Head-to-head
Joomla vs WordPress
All 111 attributes for both platforms, every claim cited to an official source. Scores come from the public rubric on the methodology page, weighted by use case. There is no single winner on purpose.
Verdicts by use case
| Use case | Joomla | WordPress | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small business | 3.1 | 3.9 | WordPress leads (+0.8) |
| Blog / content | 3.6 | 4.1 | WordPress leads (+0.5) |
| Portfolio | 3.2 | 3.9 | WordPress leads (+0.7) |
| Online store | 2.4 | 3.7 | WordPress clearly ahead (+1.2) |
| Startup marketing | 3.2 | 3.9 | WordPress leads (+0.6) |
| Developer / headless | 3.4 | 4.0 | WordPress leads (+0.6) |
Weighted category scores, 0 to 5. Weight profiles and point mappings are public on the methodology page. Data verified 2026-07-08.
Where Joomla leads
- Renewal price higher than intro: No vs Yes
- Audit log: Yes vs No
- 301 redirects: Yes vs Plugin
- Structured data (schema.org): Automatic vs Plugin
- hreflang support: Native vs Plugin
- Editorial approval workflow: Native vs Plugin
Where WordPress leads
- Drag-and-drop editing: Yes vs No
- Inline (click-to-edit) content: Yes vs No
- Autosave: Yes vs No
- Mobile app editing: Yes vs No
- Static export: Yes vs No
- Digital products: Yes vs No
Overview
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor / maintainer | Open Source Matters, Inc. (non-profit) / Joomla! Project | WordPress Foundation (nonprofit, owns trademark); core software developed by the open-source community and Automattic-sponsored contributors |
| Year launched | 2005 | 2003 |
| Platform type | Self-hosted CMS | Self-hosted CMS |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | GNU General Public License v2 (GPL v2) | GPLv2 or later |
| Best for (use cases) | Multilingual sites out of the box, Membership/community sites with complex user permissions, Government and institutional sites needing granular ACL, Sites needing flexible custom content structures without a page builder | Blogs and content publishing, Small business and brochure sites, Ecommerce (via WooCommerce), Membership and community sites, Enterprise/editorial sites needing full code-level control, Developers wanting maximum plugin/theme extensibility |
| Official pricing page | https://downloads.joomla.org/technical-requirements | https://wordpress.org/download/ |
Pricing & Value4.8 vs 3.7
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan limits | No feature limits in core software; user must supply their own hosting, domain, and SSL. | No limits on the software itself (unlimited sites, pages, plugins). Real-world limits come from wherever you self-host it (server resources, hosting plan quotas). |
| Free trial | Not applicable; software is free and open source, not a trial-gated product. | Not applicable to the software; WordPress.org has no trial because it is free and open source. Individual managed-hosting vendors sometimes offer trials (varies by host). |
| Cheapest plan with custom domain ($/mo) | $3/mo | $3.99/mo |
| Most-popular tier ($/mo) | $10/mo | $30/mo |
| Cheapest ecommerce plan ($/mo) | Unverified | $14.99/mo |
| Cheapest tier without platform branding | Not applicable; Joomla core inserts no platform branding on the front end. | None; WordPress core has no platform branding to remove at any tier |
| Renewal price higher than intro | No | Yes |
| Money-back window (days) | Unverified | 30 days |
| Hidden/total cost notes (plugins, hosting, apps) | Real cost is hosting ($3-15/mo typical shared hosting) plus optional paid extensions/templates (many are free/GPL; premium ones commonly $30-100 one-time or /yr) and optional developer time for setup, since Joomla has a steeper learning curve than hosted builders. | Real total cost of ownership is driven entirely by choices outside the free core software: managed hosting ($3-$400+/mo depending on traffic/support tier), premium theme ($0-$200 one-time or /yr), premium plugins/SEO tools ($0-$300+/yr each), a page builder if not using core blocks ($0-$250/yr), backup/security plugins, and developer time for setup and maintenance. A modest small-business site commonly runs $20-$50/mo all-in; ecommerce or high-traffic sites can run into hundreds per month. |
Editor & Ease of Use0.8 vs 4.0
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Editing model | Section-based | Block-based |
| Drag-and-drop editing | No | Yes |
| Inline (click-to-edit) content | No | Yes |
| Undo / version history in editor | Yes | Yes |
| Autosave | No | Yes |
| Mobile app editing | No | Yes |
| Switch templates without content rebuild | No | No |
| Learning curve | Steep | Moderate |
Design & Templates4.2 vs 4.3
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Official templates (count) | Unverified | 8,353 |
| Custom font upload | Yes | Yes |
| Responsive behavior control | Full control | Full control |
| Custom CSS | Yes | Yes |
| Custom JavaScript | Yes | Yes |
| Native animation/interaction tools | No | No |
| Global styles / design tokens | Yes | Yes |
| Design flexibility | Unconstrained | Unconstrained |
Hosting & Infrastructure1.0 vs 2.0
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Managed hosting included | No | No |
| Self-hosting option | Yes | Yes |
| CDN included | No | No |
| Free SSL | No | No |
| Uptime SLA | Not applicable; Joomla is self-hosted software with no vendor-provided hosting or SLA; uptime depends entirely on the chosen host. | Not applicable; no vendor SLA for self-hosted software; uptime is entirely dependent on chosen hosting provider's SLA |
