dotCMS vs WordPress
Why choose dotCMS over WordPress
WordPress VIP is a popular enterprise-grade version of the open-source WordPress platform, favored by publishers and organizations looking for ease of use and familiarity.
However, dotCMS provides a more modern, scalable, and secure approach to content management in terms of extensibility, performance, and long-term maintainability at scale.
dotCMS Highlights
Here’s the TL;DR of why companies choose dotCMS over WordPress VIP
Developer & Content Team Experience
It’s easy to get started using WordPress, but it’s difficult to run performant, enterprise sites.
dotCMS is built for content and marketing teams with drag-and-drop layout designers and easy-to-use tools. Developers benefit from API-first architecture, customizable endpoints, and robust documentation. Collaborative authoring, versioning, and permissions are designed to scale with your teams.
Security & Stability
WordPress plugins are the #1 source of vulnerabilities, often exposing enterprise websites to cyber threats. Their reliance on third-party plugins for essential features creates inconsistent patching and security gaps.
dotCMS is built with security first, minimizing reliance on third-party add-ons and offering enterprise-grade security controls, role-based permissions, and regular updates. We support secure multi-site architecture and GDPR compliance out of the box.
Performance & Scalability
WordPress VIP is designed for blog-style and marketing sites, not high-scale or high-traffic applications. Plugin overuse and page builders often lead to performance issues and bloated codebases. WordPress offers limited support for logged-in users and dynamic personalization.
dotCMS is optimized for scalable enterprise applications, including multi-brand and multi-region deployments. It is designed to support millions of pages and concurrent users with high availability and offers hybrid headless delivery and granular caching strategies to ensure fast performance.
Total Cost of Ownership
WordPress offers a low cost of entry, but costs increase significantly with added plugins, hosting, and support. Users should expect additional time and investment for training, plugin vetting, performance optimization, and unpredictable upgrade cycles that can lead to extra resource allocation.
dotCMS has transparent, all-in-one pricing that includes enterprise support, cloud hosting, and feature upgrades. dotCMS’ reduced reliance on third parties means lower maintenance costs and fewer hidden fees. Easy upgrades, backward compatibility, and proactive support ensure long-term ROI.
FAQs
But I have a few questions…
I’m already using WordPress, is it easy to switch to dotCMS?
Definitely. We’ve done many migrations from WordPress to dotCMS. You’ll work hand-in-hand with our implementation team or a dotCMS certified partner to scope out the project and ensure a smooth transition to dotCMS. Through our Business Source License (BSL) offering, dotCMS is easy to test before purchasing.
Honestly, are there areas where WordPress VIP is better than dotCMS?
WordPress's source code has over 1,000 contributors, offering a large global community of extensive documentation and tutorials. However, for enterprise organizations looking to build websites at scale, WordPress VIP is designed for companies already integrated into the WordPress ecosystem. It's best for enterprises already using WP and looking for larger, customized solutions.
Are there specific feature differences to highlight between dotCMS and WordPress?
When you’re doing your evaluation, it’s important to consider how features are built and how well they fit into your existing tech stack. Both dotCMS and WordPress VIP have extensive feature lists to fit your unique use case.
Explore how dotCMS stacks up against WordPress VIP
| Features | dotCMS | WordPress | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture & Approach | dotCMS is a modern headless CMS that’s universally developable on any framework, on any channel, and on any infrastructure with API-first hybrid headless architecture. | All WordPress products offer a traditional or “monolithic” approach, meaning the front and back end are tightly integrated, forcing users to use plugins for any framework customization. | ||
| User Friendliness | dotCMS is built with both technical and non-technical users in mind, has an intuitive UI with expert tooling, and our Universal Visual Editor allows anyone to create and manage pages. | WordPress is beginner-friendly, easy to use, and out of the box. However, users should expect a learning curve, security setbacks, and inconsistency when scaling with plugins across thousands of sites. | ||
| Scalability | Perfect for mid-market and enterprise companies, dotCMS’ multi-tenant architecture and core functionality can be deployed headlessly and scale across teams and projects without the overhead and costs of WordPress. | WordPress VIP is built for enterprise-level organizations, but there is a heavy reliance on third-party plugins. | ||
| Cost | dotCMS has clear and predictable pricing and keeps your total ownership cost low. | Implementation costs and ongoing maintenance of WordPress can raise the total cost of ownership and make it difficult for buyers to find ROI on the platform. | ||
| Support | Customer obsession is deeply rooted in our values and culture at dotCMS. We partner with our customers to ensure they are successful. | WordPress VIP support relies on self-service tools and partners to provide first-line support, which is typical of working with a large vendor like WordPress. |
Case Studies
You're in Good Company
From Fortune 500 brands, government agencies, to higher education, our powerful and flexible CMS delivers proven business results across a wide range of industries and organizations.
A global leader in HVAC markets decreases operational costs and increases marketing effectiveness by replatforming multiple brands to dotCMS
A global leader in air conditioning and refrigeration markets partnered with Nebbiu to launch all their brands' websites on dotCMS under one multi-tenant content management solution.
Before dotCMS, our client was wasting a lot of money struggling to maintain numerous technologies that hosted each of their companies under different environments. Implementing dotCMS has given them the freedom to focus more on their bottom line rather than juggling outdated software and constant bug fixes. dotCMS was the perfect solution to simplifying their complex needs.
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