Running an agency or succeeding as a freelance web developer is no easy feat. With tight deadlines, project deliveries, cost-cutting measures, and countless other challenges, staying on top of everything can feel overwhelming. Making the right decisions is crucial—one wrong move, and you risk setting yourself up for failure.
One of the most important choices agency owners and developers face is selecting the right CMS platform. While WordPress has long been the dominant force in this space, it’s not the only option available. Concrete5 is another contender that offers unique features and capabilities.
In this blog, we’ll compare WordPress vs. Concrete5, breaking down their strengths, and weaknesses, and which one is the better fit for agencies and developers. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Introducing WordPress
Let’s kick things off with the heavyweight champion: WordPress. From humble blogging beginnings, it’s become the CMS giant, powering everything from personal blogs to massive e-commerce empires.
Its open-source soul, massive community, and crazy flexibility are HUGE draws. Technically speaking, WordPress is renowned for its flexible theming system and robust REST API, making it adaptable to a wide range of web projects and integration scenarios.
Built upon the foundation of PHP and typically utilizing MySQL databases, WordPress has become a household name in the CMS world.
But let’s be honest, even champions have their kryptonite. For agencies and developers, WordPress can sometimes feel… complicated. Think about it: initial setup hurdles, juggling multiple client sites, and keeping workflows secure and consistent can feel like a high-wire act.
We’ve all been there – battling server gremlins, plugin meltdowns, and the infamous white screen of doom!
However, we have many premium-grade WordPress development platforms that make WordPress usage a piece of cake, especially for agencies and developers.
Imagine this: WordPress dev environments spun up in seconds, managed WordPress hosting at an affordable cost, centralized WordPress site management for 100+ sites, effortless WordPress site migration done without any hassle, setting up a recurring revenue stream using template and WaaS, and many more.
With powerful WordPress development platforms, WordPress users can easily tackle those classic WordPress headaches head-on, making development faster, smoother, and a whole lot less stressful.
Introducing Concrete5
Now, let’s shine the spotlight on Concrete5. Dubbing itself the “Concrete Content Management System,” Concrete5 aims to be the robust yet user-friendly alternative in a crowded CMS landscape.
Their “Websites that Deliver” mantra says it all – they’re all about building effective, functional websites. Concrete5 shouts out the ease of use for content creators, powerful built-in tools, and rock-solid security.
Technically, Concrete5 uses a block-based templating system and potentially integrates with GitLab for development workflows, emphasizing a structured approach. They even boast about being “trusted by the best,” name-dropping the US Army! Bold claims! Let’s see if they hold up against WordPress under pressure.
WordPress vs. Concrete5: Head-to-Head
Alright, the gloves are off! Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. We’re comparing WordPress vs Concrete5 across crucial categories. For each, we’ll see what each platform brings to the table.
1. Ease of Use for Content Creators
For content creators, the ease of use of a CMS is a major factor in content production efficiency. Let’s see how WordPress CMS vs. Concrete5 CMS fares in this aspect.
WordPress: WordPress is pretty user-friendly, especially for basic content tasks. The block editor (Gutenberg) is designed for visual, drag-and-drop simplicity. However, depending on themes and plugins, the backend can sometimes get cluttered. Basic WordPress development training with staging sites is usually a breeze.
Concrete5: Concrete5 champions “powerful intuitive editing,” boasting WYSIWYG magic right on the webpage. They say editors become pros “within moments.” Their focus is clearly on making content creation straightforward with built-in features, minimizing the need for extra extensions for core tasks.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Ease of Use (Content Creators) |  Strength: Beginner-friendly for basic tasks  Weakness: Customizations can add complexity | Strength: Super intuitive, WYSIWYG on-page editing Weakness: Might be less flexible for very custom backend workflows |
Verdict: Concrete5 might have a slight edge in out-of-the-box ease-of-use for content editors with its WYSIWYG approach. However, WordPress, especially with the block editor’s evolution, is still very user-friendly and widely understood.
2. Ease of Use for Developers
Developers need a CMS that is not only powerful but also developer-friendly. Let’s evaluate Concrete5 vs WordPress from a developer’s perspective.
WordPress: WordPress development is PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript-centric. Its theme and plugin system are well-documented but can sometimes feel a bit… classic. Customizing often means diving into code. However, the massive community means you’re rarely alone with a problem. InstaWP is the developer’s secret weapon, streamlining WordPress setups, enabling easy collaboration, and smoothing out the entire workflow.
