Which cms is better to use to create a portal? Comparison of free CMS: Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. At the forefront of technology – CryENGINE

Free CMS (Content Management System - “content management system”) are in great demand. You can simply download any of them, install them on your hosting and launch the site. But they are all so different that, having mastered a couple, it is not a fact that the third one on the list will be initially understandable. This is especially true for specialized platforms for online stores. Most do not have a common basis in the interface, and the approaches to creating the structure and functionality of pages differ significantly.

Beginners who want to master any CMS should understand what it is for and what it should be like. To avoid misfires and wasted time. TOP 10 list for your attention.

Rating of the best free CMS 2019:

Our choice!

1. WordPress / WordPress → detailed review

WordPress is the most famous and popular CMS in the world, a kind of niche icon. It was written to create blogs, but in the process it turned into a universal engine thanks to the developers of plugins, templates and community activity. The control panel has built-in libraries of plugins and templates with an immense range. Everything has reviews, ratings, instructions, ratings. You can sort by various criteria - it’s easy to choose. Many studios draw templates for this system. Mountains of videos with lessons and kilometers of discussion forums are included. It is easier to learn how to use than many others.

WordPress operates with two types of content - page and article. The button for creating a post is placed separately, you can publish a post directly from the site - everything is tailored to the convenience and speed of publishing the news feed. SEO is implemented through plugins, as is speed optimization, security and much more. To create stores, landing pages, forums, and other things, there are many specialized, powerful plugins, which in terms of capabilities are reminiscent of separate, full-fledged software. It is also available in website builder format for those who prefer to use a ready-made boxed version.

Pros:

• Popularity: a large number of developers work in the WordPress ecosystem, constantly expanding/improving the range of plugins and templates;
• There are many hosting providers that have a separate plan with settings optimized for this CMS;
• A huge number of available educational materials of any format;
• Relatively easy to learn, more or less suitable for beginners;
• A large number of high-quality and useful free plugins;
• Most templates have fairly detailed customization settings without the need to edit the code;
• Able to withstand huge traffic with decent hosting;
• Versatility due to plugins, suitable for creating large websites.

Minuses:

• More than a third of all websites in the world run on WordPress, which makes this system one of the main targets for attackers and inexperienced developers;
• Out of the box, the system is suitable for creating a simple blog or business card;
• Creates a considerable load on the server, the hosting must be good;
• Produces duplicate pages, although this can be solved using a plugin.

2. Joomla / Joomla → detailed review

Joomla is the second most popular CMS on the list. Large community, lots of plugins and templates. Best suited for creating small to medium sized websites informational nature. It works especially well when creating types of resources that are filled with content by users themselves - message boards, forums and even social networks. There are well-developed plugins for all this. Out of the box the functionality is relatively rich (many general, fine and SEO settings). The difficulty of mastering is average. The logic of interaction with the system is unique. If you're not used to it, you can get confused in modules, template cells for displaying content, and connections between them. Once you get used to it, it will no longer seem confusing and difficult.

Joomla allows you to create fairly complex types of sites with simple types of content. It has a great interface for administering a large number of articles. E-Commerce is developed through plugins, although it is better not to create a large store here - the engine has average performance, much depends on optimization and the quality of hosting. There are an endless number of templates (both paid for $30-60, and so on), they contain a variety of functionality: some contain more than a hundred built-in modules with kilometers of settings screens. What's good is that the templates are easy to edit with code - they are based on HTML and CSS. Knowing them, you can modify almost everything. Flexible, interesting mass CMS.

Pros:

• Suitable for creating any type of website, the main thing is not to overload the engine with modules and the volume of the database (content), otherwise with weak hosting there will definitely be problems with page loading speed;
• Adaptability for running social networks at a decent level - not many engines can do this;
• Powerful ecosystem, information and experienced developers in abundance;
• There are many templates, plus they contain a huge range of functionality;
• A wide selection of plugins and components, many of which are free;
• Full access to the code; a minimum set of editing skills is required.

Minuses:

• The control panel is confusing and looks complicated to the average beginner;
• The speed of work is average, although this gap is filled with fast hosting, optimization with plugins and settings;
• Powerful template instances are difficult to set up - you can rarely do without reading the instructions;
• The level of security out of the box is mediocre and requires additional work using plugins and hands;
• Engine updates do not always work correctly and can lead to failures, including the inability to log into the control panel or loss of data.

3. Drupal / Drupal → detailed review

Drupal is an engine aimed exclusively at experienced developers. It’s absolutely not suitable for beginners as a first CMS, and it’s not even worth trying. The level of difficulty of mastering is high. Well suited for creating large websites with a complex data structure. Allows you to create as many as you like custom types content that can be displayed through modules at any point on the front end of the site. No restrictions on layout or content. Thanks to the CCK (Content Construction Kit) plugin, you can implement Various types content into documents, bypassing the taxonomy mechanism characteristic of this system.

The engine is universal and will allow you to create a business card, a portal, a store or a dating site. It features a high level of security out of the box and speed of operation. However, it creates a large load on the database, so it requires more or less fast hosting. There are enough SEO settings even without installing additional plugins, of which a lot has been written for the system. Characteristic features are excellent scalability, optimization, and the need for programming knowledge for effective use. There are a lot of templates (paid for $50-60, on average), but the installation process is relatively complicated. You need to copy files into directories, and then manually activate the modules. The system is not for beginners.

Pros:

• True versatility, flexibility in all directions;
• Ability to create and implement an endless number of content types;
• Out of the box, powerful SEO, security and a modest appetite for hardware;
• Extensive community, a lot of guides, documentation and competent developers within the ecosystem;
• A rich set of modules that expand the basic functionality;
• The ability to use hooks - procedure processing modifiers to simplify large-scale changes to the engine algorithms;
• High level of standardization - almost all code is written by developers in the same style, making it convenient for the community to work with it.

Minuses:

• For ordinary users not suitable due to the obvious complexity of development and use;
• Without programming knowledge, it will not be possible to configure most modules;
• For stable and fast work The site needs a powerful server.

4. OpenCart / OpenCart → detailed review

OpenCart is one of the most popular E-commerce platforms. Designed exclusively for creating online stores and out of the box contains an impressive set of features: a visual template editor, no restrictions on the number of products, categories, manufacturers, pages and other things, supports multilingualism, discounts, reviews, delivery options, tax calculations, product ratings, etc. etc. The engine system is modular, that is, the store can be expanded unlimitedly. There is a built-in statistics collector (views, sales report, popularity rating, etc.), but SEO optimization out of the box is lame. You will have to use a third-party and, most likely, paid module.

