8 Best Drupal Alternatives in 2025

Introduction

Drupal has historically been the CMS of choice for enterprises requiring deep content architecture, user roles, and governance at scale. But in 2025, expectations for a CMS have shifted. The rise of no-code platforms, integrated marketing stacks, and developer-light workflows has changed what teams look for in a CMS. For startups, agencies, and modern marketing teams, Drupal’s robust but rigid framework increasingly feels like a mismatch, adding more overhead than agility.

From steep learning curves to constant patching and developer reliance, Drupal can weigh down teams that want to move quickly and iterate often. Today’s teams need tools that are intuitive, fast to deploy, SEO-friendly, and scalable, without engineering bottlenecks.

This guide covers 8 of the best Drupal alternatives in 2025, including no-code builders, hybrid platforms, and headless CMS tools that better align with how modern teams build and grow websites.

So if you're planning a migration or rethinking your tech stack, this article will help you find a suitable CMS that will work well for your team, and not against it.

What to Look for in a Drupal Alternative

To best help marketers, startups, and everyone in between pin down the best options available in the market, we ensured that the chosen platforms balanced performance, ease of use, and flexibility.

Here are our judging criteria:

Ease of Use: We prioritized platforms that reduce the need for backend developers and empower teams to manage content visually or with low-code workflows.
Content Management Capabilities: Each CMS on this list supports dynamic content, CMS fields, custom structures, and, in some cases, powerful APIs or relational data.
SEO Readiness: Technical SEO matters. We looked at platforms offering clean code output, control over metadata and redirects, fast loading speeds, and Core Web Vitals compliance.
Design Flexibility: From pixel-perfect visual builders to fully decoupled frontends, we included tools that give users more creative control than Drupal’s rigid theming system.
Scalability & Maintenance: Tools that scale with your business — without overwhelming your team with security patches or plugin conflicts — ranked higher.
Target Audience Fit: Our recommendations lean toward marketers, startup founders, and agencies looking to launch fast, iterate faster, and stay competitive without relying on engineering resources.
Cost: Not just monthly pricing — but total cost of ownership. Time spent updating plugins, fixing bugs, or onboarding new team members adds up.

Webflow, Divhunt, and Storyblok stand out across many of these categories, each catering to a slightly different need but delivering more value with less overhead than Drupal. These tools reflect how modern digital teams build and grow today.

#1 Webflow – Best Overall for Visual Control & SEO

Webflow is much more than a website builder. It’s a visual development platform that bridges the gap between design, code, and CMS. For marketers and startups seeking full creative control without the overhead of a developer, Webflow stands out as the top Drupal alternative in 2025.

With Webflow, you get a fully hosted CMS, responsive design tools, and advanced SEO features built in. You can define custom content structures (collections), create reusable templates, and build out complex layouts visually, all without touching PHP or custom modules.

Key advantages over Drupal:

Visual control: Everything is built in a drag-and-drop canvas with pixel-perfect precision.
No plugins or patches: Say goodbye to security updates and plugin conflicts.
SEO features: Webflow includes tools for meta tags, schema markup, alt text, 301 redirects, and fast-loading sites out of the box.
CMS flexibility: Define custom fields, content types, and relationships without code.
Scalability: Webflow scales from solo startup sites to large marketing ecosystems with CMS logic, localization, and enterprise-grade hosting.

For teams that want to launch quickly, rank competitively, and evolve their site without developer bottlenecks, Webflow is the clear platform of choice.

#2 Divhunt – Fast, Lightweight Builder for Modern Teams

Divhunt is a rising star in the no-code space, offering a visual builder that prioritizes performance, clean code output, and developer-friendly flexibility. While newer than many platforms on this list, Divhunt is gaining momentum for a good reason. It combines modern UX with blazing-fast performance.

For teams looking to ditch the complexity of Drupal without sacrificing control, Divhunt strikes a compelling balance. You can build fully custom websites using its intuitive Figma-like editor while also accessing advanced settings and integrations under the hood.

Why Divhunt stands out:

Speed-focused architecture: Sites built on Divhunt load quickly and score well on Core Web Vitals.
Visual + Dev mode: Great for marketers who want no-code tools, and developers who want full control.
Dynamic CMS capabilities: Define fields, connect content, and manage data visually.
Clean code output: No bloat, no legacy cruft — unlike many drag-and-drop platforms.
SEO-ready: Meta controls, semantic structure, and performance-first builds.

