People look past WordPress when they would rather not run hosting, updates and a plugin stack themselves, or when content must feed several channels through an API. Site builders go to Webflow, Squarespace or Wix, publishers to Ghost, and developers to Strapi, Sanity or Contentful.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Webflow
Visual, no-code web design with a full CMS underneath · United States
A visual design tool with hosting included, charged per site. Its pricing page lists a free Starter on a webflow.io domain, Basic at 15 dollars a month billed yearly without a CMS, and Premium from 25 dollars with one. No self-hosting, and fewer extensions than WordPress.
Switch from WordPress if designers should control layout visually and you want hosting and updates handled by the vendor.
Pricing: Site plans are billed per site on a published table: a free Starter on a webflow.io domain, Basic without the CMS and Premium with it; ecommerce plans and Workspace seats are priced separately. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Webflow →
2. Ghost
Open-source publishing platform with built-in newsletters and memberships · Singapore
A publishing platform for blogs and newsletters, open source under the MIT license. Ghost(Pro) hosting is priced by audience size, with Starter at 18 dollars a month billed yearly. Memberships are built in. It is narrower than WordPress for general business sites.
Switch from WordPress if your site is a publication or newsletter with paid members.
Pricing: The core software is free and open source under MIT license to self-host; Ghost(Pro) managed hosting is priced by number of members and staff users on a published table, from the Starter plan billed yearly, and takes no transaction fee. (open source)
Full review: #8 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Ghost →
3. Squarespace
Design-forward, template-based website and content platform · United States
An all-in-one site builder sold per site, with a free 14-day trial and plans starting at 12 euros a month billed annually in our region. Hosting and templates are included. It does not offer a plugin directory or self-hosting, so customization has limits.
Switch from WordPress if you want a design-led small business site with hosting and support bundled.
Pricing: Published plans are billed per site with no permanent free tier, only a 14-day trial; every plan includes a store, with a 2% store fee on Basic that Core and higher plans remove. (free trial)
Full review: #11 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Squarespace →
4. Wix
All-in-one, AI-assisted website builder with CMS features · Israel
A hosted site builder where you create a site free and pick a plan when ready. Its plans page says every plan includes a custom domain, hosting and a 14-day money-back guarantee. Prices vary by region. Moving your content out later is harder than leaving WordPress.
Switch from WordPress if you want a hosted builder with commerce and booking tools and minimal technical upkeep.
Pricing: A free plan is available with Wix branding and a Wix subdomain; paid Premium plans are billed per site on a published table, adding a custom domain, storage and removing ads. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Wix →
5. Strapi
Open-source, self-hostable headless CMS with a Node.js core · France
A headless CMS that is open source under the MIT license, with unlimited usage when self-hosted. The pricing page lists Growth at 45 dollars a month and Strapi Cloud hosting from 35 dollars per project a month. You build the front end yourself, unlike WordPress themes.
Switch from WordPress if developers want an open source API-first CMS and will build the front end separately.
Pricing: The core is free and open source under MIT license to self-host; paid self-hosted Growth and Enterprise plans add features, and Strapi Cloud sells managed hosting per project on a published table. (open source)
Full review: #3 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Strapi →
6. Sanity
Customizable, open-source headless CMS studio with real-time editing · Norway
A hosted headless content platform with a configurable editing studio. The pricing page lists a Free plan with up to 20 seats and 2 public datasets, and Growth at 15 dollars per seat a month. Content lives in Sanity's database, not on your own server.
Switch from WordPress if you want structured content in a hosted real-time database with a customizable editor.
Pricing: A free plan covers up to 20 seats with document, API and bandwidth quotas; Growth is billed per paid seat on a published table with pay-as-you-go overages, and Enterprise is quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #5 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Sanity →
7. Contentful
API-first headless CMS built for multi-channel content · Germany
Describes itself on GitHub as an API-first composable content platform, with SDKs for its Delivery and Management APIs. It is a hosted service, not software you install. We could not read its pricing page, so check plans directly. Built for developer-led teams, not for editing pages visually.