The level of difficulty of mastering is average. The system is logically built, but the store has a lot of obvious and subtle settings. It will not be easy for a beginner, but if you have motivation, there is a considerable chance of bringing the project to fruition. Stores of modules and templates are built right into the control panel; you can search by filters. The design editor interface is user-friendly, with syntax highlighting. For many templates you can use the mode visual editor customize appearance and functionality. Within one admin panel you can manage several stores at once. And before downloading the update, the system scans for compatibility installed extensions to avoid conflicts that could put the store out of commission. This is a big plus.

Pros:

• Can be learned and used effectively by a beginner;
• Advanced functionality - almost everything important for the store is included out of the box;
• Comfortable user interface to make purchases;
• High performance and relatively low hosting speed requirements;
• Many high-quality templates and useful modules;
• Developed ecosystem: a lot of information and active developers;
• Detailed built-in statistics of sales and store traffic;
• Simple code, which makes it easy to make modifications;
• There is a detailed setting of access rights (for managers, for example);

Minuses:

• Weak SEO out of the box (few settings, problems with indexing pages, producing duplicates, errors when generating CNC), the problem is solved by installing extensions;
• Inconvenient image loader;
• No quick checkout out of the box;
• There is no live search for products (by the first letters of the name);
• You cannot sort articles into categories to display them as a news feed, for example;
• Engine updates are released quite rarely;
• Quite a large number of minor bugs and inconveniences (for example, the button to add out-of-stock items to the cart is always active).

5. MODX / MODEX → detailed review

MODX Revolution is a flexible system whose properties are closer to frameworks than to CMS. Suitable for creating all types of websites, easily scalable. However, large websites are not very convenient to administer due to the chaos in displaying the tree structure of pages and elements. The problem is solved by a module like “Collections”. The module installer with search is located right in the admin panel, there are ratings, you can read descriptions of the extensions. In general, out of the box the engine is lightweight and does not boast detailed functionality. Requires the mandatory installation of a gentleman's set of modules, at a minimum.

The level of difficulty of mastering is average, provided that the user is fluent in HTML/CSS. The control panel has a clean, nice design and a relatively clear layout. Can be used by beginners, but rely on educational materials. Out of the box you get powerful SEO optimization tools and a high level of security. The engine does not have ready-made designs specially tailored for itself, but it allows you to add any HTML template to the site. The range of these is huge, but to edit within the system you will have to learn its specific syntax, which is not used anywhere else.

Pros:

• High level of flexibility, structures and elements of any complexity can be built;
• Excellent optimization of code and settings to meet requirements search engines;
• Undemanding quality of hosting, high website performance;
• High level of security, flexible settings for authorization of user groups;
• Good implementation of multilingualism, high quality Russian localization of interface elements;
• Sufficient set ready-made modules, available for installation directly from the admin panel;
• Pleasant to the eye and more or less understandable interface;
• Detailed official documentation in Russian.

Minuses:

• Inconvenient approach to installing templates;
• Non-standard engine syntax;
• Without programming skills it is impossible to work productively with the engine;
• There are few adapted templates; modifications by hand and code are usually required to optimize HTML layouts and display them correctly;
• There are an order of magnitude less training materials than more popular CMSs.

6. Magento / Magento → detailed review

Magento is the most popular shopping engine in the world, owned by Adobe Inc. A very powerful CMS with a developed community. But not in RuNet. You can download the Community Edition for free, but it is not at all adapted to our market and does not have Russian localization. A raw, potentially advanced product that requires manual development - code. There are assemblies for use in RuNet (localization, integration of our social networks, payment systems etc.), but they are paid. Actually, this free system has a high level of monetization: templates, modules, developer services, licenses - almost everything is paid.

This engine should only be used if you have a decent budget. The cost of developing stores on Magento is high, especially when purchasing an Enterprise license (from $15,000 per year). The functionality is excellent, the control panel is informative and relatively convenient. A lot of statistical reports, a built-in rating system for evaluating products and commenting, discounts, adjustment of user rights, a good level of SEO optimization and security out of the box, an advanced caching algorithm to speed up page loading - all this and much more is included out of the box.

Pros:

• Good functionality out of the box, suitable for creating huge stores;
• Lots of templates, although most of them are paid and not cheap;
• An effective caching system that greatly increases page loading speed;
• You can manage several stores from one admin panel;
• Everything related to search engine optimization and site safety is well implemented.

Minuses:

• Demanding quality of hosting;
• Difficulty of use, from the installation process to code modifications;
• There is a relatively small number of ready-made extensions, and the services of qualified developers are very expensive;
• The overall high cost of stores, despite the formal availability of a free version;
• The original version is not at all adapted for use on the Runet, and the assembly optimized for our market costs from 8,000 rubles.

7. ImageCMS / ImageCMS → detailed review

ImageCMS is a platform for creating online stores, a hybrid of WordPress, Premmerce and WooCommerce. A ready-made boxed combination that requires the installation of a minimum number of additional modules. The level of functionality and flexibility is average, the difficulty of mastering is average, but without knowledge of at least HTML/CSS you won’t get far. There are only four ready-made templates, there is a cosmetic design customizer, so to get a unique look for the store you need to either order the development of a design, or carefully redo the existing one by hand. One is expensive, the other is difficult to implement and almost impossible for beginners. But there are integrations with MoySklad, 1C, Nova Poshta, RetailCRM and other popular services out of the box. A lot has been done for SEO optimization.

The control panel is similar to that of WordPress, the only difference is the number of extensions pre-installed out of the box. There are a lot of them here, which makes the admin area look oversaturated. In fact, this CMS is an assembly that requires modifications to meet the requirements of a specific task. There is no direct compatibility with WordPress plugins; developer optimization services are expensive. This system It makes sense to use it only if you have enough functionality out of the box. After all, templates, modifications and custom plugins will cost more than it’s worth. The shops here are good only if you have a sufficient budget.

Pros:

• The core of the system is the well-known WordPress, understandable and convenient;
• A rich built-in set of plugins that covers most of the requirements for running a store;
• Full arsenal of WooCommerce features available;
• There is a high-quality built-in blog.

Minuses:

• There are few native extensions, it is not easy to find a programmer, and the cost of services will be inflated;
• You cannot manually configure the display order of individual products and other useful little things;
• Few ready-made templates, and an individual design from a developer costs from $2000;
• High load on the server, low performance with a large database volume;
• Weak ecosystem - there is quite a bit of information on the product, discussions, etc.

8. TYPO3 / TypoTri → detailed review

TYPO3 is an advanced development environment for experienced users. It’s not easy to learn, and it’s also not easy to maintain. Definitely not for beginners. Programming knowledge and experience in website development are required for normal use. It shows itself best in creating blogs, portals, online magazines/newspapers of strong medium volume (up to 5-6k pages). Let's say that creating a store or social network is also possible, although it involves unprofitable difficulties - many plugins and modifications will be required. You also need to have a budget to be successful. Good hosting, programmer services, modules - you'll have to spend money.

