Overview
There are so many open source and proprietary content management systems available today, that it's super hard to choose. If you're on this page, no doubt open-source options appeal to you. Wagtail's main advantages are a better customization experience for developers, built-in accessibility tools, and strong security. The main strengths of WordPress include a low-code "drag and drop" experience for editors, a large community, and fast upgrades.
We'll dig a bit deeper into the specifics. But if you prefer a more hands on experience and have ten minutes to spare, we encourage you to give our new Wagtail Starter Kit a go. Poke around. See if the editor works for you. We'll be here when you get back. 😉
Let's start out with some key things about Wagtail and WordPress.
About Wagtail
Wagtail is a CMS written in Python that incorporates the open source Django web framework. Django has been around for almost two decades and is used by companies like Spotify and Instagram. Wagtail is over ten years old and has since been adopted by organisations such as NASA, Google, and the National Health Service.
About Wordpress
WordPress is a CMS written in PHP that's typically paired with a MySQL database. WordPress is nearly 20 years old and is so popular that 42.8% of the top 10 million websites use it.
Popularity isn't everything though, so let's look at some common questions that people have about these technologies.
How easy is it to get started?
Both WordPress and Wagtail are easy to learn. They both have strong documentation, thriving communities, and intuitive user interfaces.
Currently, the key difference between the two is that you will need some technical skills to launch a Wagtail website. Wagtail is designed for teams and includes many enterprise features out of the box like permissions and editing workflows. Wagtail works best for teams that include at least one developer.
WordPress, on the other hand, can be launched without a developer. Often though, people will wind up hiring a developer at some point to work on their WordPress website because WordPress sites typically become much more difficult to manage as they grow.
If you really can't afford to work with a developer right now, then WordPress might be your best option. If you're focused more on the long-term, Wagtail is a scalable option that will serve you well for years to come.
How customizable are Wagtail and WordPress?
Wagtail is highly customizable. You can customize your data structures from the very beginning of a Wagtail project, so you don't have to worry about trying to adapt code that isn't made for what your project specifically needs. Also, Wagtail also doesn't rely on a specific frontend framework, so you have the freedom to pair it with any frontend technology you prefer.
WordPress is optimized for blogging. You can customize it to do other things, but you'll often have to work around code that wasn't meant to support the features that you've added. Because WordPress was designed to be a low-code solution, it also comes with a built-in frontend. Customizing the WordPress frontend often requires undoing a lot of code.
If your project is mostly content-focused and you don't need a completely customized visual design, then WordPress could be a good fit for your project. Wagtail is a better choice if you need more control over how your data is organized, want a customized site structure, or you want more control over the visual appearance of your project.
“Wagtail increased the efficiency of both our development and content teams. We are now able to produce much more visually appealing and engaging content in a fraction of the time we were able to do before.”
How secure are Wagtail and WordPress?
Wagtail incorporates the advanced security features of the Django web framework. These features protect against many common attacks, including cross site scripting, cross site request forgery, and SQL injection. The way Wagtail and packages that extend Wagtail interact with the database makes it a lot harder for malicious actors to target your website and steal data.
WordPress is fairly secure on its own. However, plugins can introduce vulnerabilities if they aren't up to date, aren't written well or aren't created with security in mind. The popularity of WordPress makes it a common and relatively easy target for hackers.
If you aren't planning to collect large amounts of data from users or to collect sensitive data, then WordPress could work well for you. But If you want better protection for user information or sensitive data, then Wagtail makes it more difficult for people to steal data.
How extendable are Wagtail and WordPress?
Both WordPress and Wagtail can be extended fairly easily. WordPress uses plugins, which can often be installed with one click and added to your website. There are thousands of free and paid plugins available for WordPress. Wagtail uses packages, which need to be installed by a developer on the backend of your website.
One key difference between Wagtail and WordPress is that Wagtail packages continue working well as a website gets bigger and handles more traffic. WordPress plugins, on the other hand, often conflict with each other and have been shown to be a common source of performance issues.
If your project is simple and won't require a lot of complex features powered by plugins, then WordPress is a solid choice. You should really consider Wagtail though if your project is complex, requires a lot of additional features, or you have a large amount of website traffic.
“I have no worries with Wagtail, whereas with any given Wordpress site there are at least 20 different plug-ins that could suddenly become de-supported or a security problem.”
Which is a better investment for my project?
The answer to this question honestly depends on the type of project you're creating and what your timeline is. Here are the scenarios in which each CMS really shines.
Wagtail is great for:
- Organisations that produce and manage huge amounts of content
- Long-term projects that will grow steadily over time and need to support large numbers of users
- Medium to large teams that need built-in tools to organise their users and publication workflows
- Projects that need a lot of customisation or unique designs
WordPress is great for:
- Solo projects or small teams
- Proof-of-concept projects that need to be launched really fast
- Teams without a developer
- Personal blogs or websites with relatively low amounts of traffic
Can I migrate from WordPress to Wagtail?
Yes, you can! If you want to start out with WordPress and eventually switch to Wagtail, that is an option for you. If you have outgrown your Wordress site or need to change to a CMS that has more features for teams, there's a kit available to help you migrate your content. You can read more about it in our blog.
| Wagtail | Wordpress | |
|---|---|---|
|
Cost |
Wagtail is open source and has no licensing fees. Startup costs vary but will likely include paying a developer or agency for creating the website. |
Wordpress is open source and has no licensing fee. Very cheap to start up and launch. |
|
Language |
Python |
PHP |
|
Framework |
Incorporates Django, a modern web framework designed for efficiency and security. |
Doesn't incorporate a web framework. |
|
Customization |
Wagtail is highly customisable and can be tailored to the needs of your project right away whether you're creating a blog, an app, or an online service. |
Wordpress was designed for blogging. You'll have to do extra customisation to use it for non-blogging projects. |
|
Extendability |
Wagtail is very easy to extend. Functionality can be added with packages or custom Python code. Custom SQL or database code is typically not needed, which reduces security risks. |
Wordpress can easily be extended with plugins. Plugin code can involve manipulating SQL or the database in ways that can introduce security risks. |
|
Scalability |
Wagtail is very scalable. Large amounts of content can be managed on most Wagtail websites without severely impacting performance. |
Wordpress works best for smaller or intermediate size websites. Large numbers of plugins can affect performance. |
|
Required technical skills |
Developer skills are needed to set up and maintain a Wagtail website. |
Developer skills aren't needed to set up and maintain a Wordpress website. |
|
Enterprise-level features |
Includes workflows, permissions, commenting, reports, history tracking, and accessibility features typically required by large organisations. |
Plugins or custom development is required to add advanced enterprise features to Wordpress. |
|
Security |
Includes Django's advanced security features and protection against many common attacks. |
Wordpress on its own provides good security but plugins can introduce security risks and performance issues. |
|
Support and services |
Free community support, paid support for organisations, and a worldwide network of agencies to collaborate with. |
Free community support and an extremely large network of paid services, agencies, and self-service options. |
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