When looking at websites today and the technology behind them, most will have been created on some sort of Content Management System – or ‘CMS’ as they are more widely known – to be able to present the various information on the website and the visual layouts and features that users see. There are two main types of CMS – ‘hosted’ and ‘self-hosted’, which are quite different in terms of ease of use to require more technical expertise and customisation.
Each CMS in terms of technology and function and although there are many solutions available to help you get online quickly, actually building a website that suits the functionality of your business; meets your needs, performs well, and at a reasonable cost to the business in the long-run is the ideal aim.
In this blog post, we will compare some of the various CMS-hosted platforms currently available on the market. The term ‘Hosted’ means that owners can have a site that is managed for them in terms of appearance, functionality, and security updates and they do not need a lot of technical knowledge to get set-up and online quickly.
What is a CMS?
We spoke more about what exactly a CMS is in our other blog in this series: Self-hosted Content Management Systems Compared’. As mentioned; a CMS (Content Management System) is software that allows you to create, edit, and publish web content without the need for in-depth coding skills.
It offers a user-friendly control panel for your website, so you can focus on adding pages, rich text, media, writing blog posts, and generally managing your site’s front-end content, while the CMS handles the technical complexities behind the scenes.
There are generally two parts to a CMS – a Content Management Application (CMA) and a Content Delivery Application (CDA), which work together to apply code to a site’s infrastructure. There is also a CMS and a ‘Headless CMS’ which again we talk more about in our other blog post if you would like to know more.
What to look for in a Hosted CMS
When choosing a Hosted CMS, each solution varies depending on your business needs; from handling lots of content-rich updates to displaying products for your eCommerce store, depending on the CMS you choose, some features come straight ‘out-of-the-box’ or require upgrading to premium plans or downloading as add-ons.
You may also be looking to update your current CMS as your website has become slow or feels heavy with the data over time and no longer fulfills the needs of what a website is required to do for your business, whether that’s handling multiple sales and purchases or user login, subscriptions and downloads, as an example.
The main benefit to using a Hosted CMS system is that most of the technical aspects are taken care of for you such as backups, security updates, and maintenance, however, the cons are that there can be restrictions on what you can and can’t do with your site due to various vendor lock-in.
Another element to consider is support; whilst a hosted CMS can mean not requiring a web developer to a certain extent; specific customization of a website may require specialist skills and with some hosted CMS systems having smaller communities, the resources and knowledge available will be more niche and work out more expensive.
How does a Hosted CMS compare to WordPress.org?
WordPress is the most well-known open-source CMS platform available on the market powering over 40% of all websites across the internet with an overall 62.7% market share for known content management systems (either managed or open source) and is the main choice for a lot of clients we manage due to its flexibility and extensive support.
WordPress offers two versions available on the market, one which is ‘self-hosted’ (otherwise known as WordPress.org) which we will be using as a comparison to the hosted CMS. They also offer a ‘hosted’ version (otherwise known as WordPress.com) so that website owners can also benefit from the widely-known WordPress infrastructure but in a more done-for-you way.
In comparison to a hosted CMS system, WordPress self-hosted website owners have full control over their hosting, domains, plugins, data and the ability to fully optimise their websites through an extensive library of plugins, themes, and resources to suit their personal or business needs. Whereas hosted sites offer an all-in-one managed solution with everything in one place; from hosting, domains, to technical support, security updates, and backups, as well as, various templates and features such as eCommerce. The main issue with a hosted site is the lack of flexibility on what website owners can add or change in terms of these customizations with additional features being charged in addition to the annual hosted website charge which can be more expensive.