The interface of this CMS is by no means simple, and to customize the site, a special internal language is used - TypoScript. Without mastering it, success cannot be achieved. This results in the high cost of specialist services - the profile is narrow, not everyone can help. Out of the box, the system does not have sufficient functionality to implement serious websites. Many plugins can be downloaded from the repository for free. Their quality level is supervised by the CMS community. You can manage multiple projects from one control panel. The Templavoila template engine will help you turn any HTML template into a compatible one. There is also a visual editor for making cosmetic changes. Flexible, powerful, specific engine for pros.

Pros:

• High-quality localization of the engine interface;
• Using the Templavoila/TypoScript combination allows you to do whatever you want with the design;
• High degree of website scalability;
• Support for page caching, which significantly speeds up their loading;
• A sufficient set of extensions collected in a reliable single source - TYPO3 Extension Repository;
• Great for website creation large corporations, industry giants.

Minuses:

• The community is predominantly English-speaking, there is little Russified documentation;
• Creates a large load on hosting and takes up a lot of space;
• Difficult to learn, absolutely not suitable for beginners;
• Suitable for creating sites where only the administrator will publish information, that is, projects without user content;
• The high cost of maintaining the functionality of the site.

9. CMS Made Simple → detailed review

CMS Made Simple is a system designed for use by beginners. Indeed, there is a visual design editor, similar to those found in cloud-based website builders. Easy installation on the server, easy setup, a good set of available extensions that are easy to use. Suitable, first of all, for creating business card websites and online stores, but it is impossible to achieve a unique design using the editor - only cosmetic changes. Deep customization will require code edits (PHP, HTML, CSS), which negates all the simplicity and convenience and puts the system on the same level as other CMS in terms of complexity of effective use.

The interface is partially Russified, there is little documentation in the native language - to fully master it you need to be familiar with the English language. The engine works quickly and does not require super-hosting even to launch a store. There are few built-in templates; they are written in an accessible HTML/CSS format, which allows you to adapt third-party design themes for use within the system. The API is open; developers have written more than 200 plugins of varying levels of quality and usefulness. Optimization is excellent thanks to the lightweight engine and built-in page caching mechanism. Security is implemented at a good level out of the box. It's a good engine, but its potential is revealed only in the hands of experienced developers.

Pros:

• Relative simplicity of the control panel;
• Ease of making cosmetic changes to templates;
• Good level of SEO optimization and security;
• Beneficial for creating small stores on a limited budget;
• Low requirements for hosting quality;
• A sufficient set of ready-made plugins to solve typical problems;
• Regular updates.

Minuses:

• Small and mostly English-speaking community;
• A meager amount of training materials, including video lessons in Russian;
• It is impossible to obtain a unique design without interfering with the code;
• Sometimes, during updates, previously working plugins “fall off”;
• Without knowledge of the English language and, at a minimum, the basics of programming, it will not be possible to unlock the potential of the system.

10. Concrete5 / Concrete 5 → detailed review

Concrete5 is a popular CMS, similar in the mechanics of interaction with website builders based on a visual editor. A distinctive feature and the reason for the popularity of the system is its truly simple interface, within which you can create quite complex websites. By adding elements (widgets), the user assembles pages. They can then be edited by changing the contents of the blocks, colors, backgrounds, fonts, navigation, etc. The editor allows for simple customization of any elements without getting into the code. If you need more, please, this is a CMS, the code is completely open.

Templates can be downloaded for free and purchased ($30-45) on the marketplace of the system’s official website. To expand functionality, you can use plugins by downloading them there. The selection is decent, although it doesn’t reach the leaders in popularity, of course. This CMS is perfect for creating company websites, information portals, and blogs. To a lesser extent - for online stores, since out of the box there are no integrations of payment systems, deliveries and other things that are important for the Runet. SEO optimization capabilities out of the box are basic; paid plugins start at $30.

Pros:

• Interface in the style of designers with a visual editor;
• Suitable for use by beginners;
• Centralized plugin and theme stores with many free options;
• Moderate average cost of templates and paid plugins;
• The engine supports multi-languages.

Minuses:

• Poor adaptation of the system to the needs of the Runet: few extensions with service integrations that are important to us, a small community, sluggish discussions on forums, dead groups in in social networks, documentation in English.

In details, the process will differ depending on the CMS used: which plugin to download, where to click, how to install and configure the template, what the texts should be - all this and much more are nuances that depend on the choice of engine and the problem that you solve with its help .

FAQ (Question – Answer)

• Is it possible to make a website using a CMS yourself?

Creating websites on a CMS requires preparation. The person must be an experienced PC user in general and understand coding entry level complexity (HTML/CSS). The ability to perceive training materials and then apply them in practice is also important.

Few people can, from scratch, without preparation and tips, just sit down and ride the same relatively simple WordPress or very simple Concrete5. You need to have an understanding of the process and/or be able to learn. These things are not intuitive by default.

In general, yes, it is possible to create a website on a CMS yourself. But it depends on what kind and who will do it. Some can, many others cannot and never will. It is a fact. The task is not for everyone. Many people succeed from scratch if they have stable motivation. The rest pay third-party developers or use website builders - the simplest option.

• Which CMS is better to choose?

The easiest way is to choose a profile system for the type of site you are creating. For example, creating a good store based on Woocommerce + WordPress is the best way for beginners. It is quite possible to implement a full-fledged online store on your own; many people do this. It will be easier for an experienced webmaster to create a store on Opencart than on WP in combination with the Woocommerce plugin. This is because it is a specialized CMS for an online store, containing a solid layer of necessary functionality out of the box. Information sites work well on Joomla, blogs on WP, websites of large companies, portals, etc. on Drupal, Typo3 and MODX.

In addition to the specialization of the engine, it is necessary to take into account the cost and quality of the plugins that will be needed to implement the idea. The popularity of the system also plays a role. The more in demand the engine, the more information, extensions, templates and developers who can help for a reasonable fee. This will ultimately affect the comfort of work and the cost of the project. In general, when you decide on the type of site (business card, store, blog, portal, etc.), read/watch reviews, ratings for specialized CMSs. Choose the most popular one on the RuNet - this is a general recipe that is justified in most cases.

• Is it possible to make a website using a CMS for free?

Definitely not. The engine itself may be free, but the hosting and domain are definitely not. Unless you are creating a website on LAN for yourself. There are many paid plugins for any system, and templates too. Entire studios and development teams make money from these ecosystems. That is, a free CMS means there is no need to pay the cost of an engine license and open access to its API for everyone. Meanwhile, the costs of creating/maintaining a website can be impressive depending on a number of factors.

To be fair, we note that in initially paid ecosystems, the average prices for extensions are often higher, and there are fewer free ones - both plugins and templates. The cost of developer services depends on the popularity of the system and its complexity. The cost of hosting, as well as the requirements for it for a specific CMS and type of site, also vary. All these and many other factors influence the project estimate. One thing is for sure - you will have to invest money in any case. But how much is an individual question.

