Platform selection
Which CMS is right for your business
Most platform comparisons are written by agencies that build on one platform. This one is not: Artlogic delivers WordPress, Shopify, Drupal, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, WooCommerce and custom Next.js, so there is no answer here we need you to reach. What follows is which platform fits which situation, and when each is the wrong choice.
The question behind the question
The platform question is usually asked too early. What decides it is not features but four things: who publishes content after launch, how many systems the site must talk to, whether the catalogue has structure a template cannot hold, and whether you need to be able to leave. Answer those and the platform is usually obvious.
WordPress
Best for. Content-led business sites where an internal team publishes regularly without wanting a developer involved.
Strengths
- The best publishing experience for non-technical teams, which matters more than most technical comparisons admit
- Enormous plugin ecosystem — most integrations already exist
- Easy to hire for; you are not locked to one supplier
- Full data and code ownership, and straightforward to migrate away from
Limits
- Plugin sprawl is the usual cause of slow WordPress sites, not WordPress itself
- Security requires active maintenance rather than being handled for you
- Complex content models get awkward without custom development
Choose something else when. Your requirement is a large structured catalogue with heavy relational content, or you have no one to maintain updates. An unmaintained WordPress site becomes a liability faster than any other platform here.
Shopify & Shopify Plus
Best for. Retail where selling is the primary function and you want the commerce infrastructure handled.
Strengths
- Checkout, payments, tax and fraud handled — genuinely hard problems you do not have to solve
- Reliable at traffic spikes without infrastructure work
- Strong app ecosystem for fulfilment, subscriptions and reviews
- Predictable operating cost as you scale
Limits
- Content and editorial capability is weaker than a real CMS
- Checkout customisation is limited outside Plus
- Transaction fees unless you use their payments
Choose something else when. Commerce is a small part of a content-heavy site. Running a magazine inside Shopify is fighting the platform; a CMS with commerce attached usually serves better.
Drupal
Best for. Complex content models, multiple languages, granular permissions, and organisations with governance requirements.
Strengths
- Handles structured and relational content that would need custom work elsewhere
- Multilingual is first-class rather than a plugin
- Fine-grained editorial workflow and permissions
- Strong security posture and a disciplined release process
Limits
- Higher build cost and a smaller hiring pool
- Overkill for a straightforward marketing site
- Editorial experience needs deliberate configuration to feel simple
Choose something else when. The site is a dozen pages with one editor. You will pay for capability you never use and inherit a maintenance obligation you did not need.
Webflow
Best for. Design-led marketing sites where a small team wants visual control without a build pipeline.
Strengths
- Genuine design freedom without hand-coding
- Clean output and good baseline performance
- Hosting and CDN included, so no infrastructure to manage
Limits
- CMS item limits become a real constraint on large sites
- Complex integrations are harder than on WordPress
- You are on their hosting; leaving means a rebuild
Choose something else when. You need deep integrations, thousands of content items, or the ability to self-host later.
Squarespace & Wix
Best for. Small businesses with a simple offer that need a credible site quickly at low cost.
Strengths
- Fastest route to a working, respectable site
- Hosting, security and updates handled entirely
- Genuinely the correct answer for a meaningful share of small businesses
Limits
- Ceiling arrives quickly on SEO control and custom functionality
- Migration away is a rebuild rather than a move
- Performance is adequate rather than competitive
Choose something else when. Search is a primary acquisition channel, or you expect to outgrow it within two years. The rebuild cost then exceeds what you saved.
Headless / custom (Next.js)
Best for. Sites where performance, custom interaction or multi-channel content delivery genuinely justify the build cost.
Strengths
- Best achievable performance and full control over rendering
- Content delivered to web, app and other surfaces from one source
- No platform ceiling, and no vendor to be locked to
Limits
- Highest build cost and requires developer involvement to change structure
- Editorial experience must be designed rather than inherited
- Ongoing maintenance is yours
Choose something else when. A template would have done. This is the platform choice most often made for the wrong reason — because it sounds modern rather than because the requirement demands it.
Four questions that decide it
Who publishes content after launch?
If it is a non-technical team publishing weekly, editorial experience outweighs almost every technical consideration. A theoretically superior platform that your team avoids using is the worse choice.
How many systems must it talk to?
One or two integrations, most platforms manage. Five or more, and you are choosing between what already has connectors and what will need custom development.
Does the content have structure a template cannot hold?
Products with variants, resources with relationships, multilingual with different structures per locale — these push toward Drupal or headless. Straightforward pages do not.
Do you need to be able to leave?
Some platforms make migration a move; others make it a rebuild. If being able to change supplier in three years matters, that narrows the field before any feature comparison.
If you already have a platform, the honest default is to keep it. Migration costs real money and carries genuine SEO risk, so it needs a reason beyond preference — an unsupported platform, an architecture blocking what the business now needs, or maintenance costs exceeding the rebuild. Wanting something newer is not one. We will tell you which applies.
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