Switch from WordPress if a development team will deliver content to several apps and sites through APIs.
Pricing: A free Community tier covers a small team and limited API calls and records; paid tiers scale by API request volume, environments and users, with Enterprise quoted separately. (free plan)
Full review: #2 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Contentful →
8. Drupal
Open-source CMS built for complex, high-governance sites · United States
Open source under the GPL, with no license fees according to Drupal.org and supported by the non-profit Drupal Association. Modules and themes extend it, as plugins do for WordPress. It is generally built and maintained by developers and suits complex editorial structures.
Switch from WordPress if you need granular content structure and permissions and have developers to build it.
Pricing: The core software is free and open source to self-host; Acquia, its main commercial backer, sells managed cloud hosting and enterprise support on quoted contracts, alongside other Drupal hosting providers. (open source)
Full review: #6 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Drupal →
9. Umbraco
Open-source .NET CMS with a friendly editing experience · Denmark
A .NET based CMS, aimed at organizations that run Microsoft technology. Umbraco Cloud is a managed host on Microsoft Azure, with pricing from 45 euros a month and a free trial. A smaller extension market than WordPress's, but a fit for .NET teams.
Switch from WordPress if your developers work in .NET and want a managed host on Azure.
Pricing: The core CMS is free and open source under MIT license to self-host; Umbraco Cloud adds managed hosting, and paid support and training are available separately. (open source)
Full review: #7 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Umbraco →
10. Joomla
Open-source, community-governed CMS between WordPress and Drupal · United States
A free, open source CMS with a long history, close to WordPress in being a self-hosted PHP system with extensions. The Joomla site also lists a free-site option. Its extension and theme market is smaller, so fewer ready-made solutions exist.
Switch from WordPress if you want a self-hosted open source CMS without a vendor behind it.
Pricing: The core software is free and open source under GPL to self-host; hosting, extensions and templates are paid separately through a marketplace of third-party developers. (open source)
Full review: #9 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit Joomla →
11. HubSpot CMS (Content Hub)
CMS built into the HubSpot CRM and marketing platform · United States
Content Hub inside the HubSpot platform. Its pricing page lists a free tier for up to two users, Starter at 7 dollars per seat a month billed annually, and Professional at 450 dollars a month with three core seats. Strongest when marketing already runs on HubSpot's CRM.
Switch from WordPress if marketers want website content, CRM and email in one system and accept per-seat pricing.
Pricing: A free plan covers up to two users; paid Starter, Professional and Enterprise tiers on Content Hub are billed per seat or per core seat on a published table, with included HubSpot Credits. (free plan)
Full review: #12 of 14 in our ranking ·
Visit HubSpot CMS (Content Hub) →
Questions and answers
Can I export everything from WordPress?
Mostly. The built-in export produces a WXR XML file with posts, pages, custom post types, comments, custom fields, categories, tags, taxonomies and users. Check media, theme settings and plugin data on your own.
Is WordPress really free?
The software is free under the GPLv2, according to the project. Hosting, premium themes and plugins cost extra, and WordPress.com is a separate hosted service with a free plan and paid tiers.
Which alternatives are open source?
Ghost and Strapi are MIT licensed, Drupal and Joomla are open source under the GPL, and Umbraco calls its cloud product an open-source CMS. Webflow, Squarespace, Wix and Sanity are hosted services.
Do I lose SEO when I leave WordPress?
Not if URLs are redirected properly. Map every old address to a new one, keep titles and descriptions, and submit the new sitemap. Rankings can still fluctuate for a while after a platform change.
Does WordPress.com avoid hosting work?
Yes. WordPress.com is the hosted product, with a free plan and paid plans that include a free domain for the first year. It is a different service from self-hosted WordPress.org software.
Which alternative suits a developer-led team?
Strapi, Sanity and Contentful are headless. They provide content through APIs, so your developers build the front end. Strapi can be self-hosted, while Sanity and Contentful are hosted.