Concrete5: Concrete5 is also PHP-based but leans towards a more structured, object-oriented style. They emphasize being “very good for developers to build off,” and highlight GitLab integration for code deployment. This hints at a more controlled and potentially more complex dev environment compared to WordPress’s often more flexible (but sometimes less structured) approach.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Ease of Use (Developers) | Strength: Huge community, tons of resources, very flexible Weakness: Can be less structured, plugin conflicts possible | Strength: Structured, object-oriented, GitLab integration Weakness: Steeper initial learning, smaller community than WordPress |
Verdict: While Concrete5 might attract developers who crave structure, WordPress, especially when paired with InstaWP for streamlined development, boasts a larger community, broader flexibility, and ultimately, a faster route to building diverse websites.
3. Flexibility and Customization
Flexibility and customization options are key for catering to diverse project requirements. Let’s explore the flexibility offered by WordPress vs Concrete5.
WordPress: This is WordPress’s superpower. Its plugin and theme universe are unmatched. You can tweak anything, from design to features, through themes, plugins, and custom code. Want an online store? Membership hub? Learning platform? WordPress has the tools.
Concrete5: Concrete5 highlights “comprehensive built-in features” that handle “most needs without extensions.” While great for simplicity, it implies less wiggle room when you need highly specific or unusual features. Their extension marketplace is likely smaller than WordPress’s massive library.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Flexibility & Customization | Strength: Unmatched plugin/theme ecosystem, highly customizable Weakness: Can get overwhelming, plugin overload possible | Strength: Solid built-in features Weakness: Potentially limited extensibility compared to WordPress’s vast options |
Verdict: WordPress wins this round, hands down. For agencies and developers building varied and complex websites, WordPress’s plugin ecosystem is a massive advantage, offering solutions for almost any web challenge.
4. Features and Functionality (Built-in vs. Extensions)
A CMS’s features and functionalities, whether built-in or available as extensions, determine its capabilities. Let’s compare the feature sets of WordPress CMS vs. Concrete5 CMS.
WordPress: WordPress core is intentionally lean, focusing on core content management. Most advanced features come via plugins. This is a double-edged sword – lightweight core vs. plugin reliance.
Concrete5: Concrete5 stresses “comprehensive built-in features” that address “most needs without extensions.” They aim for an all-in-one approach, lessening the need for plugins for common tasks like user management, permissions, and workflows.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Features & Functionality | Strength: Lightweight core, vast plugin library Weakness: Plugin dependency, potential bloat | Strength: Comprehensive built-in features, less plugin reliance Weakness: Potentially fewer niche functionalities available as built-in features |
Verdict: While Concrete5’s built-in features sound convenient for simplicity, WordPress’s plugin ecosystem delivers unparalleled breadth and depth of functionality. For most websites that go beyond very basic requirements, the plugin ecosystem becomes an essential asset.
5. Security
Website security is paramount in today’s digital landscape. Both WordPress CMS and Concrete5 CMS address security, but their approaches and strengths differ. Let’s delve into how each platform handles this critical aspect.
WordPress: WordPress, being the most popular CMS, is unfortunately a frequent target for malicious attacks. Security is an ongoing concern that demands constant vigilance.
However, the vast WordPress community and a plethora of dedicated security plugins like Wordfence and Sucuri are available to effectively combat threats. Adhering to security best practices such as regular updates, using strong passwords, and selecting reputable plugins are absolutely crucial for maintaining a secure WordPress site.
Concrete5: Concrete5 proudly touts “Ironclad security & compliance,” highlighting out-of-the-box ISO:27001 certification and SOC 2/HIPAA compliant hosting. They even emphasize their selection by the US Army for its stringent security requirements. This strong messaging suggests a deep-rooted focus on built-in security designed from the ground up.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Security | Strength: Large security community, robust security plugins, proactive community-driven patching Weakness: Popularity makes it a high-profile target, requires diligent and ongoing security maintenance | Strength: Strong emphasis on built-in security, ISO:27001 certification, SOC 2 & HIPAA compliance, impressive endorsements like US Army usage Weakness: Smaller community may mean less broad scrutiny for vulnerabilities despite strong claims |
Verdict: Concrete5’s security claims are certainly impressive, and their certifications are noteworthy. However, WordPress, with its incredibly vast and active community that is constantly patching and improving security alongside a powerful arsenal of security plugins, is arguably just as secure when properly maintained – and potentially even more thoroughly scrutinized simply because of its massive scale and visibility.