Most common Hosted CMS tools
In this post, we will compare some of the most common hosted solutions available on the market, and compare them with WordPress (.org), to help you see the main benefits and pros and cons and a better understanding of which one might better suit your business:
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| Platform | WP.COM | WIX | SQUARESPACE | SHOPIFY | WEBFLOW | SANITY | CONTENTFUL | JAMSTACK |
| +835 million websites globally, with WordPress.com accounting for a significant portion | +200 million users worldwide, including inactive and trial accounts | +5 million websites | +6 million websites | +3.5 million websites | Under 100,000 websites | Under 100,000 websites | +7 million websites | |
| Beginner-friendly with no technical knowledge needed | User-friendly, quick setup with no technical knowledge needed | Beautiful, professionally designed templates | Excellent for eCommerce | Great for design flexibility | Real-time collaborative editing and structured content management | API-first and headless, allowing greater developer flexibility | Excellent performance and security | |
| Free plan option with basic features | All-in-one solution with hosting, templates, and support included | All-in-one solution with hosting included | User-friendly interface | Highly customizable design capabilities | Highly customizable from a developer’s perspective | Great for enterprise-level applications | Fast and secure due to decoupled architecture | |
| Pre-designed themes and drag-and-drop editors | Built-in SEO tools, forms, and eCommerce options | Intuitive drag-and-drop interface and straightforward content placement | Built-in payment processing | Visual editing tools for designers | Structured content schemas for fast development | Flexible integrations for front-end developers | Excellent performance with static site generation | |
| Owners don’t have full control over the website’s underlying code, which can be restrictive for advanced users | Limited customization and control; vendor lock-in | Less flexibility for complex websites and limited third-party integrations | Higher transaction fees for eCommerce | Steeper learning curve; can be costly over time | Not ideal for beginners or non-technical users | High costs and requires technical integration | Requires development knowledge and more complex deployment | |
| Owners aren’t able to publish their own ads or earn money outside WordPress’ built-in options | Organizing content and designing page layouts can require expertise | Limited customization compared to WordPress | Less versatility for websites other than eCommerce | Limited blogging features | Limited out-of-the-box features | Pricing can be high for larger projects | Performance and speed can be affected if not optimized | |
| Additional features require higher-tier plans | Can become expensive with additional features and premium plans | Higher pricing for advanced features | Managing the site is generally more expensive | More complex than traditional CMS platforms | Requires technical skills for setup and maintenance |
WordPress.com (hosted) – https://wordpress.com/
Launched in 2005 by Automattic, a company founded by Matt Mullenweg, one of the original co-founders of WordPress, WordPress.com is a ‘managed’ version of the original open-source WordPress, providing a hosted service for users to create and manage websites using the WordPress software without having to deal with the complexities of self-hosting. WordPress powers over 835 million websites globally, with WordPress.com accounting for a significant portion as a hosted solution
WordPress.com allows users to create blogs, portfolios, business websites, e-commerce stores, and more, without needing to manage hosting, domain registration, security, or updates. As a fully managed platform that handles these technical aspects for users, making it more beginner-friendly compared to the self-hosted WordPress.org.
In contrast to WordPress.org, WordPress.com is a great option for those seeking simplicity and ease of use without dealing with hosting, security, or updates themselves.
Pros:
- Beginner-friendly with no technical knowledge needed
- Free plan option with basic features.
- Pre-designed themes and drag-and-drop editors
- Security, backups, and updates are handled automatically.
- In-built SEO options.
- WordPress infrastructure is well-optimized for faster site load times and reliability.
Cons:
- Owners don’t have full control over the website’s underlying code, which can be restrictive for advanced users who want to make customizations.
- To further enhance website functionality with third-party plugins you would need to upgrade to a higher plan.
- Owners are not able to publish their own ads or earn money in ways other than WordPress’ built-in monetization options.
WordPress.com to WordPress.org comparison:
The managed version of WordPress offers business owners the ability to run a WordPress site – well-known for its strong infrastructure, an extensive library of plugins, and resources, but as an all-in-one managed solution with security and updates all taken care of, however, there is a lot of vendor lock-in and if further customization is required, users will need to upgrade their plan, as well as paying for additional plugins which along with the hosting solution costs which can be expensive.
Wix – https://wix.com/
Founded in 2006, Wix offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for managing content with a quick setup. It includes SEO and managed hosting, security, and updates. The option to add eCommerce is a premium feature and page load speeds have been known to become slower, the bigger the site becomes due to the Platform’s all-in-one infrastructure.
The platform is great for small businesses and personal websites but growth may be limited. Wix hosts more than 200 million users worldwide, including inactive and trial accounts.
Pros:
- User-friendly, quick setup – no technical knowledge needed.
- All-in-one solution with hosting, templates, and support all included in one package, simplifying the overall setup.
- Various built-in features like SEO tools, forms, and eCommerce options.
Cons:
- Limited customization and control; vendor lock-in.
- Organising content and designing page layouts on the front-end can take time.
- Can become expensive with the additional features and premium plans
Overview: Wix offers everything straight out of-a-box in terms of hosting, domains, themes and additional features (depending on price plan) to help get users set-up quickly with minimal technical knowledge, however, it does require a slight technical learning curve for designing the pages and there is heavy vendor-lock-in when it comes to having additional features such as eCommerce and marketing.
Squarespace – https://www.squarespace.com/
Launched in 2004, Squarespace provides high-quality pre-built websites and customisable templates with easy-to-use drag-and-drop elements for many purposes from bloggers to portfolios and eCommerce businesses, to create and modify web pages without touching a single line of code.
Squarespace, is well-known for professional high-quality designs and done-for-you options that make getting started a breeze, however, as a result, it is also one of the most expensive managed CMS options available. Over 5 million websites use Squarespace, which represents approximately 2.1% of all websites on the internet.
Pros:
- Beautiful, professionally designed templates.
- All-in-one solution with hosting included.
- Intuitive drag-and-drop interface and straightforward content placement.
Cons:
- Less flexibility for complex websites and limited third-party integrations.
- Limited customization compared to WordPress.
- Higher pricing for advanced features.
