The Best 10 Content Management System (CMS) in 2025

Building a website is just the beginning; after it's live, you'll need to regularly add, update, or remove content.  Even developers would struggle to keep up with constant changes if they had to edit the code every time, and hiring a developer for small updates would be an unnecessary expense.

That's why content management systems (CMS) were created—to allow marketers to easily update website content, design, and even code through a user-friendly interface. 

Since your website is a key part of your digital marketing, it's important to keep it fresh and relevant for your audience.

Think of your CMS as your website’s wardrobe and dressing room—something you'll use often, so it needs to be reliable, versatile, and easy to navigate.

The Best 10 Content Management System (CMS)

Webflow

Webflow is often highlighted as one of the easiest and most user-friendly CMS platforms, particularly for designers and marketers. It’s a web design tool, CMS, and hosting platform all in one, offering incredible flexibility without needing deep coding skills. 

Additionally, many of our clients at Cardinal Digital prefer Webflow for its simplicity and powerful design tools. It speeds up the workflow when creating and managing visually appealing sites.

• Key Features: Visually-driven editor, responsive design tools, customizable animations, SEO tools, and built-in hosting.
• Suitable For: Designers, small businesses, and anyone who wants full control over design but doesn’t want to touch code.
• Website: https://webflow.com/ 
• Pricing: Starts at $12/month for basic sites; CMS plans start at $16/month. Larger businesses may need higher-tier plans for additional features.

WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS globally, powering over 40% of all websites. WordPress is well-known for its open-source nature and massive library of plugins, making it incredibly versatile. 

Although WordPress's popularity is undeniable, and it is enriched with so many plugins that can help you achieve just about anything. However, if you are a beginner - it can feel overwhelming, especially if you need to manage all the plugins and updates.

• Key Features: Thousands of plugins, themes, extensive customization options, strong SEO tools, and a massive community for support.
• Suitable For: Bloggers, businesses, and anyone looking for a highly customizable platform with a wealth of integrations.
• Website: https://wordpress.com/ 
• Pricing: Free to download, but you'll need to pay for hosting, premium themes, and certain plugins. Basic hosting can start at $3/month.

Wix 

Wix is perfect for those who want to get a website up and running quickly without any technical hassle. It's a drag-and-drop website builder with pre-made templates. You cam create a simple website without worrying about code or complicated features!

• Key Features: Drag-and-drop editor, hundreds of customizable templates, built-in SEO, mobile optimization, and easy integrations with apps.
• Suitable For: Small businesses, individuals, or anyone who needs a simple, hassle-free website.
• Website: https://www.wix.com/
• Pricing: Free for basic features (with ads), paid plans start at $16/month for ad-free sites.

Joomla

Joomla is a flexible and powerful open-source CMS. It is a bit more complex than WordPress but offers greater flexibility and control. It’s a solid choice if you need more advanced features out of the box.

• Key Features: Multilingual support, built-in caching for faster loading, strong content management tools, and customizable templates.
• Suitable For: Medium to large businesses or tech-savvy users who want more control over their website.
• Website: https://www.joomla.org/
• Pricing: Free to use, but hosting, themes, and premium extensions will cost extra.

Magento

Magento (now Adobe Commerce) offers everything you need for a high-performance e-commerce site. But be prepared, you may need to invest time or hire developers to unlock its full potential. This is because although Magento is highly customizable, it will require some technical expertise.

• Key Features: Advanced product management, inventory management, scalable e-commerce tools, and extensive customization options.
• Suitable For: Large businesses or serious e-commerce sites with complex product catalogs.
• Website: magento.com
• Pricing: Free for the open-source version, with enterprise solutions starting at $22,000/year.

Squarespace

Squarespace is known for its sleek, professional templates and all-in-one approach, making it a top choice for creative professionals like photographers, artists, and small business owners. Furthermore, it's super easy to set up a polished, professional-looking site, but you might hit some limits if you need advanced customization.

