There’s a version of this conversation that comes up every now and then.
Someone will say:
“WordPress isn’t the best CMS. Drupal is more powerful. Joomla is more flexible.”
And technically, that’s not wrong.
But it also misses something important.
Because if being more powerful or more flexible was enough, Drupal and Joomla would still be leading today.
They’re not.
WordPress is.
And not by a small margin.
Today, the gap is hard to ignore — WordPress powers 42.5% of all websites on the internet, while Drupal accounts for around 0.7%, and Joomla is used by 1.3% of the world’s websites, according to data from W3Techs.
What People Usually Hear
If you look at comparisons, especially older ones, the story often goes like this:
- Drupal is for complex, enterprise-level sites
- Joomla sits somewhere in the middle
- WordPress is for blogs and beginners
That framing made sense at one point.
But it doesn’t explain what actually happened over time.
Because the question isn’t:
“Which CMS is more powerful on paper?”
It’s:
“Which CMS do people actually choose, stick with, and build on?”
And that’s where things start to look different.
Power vs Usability (And Why That Gap Matters)
Drupal has always been known for its flexibility.
It can handle:
- complex data structures
- large-scale sites
- custom workflows
But that power comes with a cost.
It’s harder to learn.
Harder to set up.
And often requires developer involvement from the start.
Joomla tried to balance flexibility with usability.
But it never quite found a clear identity.
For many users, it felt:
- more complex than WordPress
- but less powerful than Drupal
WordPress, on the other hand, did something simpler.
It made getting started easy.
You could:
- install it quickly
- publish content immediately
- understand the basics without much friction
That lowered the barrier to entry in a way the others didn’t.
And over time, that mattered more than raw capability.
The Early Momentum That Changed Everything
WordPress didn’t win overnight.
But it did something that compounds over time.
It grew fast — especially among:
- bloggers
- small businesses
- DIY site owners
And once a platform reaches a certain size, things start to shift.
More users lead to:
- more themes
- more plugins
- more tutorials
- more developers building for it
That creates a loop.
More resources → easier to use → more users → even more resources.
Drupal and Joomla had communities too.
But they never reached the same scale.
The Plugin Ecosystem Advantage
One of WordPress’s biggest advantages is its plugin ecosystem.
You don’t need to build everything from scratch.
You can:
- add features quickly
- experiment easily
- extend your site without deep technical knowledge
That matters more than it sounds.
Because most people building websites aren’t developers.
They’re:
- bloggers
- business owners
- creators
They don’t want to architect systems.
They want to solve problems.
And WordPress made that easier.
Documentation and Learning Curve
Another difference that often gets overlooked:
Learning resources.
When you search for:
- “how to do X in WordPress”
You’ll find:
- guides
- videos
- forums
- tutorials at every level
That reduces friction.
It makes the platform feel more approachable.
Drupal, in comparison, has always had a steeper learning curve.
Its documentation is thorough — but often geared toward developers.
Joomla sits somewhere in between, but never built the same volume of beginner-friendly content.
This isn’t about which system is “better documented.”
It’s about which one feels easier to learn when you’re starting from scratch.
The Shift Toward Non-Technical Users
This is probably the biggest underlying change.
The web itself evolved.
More people started building websites who:
- don’t code
- don’t want to code
- don’t have the time to learn everything deeply
WordPress adapted to that shift.
Over time, it introduced:
- visual editors
- themes that require minimal setup
- plugins that simplify complex tasks
Drupal stayed closer to its developer-first roots.
Joomla tried to adapt, but didn’t move as clearly in one direction.
WordPress leaned into simplicity.
And that aligned with where the market was going.
Where This Explanation Is an Assumption
It’s worth saying this clearly.
Not everything here is based on hard data.
Some of this is inference based on adoption patterns:
- WordPress grew faster among non-technical users
- Its ecosystem expanded more rapidly
- Its learning curve felt more approachable
These aren’t single data points you can point to.
They ae patterns you see when you look at how people actually use these platforms over time.
Did Drupal and Joomla “Fail”?
Not really.
They still exist.
They’re still used.
They’re still good at what they do.
But they became more niche.
- Drupal is still strong in certain enterprise and government use cases
- Joomla still has a dedicated user base
They didn’t disappear.
They just stopped being the default choice for most people.
Why WordPress Became the Default
At some point, WordPress crossed a line.
It became the expected choice.
Not because it was perfect.
But because it was:
- Good enough for most use cases
- Easier to start with
- Supported by a massive ecosystem
- Backed by a huge community
Once that happens, momentum takes over.
People choose it because:
- others are using it
- help is easier to find
- tools are built around it
And that reinforces its position.
The Part That Still Matters Today
It’s easy to turn this into a “WordPress won” story.
But the more useful takeaway is simpler.
Tools don’t win just because they’re powerful.
They win because they’re:
- usable
- accessible
- supported
- and easy to build on over time
WordPress happened to align with those things at the right moment.