6. Scalability and Performance
For websites expecting growth and high traffic, scalability and performance are key considerations. Let’s examine how both WordPress CMS vs. Concrete5 CMS handle these demands.
WordPress: WordPress is demonstrably scalable and can effectively handle massive traffic loads with the right optimization strategies in place. These include implementing caching mechanisms, utilizing Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), and choosing optimized hosting solutions. However, it’s important to acknowledge that poorly coded themes and plugins can become bottlenecks, negatively impacting performance.
Concrete5: Concrete5 doesn’t explicitly emphasize scalability as prominently in their marketing materials, beyond mentioning “enterprise applications.” However, they do imply robustness with their “websites that deliver” tagline, referencing demanding users like the US Army and BASF. Their range of hosting options also suggests that scalability is a factor they consider, particularly for their higher-tier offerings.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Scalability & Performance | Strength: Highly scalable with proper optimization techniques (caching, CDN, optimized hosting) Weakness: Performance is highly dependent on theme and plugin quality, requires active performance optimization efforts | Strength: Implied scalability for enterprise-level applications, robust performance for demanding users as suggested by case studies Weakness: Less readily available performance benchmarks and large-scale scalability case studies compared to WordPress |
Verdict: WordPress has consistently proven its scalability over time, effectively powering some of the most heavily trafficked websites on the internet. With a well-planned architecture and diligent optimization, it’s capable of handling extremely high loads.
While Concrete5 implies scalability through its enterprise focus, WordPress has a more extensive track record and readily available examples demonstrating proven performance at massive scales.
7. Community and Support
A strong community and readily available support are invaluable when choosing a CMS, especially when you encounter challenges or need guidance. Let’s compare the community and support ecosystems of WordPress CMS and Concrete5 CMS.
WordPress: The WordPress community is nothing short of massive. It’s a global network of millions of users, developers, designers, and enthusiasts. Countless online forums, active blogs, extensive tutorials, and a vast pool of freelance WordPress developers offer readily available support.
Finding answers to virtually any WordPress-related question is typically very easy due to the sheer size and activity of this community.
Concrete5: Concrete5 also boasts a community, along with dedicated forums, and comprehensive documentation. However, it’s undeniable that their community is significantly smaller in scale compared to the sprawling WordPress ecosystem.
While they offer “unlimited support questions” with their hosting plans, the depth and breadth of community-driven support and resources is likely less extensive than what WordPress offers.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Support & Community | Strength: Enormous and highly active community, a vast array of readily available online resources, a massive network of support professionals Weakness: Official support is primarily community-driven, can sometimes be overwhelming to navigate due to sheer size | Strength: Offers dedicated support with their hosting plans, active community forums, and documentation Weakness: Smaller community size compared to WordPress, potentially less extensive community-driven support depth |
Verdict: The sheer scale, activity, and readily available resources of the WordPress community provide a substantial advantage, especially when it comes to troubleshooting issues, finding quick solutions, and accessing diverse perspectives and expertise.
8. Ecosystem (Plugins, Themes, Add-ons)
The ecosystem of extensions, themes, and add-ons significantly expands the functionality and design possibilities of a CMS. Let’s compare the ecosystems of WordPress CMS and Concrete5 CMS.
WordPress: WordPress proudly boasts an unparalleled ecosystem, featuring tens of thousands of plugins and themes, available in both free and premium varieties.
This massive ecosystem offers ready-made solutions for virtually any imaginable website requirement, from e-commerce functionalities and SEO tools to advanced marketing automation and social media integrations.
Concrete5: Concrete5 mentions “extensions” and “add-ons,” indicating they also have an ecosystem to extend the core CMS functionality. However, the scale of their marketplace is probably considerably smaller than the vast WordPress plugin and theme repository.
Concrete5’s emphasis on “built-in features” suggests a design philosophy that aims to reduce the need for extensions, but this also inherently limits the overall breadth of readily available choices and specialized functionalities compared to WordPress.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Plugin & Theme Ecosystem | Strength: Massive plugin and theme ecosystem, exceptionally wide selection of extensions and design options, caters to virtually any website need Weakness: Quality control can vary across the massive ecosystem, potential for plugin conflicts and compatibility issues | Strength: Curated add-ons and extensions, potentially higher average quality and tighter integration due to curation Weakness: Significantly smaller selection compared to WordPress, less diverse range of functionalities and design choices available in the ecosystem |
Verdict: WordPress unequivocally wins in terms of ecosystem size and sheer variety. For agencies and developers, this expansive ecosystem represents a crucial asset, offering a vast toolkit of readily available components to address almost any project requirement, no matter how niche or specialized.
