Each CMS aims to handle your content to benefit you and your company. There are many choices available, ranging from specific requirements to broad needs. One CMS could let you manage SEO and design, while another could concentrate on writing content.
Wagtail CMS and WordPress are extremely popular content management systems (CMSs). Wagtail is the largest and most well-known CMS for using the Python programming language, while WordPress is among the best-known for PHP. WordPress has also been the dominant winner in the general size of the market, with more than one-third of all websites using WordPress.
In this blog, we will help you decide the content management system that would work best for your business.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a well-known free content management System(CMS) millions worldwide use to build and maintain sites. It was first introduced in 2003. Since then, WordPress has evolved into the most popular CMS and powers over 40% of the websites.
At its core, WordPress is a versatile platform empowering users to create, edit, and publish a wide range of digital content. Whether it’s crafting engaging blog posts, uploading eye-catching images, or embedding dynamic videos, WordPress makes it effortless. With customizable themes and a library of pre-designed templates, users can effortlessly design a professional and visually stunning website tailored to their needs.
Benefits of WordPress
The benefits of WordPress website development include a range of advantages, making it a popular choice for website design:
Ease of Use
WordPress offers a user-friendly dashboard and simple navigation, making it simple to manage your website without technical expertise.
Customization
WordPress provides thousands of themes and plugins to make your site more personal. You can also create your own CSS or alter its source code.
Mobile-Friendly
WordPress websites are mobile-friendly and optimized to work on smartphones and tablets.
Security
WordPress is a secure platform with solid security features that ensure your site is safe from cyber-attacks.
Scalability
WordPress sites can handle hundreds of thousands of blog posts and pages without sacrificing performance.
Plugins
Plugins can be used to add features to your website, whether easy or low-cost.
Open-Source
WordPress is an open-source software continuously enhanced by developers of a WordPress community.
What is Wagtail?
Wagtail is a modern, open-source CMS powered by the robust Django framework and Python. Known for its standout features like StreamField, an intuitive admin interface, and exceptional scalability, Wagtail is perfect for businesses and developers seeking a user-friendly platform to manage complex and dynamic websites effortlessly.
One of the main characteristics unique to Wagtail is the user-friendly interface design. The CMS features a minimalist and clean layout that is easy to navigate, even for users without technical knowledge. It also comes with a WYSIWYG (What You See is the Content You Receive) editor that lets users edit and create content using a visual format without the need to write codes.
Benefits of Wagtail
Wagtail is a CMS for content which offers many advantages, such as:
Flexibility
Wagtail is a Django application that can be integrated with various Django or Python applications, making it highly flexible.
Security
Wagtail integrates Django’s security features to defend against the most common attacks. It also complies with Google’s stringent security standards.
Enterprise Features
Wagtail offers permissions reports, workflows, and history monitoring features.
Developer Control
Hire Wagtail Developers that control even the most minor aspects of their website.
Creative Control for Editors
Editors can structure and publish content without the help of a developer.
Future-Proof
Wagtail has been built using Python, the current data science standard.
Traffic Surge Resilience
Wagtail has been designed and built to work at a high level and can handle millions of customers.
Want a Faster, Flexible CMS? Let’s Build It with Wagtail!
Pooja Upadhyay
Director Of People Operations & Client Relations
Reasons How Wagtail is a Superior CMS than WordPress
Wagtail (a Content Management System) was first introduced in 2014, and since then, it has rapidly gained popularity with developers and content creators. Many businesses choose WordPress development when they redesign their websites, mainly because they are unaware of alternatives like Wagtail and its benefits.
This section will examine Wagtail’s many advantages over WordPress and explain why it’s an excellent CMS for deciding on the best technology for your next website project.
Flexibility
Wagtail, crafted on the renowned Python web framework Django, offers a seamless transition for developers familiar with Django. This makes it easy to start building websites without the need to learn a new framework or language. Its deep integration with Django provides unmatched flexibility and customization, surpassing the limitations of WordPress’s plugin-driven structure.
