Joomla vs WordPress: Which CMS Is Right for Your Website?

Choosing the right content management system shapes how easy your website is to manage, how flexible it feels as your business grows, and how much support you need along the way.

Both platforms are open source content management systems, often shortened to CMS. A CMS lets you create, edit and manage website pages without building every page from scratch. When you compare Joomla and WordPress, it helps to look at how each platform handles your content, design, security, plugins and long-term website plans.

WordPress is widely known for its ease of use, a large theme marketplace and a huge plugin ecosystem. Joomla gives you strong built-in structure, advanced user permissions and a flexible way to manage complex content. The right choice depends on how your website will be used, who will manage it and what you expect from your hosting provider.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything. So you can make an informed choice on which CMS suites you best.

Joomla vs WordPress: A Practical Comparison of Flexibility

The decision typically comes down to simplicity compared with control.

WordPress is usually the easier starting point for beginners. It has a familiar dashboard, a large community and many templates that help you launch quickly. It’s a strong option for blogs, small business websites, landing pages and online stores where fast setup matters.

Joomla often suits users who want richer structure from the start. It can be a good fit for websites with several content types, multiple editors, different access levels, or a need for multilingual content. It has a steeper learning curve, but that extra structure can be useful when your website has to do a lot.

Customisation is where the two platforms diverge further. WordPress customisation usually happens through themes and page builder plugins, which makes visual changes quick even without coding knowledge. Joomla customisation tends to happen through templates and its built-in framework, which can take more setup time but gives developers finer control over how content is organised and displayed.

A simple way to think about it: choose WordPress when ease and ecosystem size matter most. Choose Joomla when structure, access control and flexible content management matter most.

Many Australian businesses can succeed with either platform. The bigger risk is choosing website hosting that doesn’t suit your site, leaves you without local support, or makes basic management harder than it needs to be.

How Joomla and WordPress Work

WordPress and Joomla both separate your content from your website design. That means you can update text, images, products, or pages without rebuilding the whole site. Both platforms use themes or templates to control the look of your website, and both use add-ons to extend what the site can do.

WordPress began as a blogging platform and grew into a flexible CMS. That history still shows in its clean publishing workflow. Pages, posts, categories and media are easy to understand, which is why many business owners and marketers feel comfortable with WordPress early on.

Joomla was built with structured content in mind. It gives you detailed control over menus, modules, categories and access levels. This can feel slower at first, but it can make sense for websites that need several content areas or multiple people working on the site.

Both platforms run on PHP and store content in a database, which is why your hosting environment matters as much as the CMS itself. Server resources, database performance and PHP configuration all affect how quickly your Joomla or WordPress website loads, especially as you add more pages, products or media.

Page speed also affects search rankings. Google factors loading speed, interactivity and visual stability into how it ranks websites, often referred to as Core Web Vitals. A well-configured Joomla or WordPress site on suitable hosting can perform well against these measures, while an under-resourced hosting plan can hold back an otherwise well-built website.

WordPress and Joomla both need regular care. You need to keep the CMS, themes, plugins and extensions updated. You also need strong passwords, secure hosting, an SSL certificate and regular backups. These basics help protect your site and keep it running properly.

For many businesses, the CMS is only one part of the decision. Your hosting affects speed, uptime, email delivery, backups, security tools and the support available when something goes wrong. VentraIP’s business web hosting plans include cPanel-based management, hourly backups, website security features and Australian-based support.

A CMS gives you the tools to manage your website. Hosting gives that website the space and resources it needs to be available online.

Joomla vs WordPress at a Glance

Cost Comparison

Both Joomla and WordPress are free, open-source software. You won’t pay a licence fee to download or run either CMS. The real cost comes from everything around the CMS: your domain name, web hosting, premium themes or templates, paid plugins or extensions, and any development or design help you bring in.

WordPress costs can add up through premium themes, page builder plugins and add-ons for features like ecommerce, bookings or advanced forms. Many of these have free versions with paid upgrades, so your budget depends on which features your website needs.

Joomla’s extension marketplace is smaller, which can mean fewer premium options to choose from, but it also means fewer decisions to make. Costs typically come from premium templates, specific ecommerce or multilingual extensions, and developer support if your site needs custom work.

For most small businesses, hosting is the bigger ongoing cost either way. A hosting plan with enough resources, reliable backups and local support helps protect the investment you’ve already made in your domain name, design and content, whichever CMS you choose.

More on this: Website Hosting Cost: What You Should Expect to Pay

Security Considerations

Security depends more on how a website is maintained than which CMS you choose. Both Joomla and WordPress are actively developed and regularly patched, but both also rely on you keeping the core software, themes, plugins and extensions up to date.

