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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs Drupal

Craft CMS vs Drupal

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Drupal is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 12.

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  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Drupal Traditional · Open source · 16 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, Drupal on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available
Craft CMS vs Drupal feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
Drupal Traditional
Overview
What it is Self-hosted PHP CMS with custom fields and Twig templates. Pixel & Tonic sells licences per project and runs Craft Cloud hosting.Open-source PHP CMS with fieldable content types, core JSON:API and multilingual modules. Teams self-host it or use Drupal hosting platforms.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes. Craft CMS 5 in Solo, Team and Pro editions. Craft 6 is in alpha. Version 5.11.3, released 18 Sept 2026 Drupal 11 core. Drupal CMS 2 bundles core with selected contrib modules. Version 11.4.8, released 26 Sept 2026
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com Drupal community, supported by the Drupal Association drupal.org
Licence Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available Open source GPL-2.0-or-later
Hosting Self-hosting Vendor cloud Craft Cloud starts at $120 per month per project and includes a Team licence. Self-hosting No vendor cloud Acquia, Pantheon and other companies sell managed Drupal hosting.
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigPHP, Symfony, Twig
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLMySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. Free to start Solo free for one user. Team $279, Pro $399 per project, then $99 per year for updates. Enterprise on request. Free to start Free and open source. Hosting, support and contrib services cost extra.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited. Built in Project config YAML records sections, entry types and fields for Git. 7 Built in Content types and fields export to YAML config files.
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 6 Built in Field UI in core.
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. Built in Matrix fields with nested entry types. 8 Built in Layout Builder in core. Paragraphs and Drupal Canvas are contrib. 910
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. Built in Per-site and per-language field translation on every edition. 61 Built in Field-level content translation in core. 7
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. Built in 10 Built in Image styles scale, crop and convert images. 8
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Element API plugin. 12 Built in JSON:API and REST modules in core. 3
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Built in 111 Plugin or add-on GraphQL contrib module. Developers build the schema. 4
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Webhooks plugin. 13 Plugin or add-on Webhooks contrib module. Core has no outgoing webhooks. 18
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. Built in Twig templates. Built in Twig themes.
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in 14 Built in Drafts of published content need the core Content Moderation module. 5
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. Built in Post date and expiry date on entries. 15 Plugin or add-on Scheduler contrib module. 11
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in Editors can view and restore revisions. 14 Built in Revert in core. Side-by-side compare needs the Diff contrib module.
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in Preview button on the edit form.
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. Limited Live Preview shows the edit form beside the page. No click-to-edit. 14 Limited Layout Builder edits blocks on a rendered preview. Drupal Canvas is contrib. 910
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. Plugin or add-on Workflow plugin by Verbb, $49. 16 Built in Workflows and Content Moderation modules in core. 5
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Not available Built in Workspaces module, stable in core since 10.3. 6
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live. Not available Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. Paid tier Pro. Team allows one user group. Solo has one user. 51 Built in
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. Paid tier Per-field Current User Condition. Rules by user group need Pro. 65 Plugin or add-on Field Permissions contrib module. 12
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. Paid tier First-party SAML SSO on Enterprise. 13 Plugin or add-on OpenID Connect or SAML Authentication contrib modules. 13
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. Not available No core log. Craft 5 audit plugins exist but are niche. 20 Limited Database Logging records content events by user. It caps and prunes entries. 20
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. Built in Included on every edition. 19 Plugin or add-on Domain contrib module. Core multisite shares only the codebase. 14
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in 18 Built in Custom field widgets, forms and admin routes.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Built in drupal.org module directory.
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Plugin or add-on Formie by Verbb, $99. Pricing page lists forms as plugin-only. 171 Plugin or add-on Webform contrib module. Core Contact is deprecated in 11.4. 152
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. Paid tier Public registration needs Pro. 5 Built in
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. Not available No first-party AI feature. Plugin or add-on AI module from the Drupal AI Initiative, bundled with Drupal CMS. 1619
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. Not available Third-party Craft CMS MCP plugin by Stimmt Digital. 19 Not available Community contrib only, e.g. the MCP Server module by Lullabot and Omedia. 17

Considering more platforms? Compare Craft CMS and Drupal with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Craft CMS and Drupal get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Craft CMS has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Drupal has 16. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Licence
Craft CMS is closed source (Proprietary Craft License, source available). Drupal is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
Vendor cloud
Craft CMS has a vendor-run cloud. Drupal has no vendor-run cloud.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on Drupal 3

  • GraphQL API Craft CMS: Built in. Drupal: Plugin or add-on.
  • Scheduled publishing Craft CMS: Built in. Drupal: Plugin or add-on.
  • Multiple sites Craft CMS: Built in. Drupal: Plugin or add-on.

Built in on Drupal, a different answer on Craft CMS 5

  • REST API Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Drupal: Built in.
  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Drupal: Built in.
  • Content releases Craft CMS: Not available. Drupal: Built in.
  • Custom roles Craft CMS: Paid tier. Drupal: Built in.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. Drupal: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 4

  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. Drupal: Plugin or add-on.
  • Single sign-on Craft CMS: Paid tier. Drupal: Plugin or add-on.
  • Audit log Craft CMS: Not available. Drupal: Limited.
  • AI writing assistant Craft CMS: Not available. Drupal: Plugin or add-on.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Craft CMS vs Payload and Drupal vs Payload.

Craft CMS against other platforms

Drupal against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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