If you're a startup or agile team looking for a next-gen CMS that feels lightweight but delivers serious power, Divhunt is worth a close look. To learn more about the platform, we wrote an article comparing Divhunt to Webflow.

#3 WordPress – Most Flexible Open Source CMS

No list of Drupal alternatives would be complete without WordPress, the world’s most popular CMS. While it comes with its own learning curve and maintenance overhead, WordPress remains a flexible, open-source option that powers over 40% of the web.

Compared to Drupal, WordPress offers a more user-friendly backend and a vast ecosystem of plugins and themes. It’s ideal for content-heavy websites, blogs, and marketing sites where customization is key.

Where WordPress shines:

Customizability: With thousands of plugins and themes, WordPress can be extended to fit nearly any use case.
Content-first design: Originally built for blogging, it’s still unmatched for content workflows.
Community support: Massive global community, documentation, and developer talent pool.
SEO-ready: With plugins like Yoast or Rank Math, SEO optimization is straightforward.
Cost-effective: Core software is free, and hosting can be inexpensive (though maintenance costs can add up).

That said, WordPress still requires regular updates, security monitoring, and occasional development help, something that Webflow or Divhunt handle out-of-the-box. For teams that want deep flexibility and don’t mind the upkeep, it’s a rock-solid alternative to Drupal. To learn more about the WordPress infrastructure, we have written a series of articles comparing WordPress based tools to Webflow:

#4 Framer – Best for Startup Landing Pages

Framer is a designer-first site builder known for its sleek interface, fast publishing, and standout animation control. It's especially appealing to teams who want pixel-perfect landing pages without heavy backend needs.

The UI mirrors design tools like Figma, making it intuitive for designers and creatives to prototype, animate, and launch polished pages quickly, all without writing code. With that said, the generated code is not the cleanest and ican be tough to maintain as the platform is based on React.

Why Framer earns a spot on this list:

Figma-like visual editor: Ideal for rapid design iteration and beautiful interactions
Fast performance: Lightweight builds and global CDN ensure strong Core Web Vitals
Real-time collaboration: Teams can build and review in the same interface
SEO support: Includes basics like meta tags, alt text, and canonical controls
Simple CMS capabilities: Enough for small-scale projects or static content

Framer isn’t built for large-scale CMS projects or structured content-heavy websites, but if your focus is on launching visually engaging, conversion-ready landing pages fast, it's hard to beat, especially if you’re avoiding Drupal-like bloat. To learn more about the platform, we have writen an article, where we compare Framer vs Webflow.

#5 Ghost – Fastest for Content-First Brands

Ghost is a streamlined, open-source platform built specifically for content publishing. It’s ideal for blogs, media brands, newsletters, and editorial teams who want to focus on writing and distribution rather than complex development workflows.

Compared to Drupal, which often requires modules and backend configuration for basic publishing tools, Ghost offers a minimalist, modern experience out-of-the-box.

Why Ghost is a strong Drupal alternative:

Speed and performance: Ghost is built on Node.js and delivers lightning-fast page loads.
Built-in SEO: Native tools for metadata, AMP support, sitemaps, and structured content.
Newsletter-ready: Direct integration with subscription and membership tools.
SaaS and self-hosted: Use Ghost(Pro) for a managed service, or host it yourself if preferred.
Markdown-first editor: Clean and intuitive for writers who value simplicity.

Ghost is best for brands where publishing is the product. While it’s not suited for highly dynamic or multi-layered content architectures, it’s an excellent alternative for replacing Drupal-powered blogs or content hubs with something leaner, faster, and easier to manage.

#6 Storyblok – Headless With Visual Editor

Storyblok blends the power of headless architecture with a user-friendly visual editor — making it one of the most balanced alternatives to Drupal for growing teams. While Drupal also offers decoupled capabilities, Storyblok does so with modern tooling, scalability, and a better authoring experience.

At its core, Storyblok is an API-first CMS. It lets you define structured content once and deploy it anywhere — across websites, mobile apps, or digital displays. Its visual editor allows marketers and content creators to preview their changes in real time, without depending on developers.