| Bandwidth/storage limits | Not applicable at the software level; bandwidth and storage limits are set entirely by the site owner's chosen hosting plan, not by Joomla. | Not applicable to the software; entirely a function of the hosting plan chosen (e.g., Bluehost Starter: 10GB NVMe SSD storage, ~40,000 visits/mo; WP Engine Startup: 10GB storage, 75GB bandwidth, 25,000 visits/mo) |
| Static export | No | Yes |
Performance3.2 vs 3.1
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| % of real sites passing Core Web Vitals (CrUX) | 58.8% | 50.7% |
| Automatic image optimization | No | No |
| Lazy loading | Yes | Yes |
| Cache control for site owner | Yes | Yes |
SEO Controls4.8 vs 4.3
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Editable title/meta description | Yes | Yes |
| Editable URL slugs | Yes | Yes |
| Forced URL structure constraints | SEF URLs follow menu-item-driven paths by default; achieving fully custom flat URL structures independent of menu hierarchy can require extensions or careful menu planning. | Minimal; fully configurable permalink structures (plain, date-based, custom structure tags) under Settings > Permalinks, and custom post types/taxonomies can define their own URL bases. One core constraint: category and tag archive URLs require a base prefix (default /category/ and /tag/) that can be renamed but not removed without a plugin. |
| 301 redirects | Yes | Plugin |
| Canonical tag control | Yes | Yes |
| Editable robots.txt | Yes | Yes |
| XML sitemap | Plugin | Automatic |
| Structured data (schema.org) | Automatic | Plugin |
| hreflang support | Native | Plugin |
| Open Graph / social meta control | Yes | Yes |
| Per-page noindex | Yes | Yes |
| Image alt text control | Yes | Yes |
Content & Blogging5.0 vs 5.0
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Native blog engine | Yes | Yes |
| Custom content types / collections | Native | Native |
| Categories/tags/taxonomies | Yes | Yes |
| Content scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Content revisions/rollback | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-author support | Yes | Yes |
| RSS feeds | Yes | Yes |
| Content API | Read-write | Read-write |
Ecommerce0.5 vs 3.2
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce capability | Plugin | Plugin |
| Product limits by plan | Not applicable to Joomla core (no native ecommerce). Limits depend entirely on the chosen third-party extension (e.g., VirtueMart is free/unlimited; HikaShop Starter is free with fewer features than paid tiers). | No product limits imposed by WordPress or WooCommerce itself; practical ceiling is determined by hosting server resources/database performance at very large catalog sizes. |
| Platform transaction fees | None from Joomla itself; Joomla is not a party to transactions. Third-party ecommerce extensions (VirtueMart, HikaShop, J2Store) generally charge no platform transaction fee; only payment gateway fees apply. | 0% platform fee from WooCommerce itself; payment-gateway processing fees apply (e.g., WooPayments ~2.5-2.9% + $0.30/transaction), same as any processor-based checkout |
| Payment gateways | Depends on the chosen ecommerce extension. VirtueMart and HikaShop support common gateways including PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.Net via free or paid plugins; not a core Joomla capability. | Extensive: Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Mollie, Worldpay, WooPayments, and dozens more via official and third-party extensions; merchants can use any gateway or BNPL provider without platform penalty. |
| Digital products | No | Yes |
| Subscriptions / recurring payments | No | App |
| Multi-currency selling | No | App |
| Point of sale | No | Yes |
| Abandoned cart recovery | No | App |
| Shipping & tax tools | Not native to Joomla core. Third-party ecommerce extensions like VirtueMart and HikaShop provide their own shipping and tax configuration. | WooCommerce core includes basic flat-rate/free/local-pickup shipping zones and manual tax rate tables; automated tax calculation (WooCommerce Tax) and live carrier rates (UPS/USPS/FedEx extensions) require additional free or paid extensions. |
Ownership & Lock-in5.0 vs 5.0
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Content export | Full | Full |
| Export formats | Full SQL database export/dump; JSON via the core Web Services REST API; CSV for some data via extensions. | WXR (WordPress eXtended RSS/XML) native export; database-level export via phpMyAdmin/mysqldump/WP-CLI for a full raw copy; media files must be transferred separately (not bundled in WXR). |
| Design/site export (take the built site elsewhere) | Full | Full |
| Domain freely portable | Yes | Yes |
| Site can run off-platform | Yes | Yes |
| Full content access via API | Yes | Yes |
| Lock-in risk | Low | Low |
Extensibility & Integrations3.0 vs 5.0
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| App/plugin marketplace size | Joomla Extensions Directory (JED) lists roughly 4,800-5,900 extensions depending on the count method (category page total observed at 4,826 as of July 2026). | 60,000+ free plugins in the official WordPress.org directory (as of early 2026), plus 90,000+ when including premium/third-party marketplaces (CodeCanyon, individual vendors); 8,353 free themes in the official directory |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks | No | Yes |
| Custom code embeds | Yes | Yes |