9. Cost
Cost is always a practical consideration when choosing a CMS. Let’s break down the cost implications of WordPress CMS vs. Concrete5 CMS.
WordPress: The core WordPress software itself is completely free and open-source, a significant advantage. However, associated costs do arise from essential elements such as web hosting, premium themes for advanced design and features, premium plugins for enhanced functionality, and potentially developer time for customization and specialized implementations.
Hosting costs for WordPress can span a broad spectrum, from very affordable shared hosting plans to more expensive, high-performance managed WordPress hosting solutions tailored for demanding websites.
Concrete5: Similar to WordPress, the core Concrete5 software is also open-source and freely available. Concrete5 offers its own tiered hosting plans, ranging from a “Starter” plan at $4.99/month to a “Business” plan at $19/month, and extending to “Custom SLA” plans (requiring direct contact for pricing).
However, it’s important to note that their hosting plans, particularly the lower-tier options, do not grant access to the source code, which presents a notable limitation for developers who require full control and customization capabilities at the code level.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Cost & Hosting Flexibility | Strength: Free and open-source core software, extremely wide range of hosting options to suit diverse budgets (from budget-friendly to premium) Weakness: Costs can add up with premium themes and plugins, developer costs for custom work can vary | Strength: Open-source core software, tiered hosting plans offering managed services Weakness: Limited source code access on lower-tier hosting plans, potentially less overall hosting flexibility and price competitiveness compared to WordPress’s open hosting market |
Verdict: WordPress provides greater cost flexibility overall, offering a vastly wider array of hosting options tailored to virtually every budget constraint and performance requirement. The combination of its open-source nature and the highly competitive hosting market surrounding WordPress makes it a more cost-effective and adaptable solution for a broader range of users and projects.
10. Content Management Capabilities
As Content Management Systems, both platforms should excel at managing content. Let’s compare the content management strengths of WordPress CMS and Concrete5 CMS.
WordPress: WordPress has long been recognized for its robust content management capabilities, particularly for blogs and websites that feature frequently updated content. Its intuitive post and page system, coupled with categories, tags, and custom post types, provides a highly flexible and powerful framework for organizing and structuring diverse content types.
Concrete5: Concrete5, explicitly branded as a “Content Management System,” also places a strong emphasis on content management features. They highlight their ability to “streamline content creation and management effortlessly” and “robust collaboration” through built-in workflow approvals and comprehensive version control.
Their core feature set is likely heavily focused on providing streamlined content workflow and editorial management tools out-of-the-box.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Content Management | Strength: Excellent and highly versatile content management features, particularly well-suited for blogs and content-heavy websites, flexible content structuring with custom post types Weakness: May require plugins to implement very complex or highly customized editorial workflows | Strength: Strong built-in content management and editorial workflow features, robust collaboration tools, and version control natively integrated Weakness: Potentially less flexible in terms of content structuring and content type customization compared to WordPress’s adaptable custom post types |
Verdict: Both platforms are demonstrably strong in the realm of content management. Concrete5 appears to prioritize built-in content workflow and editorial management features, while WordPress offers a greater degree of inherent flexibility in content structuring and presentation through its custom post types and extensive plugin ecosystem.
WordPress’s broader versatility and adaptability in handling diverse content needs give it a slight edge.
11. Target Audience and Use Cases
Different CMS platforms cater to different audiences and project types. Let’s analyze the intended target users and ideal use cases for WordPress CMS and Concrete5 CMS.
WordPress: WordPress stands out due to its incredible versatility, making it suitable for an exceptionally broad spectrum of website types. From personal blogs and small business websites to expansive e-commerce platforms, sophisticated membership sites, and even complex web applications, WordPress’s adaptability is remarkable.
Its target audience is equally broad, encompassing everyone from individual hobbyists and bloggers to large multinational enterprises and global organizations.
Concrete5: Concrete5’s marketing and messaging suggest a target audience primarily focused on businesses, organizations, and enterprises seeking “websites that deliver” tangible results. Their emphasis is on ease of use, robust security, and reliable content management, suggesting they cater to organizations that value these aspects highly. Their case studies, featuring BASF and the US Army, further reinforce this focus on larger organizations and potentially those with demanding content and security requirements.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Target Audience & Use Cases | Strength: Extremely broad target audience, versatile for nearly any website type imaginable, from simple blogs to complex enterprise applications Weakness: Might be perceived as overkill for exceptionally simple or very niche websites with minimal content needs | Strength: Focus on businesses and organizations, particularly strong for content-heavy websites with robust workflow needs, appeals to organizations prioritizing security and ease of content management Weakness: Less clearly positioned for very small-scale projects, personal websites, or highly niche applications outside of core content management focus |
Verdict: WordPress’s wider appeal and proven suitability for a significantly broader range of projects make it a more universally applicable choice for agencies and developers serving a diverse clientele with varied project requirements.
