Best and Most Popular php-based content management systems (CMS)
Content management systems (CMS) have revolutionized how websites are built, managed, and maintained—allowing users to create powerful sites without extensive coding knowledge. Among the many technologies available, PHP remains one of the most popular programming languages for CMS platforms due to its flexibility, open-source nature, and strong community support.
This report explores the best and most widely used PHP-based CMS platforms, highlighting their key features, strengths, and ideal use cases.
| CMS | Description | Estimated Active Sites |
|---|---|---|
Wordpress |
WordPress is the world's leading open-source Content Management System (CMS). It powers over 40% of all websites, from blogs to e-commerce stores (via WooCommerce). Known for its flexibility, huge plugin/theme ecosystem, and user-friendly interface, it allows anyone to build a website without coding. Core features:Open-source, flexible, dominant, blog, CMS, themes, plugins, self-hosted, scalable, popular. |
Up to 580.000.000 |
Joomla |
Joomla is a powerful, open-source Content Management System (CMS) known for its robust features and advanced user management. Used by millions, it's ideal for building complex corporate sites, e-commerce, and community portals. It is the fourth most popular CMS globally. Core features:Platform, structured, multilingual, components, adaptable, community, extensions, capable, mature, scalable. |
Up to 2.200.000 |
Drupal |
Drupal is an open-source PHP-based content management system known for its flexibility, scalability, and robust security. Widely used by governments, universities, and large organizations, it supports complex websites with powerful customization options. Its strong community and modular structure make it ideal for enterprise-level projects. Core features:Flexible, scalable, secure, modular, customizable, robust, enterprise, open-source, versatile, community-driven. |
Up to 1.700.000 |
OpenCart |
OpenCart is a free, open-source e-commerce platform known for its user-friendly interface and simplicity. Built on PHP, it is a lightweight solution popular with small-to-medium businesses for creating online stores with minimal effort, offering a vast marketplace of extensions and themes. Core features:Simple, open-source, lightweight, user-friendly, modular, PHP, core, extensions, marketplace, accessible. |
Up to 470.000 |
TYPO3 |
TYPO3 is a powerful, free, open-source Enterprise Content Management System (CMS). Built for large-scale, multilingual, and complex websites, it is highly favored by large organizations, governments, and universities, especially in Europe, for its flexibility, scalability, and robust security features. Core features:Enterprise, robust, scalable, professional, complex, open-source, flexible, multilingual, CMS, secure. |
Up to 225.000 |
Magento |
Magento (Adobe Commerce) is a robust, open-source e-commerce platform built for scalability and flexibility. It is preferred by large and enterprise-level businesses for its extensive customization, powerful features, and ability to handle high-volume sales and complex catalogs. Core features:E-commerce, enterprise, customizable, robust, scalable, extensions, complex, powerful, Adobe, open-source |
Up to 135.000 |
Contao |
Contao is an open-source CMS known for its professional approach, security, and accessibility standards. It is popular in German-speaking regions, offering an intuitive backend, a flexible module structure, and strong support for creating complex, large-scale, and multilingual websites. Core features:Professional, accessible, secure, intuitive, flexible, modular, multilingual, German, open-source, standards. |
Up to 110.000 |
OctoberCMS |
October CMS is a free, self-hosted, open-source Content Management System built on the Laravel PHP framework. Praised as a "developer-friendly" platform, it emphasizes simplicity and flexibility, allowing developers to create highly customizable websites and web applications with ease. Core features:Laravel, developer-friendly, flexible, modular, simple, streamlined, open-source, components, custom, PHP. |
Up to 75.000 |
DrupalCMS |
Drupal CMS puts the power of Drupal into the hands of marketers, designers and content creators. Drupal CMS puts the power of Drupal into the hands of marketers, web designers and content creators. Core features:Open-source, Scalable, Modular, Secure, Flexible, Enterprise, Community, Accessible, Multilingual, Framework |
Up to 10.000 |
TwillCMS |
Twill CMS is an open-source CMS toolkit for Laravel, designed to help developers quickly create a powerful, flexible, and visually intuitive admin panel. It is frontend-agnostic, providing a streamlined content publishing experience without dictating how the content is displayed. Core features:Laravel, toolkit, open-source, intuitive, flexible, agnostic, modular, headless, modern, publishing. |
Up to 10.000 |