Craft CMS vs Drupal
Craft CMS and Drupal are both CMS options. Craft CMS lists 7 features across 2 platforms; Drupal lists 8 features across 2 platforms — see the full breakdown below, sourced from each vendor's own site rather than ratings or reviews.
Side-by-side summary
Best for Craft CMS
Agencies and developers building multi-site or e-commerce projects who want flexible content modeling without being locked into a rigid page structure.
Best for Drupal
Higher education, government, healthcare, nonprofit, and enterprise organizations that need an open-source, highly customizable CMS with no vendor lock-in.
Feature comparison
Every feature listed here comes directly from each vendor's own official site.
Craft CMS
- Customizable field types and flexible content modeling
- Multi-site support with unlimited localization, translated into 25 languages in the control panel
- Twig templating for coupled sites and a self-generating GraphQL API for decoupled apps
- Extensible plugin framework with a built-in Plugin Store
- Craft Commerce for e-commerce functionality
- Third-party integrations including Salesforce, Mailchimp, and HubSpot
- Craft Cloud managed hosting option
Drupal
- Structured, component-based content modeling
- 10,000+ community modules for extending functionality
- Layout Builder for visual page composition
- Multisite support for managing multiple sites from one installation
- Taxonomy system for content organization and classification
- Built-in AI orchestration capabilities
- Enterprise-grade security with no vendor lock-in
- Drupal CMS distribution with guided setup for marketers and site builders
Pros and cons
Craft CMS
- Customizable field types and flexible content modeling
- Multi-site support with unlimited localization, translated into 25 languages in the control panel
- Twig templating for coupled sites and a self-generating GraphQL API for decoupled apps
- Extensible plugin framework with a built-in Plugin Store
- Craft Commerce for e-commerce functionality
- Third-party integrations including Salesforce, Mailchimp, and HubSpot
- Craft Cloud managed hosting option
- Self-hosted Team and Pro licenses include only one year of updates; continued updates/support cost $99/year per project after that, and commercial plugins can add separate costs.
- Craft Cloud is a separate recurring hosting expense ($120/month Team or $240/month Pro when paid annually), so a hosted deployment has very different economics from the one-time self-hosted CMS license.
Drupal
- Structured, component-based content modeling
- 10,000+ community modules for extending functionality
- Layout Builder for visual page composition
- Multisite support for managing multiple sites from one installation
- Taxonomy system for content organization and classification
- Built-in AI orchestration capabilities
- Enterprise-grade security with no vendor lock-in
- Drupal CMS distribution with guided setup for marketers and site builders
- Drupal has no software license fee, but production use still requires hosting, a supported PHP/web-server/database stack, updates, backups, security operations, and often implementation expertise.
- The Drupal project itself does not sell a managed SaaS plan; organizations that want managed hosting, development, or commercial support must source those services separately.
Key differences
- Craft CMS lists Customizable field types and flexible content modeling, Multi-site support with unlimited localization, translated into 25 languages in the control panel, Twig templating for coupled sites and a self-generating GraphQL API for decoupled apps, Extensible plugin framework with a built-in Plugin Store, Craft Commerce for e-commerce functionality, Third-party integrations including Salesforce, Mailchimp, and HubSpot, Craft Cloud managed hosting option that Drupal doesn't list.
- Drupal lists Structured, component-based content modeling, 10,000+ community modules for extending functionality, Layout Builder for visual page composition, Multisite support for managing multiple sites from one installation, Taxonomy system for content organization and classification, Built-in AI orchestration capabilities, Enterprise-grade security with no vendor lock-in, Drupal CMS distribution with guided setup for marketers and site builders that Craft CMS doesn't list.
- Craft CMS supports Web (Craft Cloud), which Drupal doesn't list.
- Drupal supports Web, which Craft CMS doesn't list.
Choose Craft CMS if…
Choose Craft CMS if this fits: Agencies and developers building multi-site or e-commerce projects who want flexible content modeling without being locked into a rigid page structure. Compared with Drupal specifically, Craft CMS also offers Customizable field types and flexible content modeling, Multi-site support with unlimited localization, translated into 25 languages in the control panel, Twig templating for coupled sites and a self-generating GraphQL API for decoupled apps, and 4 more features that Drupal doesn't list, plus Web (Craft Cloud) support that Drupal doesn't list.
Choose Drupal if…
Choose Drupal if this fits: Higher education, government, healthcare, nonprofit, and enterprise organizations that need an open-source, highly customizable CMS with no vendor lock-in. Compared with Craft CMS specifically, Drupal also offers Structured, component-based content modeling, 10,000+ community modules for extending functionality, Layout Builder for visual page composition, and 5 more features that Craft CMS doesn't list, plus Web support that Craft CMS doesn't list.
Facts on this page are sourced from each vendor's official site (linked below), not from ratings or reviews. Products change — verify anything that matters to your decision directly on the vendor's own site before switching. See our Disclaimer and Sources Policy.
Craft CMS sources
Last verified October 6, 2026
- https://craftcms.com
- https://craftcms.com/pricing
- https://craftcms.com/cloud
- https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/how-craft-licenses-and-renewals-work
Drupal sources
Last verified October 6, 2026
- https://www.drupal.org/about
- https://www.drupal.org/about/licensing
- https://www.drupal.org/docs/getting-started/system-requirements
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