marketing automation solutions that its CMS can seamlessly integrate with. HubSpot Content Hub is an ideal CMS for companies that have already invested in the HubSpot suite and prefer using their site for lead generation. 

Some of the noteworthy features of HubSpot Content Hub are:

• You get a drag-and-drop page editor that enables you to work with the different templates for building landing pages faster. 
• There are editable themes available for even the non-technical users to customizable and tailor the website UI. Moreover, there are also prebuilt themes for you to get started with crafting your website. 
• HubSpot offers you native SEO tools for making your website rank higher in the Google SERPs. There are tools to help you with keyword recommendations, site optimizations, and areas of improvement. You can also monitor the content market performance, using advanced analytics, with the Enterprise and Professional plans. 

5. Webflow

Webflow is a SaaS based CMS platform that is designed to enable almost anyone to build their own brand website or eCommerce store. There is no need for you to write even a single line of code, making this CMS ideal for both beginners as well as professionals. Webflow offers you the flexibility of editing CSS, adjusting HTML, and adding JavaScript directly. It is one of the best functionalities for anyone who wants to attain complete control over the website through CMS tools. 

Some of the key features of Webflow are as follows:

• You get precise control over customizing and optimizing your website, based on your design preferences. 
• Whether you intend to create a one-page website or a multi-page brand store, Webflow has pre-built templates for you to get started with your project. 
• Webflow ensures strong built-in security and faster loading times for your website, and is highly rated for providing your users with a safe and smooth experience. 

6. Kentico

Kentico is an accountable CMS platform that pays regular attention to the major hotfixes, best practices, and security trends. The idea of this CMS is to meet the client’s requirements while enabling them to stay on their defined budget for website development. At the same time, Kentico also cuts down the overall development time with its out-of-the-box tools and solutions. You get extendable data management, web farm deployment, performance tuning, and other such features with Kentico as your CMS. 

Some of the features of Kentico are as follows:

• Kentico is serious about prioritizing security measures for your website, ensuring the common vulnerabilities like cross-site forgery, cross-site scripting, XPath injection, and DOS don’t adversely affect your brand platform. 
• You get detailed APIs and ready-to-use web parts for seamless development and deployment of your website. 

7. Sitecore

Sitecore CMS offers businesses the ability to create high-performance websites, backed by seamless management tools for adding or updating content. You get robust features for implementing flexible customizations to your website using Sitecore CMS. Beyond that, you get a user-friendly UI and in-depth personalization features upon using Sitecore for building your website. 

Some of the critical features that make Sitecore CMS an ideal option for website development are:

• You get robust capabilities for managing your site content, making it easier for you to create, edit, and publish content. 
• Enable advanced personalization and user targeting potential using Sitecore CMS. You can create personalized experiences for your site users based on their behavior, demographics, and preferences. 
• Sitecore is also equipped with analytics and reporting capabilities that will provide you with actionable insights for improving your website performance. Using the dedicated analytics tools, you will also be able to monitor the users’ behavior, determine improvement areas, and track conversions. 

8. Strapi

Strapi is one of the most headless and open-source CMS platforms, geared towards helping you achieve the developer experience. Upon using it, you get a foundational logic to support the API-first approach, which can be extended in almost any manner to add more functionality and features to your website. If you have a tight budget for choosing a CMS to build your website, Strapi is the go-to pick for you. Partner with a strong team of developers, proficient with headless development, for a seamless execution of Strapi as your CMS. 

The features for Strapi are as follows:

• The codebase of Strapi for website development is entirely customizable and is available on GitHub. It is open to customization, including the API. 
• There are varying deployment options available with Strapi, allowing your website to be self-hosted within the premises or on a private cloud server. Beyond that, you can also opt for a fully-managed cloud platform with Strapi. 
• You get multi-database support, compatible with MySQL, MariaDB, Postgres, and SQLite. 

9. Builder.io

Builder.io is a SaaS-based and headless CMS, prioritizing the use of AI for turning Figma-based designs into a codebase for brand design, coding convention, and component integration. You can consider using Builder.io for design-centric marketing sites, especially if you have a team that preferably uses Figma for UI designing. 

Some of the key features of Builder.io are:

• You can automatically generate code based on your existing or new Figma designs. In addition to that, your team will have the ability to make necessary design iterations using the AI-based chat. 
• You can also define the design tokens or fully sync them with the CSS variables, ensuring that the generated code adheres to the brand guidelines. 
• There are various optimization tools available with Builder.io, especially for personalization, heatmaps, A/B testing, and other such purposes. 