If you have no money at all to maintain the site, you can use the uCoz constructor - at free plan it makes it possible to get hosting and a domain for free: 400+ MB of server space, a site on a subdomain (such as *.ucoz.net, *.ucoz.org, etc. or free domains *.tk, *.ml, *.ga ), access to HTML/CSS/JS source code and other features.

There are many free CMSs. They have varying degrees of popularity and features. There are specialized ones, and there are universal ones due to the structure and extensions. Monetization occurs around any popular system - developers write plugins, provide services, draw, layout and sell templates. Life inside such ecosystems is in full swing, people work and earn money in them. Websites always cost money; there are no free ones.

Creating a website using a CMS is not a task for everyone. It is much easier for the average PC user to solve this problem with the help of a suitable website builder. It makes sense to use a CMS when you have plans to connect your activities and income with this type of system. Or it’s just very interesting to find out what’s going on there. Many engines remain the domain of pros and gifted beginners for a long time. And it is no coincidence that they are complex. General advice for beginners, taking all factors into account: use WordPress or website builders.

If you want to try out what and how, then the easiest way is to go to any free hosting, install WordPress or Joomla automatically, then go through them with an untrained eye, try to create pages, edit the standard template, and so on. Without being tied to the result, just watch and understand how it happens. It is advisable to support the voyage by watching a couple of basic training videos to make it a little more interesting.

Systems like Drupal, MODX, Magento, TYPO3 are definitely complex and are not suitable for the role of the first CMS. If necessary, they should be addressed after mastering another, more accessible system in terms of understanding. Usually we are talking about WordPress - the most obvious and practical for the first steps. Or OpenCart is the number one choice for creating your first store. Joomla is good for those who want to relatively easily learn the basics of programming in practice and create a business card or information portal. The templates here are pure HTML/CSS and are quite easy to edit.

CMS (popularly called engine) is a website content management system. This is the backbone on which everything is built. The ease of filling the site, its “friendliness” for search engine promotion, and the ability to connect additional services depend on the engine.

We gathered specialists from the WebCanape Development and Internet Marketing Departments and passionately interviewed them about the good and bad of different CMSs. This article will help you choose an engine so that it won’t be excruciatingly painful later.

Universe of engines: variety of species

All existing CMS can be divided into 4 large categories:

1. Self-written
2. Boxed
3. Constructors
4. Studio

1. Custom CMS

A self-written CMS is a content management system that is written from scratch for the tasks of a specific business. This is a non-serial solution. It is created for one project and is not replicated.

☺ Full compliance with your business objectives

Boxed engines and designers have sets of modules to expand the functionality of the site, but in ready-made solutions there are always limitations and you will have to make compromises.

A custom control system will fully meet the tasks specified in the technical specifications, because it is not being developed in order to then be sold to a diverse audience. The developer keeps only your needs in mind.

☺ Integration of the latest achievements

Technology is constantly outpacing the market. Even if you buy the latest version of a boxed CMS, you cannot be sure that all the achievements available on this moment. By creating an engine for you, the developer has access to the latest programming technologies and, if you are lucky, will use them in working on your project.

☺ Exclusivity

You can brag that you are the owner of an exclusive solution, unique functionality, and breakthrough development. You are guaranteed the honor and respect of your colleagues, the indignation and envy of your competitors, and the bewilderment of knowledgeable people.

× Unproven technology

Serial solutions are being tested on thousands of sites (for example, more than 2,000 projects have already been created using Canape CMS). In each subsequent build, bugs found in previous versions. This means you don't have to deal with your own problems.

If your site is created on a custom (that is, non-serial) CMS, you will be a pioneer. Setting up processes, adjusting algorithms and programming the necessary modules from scratch will fall on the shoulders of your developer. And he will have to deal with mistakes himself.

× No technical support

All problems will have to be solved on your own. And the forums will most likely not help.

× Difficulties with SEO promotion

Usually in such systems, if there is any SEO functionality, it is presented rather sparsely, because programmers and SEO specialists are creatures from different worlds. A lot will have to be added in the process.

× Complete dependence on the developer

By agreeing to a self-written engine, prepare to be with the developer for centuries, in sorrow and in joy, until death do you part, and further in the text... We categorically do not recommend quarreling, since the viability of the self-written site depends on the author of the code.

Usually there is no regulated technical documentation for such engines, and if you suddenly decide to change the development team, there is a high probability that the site will have to be rebuilt on a different engine. Digging into someone else's code is a dubious and expensive pleasure.

2. Boxed CMS

Boxed CMS - ready software. Such a system can be downloaded (in the case of free solutions) or purchased (commercial engines). It would be incorrect to compare free and commercial products, since they have fundamental differences that are important for business.

Free engines out of the box

Examples: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Opencart, Magento and others like them.

☺ Open relationship with the developer

Thanks to their free nature, many people know about such products. This means that it will not be difficult for you to find a developer. And it won’t be a problem to replace it if your paths diverge.

☺ Cheap (if you make compromises)

Creating websites on such engines is relatively inexpensive. Basic functionality is usually free. You can find a huge number of plugins to solve a variety of problems, and many of them are also free.

☺ Change design in 2 clicks

Boxed engines have the ability to add design templates - if you are tired of the design, you can download/buy a new one and put it on the site. Sometimes this is done in 2 clicks.

× Lack of a uniform standard

Open source solutions do not have a single development standard, so even despite the huge army of WordPress developers, every next specialist will want to remake your CMS for themselves.

× Module selection problem

A large selection of modules can also turn into a problem. Since they can be created by completely different people, the network produces a huge number of solutions for the same problems. It can be difficult to determine which module is suitable for a particular task. When connecting, it's best to cross your fingers; it may not be compatible with your version of the engine.

Scary story for the night:

Sometimes free modules are created solely for the purpose of spreading viruses. That is, the plugin seems to be useful, but is essentially a loophole for infection. This is the problem with many free templates for WordPress and Joomla; template developers use them to post links and even viruses to make money. Here Joomla-Master.org, they say, has especially many templates with links.

× Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the price you have to pay when choosing a free, open source engine. Thanks to (or because of) the popularity of such solutions, sites using them are hacked much more often. Although there are no viruses in the source code, it costs attackers nothing to hack the site and infect it. We have to develop countless patches to get around the problem.

× Non-compliance with the requirements of the laws of the Russian Federation

Free boxed products, as a rule, are not produced in Russia. Nobody adapts them to Russian realities, and the requirements Russian legislation they are also not taken into account.

× No technical support

But there is a large community of developers, and the forums will most likely help you. But there is no technical support. That is, finding a solution may take a lot of time, and the effect is not guaranteed.

Exit: enter into a technical support agreement with a contractor company that developed the site using a free engine.

× SEO restrictions

Promoting such sites is difficult. Either there is no way to edit meta tags (you need to connect a plugin in WordPress), or rel="canonical" cannot be written on some templates.

