django CMS vs Drupal
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Drupal
Flexible enterprise CMS for complex content structures
| Feature | django CMS | Drupal |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,670 | ★ 4,290 |
| First released | 2009 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore | Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore |
What are django CMS and Drupal?
django CMS
django CMS is an open-source content management system built on Python's Django framework. It offers front-end editing, a plugin architecture, and strong multilingual support for enterprise sites.
- Front-end editing
- Plugin-based content
- Strong multilingual support
- Django ecosystem integration
Drupal
Drupal is a robust open-source content management framework suited to large, complex websites with structured content and demanding requirements. It is known for granular permissions, multilingual support, and an extensible module architecture.
- Structured content modeling
- Strong multilingual support
- Granular access control
- Headless and decoupled options
django CMS vs Drupal: key differences
Django CMS is written in Python, while Drupal is built with PHP. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for django CMS versus GPL-2.0 for Drupal. Drupal is the more established project (first released 2001), while django CMS arrived in 2009. Django CMS has the considerably larger community, at 10,670 GitHub stars versus 4,290.
Why pick each one
Choose django CMS if…
- Great for Python teams
- Scalable enterprise architecture
Watch out for
- Requires Django knowledge
- More setup than PHP CMSes
Choose Drupal if…
- Scales to very large sites
- Enterprise-grade security track record
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Heavier hosting requirements
Frequently asked questions
Is django CMS or Drupal better?
Neither is universally better. django CMS has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are django CMS and Drupal free and open-source?
Yes. django CMS is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Drupal under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run django CMS and Drupal with Docker?
django CMS: yes. Drupal: yes.