WordPress’s popularity makes it a common target for automated attacks, simply because there are more WordPress websites to target. Its large plugin ecosystem means the security of your site can depend on the quality of third-party plugins you install, so it pays to choose well-maintained plugins from trusted developers.

Joomla’s smaller footprint means it’s targeted less often, but that doesn’t make it inherently more secure. Outdated extensions, weak passwords and unpatched core files can create the same risks on Joomla as they can on WordPress.

Practical security steps help regardless of platform: use strong, unique passwords, keep everything updated, install an SSL certificate, and choose hosting with security tools such as malware scanning, firewalls and regular backups. VentraIP’s hosting plans include these protections as standard, giving your website a stronger baseline no matter which CMS you run.

When WordPress and a Page Builder Are the Better Fit

WordPress is often the right choice when you want a website that’s easy to set up, easy to update and supported by a wide range of designers, developers and plugins.

If you run a small business and need a few service pages, a blog, a contact form and search-friendly content, WordPress is a practical option. Many users can learn the basics quickly, especially when the website uses a well-built theme and a simple page builder.

A page builder (e.g. Elementor) lets you create layouts using visual controls rather than code. This can help non-technical users build landing pages, update banners and change content blocks. It also makes WordPress attractive for marketing teams that need to publish campaign pages without waiting for a developer every time.

For online stores, WordPress pairs with WooCommerce, one of the most widely used e-commerce plugins available. WooCommerce turns a WordPress website into a full online store with product pages, a shopping cart, payment gateways and shipping options built in. Its popularity means plenty of extensions, themes and support are available if your store’s needs grow.

WordPress wins hands down for ecosystem size. It has a huge selection of themes, tutorials and plugins. WordPress offers broader choice for many common website needs, including booking tools, contact forms, e-commerce features, search engine optimisation and analytics.

That breadth is useful, but it needs care. Too many plugins can slow your site down or create update conflicts. A poorly maintained plugin can also become a security concern. This is why hosting, backups and sensible website maintenance matter.

WordPress can be a good fit for:

• Small business websites that need simple editing
• Blogs, news sections and regular content publishing
• Marketing websites that use landing pages and forms
• Online stores using popular e-commerce plugins such as WooCommerce
• Users who want a large support community and many design options

WordPress isn’t automatically better for every business. It’s better when your website goals match its strengths. If you want a site that’s simple to update, has a large plugin marketplace and can be managed by people with limited technical experience, WordPress is hard to ignore.

When the Joomla Editor Is the Better Fit

Joomla can be a strong choice when your website needs structure, control and flexible publishing from day one.

The Joomla editor and admin area give you detailed control over content, menus, modules and user access. This helps when different people need different permissions. For example, a staff member may need to edit articles but not change design settings. A manager may need approval access, while an administrator controls extensions and security settings.

That level of control can suit organisations with layered content or multiple contributors. It can also help when you need different content areas for different audiences, such as customers, staff, members or partners.

Joomla is also useful for websites that need multilingual content. While WordPress can support multiple languages through plugins, Joomla has strong multilingual tools built into the platform. For some organisations, that built-in structure reduces the need for extra add-ons.

Joomla extensions add functions such as forms, galleries, e-commerce, directories, events, search tools and user management. For online stores, extensions such as HikaShop and VirtueMart bring shopping cart and payment functionality to a Joomla website, though the range of e-commerce extensions is smaller than WordPress’s WooCommerce ecosystem. WordPress has a significantly larger extension library than Joomla when plugins and themes are counted across the wider ecosystem, but Joomla’s smaller ecosystem can still support many business needs.

Joomla can work well for:

• Business websites with complex service or resource sections
• Membership websites with different access levels
• Multilingual websites for Australian and international audiences
• Teams that need stronger content permissions
• Websites that need flexible structure without relying on too many add-ons

The trade-off is the learning curve. Joomla can take longer to understand, especially for users who have only managed simple websites before. Once set up properly, it can give your business a strong base for structured content and controlled publishing.

For Australian businesses comparing both platforms, Joomla is worth considering when the website will be managed by a team, serve multiple audiences, or need permissions that go past basic editor roles.

Why Web Hosting Matters for Both Platforms

A good CMS can still perform poorly on unsuitable hosting.

Your web hosting affects how quickly pages load, how stable your website feels, how easily you can manage files and databases, and how much support you can access. This matters for both SEO and customer experience. A slow website can frustrate visitors before they’ve read your services, checked your prices or submitted an enquiry form.

VentraIP positions its hosting for Australian websites with local infrastructure and Australian support. Its business hosting plans include cPanel-based web hosting, security features, hourly backups and local support for businesses of different sizes. VentraIP also provides instructions for installing Joomla on cPanel web hosting using app installers such as Softaculous or Installatron, which can make setup easier for customers who want to run Joomla themselves.

