CMS comparison Progress Sitefinity vs WordPress

Progress Sitefinity vs WordPress

Progress Sitefinity is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. 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 11.

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Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in
WordPress Traditional · Open source · 13 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Progress Sitefinity 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

Progress Sitefinity vs WordPress feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP	WordPress Traditional
Overview
What it is	Progress's .NET CMS and DXP for websites, run self-hosted or on the Sitefinity Cloud PaaS, with ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers.	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.	Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud Version 15.4.8639, released 29 Sept 2026	WordPress 7.1 core, self-hosted from WordPress.org Version 7.1.2, released 22 Sept 2026
Vendor	Progress Software progress.com	WordPress.org community project (Automattic is the largest contributor) wordpress.org
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Open source GPL-2.0-or-later
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud	Self-hosting No vendor cloud Automattic's WordPress.com and many third-party hosts sell managed WordPress.
Built with	.NET, ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers	PHP, JavaScript, React block editor
Database	Microsoft SQL Server	MySQL, MariaDB
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request. DX and DX+Enterprise editions, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.	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.	Built in Export for deployment writes module and field changes to files for source control. 3	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.	Built in Module Builder.	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.	Built in Page editor widgets.	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 Multilingual content per item.	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.	Built in Resize through URL parameters and thumbnail profiles. 4	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 OData REST web services. 5	Built in 5
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL on the web services layer. 6	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.	Built in Service hooks with a webhook action, available on all licences. 7	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 ASP.NET Core, Next.js or legacy MVC renderers. 1	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.	Built in	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 Scheduled publish and unpublish per item. 9	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 Revision history.	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.	Built in	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Page editor with widgets.	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 One or two approval levels, or a custom workflow. 8	Plugin or add-on PublishPress plugins. Core has only the Pending Review status. 7 11
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Not available Publishing and scheduling work per item. 9	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 Pages lock while another user edits them. 10	Not available Pulled from 7.0. Still experimental in the Gutenberg plugin. 3 4 18
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in 11	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.	Limited Module Builder types only, in the classic editing UI. Built-in content types have none. 12	Not available
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in OpenID Connect and external providers such as Azure AD. 13	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.	Paid tier DX + Enterprise includes Audit Trail. Progress sells it as an add-on for DX. 14 2	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.	Built in Multisite with shared content and per-site permissions. 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 Custom fields, widgets and AdminApp extensions.	Built in Custom blocks, admin pages and meta boxes.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Sitefinity integrations directory. 16	Built in WordPress.org plugin directory.
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Forms module with a drag-and-drop builder.	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 users with registration and login widgets.	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.	Plugin or add-on Sitefinity AI subscription for text generation and agents. 17	Plugin or add-on Official AI plugin plus a connected provider. Core ships the AI Client only. 2 9
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Plugin or add-on Sitefinity MCP Server, 15.4.8633 or later, needs a Sitefinity AI subscription. 18	Plugin or add-on MCP Adapter plugin from the WordPress AI team. 10

Progress Sitefinity sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.

WordPress sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. WordPress 7.1 core, self-hosted from WordPress.org.

Considering more platforms? Compare Progress Sitefinity and WordPress with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Progress Sitefinity and WordPress get a different status on 11 of the 28 features and the same status on 17. Progress Sitefinity has 22 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.

Licence: Progress Sitefinity is closed source (Proprietary). WordPress is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
Vendor cloud: Progress Sitefinity has a vendor-run cloud. WordPress has no vendor-run cloud.
Free option: Progress Sitefinity has no free option. WordPress has a free option.

Built in on Progress Sitefinity, a different answer on WordPress 9

Content model in the UI Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Localization Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
GraphQL API Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Webhooks Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Drafts Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Limited.
Approval workflows Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Custom roles Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Single sign-on Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Form builder Progress Sitefinity: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

Field-level permissions Progress Sitefinity: Limited. WordPress: Not available.
Audit log Progress Sitefinity: Paid tier. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: WordPress vs Payload.

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