12. Learning Curve
The ease with which users can learn and effectively utilize a CMS is a crucial factor influencing adoption and long-term efficiency. Let’s compare the learning curves of WordPress CMS and Concrete5 CMS for different user types.
WordPress: WordPress presents a relatively gentle learning curve for basic users, particularly for core content creation and simple website management tasks. However, achieving mastery in advanced customization, theme development, plugin development, and intricate website architecture requires a more substantial investment of time and dedicated effort.
Concrete5: Concrete5 prominently claims “easy training; editors become proficient within moments,” strongly suggesting a very shallow initial learning curve, especially for content editors focused on day-to-day content updates.
The developer learning curve, while potentially steeper initially due to its more structured and object-oriented approach, might lead to easier long-term maintainability and scalability for complex projects that align well with Concrete5’s inherent framework and architectural principles.
| Aspect | WordPress (Strength/Weakness) | Concrete5 (Strength/Weakness) |
| Learning Curve | Strength: Gentle initial learning curve for basic users and content creators, abundant learning resources and tutorials available online Weakness: Steeper learning curve for advanced customization, theme development, and plugin creation | Strength: Exceptionally shallow initial learning curve for content editors, intuitive on-page editing Weakness: Potentially steeper initial learning curve for developers due to a more structured approach, although may offer long-term maintainability advantages for certain project types within its framework |
Verdict: For content editors and basic website users, Concrete5 might offer a slightly quicker and more immediately intuitive initial learning experience. However, WordPress benefits from being exceptionally widely known, with a vast ocean of learning resources, tutorials, and readily available support communities.
This abundance of resources makes it easier to onboard new WordPress professionals and to continuously learn and expand WordPress skills over time across all levels of expertise.
Conclusion: WordPress Remains the Champion
So, there you have it – WordPress vs Concrete5: a comprehensive battle of the CMS titans, thoroughly analyzed and dissected! After this comprehensive head-to-head comparison across twelve crucial aspects, it becomes convincingly clear that WordPress decisively remains the leading CMS champion for the overwhelming majority of use cases, particularly for agencies and developers operating in today’s dynamic web landscape.
While Concrete5 certainly presents itself as a user-friendly and secure alternative with a compelling set of built-in features, WordPress’s unmatched flexibility, the sheer scale and dynamism of its ecosystem, the strength of its global community support, and its overall cost-effectiveness are simply too powerful to ignore.
Hopefully, this detailed comparison has illuminated the key differences, strengths, and weaknesses of each platform, empowering you to make the most informed and strategic decision for your next exciting web development adventure! Happy and successful website-building endeavors!
FAQs
Q: Is Concrete5 CMS a bad CMS choice?
A: Not at all! Concrete5 CMS is undoubtedly a solid and capable CMS platform, possessing its own distinct strengths, particularly in user-friendliness and its comprehensive suite of built-in features.
It stands as a viable and worthwhile option to consider, particularly for organizations that prioritize simplicity for content editors and require robust content workflows tightly integrated within the core CMS framework.
Q: For which types of users is Concrete5 best suited?
A: Concrete5 CMS could be an excellent fit for organizations that place a premium on ease of use and intuitive on-page editing for their content creators. It’s also well-suited for those who need robust, built-in security and compliance features right out of the box.
Concrete5 may be particularly appealing to larger organizations with substantial content-driven websites and a need for streamlined editorial workflows and governance.
Q: When is it generally more advisable to choose WordPress CMS over Concrete5 CMS?
A: It’s generally more advantageous to choose WordPress if your project demands maximum flexibility and extensibility, requires access to a vast and dynamic plugin and theme ecosystem, benefits from exceptionally strong and readily available community support, needs a wide spectrum of hosting options to match diverse budgets, and prioritizes overall cost-effectiveness.
If you anticipate needing a broad range of diverse functionalities, anticipate building complex or highly customized website features, or require integration with a wide array of third-party services, WordPress typically represents the safer, more versatile, and more future-proof choice.