• Key Features: Beautiful, mobile-responsive templates, drag-and-drop editor, built-in e-commerce tools, and integrated analytics.
• Suitable For: Creative professionals and small businesses looking for visually stunning websites.
• Website: https://www.squarespace.com/
• Pricing: Plans start at $16/month.

Drupal

Drupal is an open-source CMS known for its complexity and powerful customizations. It’s not as user-friendly as WordPress or Joomla, but it’s highly scalable and secure. Thus, although Drupal is a beast in terms of customization and security, but unless you have technical knowledge or a team of developers, it can be overwhelming!

• Key Features: Advanced user permissions, flexible content creation, robust security features, and powerful content management tools.
• Suitable For: Large organizations, universities, or government websites that need security and scalability.
• Website: https://www.drupal.org/
• Pricing: Free to use, but like others, you’ll need to pay for hosting, themes, and possibly developer help.

Shopify

Shopify is a leading e-commerce CMS designed to make selling online as easy as possible. It’s packed with tools for product management, payments, shipping, and more. It’s perfect for beginners or businesses that don’t want to mess around with coding. Everything you need is integrated and ready to go.

• Key Features: Integrated payment gateway, easy product management, customizable storefronts, inventory tracking, and powerful analytics.
• Suitable For: Anyone looking to launch an online store without technical headaches.
• Website: https://www.shopify.com/
• Pricing: Starts at $39/month for the Basic plan.

HubSpot 

HubSpot CMS is built with marketers in mind, offering a seamless integration with its CRM tools. It’s designed to create optimized, personalized content for your audience. But due to its price, if you’re not utilizing all of its marketing features - it can be a waste.

• Key Features: Built-in CRM, personalized content tools, SEO recommendations, A/B testing, and analytics.
• Suitable For: Marketers and businesses focused on inbound marketing and lead generation.
• Website: https://www.hubspot.com/
• Pricing: Starts at $25/month, with higher tiers offering more marketing tools.

Magnolia

Magnolia is an enterprise-level CMS known for its flexibility and focus on digital experience management. It’s great for large organizations that need multi-channel marketing solutions.

• Key Features: Multi-site management, personalization, A/B testing, powerful integrations, and headless CMS capabilities.
• Suitable For: Large enterprises looking to manage complex digital experiences across multiple platforms.
• Website: https://www.magnolia-cms.com/
• Pricing: Custom pricing based on business needs, typically aimed at larger companies.

How to Choose the Best CMS Platform?

There are lots of CMS platforms that are currently available to use. But as this will serve as one of the crucial points for your business, being extra careful when choosing the CMS platform is becoming even more important. To choose the best CMS platform, consider the following key points!

• Understand the CMS Categories: There are two types of CMS available, and it is important to understand both to decide which one you want to use for your platform. Open-source CMS is the source code that is available for public use and modification, meaning any developer can customize it to fit your needs. For Proprietary CMS, the system is owned by a company or individual, and you cannot access or modify the source code. Any changes must be made through the owner, limiting your control and locking you into their services.

• Ease of Use: Make sure the CMS is user-friendly. Even if a platform is feature-rich, it’s useless if it’s too difficult to navigate or manage.

• Plugins, Extensions, and Templates: Check the availability of plugins and templates, which add functionality and design options. The more available, the more flexibility you have to customize your site.

• Level of Control: Determine how much control the CMS gives you over customization. Some platforms are easy to use but may limit your ability to make deeper changes.

• Reliability and Support: Choose a stable CMS that offers reliable customer support in case you encounter any issues. A platform that frequently breaks or lacks support can cause downtime and frustration.

• Price: Consider the cost of the CMS, including any ongoing fees for premium features, support, or hosting. Make sure it fits within your budget.

On the Other Note…

Hopefully, our guide can help you decide which CMS platform that is works best for you. If you are looking into setting up an e-commerce, you can check our article on e-commerce platforms which basically all have in-built content management systems!