Still deciding between Craft CMS and WordPress for your business website? In the second part of our series, we delve into the crucial technical differences between these platforms to help you make an informed choice.
Welcome back to our guide on choosing between Craft CMS and WordPress. This is the second part of our comparison.
You’ll remember that in the first part, we provided an overview of the key differences between the platforms from a broader perspective. We explored everything from their target audiences and core philosophies to design flexibility and functionality.
We also shared valuable insights from our development experts to help you decide which CMS is better suited to meet your needs. Hopefully, that gave you some clarity.
But if you’re still weighing your options or need a more detailed look before reaching out to us for assistance, we’re taking a deeper, more technical approach here, covering aspects like differences in the installation process, plugins, themes, and more.
Let’s get into it and help you find that crucial tiebreaker in the Craft CMS vs. WordPress dilemma.
We’ll begin by reviewing the technical capabilities each system requires to run on a server.
To run WordPress, you need to satisfy the following server-side requirements:
| Web Server | ⇒ Apache (preferred) or Nginx. ⇒ Other options: LiteSpeed, Microsoft IIS. |
| PHP | ⇒ PHP 7.4 or greater (WordPress recommends PHP 8.0 or later for better performance and security). ⇒ Some specific extensions are required: ♦ mbstring ♦ json ♦ curl ♦ zip ♦ xml ♦ dom ♦ GD or Imagick (for image processing). |
| Database | MySQL 5.7 or greater, or MariaDB 10.3 or greater. |
| Storage | Minimum 1 GB of available disk space, but more is recommended for large sites. |
| HTTPS (SSL) | SSL certificate is important for secure data exchange (especially for login and payment processes). |
| PHP Memory Limit | Minimum of 256 MB PHP memory limit for better performance (higher might be necessary for larger sites). |
Craft CMS is generally more demanding than WordPress in terms of hosting environment and configuration.
| Web Server | ⇒ Apache or Nginx (Apache is preferred). ⇒ (Apache) or proper URL rewriting (Nginx). |
| PHP | ⇒ PHP 8.0 or greater (Craft CMS recommends PHP 8.1 or later). ⇒ Required extensions: ♦ mbstring ♦ json ♦ curl ♦ gd or imagick ♦ opcache ♦ fileinfo ♦ zip ♦ dom. |
| Database | MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+ (Craft CMS also supports PostgreSQL for some installations). |
| Storage | Minimum 1 GB of disk space (larger sites or media-heavy sites may need more). |
| Other Requirements | ⇒ HTTPS for secure connections. ⇒ Composer for managing dependencies in more sophisticated setups (Craft CMS projects often rely on Composer). |
To sum up, here are the key distinctions between WordPress and Craft CMS as far as server-side specifications are concerned:
| WordPress | Craft CMS | |
| PHP Version | Can run on PHP 7.4. | Requires a new version of PHP (8.0+). |
| Database | Generally requires MySQL or MariaDB. | Supports both MySQL/MariaDB and PostgreSQL. |
| Server Configuration | Works with Apache or Nginx. | Works with Apache or Nginx, but is generally more demanding when it comes to specific configurations, particularly for advanced functionality. |
| Composer | Uses Composer for dependency management. This can add another layer of complexity in comparison with WordPress. | Has a more user-friendly plugin and theme system. |
Next, let’s have a look at what the installation process for each platform involves.
There are basically two ways to install WordPress: using a web host and manually.
The majority of web hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installation using their control panel (such as cPanel or Plesk). Here is the most straightforward method, step by step:
1. Log in to your hosting control panel (cPanel, Plesk, etc.).
2. Find the Softaculous or WordPress Installer section.
3. Click Install for WordPress.
4. Choose the domain and directory (if you want to place WordPress in a subfolder).
5. Specify admin credentials (username, password, email).
6. Click Install and wait for the process to finish. Once the installation is complete, visit your site and log in to the WordPress admin panel at http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
Certain hosts don’t provide one-click installers. In this case, you need to install WordPress manually. Here is what you need to do:
1. Download the latest version of WordPress from https://wordpress.org/.
2. Upload the extracted WordPress files to your server’s root directory (normally public_html), using an FTP client (like FileZilla) or your hosting file manager.
3. Create a database:
4. Run the installation:
Since CMS is a more developer-focused CMS, it requires Composer for installation. Here are the steps you need to take:
1. Install Composer if you haven’t done so yet. You can download Composer from getcomposer.org.
2. Create a project in a directory of your choice by running this command:
composer create-project craftcms/cms my-project3. Set up the database:
4. Run the Craft CMS install command from your terminal (when located in your project directory):
craft setupNow, go through the Craft CMS setup routine, specifying your site name, admin username, password, and so on.
