Drupal vs WordPress: Comparing the developer experience
While both Drupal and WordPress share similar backend infrastructure—often based on PHP, MySQL, and Apache—they differ significantly in their development approaches, flexibility, and ease of use for developers. Let’s now see the similarities and differences in how developers work with WordPress and Drupal and which is the more preferred CMS between the two.
Core technologies
Both WordPress and Drupal run on core technologies such as PHP, MySQL, and Apache, creating a shared foundational environment for web development. As a result, developers familiar with these technologies can transition between platforms with a degree of ease. Additionally, both platforms integrate well with frontend technologies like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
Modular architecture
Both platforms offer modular architecture, allowing developers to extend functionality through plugins (WordPress) and modules (Drupal). This makes it easy to add features without having to write custom code from scratch. In both cases, there is a large ecosystem of pre-built components to help developers build more quickly and efficiently.
Whether adding custom functionality, integrating with external tools, or creating bespoke content structures, WordPress’s modular approach ensures that extending its core remains simple and accessible. This ease of extension is one of the key reasons why WordPress is favored by enterprises and developers alike.
The challenge with Drupal’s modularity, on the other hand, is that it requires a deeper understanding of the system. Developers need to be familiar with Drupal’s API and how to build custom modules or use contributed ones effectively. While the flexibility of the system is immense, it means the learning curve is steep, and the amount of time required for configuration and setup is significantly higher compared to WordPress.
Database-driven content
Both WordPress and Drupal use relational databases (usually MySQL or MariaDB) to store content and metadata. As such, developers working on either platform must be comfortable with SQL queries and database management. Both platforms also support the creation of custom database tables to store additional data.
When it comes to databases, Drupal uses a highly flexible and customizable database architecture, with content stored in a variety of entities, fields, and taxonomies. This makes it ideal for complex and large-scale content management, but requires careful planning and optimized database queries to ensure performance. Developers often need to create custom database tables or integrate third-party systems, making the process more developer-intensive. However, Drupal’s Entity API and Views module allow developers to efficiently manage relationships between complex data structures. Essentially, Drupal gives a headstart here.
WordPress, with its simpler database design, is easier for developers to manage but may face limitations in enterprise settings with more intricate requirements. But this is easily achievable with customizations.
Themes and customization
Both platforms allow for extensive theme customization, enabling developers to design websites that align with an enterprise’s branding and user experience needs. WordPress uses themes and child themes, while Drupal works with themes and theme regions, but both systems provide a high degree of flexibility for frontend developers. Again, both approach these differently.
For instance, themes in WordPress are built using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP, with an emphasis on leveraging the WordPress Loop and template files. The use of pre-designed themes and the default page builder (Gutenberg) further simplify the process, allowing developers to create customized sites with minimal code. For enterprises looking for rapid deployment, WordPress themes can often be implemented with little custom development work.
Drupal’s theme development, while powerful, is more involved. It provides a templating engine called Twig, which separates logic and presentation and requires familiarity with how Drupal’s theme layer works. Drupal also relies on a more modular approach, so each component of a theme (such as regions and blocks) needs to be defined in its configuration. While this provides greater flexibility and control, it’s not as beginner-friendly as WordPress’s more linear approach. Developers who are accustomed to working with HTML and CSS but want greater customization will appreciate Drupal’s flexibility, but those new to the platform may struggle with the additional complexity.
APIs and web services
Both platforms offer robust APIs to allow for integration with external systems and applications. WordPress supports REST API by default, while Drupal has powerful API tools such as RESTful Web Services and GraphQL (via modules). This makes both platforms suitable for headless or decoupled CMS configurations.
Ease of use and learning curve
WordPress is generally known for its developer-friendly environment, especially for newcomers. It has an intuitive admin interface that allows developers and non-developers alike to quickly launch websites. WordPress is built around a simpler, more user-friendly approach that minimizes complexity, making it faster to get started with. You can see how easy WordPress is compared to Drupal when you see how both platforms approach the same thing: the hook system, for instance. Implementing hooks in WordPress is easier than “Drupal’s way” of doing it.
Drupal has a steeper learning curve, even when it comes to configuring and managing the backend. While Drupal offers more flexibility and customization options, it can be more daunting for developers who aren’t already familiar with its architecture. Setting up custom content types, taxonomies, and other system configurations often requires deep knowledge of Drupal’s API and theming system.
Custom development and flexibility
Drupal stands out for its flexibility and customizability. While WordPress is generally more out-of-the-box ready, Drupal offers a more granular control over content structures and site functionality. For example, Drupal’s field system allows developers to create custom content fields and relationships that can be tailored specifically for complex use cases, making it ideal for enterprise-level websites requiring bespoke features and business logic.
WordPress typically relies on plugins and themes to extend functionality, which can be limiting for highly customized features. While WordPress is easier to use, Drupal’s advanced customization capabilities make it the go-to platform for more complex enterprise requirements.
Community and ecosystem
The WordPress ecosystem is arguably one of the largest and most vibrant open-source communities in the world. Developers can find a vast library of plugins, themes, and documentation, which speeds up the development process. Additionally, with WordPress VIP, enterprise-level managed services can further enhance the developer experience with tailored tools, security, and performance optimizations.
Drupal also has a solid community, but it is smaller and more specialized. The Drupal community is knowledgeable, and its focus is often on more complex and enterprise-level solutions. While the community support is robust, finding a developer who can execute advanced Drupal customizations can be more challenging, making it sometimes harder to scale quickly with large teams.
Content architecture
Drupal is known for its content modeling capabilities. It allows for more complex content structures such as custom content types, fields, relationships, and taxonomies. This makes it a preferred choice for organizations with complex data structures or businesses that need to manage a vast amount of content in a structured, customizable way.
WordPress, on the other hand, uses posts and pages as the core content types, with categories and tags for basic categorization. While developers can create custom post types, taxonomies, and fields using plugins or custom code, Drupal has more native and built-in support for these structures, making it easier to scale for intricate content models without relying heavily on third-party tools. That said, with customizations and modular content solutions, WordPress is just as good.
So which is the better CMS for developers?
Both WordPress and Drupal have their unique strengths, depending on the project requirements. But in most cases, if you are building an enterprise stack, need rapid deployment, and want to leverage an easy-to-extend core which is also easy to matin, WordPress is the better choice. With its ease of use, vast resources, and powerful managed hosting options like WordPress VIP, developers can focus more on customization and less on dealing with complex site setups.
