Drupal vs Wagtail
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
VS
Wagtail
Developer-friendly Django CMS with a great editor experience
| Feature | Drupal | Wagtail |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,290 | ★ 20,505 |
| First released | 2001 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore | Adobe Experience Manager, WordPress |
What are Drupal and Wagtail?
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
Wagtail
Wagtail is an open-source Django content management system focused on a refined editor experience and developer flexibility. It powers many large, content-rich websites with structured page models.
- Refined editor interface
- StreamField flexible content
- Headless API option
- Strong accessibility focus
Drupal vs Wagtail: key differences
Drupal is written in PHP, while Wagtail is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Drupal versus BSD-3-Clause for Wagtail. Drupal is the more established project (first released 2001), while Wagtail arrived in 2014. Wagtail has the considerably larger community, at 20,505 GitHub stars versus 4,290.
Why pick each one
Choose Drupal if…
- Scales to very large sites
- Enterprise-grade security track record
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Heavier hosting requirements
Choose Wagtail if…
- Excellent editing experience
- Great for Python developers
Watch out for
- Requires Django expertise
- Heavier hosting needs
Frequently asked questions
Is Drupal or Wagtail better?
Wagtail is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Drupal if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Drupal and Wagtail free and open-source?
Yes. Drupal is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Wagtail under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Drupal and Wagtail with Docker?
Drupal: yes. Wagtail: yes.