Lessons for WordPress
The honest answer is: there wasn’t one obvious mistake that “killed” Joomla or Drupal. It was more a series of decisions, trade-offs, and missed shifts over time.
Here are some lessons WordPress would be wise to pay attention to:
1. Don’t Let the Learning Curve Drift Upwards
One of the biggest challenges with Drupal has always been its learning curve.
It’s powerful, yes — but also:
- harder to get started with
- harder to maintain without technical knowledge
My Guess:
Over time, as the web opened up to non-technical users, this became a bigger disadvantage.
Lesson for WordPress:
If everyday users start feeling lost — especially with things like the block editor, site editor, or future AI features — that’s a warning sign.
Ease of entry is not a “nice to have.”
It’s the foundation of growth.
2. Avoid Identity Confusion
Joomla often struggled with positioning.
It wasn’t:
- as simple as WordPress
- or as powerful (in perception) as Drupal
So it sat in the middle.
My Guess:
That made it harder for users to clearly answer: “Why should I pick Joomla?”
Lesson for WordPress:
As it adds:
- Full Site Editing
- AI integrations
- more built-in features
…it needs to stay clear on what it is.
If it becomes:
- too complex for beginners
- but still not flexible enough for advanced use cases
…it risks drifting into that same “middle ground.”
3. Don’t Break the Ecosystem
One of the most talked-about moments in Drupal’s history was the transition from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8.
It introduced major architectural improvements.
But it also:
- broke compatibility
- required significant rewrites
- increased migration friction
This is factual, though impact varies by perspective.
Lesson for WordPress:
Its biggest strength is its ecosystem:
- plugins
- themes
- developers
Major shifts (like Gutenberg) already tested this.
Future changes — especially around AI or core architecture — need to:
- bring developers, creators and business owners along
- not leave them behind
Because once an ecosystem fragments, it’s hard to rebuild momentum.
4. Don’t Assume Users Will “Catch Up”
Both Joomla and Drupal often evolved in ways that assumed users would adapt.
Technically, that’s fair.
But in practice, many users don’t.
They:
- stick to what they know
- avoid major changes
- or move to something simpler
My Guess:
This gap between product evolution and user comfort likely slowed adoption.
Lesson for WordPress:
When introducing things like:
- Site Editor
- new workflows
- AI tools
…it’s not enough to build them.
They need to be:
- easy to understand
- easy to adopt
- clearly better than what they replace
Otherwise, users resist — or ignore them entirely.
5. Don’t Let Complexity Build Quietly
This one is subtle.
Over time, both Joomla and Drupal accumulated layers of complexity.
Not all at once.
But gradually.
And that made:
- onboarding harder
- troubleshooting harder
- long-term maintenance heavier
Lesson for WordPress:
This is already a risk.
Between:
- plugins
- themes
- blocks
- editors
- now AI layers
WordPress can feel… layered.
The danger isn’t one big change.
It’s small additions that quietly make the system harder to understand.
6. Don’t Ignore the “New User Experience”
WordPress has an advantage today.
But, platforms like Shopify and newer site builders are doing something very well:
reducing decision fatigue
No:
- plugin hunting
- hosting setup
- complex configuration
Just:
- sign up
- build
- launch
My Guess:
Joomla and Drupal didn’t adapt strongly enough to this shift.
Lesson for WordPress:
If getting started feels harder than alternatives, growth slows.
Not immediately.
But steadily.
The Bigger Pattern
If you step back, the pattern is pretty clear:
- Drupal leaned into power → became niche
- Joomla struggled with positioning → lost momentum
- WordPress leaned into usability → scaled massively
That doesn’t mean WordPress is immune.
It just means the same forces still apply.
The Future Of WordPress
So yes, WordPress has a clear, indisputable lead over its competitors.
That said, WordPress isn’t competing in the same landscape it was a decade ago.
Platforms like Shopify are growing quickly, particularly by simplifying the process for non-technical users who just want to launch and run an online store without thinking about plugins, hosting, or maintenance. It’s a different model — and one that’s clearly resonating with a lot of people.
Looking ahead, there are also new challenges that weren’t really part of the conversation a few years ago. AI is starting to change how websites are built — from generating content to designing layouts — and it’s still not clear how platforms like WordPress will adapt in a way that feels natural rather than pieced together.
At the same time, WordPress isn’t just another platform reacting to these changes.
With such a large share of the web, it has the scale to actually influence how some of this plays out. If it chooses to lean into that, it could shape how AI tools get used across a huge part of the internet.
It’s a unique and interesting position to be in. WordPress has always evolved slowly and steadily, but this feels like a different kind of shift — and how it responds (and how quickly) will matter more than usual.
Closing Thoughts
Drupal and Joomla didn’t lose because they were bad.
They lost because the direction of the web changed.
And WordPress adapted to that change more effectively.
That’s really what this comes down to.
Not just which platform was more capable…
…but which one made it easier for people to build something and keep going.