Drupal
Drupal · Portland, Oregon, USA · founded 2001
What it is
Drupal is content management software for creating websites and applications. Drupal CMS is a ready-to-use option for marketing teams, content creators, and site builders, built on Drupal 11 core. It includes media management, SEO tools, AI-driven website building, consent management, analytics, search, and automatic updates. Drupal supports structured content, multilingual publishing, editorial workflows, custom roles, and web service APIs for delivering content to web, mobile, and other channels. Modules, themes, and distributions can extend it, and it can integrate with external services and organizational applications. The project lists accessibility, API-first architecture, security, performance, and scalability among its capabilities. Drupal is free open-source software with no licensing fees, but it requires self-hosting and technical setup. Linux or a similar system is recommended for hosting; supported web servers include Apache and Nginx, and databases include MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. Windows is supported for development, not production hosting. Drupal CMS offers temporary browser-based trial sites. After setup, Drupal CMS itself is not updated, though installed modules and themes are updated like other Drupal sites.
For and against
For
- Free open-source software with no licensing fees.
- Includes media management, SEO, analytics, and search.
- Supports multilingual content and editorial workflows.
- Temporary browser-based trial sites are available.
Against
- Self-hosting and technical setup are required.
- Windows is not supported for production hosting.
- Drupal CMS itself is not updated after setup.
The verdict
Drupal CMS combines a ready-to-use starting point with extensible content and API capabilities. It is free, but hosting and technical setup are part of using it.
Who it suits
Drupal CMS suits marketing teams, content creators, and site builders looking for a ready-to-use starting point. It also fits organizations that can handle self-hosting and technical setup.
Plans and prices
Drupal
open-source GPL software · no licensing fees · self-hosting and technical setup required
Read 30 Sep 2026 · drupal.org
On the record
- Built-in tools
- Drupal CMS includes advanced media management, SEO tools, AI-driven website building, consent management, analytics, search and automatic updates.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Community support
- Drupal says support is available from certified agency partners and a base of over 35,000 developers.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Content and APIs
- Drupal provides structured content and flexible web service APIs for serving web, mobile and other channels from one source.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Core capabilities
- Drupal lists accessibility, multilingual support, API-first architecture, editorial workflows, security and performance and scalability among its core capabilities.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Custom content types
- Yesdrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Custom user roles
- Yesdrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Drupal CMS audience
- Drupal CMS is a ready-to-use platform for marketing teams, content creators and site builders built on Drupal 11 core.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Editorial workflows
- Yesdrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Extensibility
- Drupal can be extended with thousands of modules, themes and distributions.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Hosting requirements
- Drupal recommends Linux or a similar operating system for hosting, works on Apache, Nginx and other web servers, and supports databases including MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- Drupal can integrate with external services and other applications in an organization’s infrastructure.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Media library
- Yesdrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Multilingual content
- Yesdrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Platform limitation
- Windows is supported only for development environments, and running Drupal directly on Windows in production is not supported.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Platform type
- hybriddrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Product type
- Drupal is content management software used to make websites and applications.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Security process
- Drupal has an organized process for investigating, verifying and publishing possible security problems, supported by a dedicated security team.drupal.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- SEO tools
- Yesdrupal.org · read 22 Sep 2026