Joomla, for example, is famous for its dirty code. It creates several duplicates for each page of the site, so it will be extremely difficult for you to get to the top of the search results. That's why Joomla sites are poorly indexed. And they load slowly for the same reason.

Drupal also generates a lot of unnecessary stuff. If you finally figure out which modules you need for SEO, then be prepared to rack your brains about how to get rid of the extra technical pages that the system will produce.

× Inconvenient to edit content

In many free CMSs (hello, Joomla), in order to make minimal modifications to the display of one page, sometimes you cannot do without the help of a developer, not free of charge.

Commercial boxed CMS

Examples: 1C-Bitrix, NetCat, HostCMS, UMI.CMS, CS-Cart, etc.

☺ Easy to select and change developers

To work with popular paid solutions (as well as with popular free ones), you can easily find a developer.

☺ Specialization

Many commercial serial engines are tailored to solve specific groups of problems. For example, there are CMSs that are convenient for building online stores (Amiro CMS, CS-Cart).

☺ Compliance with Russian realities

Popular paid engines in Russia are adapted for Russian business. And 1C-Bitrix is ​​generally a Russian development, which a priori takes into account all the requirements.

☺ Serious technical support

You will not be left in the lurch if you have questions about service integration, problems connecting modules or software bugs.

× Annual license fees

You will have to renew your license. Without purchasing a license for the next year, you will not be able to update the CMS to latest version and fulfilling the requirements of search engines, for example, will be much more difficult.

× Need for improvements

If you change the developer, you will still have to update it.

× Unfriendly content editor

Typically, such CMS have problems with content; it’s difficult to figure it out without a developer. Content managers scare children with tales about sites on 1C-Bitrix.

A riddle for the little ones: which button needs to be pressed so that your three-hour work on the layout will be saved.

And here you will have to think hard to find the right page to edit.

× Paid technical support

They will help you, but not for free.

3. Website builders

Builder is an online platform for creating websites. To build a simple website using a website builder, you don’t need to bother with code, databases, or hosting. There is no need to download or install anything. You register on the platform, specify the necessary settings, select a template - the site is ready. This is a cheap and often beautiful solution for one-page and simple sites.

Examples: Tilda, Nethouse, Wix, uKit, Weebly, etc.

☺ Fast (and on your own)

The designer allows you to quickly (and on your own) create a landing page or a simple website.

Most often, no special knowledge is required. You can make a website to run advertising on it in a day.

☺ Popular

If you don’t want to do it yourself or need to tweak something, you can easily find a developer for a website using a popular website builder.

True, improvements are possible only in terms of the front end and content. Don't worry about functional improvements.

☺ Cheap

On Wix or Tilda you can cheaply put together a beautiful one-page website or a simple website that can collect applications.

× Forget about complex functionality

If complex software modifications are required, compromises will have to be made. For example, using Tilda it is not possible to ensure that notifications about applications are sent to additional email. The technical support service will answer that such functionality is not available, but may be added in the future. Or it won't.

× Captive of someone else's hosting

By choosing a SaaS solution to create a website, you become dependent on someone else's hosting. The ability to transfer to another hosting is only available in rare designers, and if there is, it costs a lot.

Moreover, if price policy the designer will suddenly become unsuitable for you (the subscription fee, say, will increase 4 times), you will have to redo the site in another place, either on another designer, or on a CMS.

× Incompatibility with Russian realities

Many designers are foreign-made and are not adapted to Russian realities. There is a recent story about how Yandex stopped indexing sites on the Wix builder due to javascript errors.

In addition, usually the offer agreement from the owners of the constructors is drawn up in such a way that the company does not bear any responsibility to you:

• not for hosting downtime,
• not for system failures,
• nor for non-compliance with the law,
• not for “sudden” updates,
• not for blocking.
• These are all your risks, reputational and financial.

× Subdomain name

On many website builders (for example, Tilda) with a free plan, you will be asked to register a site name on a subdomain like site.tilda.ws. This will not add trust to the site on the part of users, although search engines hardly care about such trifles.

4. Studio CMS

Many web studios develop their own engines to build websites for their clients. Some of these control systems are sold as an independent product, that is, any third-party developer can buy such a solution to implement their own projects. However, such cases are rare.

Examples: Canape CMS, UralCMS, Argilla, MediaPublisher, etc.

☺ Detailed technical documentation

Unlike self-written CMS, when working with a studio engine, a third-party developer can easily understand the code, since for Canape CMS, for example, there is a detailed technical manual. documentation that is supplemented and updated from release to release.

☺ There is a support service

Web studios usually have closer contacts with clients, which is why technical support for studio CMSs is usually more responsive. They will always answer you, help you, and advise you if problems arise.

How Canape CMS Help Desk Works

☺ SEO-friendly functionality

If the studio that developed the engine provides search engine promotion services, it is highly likely that the CMS meets all the requirements of search engines and has the necessary functionality for SEO. When developing a website on Canape CMS, basic SEO parameters are configured by default, and all opportunities for further promotion in search engines are provided.

☺ Customization for business tasks

Working with engines out of the box is like turning a sculpture out of a block of stone. You take a rigid product, cut off unnecessary things, and mold additional modules. Things don't always work out as originally planned.

With studio CMS, everything is different - the necessary functionality is collected according to your business requirements with the possibility of expanding and scaling it.

☺ Test sites

This is a design standard that is not always followed, for example in constructors. Canape CMS has a test platform where developers can test the implementation of a particular solution on the studio engine. This is safe for a “combat” site and useful if outside developers are involved.

☺ Customer-oriented, not developer-oriented

If boxed solutions are aimed at the developer, who is their target buyer, then studio solutions are created with an eye on the end consumer - the company for which the site is being created.

Studio CMS take into account individual business needs to a greater extent, and usually have a specialization (online stores, information portals, etc.)

Different types of websites built on Canape CMS

☺ Security

The security of such engines is many times higher than free or popular paid solutions. Not many people are familiar with the code of studio CMSs, so they are hacked much less often.

WordPress, for example, gets broken quite often. An attacker can easily gain access to the admin area if the user is not very experienced. Websites are usually hacked to extort money from the owner or to attach malicious code to it. The same situation occurs with OpenCart and MODX.

× Difficulties for third-party developers

Such solutions are less widely replicated, and a third-party developer has to understand someone else’s code (Canape CMS has test sites and technical documentation, and the code is open and standardized, so the problem is not too big).

× Dependence on studio services

There may be no integration with popular services, as studios usually have their own alternatives. Therefore, if you need to implement a popular CRM, the site will have to be slightly modified programmatically.

× No one is safe from untimely death

If the studio closes or abandons its CMS, the engine will stop updating.

However, users of popular engines are not immune to this. Although the likelihood of such an outcome is lower for them.