5. Sign in the Craft CMS control panel by entering http://yourdomain.com/admin in your browser’s address bar.
In summary, here are the main distinctions between the platforms as far as the installation process goes:
| WordPress | You can use your host’s one-click installer or install the system manually, which involves FTP and database setup. |
| Craft CMS | Requires Composer for installation, so it’s generally a better fit for developers or users who know their way around command-line tools. |
Both systems have intuitive, easy-to-navigate dashboards, but they differ in the degree to which you can customize them, with Craft CMS clearly winning on this point. Here are the details:
| Design & Layout | ⇒ A handy menu on the left with quick access to the most frequently used sections: Plugins, Posts, Pages, Media, Settings, and more. ⇒ A highly customizable main dashboard with widgets, such as site stats, quick draft, recent posts, and so on. ⇒ Has an “old-school” design and layout in contrast to many present-day platforms. |
| Usability | ⇒ Beginner-friendly, but can become cluttered, with plugins adding more menu items over time. ⇒ Adding content is convenient and straightforward with the default block editor Gutenberg. ⇒ You can find comprehensive documentation online and easily get troubleshooting assistance from a large and empathetic community. |
| Customization | ⇒ Highly extensible with plugins, but can become messy and hard to go around if you install too many plugins. ⇒ Too many themes and plugins may bring inconsistencies to the admin experience. |
| Design & Layout | ⇒ A sidebar with tabs such as Utilities, Settings, GraphQL, and Plugins for quick access to the respective sections. ⇒ Customizable, with widgets like recent entries and analytics to instantly view and manage crucial data. |
| Usability | ⇒ A steeper learning curve in contrast to WordPress. However, the dashboard gives you more control over structuring content. ⇒ Intended for designers and developers who practice a structured, practical approach to content management. ⇒ Offers customizable fields for various needs, making content entry very flexible. |
| Customization | ⇒ An amazingly customizable and flexible dashboard. You can freely design its layout and content workflows to meet every project’s needs. ⇒ No bloat caused by unnecessary plugins, since developers often create features to cater to the specifics of a particular project. |
| Best For | ⇒ Developers and experienced users managing custom websites with superior performance. ⇒ Projects that use highly specific content structures or integrations. |
As we explained in the first part of this guide, WordPress has a much vaster ecosystem of themes in comparison with Craft CMS.
Since the latter focuses on customizability and uniqueness, developers mostly create Craft themes from scratch. Here are a few more details:
| Overview | ⇒ Thousands of pre-existing themes available on the WordPress Theme Directory, marketplaces like ThemeForest, or from independent developers. ⇒ Easy to install and customize for beginners. ⇒ Types: ♦ General-purpose themes (e.g., Astra, OceanWP) ♦ Page builder themes (e.g., Elementor Pro, Divi) ♦ Niche-specific themes (e.g., themes for photographers, restaurants, blogs). |
| Customization | ⇒ The majority of themes offer customization through the WordPress Customizer (editing the layout, colors, and typography in real time). ⇒ Advanced themes integrate with page builders and can be edited by drag-and-dropping. ⇒ Limited flexibility in themes that don’t support fine-grained design changes, which can only be implemented by custom coding. |
| Examples | ⇒ Free Themes: Astra (Free Version), Twenty Twenty-Three. ⇒ Premium Themes: Avada, Divi, Flatsome. |
| Pros | ⇒ A vast collection of pre-built themes suitable for various needs and industries. ⇒ Perfect for users with little to no coding experience. ⇒ A large number of themes integrate well with plugins for additional features. |
| Cons | ⇒ Without customization, you get a “cookie-cutter” website that looks like thousands of others on the Internet. ⇒ Many themes come with extra scripts or features that can seriously impact the website performance. ⇒ To customize a theme for a different look & feel and additional functionality, users need to be well-versed in coding. |
| Overview | ⇒ Number: Craft CMS doesn’t have a comprehensive collection of pre-existing themes that WordPress offers. Typically, developers themselves design and build themes from scratch based on their own reusable boilerplates. ⇒ Approach: Craft focuses on custom-made designs rather than on pre-built themes. |
| Customization | ⇒ Complete control over the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code with the Twig template engine. ⇒ With Craft, developers get a “blank sheet” to create bespoke, highly optimized designs. ⇒ No dependence on pre-existing layouts or inflexible theme frameworks. |
| Examples | ⇒ You can find starter kits or frameworks like Craft Starter Templates, which developers offer for download. |
| Pros | ⇒ Designers and developers are completely free in bringing their creative ideas to life. ⇒ Perfectly optimized for performance, with no extraneous scripts. ⇒ Best fit for projects where unique brand identity and business-specific features are key. |
| Cons | ⇒ No WordPress-like “install and forget” themes, which makes Craft challenging for users without web development skills. ⇒ Building a website takes more time and effort in contrast to using off-the-rack themes. |
Finally, here’s a quick overview of the differences between the platforms regarding themes:
| WordPress Themes | Craft CMS Themes | |
| Number | Thousands of pre-made themes | Few (custom development is standard) |
| Ease of Use | Beginner-friendly | Developer-oriented |
| Customization | Limited unless custom coded | Fully customizable |
| Performance | Can be bloated with unnecessary code | Lightweight and well-optimized |
| Cost | Free and premium options | Requires developer expertise, no free themes by default |
Similar to themes, Craft CMS’s approach is to offer a relatively few, but top-quality plugins that seamlessly integrate with the core.