Why Storyblok is a compelling Drupal alternative:

Headless + Visual editing: Structured content and flexibility for developers, intuitive UI for editors.
Omnichannel-ready: Serve content across multiple platforms from a single backend.
Component-based content model: Reusable content blocks for scale and consistency.
Localization support: Built-in features for multilingual sites.
Enterprise scalability: Used by brands like Adidas, Renault, and Netflix.

Storyblok is a great fit for teams that want the freedom of a headless CMS but still need content marketers to work efficiently. If Drupal feels too heavy or developer-reliant, Storyblok offers a modern, modular way forward.

#7 HubSpot CMS Hub – Best for Inbound Marketing Teams

HubSpot CMS Hub is an all-in-one content platform designed to unify your website with marketing, CRM, and analytics — making it an especially strong fit for growth-focused teams.

It’s built around the idea of connected marketing: landing pages, blogs, CTAs, forms, and email campaigns all feed into one system. You can personalize content based on CRM data, automate lead nurturing, and track performance without relying on multiple disconnected tools.

What makes HubSpot CMS stand out:

Marketing-first foundation: Designed for marketers who want content and lead gen tightly integrated.
Personalization at scale: Show dynamic content based on lifecycle stages, user behavior, or firmographic data.
SEO & strategy tools: Includes technical SEO controls plus optimization recommendations and topic cluster planning.
Integrated analytics: Connect performance metrics directly to revenue impact.
Enterprise-grade infrastructure: Managed hosting, SSL, WAF, and serverless functions come standard.

HubSpot CMS trades some design flexibility for speed, scale, and marketing cohesion — making it ideal for companies looking to unify their website with their broader growth engine.

#8 Joomla – Open Source CMS With Built-In Multilingual Support

Joomla is a well-established open source CMS that, like Drupal, has long served enterprise and community websites needing granular control and multilingual capabilities. While it’s less popular than WordPress and less user-friendly than Webflow, Joomla remains a viable Drupal alternative for teams that want open source flexibility with more structure out of the box.

Joomla supports complex content hierarchies, advanced user permissions, and multilingual sites without requiring third-party extensions. It’s especially well-suited for organizations that don’t want to rely heavily on plugins to achieve basic functionality.

Why Joomla is still worth considering:

Robust content management: Native support for nested categories, custom fields, and flexible layouts
User access control: Built-in ACL system lets you define fine-grained permissions
Multilingual by default: No need for separate plugins or workarounds
Strong community: Long-standing developer base and global user network
Open source and self-hosted: Ideal for teams with internal dev resources

Joomla does require ongoing updates and has a steeper learning curve than platforms like Webflow or Framer, but it offers more built-in structure than WordPress and remains a strong choice for organizations with internal technical support and multilingual needs.

Why Webflow Is the Best Drupal Alternative

Among the many CMS tools available in 2025, Webflow stands out as the most well-rounded alternative to Drupal — especially for marketing-driven teams.

Unlike Drupal’s steep technical barrier, Webflow empowers marketers, designers, and founders to build, manage, and scale websites without relying on developers. From visual design tools to flexible content structures and baked-in SEO features, Webflow is built to reduce friction and increase velocity.

Here’s why Webflow leads the pack:

All-in-one platform: Hosting, design, CMS, and SEO in a single environment — no plugins or patchwork.
Visual development: Marketers and designers can launch without writing code.
Flexible CMS: Create dynamic collections, reusable templates, and conditional content.
Performance & SEO: Clean code output, Core Web Vitals optimization, schema markup, and built-in redirects.
Reliable scaling: Whether you're launching a simple site or running a global marketing ecosystem, Webflow handles growth without extra infrastructure.

If you’re seeking a platform that supports speed, flexibility, and autonomy, Webflow is the right move. And if you need help making it, our Webflow development agency is here to help.

Conclusion & Next Steps

Drupal still holds value for large, complex, developer-led organizations, but for marketers, startups, and agile teams in 2025, there are better-suited options that prioritize usability, speed, and growth.

Whether you’re looking for full creative control (Webflow), blazing-fast performance (Divhunt), or content-first publishing (Ghost), there’s a modern CMS that can meet your needs without the overhead.

Now that you’ve seen the top Drupal alternatives, the next step is evaluating which platform aligns best with your goals, team structure, and workflows.

8 Best Drupal Alternatives in 2025 — From Open Source to No-Code