Joomla vs WordPress
Joomla is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. WordPress 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 17.
- Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in
- WordPress Traditional · Open source · 13 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Joomla on 29 Sept 2026, WordPress 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
| Platform |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| What it is | Open-source PHP CMS built around articles, custom fields, core multilingual support and group-based access control. Self-hosted. | Open-source PHP CMS that renders sites through themes and extends through plugins. Teams self-host it or buy managed WordPress hosting. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained. Version 6.1.3, released 18 Aug 2026 | WordPress 7.1 core, self-hosted from WordPress.org Version 7.1.2, released 22 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Open Source Matters, Inc. (Joomla project) joomla.org | WordPress.org community project (Automattic is the largest contributor) wordpress.org |
| Licence | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud The project's launch.joomla.org offers free hosted sites through a hosting partner. | Self-hosting No vendor cloud Automattic's WordPress.com and many third-party hosts sell managed WordPress. |
| Built with | PHP | PHP, JavaScript, React block editor |
| Database | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL | MySQL, MariaDB |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. Hosting and commercial extensions cost extra. | Free to start Free to download and self-host. Hosting and premium plugins 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. | Not available Fields live in the database. A new content type means writing a component. | Built in Post types, taxonomies and meta registered in PHP. |
| Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. | Limited Custom fields on articles, contacts, users and categories. No new content types. 5 | Plugin or add-on ACF or Custom Post Type UI plugins. Core has no content type builder. 12 |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Limited Modules placed in template positions. No page-level block editor in core. 4 | Built in Block editor with patterns and synced patterns. |
| Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. | Built in Per-item language with multilingual associations. 7 | Plugin or add-on WPML or Polylang plugins. Core translates the interface only. 13 |
| Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. | Limited Manual crop and resize in Media. No generated sizes or URL transforms. 9 | Built in WordPress generates registered image sizes on upload. |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in Web Services API with token authentication. 10 | Built in 5 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | Plugin or add-on WPGraphQL, a canonical plugin on WordPress.org. 6 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Not available None in core. Only small third-party extensions. 19 | Plugin or add-on WP Webhooks plugin. Core sends no outgoing webhooks. 16 |
| Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. | Built in Template system, with Cassiopeia as the default. | Built in Block themes and classic PHP themes. |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Limited Unpublished items only. Saving a published article updates it live. 8 | Limited Edits to a published post go live on update. PublishPress Revisions adds pending drafts. 11 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in Start and finish publishing dates. 8 | Built in Scheduled publishing only. Scheduled unpublishing needs a plugin. |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in Compare and restore. Includes custom field values since 6.0. 34 | Built in Revisions with a visual scrubber since 7.0. 2 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Limited Backend Preview shows the last saved version of an article. 8 | Built in |
| Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. | Limited Front-end editing opens the article or module form on the site. 4 | Built in Block Editor and Site Editor edit content inside the theme's styles. |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Built in Workflows component, off by default. Visual workflow editor since 6.1. 112 | Plugin or add-on PublishPress plugins. Core has only the Pending Review status. 711 |
| Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. | Not available | Not available |
| 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 Joomla checks out and locks an item while someone edits it. | Not available Pulled from 7.0. Still experimental in the Gutenberg plugin. 3418 |
| Access and governance | ||
| Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. | Built in User groups, access levels and ACL. 4 | Plugin or add-on Plugins such as Members or User Role Editor. Core roles are fixed. 7 |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Built in Per-field Edit Custom Field Value permission. 6 | Not available |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Plugin or add-on SAML or OIDC extensions from the JED. Core authenticates against LDAP only. 1314 | Plugin or add-on SAML or OIDC plugins, e.g. miniOrange SAML Single Sign On. 15 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Built in User Actions Log. 12 | Plugin or add-on Simple History or WP Activity Log plugins. 14 |
| Platform and extensibility | ||
| Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. | Not available One site per install. Third-party multisite extensions only. 15 | Built in Multisite network in core, with shared users. 8 |
| Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. | Built in Components, modules, plugins and custom field types. | Built in Custom blocks, admin pages and meta boxes. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14 | Built in WordPress.org plugin directory. |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Limited Contact forms accept custom fields. Core emails submissions and does not store them. 20 | Plugin or add-on Form plugins such as WPForms or Contact Form 7. 17 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Built in Front-end registration and login. 4 | Built in Open registration with the Subscriber role. 7 |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Not available No first-party AI. Third-party extensions such as 4AI. 18 | Plugin or add-on Official AI plugin plus a connected provider. Core ships the AI Client only. 29 |
| Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. | Not available Third-party only, e.g. Onepoint's MCP Server for Joomla. 16 | Plugin or add-on MCP Adapter plugin from the WordPress AI team. 10 |
Joomla sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained..