The easiest way to avoid making a mistake in choosing an engine

The mistake many business owners make is hyper-involvement. If you don’t understand programming or SEO at all, entrust the choice to someone who will promote the site. At the same time, it is very desirable that development and promotion be carried out by one contractor or contractors who work in conjunction. Anyone who does not promote sites themselves will hardly be able to foresee everything at the development stage, but a company working with specific CMSs has precisely studied all their capabilities and will certainly be able to use them to your advantage.

If they write a website for you in one place, and then you decide to take it to another web studio for promotion, be prepared for unexpected expenses:

• You will have to pay for connecting additional modules or third-party development of the necessary functions in order, for example, to be able to edit meta tags. Typically, these expenses are unexpected for a business owner.
• You may be asked to move your site to another CMS that is more suitable for promotion (or that your new contractor is more familiar with). The cost is often comparable to the development of a new website.
• Promotional activities will be less effective and will require much more than if you did everything in one company. That is, again, spending.
• Some CMS have extremely inconvenient tools for editing content. If you are “lucky” to have a website on one of them, you will have to attract developers, even to change the phone number on the pages.

Regardless of the engine you choose, the easiest way to save money is to avoid hassling with the developer. Even the most popular CMS does not guarantee that the site will not need to be modified when changing the contractor. Therefore, you should not be afraid of less popular studio engines. In addition, implementing improvements, for example, on Canape CMS will not be a problem for a third-party developer, since the code is standardized and all technical documentation is available.

For a manager, it should not matter what CMS the site is built on if it occupies the top positions in search results and brings you applications. Choosing an engine is the task of an SEO contractor, from whom you will require specific KPIs for promotion. By imposing your preferences on the CMS, you complicate the work of specialists and, most likely, increase your own costs for Internet marketing.

With the recent release of the free version of Unreal Engine and the announcement of the free Source 2, you have even more opportunities to make your own games. But choosing an engine that suits your needs and skills is not the easiest thing. Let's take a look at the best examples of free (well, almost, as discussed below) software for beginners and professionals.

In addition to the engines in this collection, there are also a lot of not very well-known, but, to put it mildly, very cool second-tier engines. As a rule, on the developer’s website there is a mention of the possibility of licensing, but in a very crude form, you will have to contact them directly. All engines have their pros and cons. For example, the recent Dying Light engine, developed by Techland, is good for open world games, but it has draw distance issues.

To delve seriously into most of these software, you will need at least basic programming skills. But in some cases it will be possible to do even without them and get down to business right away.

At the forefront of technology – CryENGINE

CryENGINE is an extremely powerful game engine created by developer Crytek, debuting in a game Far Cry. It is intended for development for PC and consoles, including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Its graphics capabilities are superior to Unity and UDK, and are at times a step ahead of Unreal Engine 4: cutting-edge lighting, realistic physics, advanced animation systems and much more. Last game on CryENGINE there was Ryse: Son of Rome. Similar to UDK and UE4, CryENGINE has powerful and intuitive level design features built into it.

Using CryENGINE productively will require some time to learn, and you may have difficulties if you do not have experience with other engines. If you don't need Crysis 3 or Ryse: Son of Rome-level graphics, you might want to look at something more user-friendly.

CryENGINE's pricing model is somewhat different from its competitors. For using the engine. It's not completely free like UE4 or Unity 5, but it doesn't require royalties, so $9.90 is all you have to pay Crytek. Depending on the size of your studio and team, no royalties can be a huge benefit.

For beginners – Stencyl or GameMaker

If you're just starting out making games and don't have any programming experience, you're better off starting with the simplest tools. Of these, the most popular and generally recognized are Stencyl and GameMaker. Both are easy for beginners to learn and have already produced several quality games.

Stencyl allows you to make games without programming. The interface is entirely drag-and-drop, and games can be released on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Flash. If you've ever worked with something like Scratch, you'll immediately recognize the LEGO-like approach to building code by arranging blocks. Stencyl is designed for simple creation of sprite-based games, so it often serves as the basis for puzzles and side-scrollers. It will be problematic to do anything complex, so if you decide to work on an RPG or strategy, take a closer look at other software. Stencyl has powered several popular games, including Impossible Pixel and Zuki's Quest. It also has built-in training that will teach you everything you need to know.

GameMaker is another free utility for beginners that allows you to make games for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Like Stencyl, almost everything is drag-and-drop, but there are also hooks for multiplayer games, links to external SDKs, the ability to dig into the code, and much more. The free version does have a watermark when exporting, but GameMaker is still great for first time use and has built-in tutorials for the basics. There is no such genre restriction as in Stencyl, and you can find separate guides for different types of games. GameMaker made the original version of Spelunky and Hotline Miami.

Of course, everything is not limited to these two options. Buildbox is a relatively new utility that is available for a trial period and offers a training program to learn how it works, and GameSalad is a long-known popular platform, although it receives complaints due to bugs and instability. Construct is worth a look if you want to make games in HTML5. In each case, the main problem is that you will have to restrain your design ideas. This is software for beginners, and you will simply break it trying to do something complicated. That is, the games will turn out to be buggy and non-functional if you try to go beyond the intended system. Still, this is an excellent place to start and a suitable option if you have no programming experience.

For intermediate programmers targeting 2D games – Cocos2D

Cocos2D is an open source program source code for creating 2D games. Games can be released on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows Phone or on a web platform.

Most of what you'll do in Cocos2D is C++ (there's also support for Lua and JavaScript), so you'll need to master that programming language before taking Cocos2D on at all. However, with knowledge of the mentioned languages, the program becomes quite easy to use. It has a full-fledged IDE and is completely free, without any strings attached. As the name suggests, the utility is designed for creating two-dimensional games, so it works better with simple sprite games where 3D is of no use. 2D games can be made in Unity (which we’ll look at a little later), but Cocos2D is easier to get into if you’re just starting out (and of course, you know C++).

Cocos2D has created many successful games in various genres, including the award-winning Badland.

Developers targeting mobile platforms - Unreal Engine or Unity

If you're interested in complex, 3D games, the two most popular tools for creating them are Unreal Engine and Unity. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses and different licensing agreements that are worth reviewing before making a final decision.

Unity allows you to make 3D and 2D games for almost any platform, including Windows, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS and more. It supports game assets created in 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, Cinema 4D, Blender and other software. Unity uses C#, along with its own programming language, so it doesn't hurt to get to know them well first. If we compare Unity and Unreal, the first one is perhaps easier to learn. It has a rich set of ready-made behaviors and a built-in library of game resources that are quite easy to keep track of. While writing this text, I spoke with several developers, and they think that Unity is a better engine for first projects because it is easier to understand and learn than Unreal. If you've already made a game, say, on GameMaker, you'll immediately understand what's what in Unity. Unity also supports alternative models payments directly in the engine, including several free-to-play monetization models.