Overview: As with Wix, there is heavy vendor lock-in with most premium features and customizations requiring further subscription. to Squarespace Plans which are one of the most expensive CMS’s, also users don’t have full control of the site or access to their data. However, the main benefit is that Squarespace users can benefit from being able to set up a beautifully finished and professional site that functions well, and very quickly.
Shopify – https://www.shopify.com/
Founded in 2006, Shopify is a Canadian all-in-one website hosting solution focused primarily on the eCommerce market, allowing shop owners to create professional, user-friendly online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Shopify supports nearly 6 million websites.
As the sites are optimised for eCommerce, sites can load quickly and the system is robust for handling many online transactions and data and provides excellent support and an extensive app store for additional features. It also features an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for users to quickly build new pages.
Pros:
- Excellent for eCommerce; user-friendly,
- Offering robust eCommerce features and built-in payment processing.
- User-friendly interface.
Cons:
- Higher transaction fees.
- Less versatility for non-eCommerce sites.
- Managing the site is generally more expensive.
- Less control over website design compared to WordPress.
Overview: Shopify provides out-of-the-box, optimised templates specifically for eCommerce. For WordPress users looking to create an eCommerce store they would use a third-party plugin called ‘WooCommerce’ although this would require more technical management and configuration compared to Shopify. However, in terms of transaction fees, Shopify can be more expensive.
WebFlow – https://webflow.com/
US-based Webflow started in 2012, offering users the ability to create all-in-one hosting and website software through easy-to-manage templates and a drag-and-drop system without needing to code. For more functional websites a premium plan is needed. Webflow hosts an estimated 3.5 million websites.
Pros:
- Great for design flexibility.
- Highly customizable design capabilities.
- Visual editing tools for designers.
Cons:
- Steeper learning curve; can be costly over time.
- Limited blogging features.
Overview: WebFlow is better for more experienced designers and developers. If more functionality is needed a premium plan is needed which can end up being more costly over time.
Sanity – https://www.sanity.io/
Sanity is a relatively new headless CMS with quite a bit of support. Again, it is ideal for developers needing flexibility and supports structured content well. Performance varies with usage; more geared toward developers. Provides good security but requires user oversight. Sanity is a growing platform with an estimated tens of thousands of currently active projects globally.
Pros:
- Real-time collaborative editing features and structured content management
- Highly customizable from a developer’s perspective.
Cons:
- Not ideal for beginners or non-technical users.
- Limited out-of-the-box features.
- More complex than traditional CMS platforms.
Overview: Compared with WordPress, Sanity requires more technical expertise to set-up and manage.
Contentful – https://www.contentful.com/
Founded in 2013 in Berlin, Germany, Contentful is an API-first, headless system that allows for more developer flexibility. It is also well known for enterprise-level applications. Contentful supports tens of thousands of active implementations worldwide, mainly in enterprise and developer-driven environments.
Due to the need for technical integration, this platform requires technical skills for setup and maintenance and can come with higher start-up costs.
Pros:
- API-first and headless allowing for greater developer flexibility
- Great for enterprise-level applications.
Cons:
- High costs; requires technical integration.
- Pricing can be high for larger projects.
- Requires technical skills for setup and maintenance.
Overview: Compared with WordPress, Contentful is more expensive and requires more technical integration.
Jamstack – https://jamstack.org/
Jamstack, which is also a headless CMS was developed in 2016 is an architecture designed to make the web faster, more secure and easier to scale, it can be used for anything from an eCommerce store to a creative portfolio, small business, and also government sites.
Jamstack offers excellent performance and security supporting many static site generators and frameworks and can be very fast and secure due to its decoupled architecture. It is very popular amongst developers, currently supporting an estimated several million websites.
Pros:
- Excellent performance and security.
- Fast and secure due to decoupled architecture.
- Excellent performance with static site generation.
Cons:
- Requires development knowledge and more complex deployment.
- Performance and speed can be affected if not optimized
Overview: Compared with WordPress, Jamstack website performance and security is much better and more secure and for this reason, it is a popular choice for government websites.
That’s a wrap
A Hosted CMS solution can be great to start with, especially if you are unfamiliar with the self-hosting landscape and just want a website up and running as fast as possible, however, compared to a self-hosted solution such as WordPress.org, the customization of a Hosted CMS site can be limited due to various vendor lock-in and limited access to additional features and functionality for the purpose of the business – which is why assessing best website solutions and costs for the business beforehand are important.
It is mostly the migration of a site built on a hosted CRM platform that can be difficult; for example Wix or Squarespace to WordPress and vice versa. On a basic level, some platforms won’t allow you to do this, in particular, Wix and Squarespace, but also for the reason that the file structure of websites hosted on these website platforms is fundamentally different.
However, specifically in the case of WordPress, if you were to start off on the hosted version and choose to move to the self-hosted Open Source version of WordPress at a later time, you can easily export your WordPress.com site there so all the content, functionality and time that has gone into building the initial site can still be maintained, and potentially on the self-hosted version in a more flexible way for your business going forward.