10. Prismic

Prismic is also a SaaS and headless CMS for mobile and web sites, allowing developers to curate pre-designed components. Content creators can then use them to visually build on-brand pages faster than usual. Prismic is also a feasible CMS for creating marketing websites with a strong brand design that requires minimal backend logic. 

The crucial features of Prismic are as follows:

• You get a Page Builder editor with Prismic for developers to build out designed slices such as CTAs, feature grids, quotes, and headers. Using them, the content creators using the CMS can drag-and-drop tools, elements, and components to build webpages. 
• You get prebuilt Slice templates for curating common page elements. Your team has the liberty to style those elements to make them align with your brand appeal. 
• There is also a developers’ tool, Slice machine, for you to create new variations or templates. You also have the option to code the design through proficient developers. 

11. Storyblok

Storyblok is also a headless CMS that is focused on providing its users with a visual website-building experience. The content within is structured as well as deliverable to almost all frontends through APIs. All the websites that are to be maintained or driven by the marketing team will need a CMS that offers features beyond traditional counterparts. Thus, Storyblok is what they can count on! It offers functionalities like omnichannel integrations or delivery, using crucial technologies. 

Some of the advanced features of Storyblok are as follows:

• You get a visual editor, enabling professionals to drag-and-drop the components and monitor the changes in real-time. 
• There are several collaboration tools that enable the team members to add comments or feedback at the component level. Users can be tagged directly to address those comments within the visual editor. 
• Managing digital assets is easier with Storyblok by automatically optimizing the image sizes and editing them within the CMS portal. There are tools available to crop, rotate, and filter the digital assets. 

Different Factors to Consider for Choosing the Best CMS

Now that you have a clear insight into the top CMS options available for you to consider, here are a few factors to consider when choosing the ultimate one from the list:

1. Ease-of-Use

The CMS you opt for should have adequate features or functionalities that can align with the site’s complexities. For instance, there must be editorial features to enable your team to seamlessly add, preview, schedule, edit, publish, organize, reuse, and localize the content. 

1. Content Structure and Design Flexibility

You must determine how the CMS stores the content and structures it on the backend. This attribute of any website builder will impact the possibilities associated with the front-end design of your site. Beyond that, you must also take into account the applications or channels you can use through the CMS, and whether you have the ability to repurpose or reuse the content. 

1. Potential for Extensions and Customizations

Your CMS should offer you the flexibility of meeting the current needs of your business. And for that, the platform should offer you with ability to support unique types of content, third-party integrations, custom workflows, customer channels, and more. The CMS you choose must be able to support the level of customer experience you intend to achieve. 

1. Help & Support

The CMS solution you choose must offer you the right kind of support during times of technical complexities or site breakdowns. There must be integration guides, training materials, consultation, workshops, and migration tools available on demand. Not just that, but you must also be able to seek ongoing customer support from the CMS vendor. 

1. Security

Security is paramount when you decide to choose a CMS for website building. It is because you would want to keep your data or operations protected. Some of the priority security features you must look for in a CMS platform include: support for strong passwords, user access controls, frequent security updates, backup policies, audit logs, and others. 

1. Cost of Ownership

Some CMS options listed above might be affordable for you to begin with, but will eventually become expensive as your site grows or becomes more complex. Therefore, considering this factor beforehand can help you decide on the ultimate CMS for you to count on. Consider the initial setup costs, ongoing expenses, cost of premium templates & plugins, and other such factors to get a brief idea of the total cost of ownership.

Let Simpalm Pave the Path for Your CMS-Based website Development!

If you are a budding entrepreneur willing to start a new website or an established business owner willing to migrate your business platform to a reliable CMS, we have got your back! 

Relying on CMS for building your website or migrating the existing one can unlock numerous benefits for your business. You will be attaining easy site management, cost-effectiveness, and unmatched scalability with your website. Thus, opting for the right CMS can ensure you have a powerful tool to run, operate, and manage your business online through a high-performance website. 

In this quest, Simpalm offers you holistic support with its comprehensive CMS-based website development services. We can help you pick the right CMS option from the list, based on your business requirements and performance expectations. Following that, our team is proficient with both monolithic and headless CMS solutions for curating your website. 

So, no matter what your expectations are from using a CMS for website development, we can adhere to them on demand. Reach out to us for more information!