The functionality of the free personal version is already rich enough for your first project. By creating a game on the free version, you don't have to pay licensing fees or royalties, but there are some caveats, namely that you won't be able to get more than $100,000 in sponsorship/profit. Many educational articles have been written to help beginning Unity developers. Popular games on this engine: Alto’s Adventure, Gone Home and the currently in development .

Unreal Engine 4 uses C++, so if you have proper knowledge of this language, you can opt for it, however, games can be created without delving into the language itself. Games made with Unreal Engine can be released on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox One and Playstation 4. Unreal has almost everything you need built into the engine, including 3D modeling and terrain manipulation. Due to its rich content, Unreal Engine 4 is more difficult to master than other development tools, and even if you have a good knowledge of C++, you should be prepared to learn a lot of new things. But you can create truly impressive games. You can learn more about the intricacies of the Unreal device using reverse engineering, but still, without prior experience it will not be easy to understand it. Unreal Engine 4 – relatively new engine, but games such as Daylight and Tekken 7 have already been released on it.

To use Unreal Engine 4, you must agree to pay royalties if your game sells. Once sales of a game or application begin, you pay per quarter. This may seem like a lot of money, but considering the profit that the game will bring in, it is not that much.

It's also worth taking a closer look at Valve's Source 2 engine, which is also due to become free this year.

Updated 10/01/15: In August at GDC. Stingray runs on the Bitsquid technology core and is based on a 64-bit architecture. Stingray was designed to be highly flexible and work with all popular platforms, from mobile to virtual reality. Modular and data-driven technologies mean it's much easier for developers to make changes and see results immediately across multiple connected devices, without re-compilation. Plus, you can quickly transfer objects between Autodesk products. There has not yet been a breakthrough with development automation. If you are already using Unity or Unreal, then you should not switch; the gains are not very noticeable yet. We will tell you in more detail later.

King of Development – ​​Source 2

At GDC 2015, Valve made several high-profile announcements, and the most important of them for the gaming community was probably the announcement of Source 2. This is the successor to the Source engine, used in Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 2 and many other games. Developers have been eagerly awaiting the next generation engine in Valve's arsenal for several years now. At the press conference, Valve's Jay Stelly said, "For content developers. Along with the Epic and Unity announcements, this will help PC remain the dominant content creation platform." Clearly, Valve has decided to join the engine race with Epic and Unity, giving developers more options to choose from. However, it is not yet entirely clear what “free for content developers” means: are we talking about any reputable developers or is this some special category?

About the release date specific information no, we only know that Source 2 will be released in the near future. Jay Stelly also stated, “We are focused on making content creators more productive. Given how important user-generated content is becoming, Source 2 is not just for professionals, it also allows gamers to take part in the development of their favorite games." These words suggest that Source 2 will be available not only to professional studios, but also to hobbyists and modders, which has made many Valve games so popular.

We turned to Valve for additional information, and this article will be updated when more is known about the new engine. But now we can say for sure that Source 2 will become a serious competitor to the heavyweights represented by Unity and Unreal Engine 4, because, according to Gelli, it will also be free.

Writers – Twine/RPG Maker/AXMA

Not all of us are programming experts, and even Stencyl can be a bit complicated for many. If you see yourself more as a storyteller, you have two great options to choose from: Twine and RPG Maker.

To create interactive non-linear stories. Simply put, you can make a choose-your-own-adventure game. The utility is incredibly easy to use. You connect story segments using various transitions, much like in mind diagrams. Each choice available to the player leads to a new text. When finished, you can immediately post the result on the website. Everything is quite clear, but if you get stuck somewhere or want to add something else, the beginner's guide will help you. Popular games created by Twine: A Kiss and Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha.

If Twine seems too old-fashioned for you, try RPG Maker. The free version has fewer features than the paid alternatives, but it is still capable of a lot. The system is simple to learn: graphics can be dragged and dialogues can be added in one click. To make something more interesting than the usual RPG, you have to think outside the box, but examples such as the warmly received To the Moon and LISA make it clear that it is possible. You can use free music and images, so you don't even need to know how to draw. Built-in training, again, will help you create your first game. Popular games on RPGMaker: Clock of Atonement and One Night. Twine has domestic analogue AXMA Story Maker is also worth a closer look.

Free software for game resources

Of course, the game is not only the engine. You'll need all sorts of game assets, including images and sounds. Several indie developers I interviewed shared useful links:

Tiled is a simple map editor for Cocos2D, Unity and other tools.

OpenGamesArt – free images and graphic stubs.

Free Music Archive – free music with Creative Commons licenses.

FreeSound is a collection of free sound effects.

All this will help you make games without much expense. Of course, you will have to invest your time, blood, sweat and tears into them, but at least your wallet will not take a hit.

When we talk about the potential of creating a website on a free CMS, we mean that you already have purchased hosting and a domain for this purpose. Otherwise, the idea will be futile. Hosting and domain costs - the volume of investments, which we take as a constant and do not discuss. We will take this option as the zero starting point for creating a website using free CMS.

If you don’t have hosting yet, we can recommend AdminVPS web hosting - the minimum price of 69 rubles/month ("Promo" tariff) will be a good deal to start with. WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are installed on your hosting in 2 minutes directly from the ISPmanager panel. If you want to practice without investing at all, try to create websites, then it is better to do this on free website builders - sandboxes there are much more convenient for beginners.

As examples, we chose the most popular free CMS - WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. These are the best platforms, and beginners, when entering the field of website building, choose from these engines. We compared the capabilities of creating websites in these systems. What can you expect if you invest only in hosting and a domain? Is there any point in twitching without a budget and experience? How far can you get by relying only on your own strength and free add-ons?

WordPress is the most popular free CMS in the world, ideal for beginners

WordPress is a well-known blogging engine and is distributed free of charge. It is not demanding on hosting resources when using a small number of plugins. In the stock version, the functionality is below average - only blogs and business card sites can be created at an acceptable level. By default, it requires SEO plugins - and there are many free ones. There are plenty of templates - right in the sites control panel there is a section with thousands of copies of different levels of quality and purpose. The difficulty of mastering is relatively low, so you can do it on your own, relying on guides and video lessons, without resorting to paid services specialists.

Free WordPress Features:

1. General functionality: 54 thousand free plugins, including those that will help you create a store, build a landing page, set up SEO and security, introduce a bunch of small amenities and optimizations that are so lacking in the default engine build.
2. the official website, control panel and template stores are full of free versions of layouts - another thing is that their Pro versions with advanced settings are often paid, so not every top template can be grabbed in the maximum configuration and without money.
3. Promotion: By default, the engine's capabilities do not offer tools for SEO optimization, so installing plugins in this direction is highly desirable (for example, YOAST or Jetpack) - this will solve most of the inherent problems of the system, although, again, Pro versions of some plugins may cost money.
4. Technical support: no guarantees for open source software does not happen, so if problems arise, you need to go to the forums and ask, watch videos, read the FAQ, or pay for the services of specialists to solve them.