- Joomla Downloads: latest release
- Joomla 6.1 is here
- What's new in Joomla 6.0?
- Joomla Core Features
- Fields (user manual)
- Help5.x: Fields: Edit (permissions)
- Multilingual Associations
- Article: Preview
- Media: Image Crop Resize Rotate
- Web Services (programmers documentation)
- Workflows (user manual)
- User Actions Log
- LDAP authentication
- Joomla Extensions Directory
- JED: Multiple Sites category
- MCP Server for Joomla (JED)
- Free Hosting (user manual)
- 4AI (JED)
- Content Sharing - Webhooks (JED)
- Adding Custom Fields to the Joomla Contact Form
WordPress sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. WordPress 7.1 core, self-hosted from WordPress.org.
- WordPress 7.1.2 Release
- WordPress 7.0 "Armstrong" release announcement
- Real-time collaboration will not ship in WordPress 7.0
- Moving to a server-aware approach for collaboration
- REST API Handbook
- WPGraphQL plugin on WordPress.org
- Roles and Capabilities documentation
- WordPress Multisite / Network
- AI plugin on WordPress.org
- WordPress/mcp-adapter on GitHub
- PublishPress Revisions plugin
- ACF: Post Types and Taxonomies
- WPML multilingual plugin
- Simple History plugin
- SAML Single Sign On plugin (miniOrange)
- WP Webhooks plugin
- WPForms plugin
- Roadmap to 7.1
Considering more platforms? Compare Joomla and WordPress with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Joomla and WordPress get a different status on 17 of the 28 features and the same status on 11. Joomla has 12 built in on its baseline edition, WordPress has 13. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.
Built in on Joomla, a different answer on WordPress 5
- Localization Joomla: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Approval workflows Joomla: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Custom roles Joomla: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Field-level permissions Joomla: Built in. WordPress: Not available.
- Audit log Joomla: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on WordPress, a different answer on Joomla 6
- Content model in code Joomla: Not available. WordPress: Built in.
- Reusable blocks Joomla: Limited. WordPress: Built in.
- Image transformations Joomla: Limited. WordPress: Built in.
- Preview Joomla: Limited. WordPress: Built in.
- Visual editing Joomla: Limited. WordPress: Built in.
- Multiple sites Joomla: Not available. WordPress: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 6
- Content model in the UI Joomla: Limited. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- GraphQL API Joomla: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Webhooks Joomla: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Form builder Joomla: Limited. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- AI writing assistant Joomla: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Official MCP server Joomla: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
More comparisons
Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: WordPress vs Payload.
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WordPress against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs WordPress
- Contentful vs WordPress
- Contentstack vs WordPress
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs WordPress
- Craft CMS vs WordPress
- DatoCMS vs WordPress
- Decap CMS vs WordPress
- Directus vs WordPress
- Drupal vs WordPress
- EmDash vs WordPress
- FirstSpirit vs WordPress
- Framer vs WordPress
- Ghost vs WordPress
- HubSpot CMS vs WordPress
- Hygraph vs WordPress
- Instatic vs WordPress
- Keystone vs WordPress
- Kirby vs WordPress
- Liferay DXP vs WordPress
- Optimizely CMS vs WordPress
- WordPress vs Payload
- Prismic vs WordPress
- Progress Sitefinity vs WordPress
- Sanity vs WordPress
- Sitecore vs WordPress
- Squarespace vs WordPress
- Statamic vs WordPress
- Storyblok vs WordPress
- Strapi vs WordPress
- TYPO3 vs WordPress
- Umbraco vs WordPress
- Wagtail vs WordPress
- Webflow vs WordPress
- Wix vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs WordPress
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