Technically open source CMS, especially the most popular like WordPress, have high-level features thanks to the contribution of a community of developers with expertise. Open source CMS are used a lot also by enterprises just because of the costs and the technical level, which has nothing on proprietary solutions. Including as regards the e-commerce websites, open source solutions are widely used: 270.000 online shops are created with the platforms Magento or Prestashop, highlighting how that systems are the first choice even in the business field. In the following lines we will make a short comparison among the main CMS available on the market, indicating their particular aspects.

The most popular open source CMS

WordPress
WordPress tops among the most used open source CMS with 18 millions of websites. Originally created as a tool for blogger, in only 15 years became the favorite platform at the expense of very popular services like Blogger.com and now is used for any kind of website. The reasons why is so popular are that is easy to install and manage and that has a lot of extensions and templates available, that make it high-customizable. It’s the fastest and easiest solution to create websites, ideal even for who don’t have specific technical skills. In addition, it offers very valuable tool also for SEO strategy. A limit regards the security, to which you need to be careful: being the most used CMS worldwide, is often a target for hackers.

Joomla!
Joomla! was the most used solution before WordPress came on the market, currently fallen to number two with 2,5 millions of installations. It allows to create a website in a pretty fast and easy way and is among the best solutions for who don’t have technical skills, even if it is more demanding compared to WordPress. Unlike the market leader, it has many features included without the need to download plug-ins or extensions. Joomla! provides also interesting solutions to customize permissions, profiles and to manage multi-sites.

Drupal
Originally created for the development of social networks and communities, Drupal is now a full-fledged CMS to create websites also with a certain complexity. One of is peculiarities is its modular structure which makes it higly-flexible and customizable, the ideal solution to develp tailored and ambitious websites, the web agencies’ favorite. Unlike the first ones, you need some basic skills to use Drupal.

Typo 3
Typo 3 is an enterprise CMS, mainly dedicated to companies for the development of big web portals. It has a very strong community which develops continuously new updates, composed by a team of expert developers. A little less known than the other CMS, even if it is very popular in Germany, Typo 3 is a pretty complex system to use, so you need some technical skills, but it has the benefit to be higly-customizable.

CMS for e-commerce websites

Among the several CMS there are also specific platforms to develop e-commerce websites, in which some additional features to sell online are already integrated into the structure, as payment methods or product sheets. Prestashop and Magento are the most popular.

Prestashop
Prestashop is one the most used solution worldwide to create an online shop. Simple to configure and use, it allows to rapidly develop a online shop and is ideal for who moves the first steps in this field. It is one of the online sellers favourite because it is characterized by a wide range of extensions to personalize your e-commerce site and be different from competitors. Is usually more used for simple projects, but it also has been adopted by brands of high-level for its particular benefits.

Magento
Unlike Prestashop, Magento is used especially for complex projects and it requests a proper technical training to make good use of its potential. It is characterised by a high possibility of customization and by a large spectrum of additional functionalities available. As well as the development of proper technical skills, to use Magento you need to keep in consideration the adoption of an infrastructural solution of high-level.

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