Limitations of the free WP model:

• You will not be able to use some templates with advanced customization settings, because these versions are often paid, and you will have to go into the code to make radical changes appearance(knowledge of PHP is required), which is incredibly difficult for beginners;
• Some useful plugins in the free version have limited functionality (for example, WooCommerce store), so you will have to look for more or less decent free analogues, which do not always exist - it depends on the task at hand;
• When using WP, beginners may encounter problems that cannot be solved given their level of knowledge, so they will either have to contact a specialist and pay, or look for a way out in other ways - studying not always simple guides, improving their own qualifications, etc.

In summary, there are enough pitfalls in the WordPress usage environment that may force you to switch from a free model of use to a paid one in one form or another. In general, on the platform it is quite possible to create and develop a normal blog, business card or landing page without money, but with larger sites like an online store, problems are likely to arise. Without knowledge of coding and understanding of the nuances of the engine, you will not be able to rework the design to a sufficient extent, connect and configure some plugins, optimize security and SEO at the proper level. In general, WP's limitations depend on the skill and quality of the free extensions used.

Joomla is a more flexible and advanced free engine out of the box.

Joomla is number 2 in the table of ranks among free CMSs, which leads to a developed ecosystem and the presence of a large number of extensions good quality and training materials. The bonus is that to edit templates and many extensions, knowledge of HTML/CSS - the simplest disciplines in coding - will be enough. Studying them is not difficult and will give a beginner a decent head start when creating a project on a free basis, and will also eliminate the need for paid contact with specialists in controversial situations. Out of the box, the engine is richer in settings and capabilities compared to WP; additional features come with the installation of templates (they almost always contain protection modules) and other types of extensions.

Joomla features when used for free:

1. General functionality: The engine out of the box is well suited for creating types of sites that use personal accounts users (social network, bulletin board, corporate website or store) - there are a lot of free and fairly high-quality extensions to solve these problems.
2. Design editing and templates: The system does not have a built-in template store, so they need to be downloaded and installed separately - we recommend using decent catalogs, otherwise you risk bringing a bunch of malicious junk to the site along with the template.
3. Promotion: out of the box there are quite a few settings for SEO optimization inside; for simple types of sites you can even do without additional extensions without losing anything.
4. Technical support: a community of users and numerous training materials are what you should rely on, but there is no centralized user support from developers here, as in any other open source system.

Limitations of the free Joomla model:

• The biggest temptation for a beginner is to download and install a premium template from some “crazy” site. This should not be done if you really like the top theme and don’t want to look at others - it’s better to buy it, receiving a guarantee that the code will be clean and free of problems;
• The same applies to extensions - there is no built-in marketplace, so by downloading premium plugins for free from obscure sites, you get a chance to crash your website or introduce viruses. It is better to take a version with limited functionality from the official website than to search free cheese. Joomla is not resistant to errors in the code - due to conflicts after installing such things, it is quite possible to get a non-working control panel or incomprehensible glitches on the site pages.
• If you are not going to buy a good template, then you will have to learn to code, since free templates are often poor in customization settings. Or use it as is, without changing anything in the design.

In total, Joomla is well adapted for creating stores, corporate websites, forums and regular business cards. The limitations of the free approach will not bother you much if the project is not technically complex. Especially if you know HTML/CSS. The engine is sensitive to installing conflicting extensions, so we do not recommend experimenting with homemade plugins or plugins downloaded from unreliable sources. Here you can do a lot yourself, without resorting to paid help - the code is simple, there are plenty of guides. By the way, Joomla is more suitable for creating a free store than WordPress - this is its main trump card when choosing.

Drupal is a free CMS engine for professionals, large and structurally complex sites

Drupal is an incredibly powerful and difficult engine for beginners to learn, but it's not for everyone. In his case, the main expense item may be payment for the services of specialists. And they charge more than WP and Joomla experts, because the qualifications and complexity of the tasks are higher here. And the community is not nearly as extensive. Choosing this CMS from scratch is nonsense; one comes to it after a thorough study of the systems described above. Programming experience and understanding of the engine operating principles are required. efficient work, otherwise huge budgets will be spent on paying hired specialists. Suitable for creating complex websites - portals, stores, corporate and some exclusive, specific tasks.

Free Drupal features:

1. General functionality: out of the box the system has a minimum of capabilities, the rest comes with the installation of modules, and many of them come in bundles - to implement a function you need to install 3-4 extensions in a certain sequence, so here you need to understand the algorithms for how sets of modules work and download them available from the official catalogue.
2. Design editing and templates: More than 2000 templates are posted on the official website, each of which has additional settings appearance, but for deep customization you will have to resort to coding.
3. Promotion: out of the box you will get a rather weak set of inconvenient SEO tools, so it is advisable to install specialized modules like CTool, Metatag and others - this will allow you to overcome many problems, including the creation of duplicates, the main problem of the engine.
4. Technical support: With all questions you need to go to the community and training materials; you can’t expect any guarantees from the developers of the free engine.

Limitations of the free Drupal model:

• There are ready-made assemblies for Drupal - engine configurations for specific tasks, but it is better not to use them, because, despite their convenience, their support is quickly discontinued, and your site will inevitably begin to technically lag behind the main development branch of the system;
• You shouldn’t download extensions from anywhere, even if they look very valuable - try to get by free versions from the official website;
• The free templates here are usually simple;
• The engine is hungry for hosting and difficult to administer, so try to make do with only the necessary modules, otherwise, most likely, difficulties will arise and you will have to allocate a budget to pay for the services of a specialist who can clear away the rubble.

Overall, in the case of Drupal, the limitations are limited to average quality free templates and user skill. Lack of knowledge or excessive complexity of the site with modules may lead to the need to pay. The engine makes sense to use for creating large sites that are structurally/content complex - such as stores, information portals, and so on. The store of templates and modules here is quite rich, but is clearly inferior in the range of WordPress and Joomla, especially in terms of templates. Drupal is for professionals, they will be able to use it without money, but beginners are unlikely to.

Limitations of free use of a CMS depend on the range of plugins/templates, the competence of the user and the complexity of the task facing him. It is clear that a large project will require more extensions and professionalism of the performer. Everything that is not enough will have to be found, additionally installed and paid for - templates, modules or services.

On WordPress and Joomla, you can easily support the life of an average website without investment with moderate skill. The same cannot be said about Drupal - it requires the skills of a self-confident website developer, otherwise there can be no talk of any freeness.

If you are not faced with the task of learning to be a programmer, layout designer or a professional in the field of website building, but just need a good modern website with a minimum of effort/money/time to promote your business/services on the Internet, make money from advertising/affiliate programs - use online website builders. which already come complete with hosting, domain and CMS with an intuitive interface adapted for beginners.