With Wagtail, developers gain full control over every aspect of website creation, from designing the front-end layout to managing intricate back-end databases. It empowers developers to implement advanced features like custom database fields, tailored user permissions, and more, enabling highly personalized and dynamic applications.
Additionally, the integrated structure that is present in Wagtail and Django permits seamless integration with third-party services and applications like search engines, payment gateways, and analytics.
On the other hand, WordPress’s plugin-based structure restricts its features and customization since developers are restricted to the capabilities provided by the available plugins. Additionally, integrating third-party applications can be a complicated process for WordPress.
Ease of Use
WordPress is so well-known in the marketplace because of its simplicity of use. However, any user can navigate the editing interface for the content of Wagtail CMS. The interface is easy and simple, allowing users to create modular pages quickly and easily. Content creators can select any content type available to build custom pages while observing live changes via an identical interface.
In addition, considering the significance of mobile devices in people’s daily lives, this interface lets users preview modifications on various screen sizes, including tablet, mobile, and laptop. Without needing to publish the changes or open the page again to see the draft!
Security
Wagtail offers enhanced security compared to WordPress, thanks to its robust design and regular updates that address known vulnerabilities. This proactive approach makes your website less prone to attacks or compromises. In contrast, WordPress relies on third-party plugins developed independently, which can create security risks.
Hackers often exploit these plugins, as they are not always properly secured. Wagtail, however, avoids this issue by not using third-party plugins, ensuring a more secure platform for your site.
Wagtail is based on Django, the most secure web framework. Django provides various tools that enable developers to develop secure applications and websites. It is also equipped with protection against cross-site scripting and SQL injections.
Additionally, Django automatically generates secure URLs and forms. It is secured by default, which is not the situation with WordPress.
Wagtail is a Headless CMS
When you compare headless CMSs such as Wagtail against traditional CMSs such as WordPress, many advantages can be derived from using an entirely headless CMS. These include greater flexibility, less maintenance, rapid development, greater ability to scale, better security, greater control, enhanced performance, better customization, and better integration.
Traditional CMSs can be more restrictive regarding customization and integration, which may hinder their utility in specific applications. Headless CMSs, however, offer greater options in this area, making them ideal for developers who want to develop custom content types and integrate with other platforms and services.
A headless CMS provides a variety of benefits over conventional CMS solutions, such as:
- Greater Flexibility: A headless CMS offers greater flexibility; content can be delivered via any system or gadget, allowing more flexibility in how content is presented.
- Easy Maintenance: The headless CMS eliminates the need to maintain an additional front-end interface, which could be time-consuming and expensive.
- Speedier Development: A headless CMS can speed up development cycles since the content is managed from one location and released across multiple channels or devices.
- Scalability: Headless CMS can be scalable and easily accommodate huge sites with a lot of content.
- Better Security: Because the content is not linked to the front end, headless CMS offers greater security since the content is not available to the general public.
Built-in Features
In terms of features offered, Wagtail offers a more complete set of options than WordPress. It has built-in SEO services support, allowing you to easily improve your site’s performance to be indexed by search engines. It also has an integrated cropping feature that lets users quickly crop and resize images according to their preferences. It also has a compelling integrated content search feature called Elasticsearch that lets users quickly locate the information they require within milliseconds.
Another benefit of Wagtail is the integrated capability to handle multilingual content. WordPress plugin development is required to support multilingual content, whereas Wagtail comes with this feature built-in. This makes it much simpler for global companies and businesses to manage their website and be available to a larger public. A/B testing is another incredible, built-in feature of Wagtail, which is extremely helpful in marketing, something WordPress doesn’t have.
Scalability
Its flexibility and capacity make it an ideal solution for big, complex websites that must manage large quantities of content. With the capability to integrate with other systems, like the e-commerce platform and analytics tools, Wagtail provides a comprehensive and reliable solution that can cater to the requirements of websites of any size.