WordPress, on the other hand, features an enormous variety of plugins that cover all tasks you can imagine. However, there are some challenges we discussed in the previous Craft CMS vs. WordPress post.
Here’s more detailed information:
| Number | ⇒ More than 60,000 free plugins in the WordPress Plugin Repository. ⇒ You can also purchase thousands of premium plugins from marketplaces like CodeCanyon or independent developers. |
| Ease of Use | ⇒ You can install almost any plugin with just a few clicks. ⇒ No prior coding experience is required. |
| Types | A broad range: analytics, security, SEO, eCommerce, forms, caching, and many other types. |
| Examples | ♦ SEO: Rank Math, Yoast SEO ♦ Forms: Contact Form 7, WPForms ♦ Custom fields: ACF ♦ Multi language: Polylang, WPML ♦ eCommerce: WooCommerce ♦ Page Builders: Elementor, WPBakery ♦ Caching/Performance: W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache ♦ Security: Wordfence, iThemes Security |
| Pros | ⇒ An immense collection of plugins to address almost every task you can name. ⇒ Easily integrate with the core. ⇒ Effortless setup. ⇒ The most widely used plugins have comprehensive community and developer support. |
| Cons | ⇒ Not all plugins are of high quality. Many are not supported or insecure. ⇒ Too many installed plugins affect performance and cause conflicts between various plugins. ⇒ Some plugins may restrict features to paid access. |
| Number | Unlike WordPress, Craft offers far fewer plugins (hundreds). You can get them from the Craft Plugin Store or by directly installing them from GitHub and Packagist. |
| Ease of Use | ⇒ Technical expertise is necessary. ⇒ Many plugins require assistance of professional developers for configuration and customization. |
| Types | “One-size-fits-all” is not Craft’s approach. Its plugins focus on extending custom features. |
| Examples | ♦ eCommerce: Craft Commerce (built-in, not a plugin) ♦ SEO: SEOmatic ♦ Forms: Freeform, Sprout Forms ♦ Multi language: built-in ♦ Development Tools: Redactor, Element API ♦ Custom fields: built-in ♦ Caching/Performance: Blitz |
| Pros | ⇒ Craft plugins are top-quality, developer-focused solutions with clean code and seamless integration into the core. ⇒ Compared to WordPress, Craft CMS plugins are often lighter. ⇒ With Craft CMS, you can build custom plugins tailored to unique needs of website owners. |
| Cons | ⇒ Fewer plugins than WordPress offers, restricting functional capabilities. ⇒ Many plugins are commercial or come with licensing fees. |
So when should you choose WordPress or Craft CMS if using plugins is your main concern?
| WordPress | Choose WordPress with its plugins if you need a large collection of pre-made solutions you can easily install and set up yourself without professional assistance. |
| Craft CMS | Go with Craft CMS if you need extremely flexible, highly configurable plugins with superb performance for a custom website run by developers. |
That wraps up our Craft CMS vs. WordPress comparison. We hope this information will help you finally make this super important move: select the perfect system for building your business website.
In the end, we’d like to repeat the words of our leading CMS Developer Serhii Chyzhykov:
In my experience, the choice of a CMS always hinges upon business specifics and project goals.
So, choose the platform that aligns with your business and project objectives above anything else.
Still have questions or need assistance with Craft CMS or WordPress development? The GetDevDone team is always here for you. From crafting unique themes and custom plugins to theme customization, API integrations, migration, and support & maintenance, we can do it all.
Share the details of your project and let’s get started!
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