If you're here, I likely don't need to rehash the entire melodrama that WordPress has entered since Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg declared "war" on WPEngine. But the most recent events (as of this writing) involve some rather drastic moves by Mullenweg that signal disengagement with the WordPress project.
That's a scary situation, if you're a WordPress user.
By the best estimates, WordPress comprises 43.7% of all websites on the internet, and 62.2% of all websites using a known Content Management System. That's a staggering market share. The ecosystem surrounding WordPress, from plugins to full products built atop the platform, make it integral to countless web-based business. And suddenly, it turns out that a not-so-benevolent dictator-for-life can endanger the whole operation.
It's been a long time since I've run a WordPress site—I moved on once I got into cybersecurity and faced down just how many vulnerabilities are to be found in the ecosystem—but if I were running one right now, I'd be looking seriously at my exit options.
So where's a poor website-haver to go, if not WordPress? The answer very much depends on your use case. Let's break down the landscape of options by the type of site you're running.
If You Run a Blog
Best Option for Most People: Ghost
Ghost CMS got a lot of recent press as an alternative to Substack for folks who wanted to publish their work, monetize it, and not share a platform with avowed white supremacists. But long before that, Ghost was kicking ass and taking names as a modern, Node-powered alternative open source CMS that was easy to set up and run. But these days, it's the engine powering some of the most exciting independent media outlets around—including 404 Media.
You might be thinking "I, a lowly blogger, do not need that kind of power." Maybe not, but Ghost pricing is tiered for what you need. The low end is $108/yr, billed yearly. That might seem like kind of a lot for a blog, but you're paying for the maintenance and management of the server itself.
Now, if you want to self-host, good news: Ghost is open source, and you can run the same powerful media engine on your own gear, if you know how to administer a web server, and feel up to the task.
Best Option for Nerds: Static Sites
Ghost nabs the "Best for most people" spot because it comes with a built-in editor. For writers who don't want to handle raw text files or back-end code of any kind, this is ideal. However, if you're comfortable with HTML, CSS, and maybe a little command line, then turning your blog into a static site is an exciting option.
Okay, I realize "static site" and "exciting" shouldn't bounce off each other in the same sentence, but hear me out: static site generators rely on collections of Markdown files and page templates to generate lightweight sites without the server overhead required by PHP applications like WordPress. If the blog you run doesn't require account management, comments, or other dynamic components, a static site can be worlds easier to maintain.
There are lots of static site generators (SSGs) out there. This blog is built using Zola, a very lightweight SSG written in Rust. It has everything you need, nothing you don't. And the documentation makes it easy to get up and running pretty much anywhere.
Another popular option is Hugo, a SSG written in Go. Hugo is a lot more popular than Zola, and the ecosystem reflects it. I prefer the way Zola does things, but Hugo may be a solid option if the available themes are more to your liking, or if you'd rather not futz with too much CSS.
There are others out there, like 11ty and Pelican. I haven't used them personally, so I can't speak to their merits. Each has a slightly different take on creating static sites.
You may also hear Gatsby mentioned as a static site generator. In my opinion, this is a category error. Gatsby is not a static site generator so much as a misery engine designed to maintain adequate levels of suffering on this plane of existence. It is a tool crafted by demons to do infernal work. Also, it requires React, so make of that what you will.
No matter what SSG you choose, the question of where to publish will come up. As a static site, you don't need a full-blown webserver with PHP running like you would with WordPress. A static host of some sort will do. Personally, I'm a fan of GitHub Pages, since I'm putting my code on GitHub anyway. But I've also used Netlify in the past with ease. Both of these options have free tiers, making your blog publishing almost zero-cost. You'll probably still want a custom domain name.
If You Run a Business
This gets a bit trickier, since WordPress's entire value proposition is a software ecosystem that makes the management of dynamic websites and e-commerce a breeze. Replicating that elsewhere is going to be a lift of some kind.
Best Option for Most People: Squarespace
I'm assuming here that you don't care overmuch about the open source nature of your website's code, and that you care more about getting your products sold. If that's you, Squarespace is going to be a reasonable hosting and e-commerce option. It won't be cheap, but the ease of use of the platform may make up for the additional cost. The real kicker in the pricing model is the 2% transaction fee for the base tier. You'll have to weigh that against lost sales to decide whether upgrading to the higher tiers with 0% transaction fees is worth it.
Payment processors are just the worst.
Best Option for Bigger Organizations: Drupal
Do you have an actual IT team, or a Comms Team? Do you have a custom website and use it to collect customer information, send newsletters, and drive growth? You need a real-deal CMS, and you need full control over its operation. Drupal is a venerable open source project with an ecosystem to rival WordPress's. This is actually kind of an auspicious time to check out Drupal, as their shiny new Drupal CMS, a no-code site platform, is in release candidate phase, slated for general availability in January 2025. Getting comfy with Drupal now might mean getting in on the ground floor of the heir apparent to the WordPress empire.
I'll also note that there is a significant market of web development shops who know Drupal, and can assist with the migration from WordPress.
Yes, Drupal is PHP. PHP will outlive us all.
Taggart, How DARE You?!
Some of you (Hi Mastodon readers!) are probably annoyed at these recommendations. It's true: I did not favor open source options as the "best" for each category. I am prioritizing the time of the website owner as my primary heuristic. Open source is "free" in the "freedom" and "beer" senses, but it is not without costs. Time is the biggest investment required to use open source solutions, and that's assuming one has the technical chops to get the thing going in the first place.
Some people truly believe you shouldn't be allowed to publish on the internet without the ability to stand up your own web server. I am not joking; that is an actual sentiment I've encountered more than once. Personally, I find that position both gatekeepy and demented. The internet is better with a lower barrier to entry. That is/was WordPress's major appeal, to its credit. Moving on from WordPress should not mean absorbing greater technical debt if it's avoidable.
We tend to experience change as loss, but moving on from WordPress is a real opportunity. There's a wide universe of web technologies out there, and many have innovated beyond WordPress. I'm personally excited to see what Drupal and others come up with to seize this opportunity. If you decide to exit the WordPress universe, I hope one of these options provides a soft landing for you.