Furthermore, the CMS is built to be scalable according to your website’s requirements and will easily expand as your business grows. This makes it an excellent choice for companies searching for an efficient and feature-rich CMS that can manage content
Active Developer Community
In addition, Wagtail is an open-source CMS, just like headless WordPress. That means anyone using Wagtail can benefit from the available resources and support and quickly locate experienced developers working on this CMS.
The platform constantly changes through a network of skilled users and developers, giving users access to the latest developments and capabilities that allow them to use the CMS fully and develop unique websites.
Wise Technological Choice
Ultimately, Wagtail is an incredibly versatile and robust Content Management System (CMS) with numerous pros over WordPress. The choice to use Wagtail instead of WordPress is easy. This seamless integration to the well-known Django web platform, the user-friendly interface, multilingual support built-in, scalability and A/B testing features, advanced security features, and active and vibrant user community make it a fantastic option for any website or app.
With its highly customizable features, developers, marketers, and content creators can easily produce and manage content, making it an ideal option for projects that require content. Additionally, with a broad range of plugins and modules to expand its capabilities, Wagtail is a much more robust tool than WordPress that can be utilized to create robust and dynamic sites and software.
Difference Between Wagtail CMS and WordPress
Here are some differences between Wagtail and WordPress, check it out below.
Cost
- Wagtail: Wagtail is open-source software and doesn’t have licensing costs. The costs for starting up vary, but they are likely to include the cost of Wagtail development company or developer for developing the website.
- WordPress: WordPress is open-source software that doesn’t require licensing. It is very affordable to set up and then launch.
Language
- Wagtail: Python
- WordPress: PHP
Framework
- Wagtail: Embraces Django, a contemporary web framework designed to improve effectiveness and safety.
- WordPress: WordPress does not include a Web framework.
Customization
- Wagtail: Wagtail is extremely customizable and can be tailored to meet the requirements of your project from the beginning, whether you’re developing a blog, an application, or a web-based service.
- WordPress: WordPress was designed for blogging. Additional modifications are necessary to use it for projects other than blogging.
Extendability
- Wagtail: It is flexible to expand. It can be extended with packages or even custom Python code. Creating custom SQL (or database) code is not typically required, reducing the security risk.
- WordPress: WordPress is a platform that can be augmented by utilizing plugins. The code for plugins can manipulate SQL and databases in ways that may pose security risks
Scalability
- Wagtail: The Wagtail platform is highly flexible. Most Wagtail websites can handle a large amount of data without significantly impacting performance.
- WordPress: WordPress works best for smaller or mid-sized websites. The sheer number of plugins available can impact the performance
Required Technical Skills
- Wagtail: The skills of a developer are required to create and maintain a Wagtail website.
- WordPress: WordPress developer skills are optional to create and manage a WordPress website
Enterprise-Level Features
- Wagtail: Contains workflows, permissions, comments reports, history tracking, and accessibility features usually required by large corporations.
- WordPress: WordPress plugins or custom development is needed to add advanced features for enterprise to WordPress
Security
- Wagtail: Provides Django’s most advanced security features and protection from the most common threats.
- WordPress: WordPress alone is secure. However, plugins can pose security risks as well as performance problems
Support and Services
- Wagtail: Wagtail Community Support provides Free and paid support for organizations and a global agency network to work with.
- WordPress: WordPress Support for community members is free, but there is a vast collection of paid services, including agencies, self-service, and choices.
WordPress offers a lot of power without the need to write code. But it has certain disadvantages. While Wagtail has enterprise-grade features, it requires a developer to set up your site.
Conclusion
Wagtail offers flexibility, security, and enterprise-level features with developer support, while WordPress provides ease of use with a vast selection of themes and plugins. Wagtail excels in scalability without relying on third-party plugins, while WordPress requires additional plugins for similar functionality. Your choice depends on whether you prioritize developer flexibility or a user-friendly ecosystem.
From Custom Themes to Plugins-Start Your WordPress Journey with Us Today!
Pooja Upadhyay
Director Of People Operations & Client Relations
