What is the Best Open Source CMS

Are you researching the best open source CMS platform to use for building your website? You’re in the right place. A Content Management System (CMS) makes it easy to build a website without knowing how to code (at least for most of them). There are many open source CMS options, so it might be hard for you to choose the best one for your needs.

In this article, we will talk about why it's important to choose the right java open source CMS for your website. We will also review some of the best open source CMS platforms you can select from.

What Is An Open Source CMS?

A content management system (CMS) is a piece of software that makes it easy to create a website and manage content.
HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are the most common languages to write web pages. Without a CMS platform, you would have to learn these languages and write a lot of code to build a website.

CMSs solve this problem because they let you create a website without writing codes or learning computer programming.
How To Choose The Best Open Source CMS

There are many CMS platforms, so how do you decide which one to use? Before we start comparing CMS platforms, here are some things you should look for in a good one:

User-friendly
You want a content management system (CMS) that makes adding and changing content easy. You should be able to make changes to the content on your site quickly and easily before and after you publish it. This usually means having a drag-and-drop interface that lets you add several content types to your web pages.

Data portability
You can move around more freely when you can take your data with you. A good CMS should have tools that make it easy to export and move your data elsewhere. For example, you may decide to switch platforms or hosting companies in the future.

Design options
No matter your type of CMS, be it a React open-source CMS, java open-source CMS, or PHP open-source CMS, you need to have access to a lot of website design templates. Your CMS should also make it easy to change the designs to fit your needs (ideally without writing code).

Add-ons and extensions
Websites come in different types and are made for different purposes. Because of this, no CMS platform can have all the features that every website requires. Extensions and add-ons fix this problem. These are separate pieces of software that you can add to your CMS to add new features or expand the ones it already has. Think of them as applications for your CMS. A good content management system will have a large bank of website extensions and add-ons, free and paid, that will give you all the features you need.

What is the price?
Before choosing a content management system, you must know its costs so that you don't get any unpleasant surprises. Some CMS platforms don't cost anything at all. Others charge a fee every month. Even if you use a free CMS platform, you may need to pay for extensions, designs, or web hosting services from a third party. Therefore, your price research must include CMS extension and add-on prices, web hosting plans, domain name purchase and renewal, and so on. 
Keeping these things in mind, let's look at the best CMS platforms on the market.

Best Open Source CMS Platforms

WordPress 
WordPress is an open-source PHP content management system that is known for being flexible and able to grow with your needs. WordPress is the most popular CMS platform because it is used by more than 42% of all websites. It also has a gallery of more than 58,000 plugins that can be used to make any kind of website. People of all skill levels can use WordPress, from those who want to start simple blogs to those who want to make pretty complex websites.  

Pros: 

• WordPress CMS is free
• Flexible price listing to suit your budget
• Free WordPress themes and plugins to easily customize your site

Cons: 

• While it lacks customer support, its large community have created helpful forums, tutorials, and documentations.

Magento
Magento is one of the best open source e-commerce CMS platforms. The platform is strong enough for users to sell several products and fulfil millions of orders because it is made for large online stores. The e-commerce CMS software focuses on security, SEO, and high-end customization features that can meets users needs and enhance customers experience.

Pros:

• You can sell your product on multiple stores in different countries, each of which uses the languages and currencies that suit the local market.
• This open-source e-commerce CMS is responsive on all devices, including mobile devices.

Cons

• Complicated initial setup, but there are many experts who can help you.
• It takes time to customize designs and list products. Again, you can hire freelancers to do this for you.

Joomla
Joomla is an open-source CMS that runs more than 2% of all websites. Compared to other CMS platforms, Joomla's core software has more features right away. For example, right out of the box, you can publish your website in multiple languages. However, setting it up for the first time can be hard for people who aren't tech-savvy.

Pros: 

• Comes with hundreds of sub-pages that allows you to get started with designing your website quickly.
• Avoid break-ins by using two-factor authentication.

Cons: 

• The web development related terms used in the control panel are not easy for a beginner to understand.
• Some users have complained that different modules, extensions, and plugins don't work well with each other. However, a little research can help you figure out such things.

Hubspot CMS
HubSpot CMS is one of the best CMS options for building a website that doesn't need to be updated and changed all the time. It's great for people who have never made a website before because the tools on this platform are easy to use and don't require technical knowledge. Its great sales and marketing tools that work well together also help to reach and engage more people.

Pros

• Use email and social media tools to engage your customers and leads more than ever.
• There’s effective technology and team that guard your website against attacks and run regular virus scans.

Cons

• Limited gallery for themes and plugins, but the ones you have access to are pretty effective. 
• No direct help with technical issues on the free plans, but you can get all the help you need when you upgrade.

Grav

Grav is an effective, file-based CMS platform. It is lighter and faster than other CMS software because of the way its database is set up. But you need some technical knowledge to use its graphical interface.

Pros

• Fast installation
• Powerful taxonomy features that let you link pages together.

Cons

• No library and database to view files uploaded to a site.
• Its e-commerce sites aren’t well-equipped yet when compared to other alternatives.

Contentful
Contentful is a headless content management system, which means that the content is not tied to a web page. Instead, the content is shown as data through an Application Programming Interface (API). Because of this, the platform is hard for people who aren't tech-savvy to learn.

Pros

• It is adaptable to all digital platforms, from mobile apps to web browsers.
• It can handle different kinds of content.

Cons

• The layout is not flexible as you can’t change it once you start. You can only tweak the backend.
• Having technical knowledge is needed to make content for different platforms.

Which CMS Platform Is The Best (Our Top Pick)?

We believe that the best content management system and website builder in the world is WordPress.org. WordPress runs more than 43% of all websites on the web, and there's a good reason for that. WordPress is the best CMS on the market because it has everything you could want. It's free, easy to start and maintain, has a large community that can help you on your journey, and many companies hosting WordPress sites offer a "1-click install" option. On WordPress, you could run an online store, a forum, a learning management system (LMS), a membership site, an auction site, a marketplace, and almost anything else you can think of.

Now that you know about the different content management systems and their pros and cons, you can choose the one that fits your needs to create your site. If you are looking for the best freelance web developer to design and develop your site, explore our site to get started. We have some of the best freelance web developers in the world. Hire one today.