When your association or nonprofit plans a website redesign, the first big question usually pops up quickly: “Should we use WordPress or Drupal?” Both platforms are open-source, mature, and widely used—but they’re definitely not created equal. Recently, another exciting contender, Storyblok, has entered the arena. Let’s break down exactly what each CMS does best—and who should be using it.
WordPress: Your Marketing Team’s Best Friend
WordPress excels for organizations where communications and marketing teams lead the charge. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop page builders mean non-techy staff can publish gorgeous landing pages, news updates, events, and campaigns without constantly pinging IT.
If your priority is agility—quickly responding to events, launching campaigns, or creating visually compelling stories—WordPress is usually the winner. You’ll integrate easily with tools like SSO, AMS, or event systems, but the real strength here is visual flexibility, ease of use, and empowering your marketing team.
Ideal For: Associations focused on storytelling, branding flexibility, and marketing agility.
Drupal: The Powerhouse for Complex Content and Integrations
Drupal is the heavyweight champion when your CMS needs to act as the nerve center for complex, structured content and data integrations. Think: dozens of content types, intricate taxonomies, granular workflow controls, and robust API connections powering member dashboards, mobile apps, AI search, and more.
Drupal’s structured-content approach is perfect if your association is managing significant data flows between your CMS and other critical systems (like AMS, LMS, or CRM platforms). IT teams love Drupal’s power to precisely control data and content relationships and enforce rigorous governance.
Ideal For: Associations with complex digital transformation plans, significant data integrations, and IT-driven projects.
Storyblok: The New Kid Offering “Best of Both Worlds”
Storyblok emerges as the go-to solution for organizations craving the flexibility of a headless CMS (content can be published across multiple platforms seamlessly) while keeping the editing process as simple as possible for marketers.
With its intuitive visual editor, Storyblok provides true “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” (WYSIWYG) content editing, coupled with advanced API features and built-in localization. It’s particularly strong in enabling associations to easily deliver omnichannel experiences—think websites, apps, event kiosks, and AI-powered personalized content.
Ideal For: Associations wanting flexibility, marketing autonomy, and seamless omnichannel content delivery without extensive maintenance.
What About Maintenance Costs?
Maintenance costs for WordPress and Drupal are generally similar at a baseline. However, Drupal often appears more costly simply because it’s typically used for more complex, integration-heavy projects—thus requiring extra testing and technical oversight.
Storyblok, however, operates on an annual license model rather than traditional maintenance fees, streamlining costs while simplifying technical upkeep.
How to Choose the Right CMS for Your Future
Ultimately, picking your CMS comes down to aligning your current goals with future ambitions:
- WordPress: Fast, visual, and marketing-friendly.
- Drupal: Robust, powerful, and data-centric.
- Storyblok: Flexible, intuitive, and omnichannel-ready.
Think about the kind of experiences your members expect today—and what they’ll demand tomorrow. Align the choice with both the people who’ll manage your content day-to-day and the strategic goals of your organization. This approach ensures your investment remains impactful not just now, but years down the road.
Ready to dive deeper? Let’s talk through your CMS options and set your association up for long-term digital success, schedule a call
