Ask HN: Your experience of using an alternative to WordPress?

5 points

5 years ago

WordPress elicits strong opinions among developers. Whatever your thoughts about WordPress, it remains the leading website builder among the myriad site builders available.

Uniquely (I think) it is the only self-hosting option which is relatively simple for non-technical users to install via one-click installers (available via hundreds of hosting companies).

What are the alternative website builders (self-hostable) that match or exceed WordPress in terms of core features? In particular, alternatives with modern codebases, with customisation, and a GUI WYSIWYG (not markdown)?

Some modern examples alternatives I'm aware of:

- October CMS (PHP, Open Source) https://octobercms.com/

- Craft CMS (PHP, Paid) https://craftcms.com/

- Kirby CMS (PHP, Paid) https://getkirby.com/

- Ghost (JavaScript, Open Source) https://ghost.org/

- Wagtail CMS (Python, Open Source) https://wagtail.io/

Have you used any of the above (or any other) as an alternative to WordPress? What was your experience like? And has anyone gone back to WordPress after trying an alternative? Thanks

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