| Developer framework/stack | Joomla Framework (PHP, MVC architecture), extension system (components/modules/plugins/templates), Composer-based dependency management, Web Services (REST) API. | PHP (core language), MySQL/MariaDB (database), JavaScript/React for the block editor (Gutenberg); theme development uses PHP templates or block-based theme.json/HTML templates for block themes |
| CLI / dev tooling | Yes | Yes |
| Zapier/Make support | No | Yes |
| Notable native integrations | Core integrations are limited to what ships in the CMS (RSS/Atom syndication, REST API, OpenSearch, MFA providers). Most third-party service integrations (payment gateways, marketing tools, Zapier) require extensions rather than native connectors. | Jetpack (official Automattic plugin) bundles stats, security, and CDN features; WooCommerce for ecommerce; Akismet (bundled by default) for comment spam filtering; broad first-party and third-party plugin coverage for CRM, email marketing, forms, and analytics rather than built-in native integrations. |
AI Features0.0 vs 3.8
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| AI site generation | No | No |
| AI writing assistant | No | Yes |
| AI image tools | No | Yes |
| AI SEO assistance | No | Yes |
| Notable AI capabilities/limits | Joomla shipped a provider-agnostic AI Framework in its extension system (2025) so developers can write one integration and let site owners choose OpenAI, Anthropic, or local Ollama models; this is plumbing for extension authors, not a built-in end-user AI feature. Joomla also publishes a Generative AI policy governing use of AI in core development. | WordPress 7.0 (May 2026) introduced core AI infrastructure: the Abilities API (lets plugins register standardized capabilities) and the AI Client (a provider-agnostic PHP interface for plugins to call AI models), plus an MCP Adapter exposing site abilities to external AI assistants. Actual end-user AI features (content drafting, image generation, alt text) ship via a separate official "AI" plugin built on this foundation, not bundled into core by default; WordPress's AI strategy is infrastructure-first, letting any plugin/host plug in its own AI provider rather than shipping one baked-in assistant. |
Collaboration & Workflow2.5 vs 2.5
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Roles & permissions | Granular | Granular |
| Concurrent editing | No | Yes |
| Editorial approval workflow | Native | Plugin |
| Staging / preview environments | None | Preview only |
| In-editor commenting | No | No |
| Audit log | Yes | No |
Support & Trust1.6 vs 2.0
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Support channels | Community-run official forum (forum.joomla.org), official documentation wikis (docs.joomla.org, manual.joomla.org, guide.joomla.org), Joomla Community Magazine, Stack Exchange, and paid third-party developer/agency support. No official paid vendor support desk since Joomla is a volunteer-run non-profit project. | Community-run support forums at wordpress.org/support (volunteer-staffed, no guaranteed response time); no official vendor support line since there is no single vendor. Hosting providers and premium plugin/theme vendors offer their own separate support channels (chat, ticket, phone) at their own SLA. |
| 24/7 support | No | No |
| Documentation quality | Good | Excellent |
| Community size | ~2.2% CMS market share (roughly 730K-930K live sites) as of mid-2026 per W3Techs, making it the 5th-largest CMS by usage; official forum has 800,000+ threads. | Largest CMS community in the world: WordPress powers roughly 43% of all websites (per W3Techs, commonly cited industry figure); WordCamp events run globally; wordpress.org/support forums have millions of threads; Stack Overflow, Reddit, and independent WordPress-focused sites add further community support depth. |
| Security certifications (SOC 2, ISO) | None found. Joomla is a self-hosted open-source project, not a hosted service provider, so SOC 2/ISO certifications (which apply to hosted infrastructure) are not applicable at the software level; security instead relies on the project's own security strike team and CVE disclosure process. | Not applicable to WordPress core itself; the free software carries no security certification since it is not a hosted service. Certifications apply to individual hosting vendors (e.g., WordPress VIP holds SOC 2 Type I and FedRAMP Moderate; WP Engine holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2013). |
| Backups & restore | Plugin | Plugin |
| Accessibility tooling | Default templates (Cassiopeia front end, Atum admin) are built to align with WCAG 2.1 AA; Joomla 6.x roadmap targets WCAG 2.2 AA. No built-in accessibility checker/auditor tool in core; compliance of the final site depends on the builder's implementation. | Core editor includes accessibility prompts (e.g., alt-text nudges, color-contrast warnings) and core itself is built to accessibility coding standards; "Accessibility Ready" is an official tag for themes meeting WordPress's baseline accessibility review (not full WCAG AA certification). Full WCAG compliance auditing/remediation requires third-party plugins (e.g., accessibility overlay/statement-generator tools) or manual development work. |
Multilingual & Localization5.0 vs 4.4
| Joomla | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Multilingual sites | Native | App or plugin |
| Translation workflow | Yes | Yes |
| Localized SEO (per-locale URLs, hreflang) | Yes | Yes |
| RTL language support | Yes | Yes |