For WordPress, hosting should support common WordPress needs such as easy installation, SSL, reliable performance, backups and update management. VentraIP also offers WordPress hosting with one-click WordPress install, Smart WordPress Updates, staging and cloning, security tools and Australian support.

For Joomla, hosting should support the PHP and database requirements of the platform, provide easy access to files and backups, and give you a control panel that makes day-to-day management clearer.

Security is another reason hosting matters. WordPress and Joomla both need updates. Themes, plugins and extensions need attention too. Strong hosting can support better website security through server-level protections, backups and tools that help you manage your site with less stress.

When comparing hosting options, look for practical inclusions:

• Performance: Your site should have enough resources for the traffic, plugins, extensions and media it uses.
• Backups: Backups help you recover files, folders and databases if something goes wrong.
• SSL support: An SSL certificate enables HTTPS, which helps secure the connection between your website and visitors.
• Local support: Australian support can make a real difference when your website serves Australian customers and you want help from a local team.
• Clear management tools: cPanel, app installers and account dashboards can make website management easier.

Plan sizing matters too. A brochure-style small business site needs far less in the way of storage, database resources and bandwidth than a growing online store or a membership website with hundreds of logged-in users. Checking your expected traffic and content type against a plan’s inclusions helps you avoid paying for more than you need, or outgrowing a plan within a few months.

The CMS gives you publishing control. Hosting supports the day-to-day reliability behind it.

Need more info? Check out our guide on how to choose an Australian web hosting provider.

Which CMS Fits Your Business?

If you’re still weighing up Joomla and WordPress, it can help to think about your website in terms of a few common scenarios.

• A sole trader or small business with a straightforward website. A handful of service pages, a blog and a contact form usually suit WordPress. Setup is quick, themes are affordable and there’s a large support community if you get stuck.
• A growing online store. Both platforms can run an online store, but WordPress with WooCommerce has the wider selection of payment gateways, shipping integrations and store themes. Joomla with HikaShop or VirtueMart is a reasonable option if you’re already committed to Joomla for other reasons.
• An organisation with multiple content owners or departments. Joomla’s access levels and structured content model make it easier to manage who can edit, approve and publish different sections of the site.
• A business that serves customers in more than one language. Joomla’s built-in multilingual tools can reduce the number of add-ons you need compared with WordPress.
• A website that needs to launch fast with minimal technical involvement. WordPress’s large template library and page builder options generally get a site live sooner.

None of these scenarios are strict rules. Plenty of Australian businesses run successful stores on Joomla or manage multilingual content on WordPress. Use them as a starting point, then confirm your choice against your budget, your team’s technical comfort and how the website needs to grow over the next few years.

Setup, Migration and Ongoing Website Care

Once you choose between Joomla and WordPress, the next question is how to get the site online without making the process harder than it needs to be.

A new website usually starts with a domain name, a hosting plan and the CMS installation. A domain name is the address people use to find your website. Hosting stores your website files and makes them available online. The CMS sits on that hosting account so you can manage pages, media, forms and design.

For many VentraIP customers, cPanel and app installers can make CMS setup easier. VentraIP’s Support Centre includes a Joomla installation guide for cPanel hosting using Softaculous or Installatron. That kind of step-by-step support is useful when you want to avoid manual installation.

If you already have a website, migration planning matters. Moving a Joomla or WordPress website can involve files, databases, email records, DNS settings, SSL certificates and redirects (DNS stands for Domain Name System, it tells browsers and email services where to find your website and related services).

Before moving platforms or hosting providers, check:

• What needs to move: Website files, images, themes, templates, plugins, extensions and databases.
• What must stay live: Email, contact forms, checkout pages and customer portals.
• What needs testing: Forms, menus, search, logins, payment tools and redirects.
• Who will manage updates: Decide whether your team, developer or agency will handle CMS and add-on updates.

More on this: How to Migrate a Website: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Ongoing care is where many websites fall behind. A site can launch well and still become slow, outdated or hard to manage later. Regular maintenance helps you avoid that. This includes updating the CMS, removing unused add-ons, checking forms, reviewing backups and keeping content accurate. Setting a recurring reminder, whether monthly or quarterly, is often enough to keep a small business website in good shape without it becoming a major job.

For SEO, both platforms can support the basics. You can manage page titles, meta descriptions, headings, image alt text and clean URLs. WordPress often uses SEO plugins to manage these details. Joomla has built-in SEO settings and extensions that can add extra control.

Strong content also matters. Your website should answer customer questions, explain your services clearly and make the next step easy. For service businesses, that often means clear service pages, simple enquiry forms, trust signals and local information that helps customers feel confident contacting you.

If you’re migrating an existing website, plan for a short overlap between your old and new setup so you can test thoroughly before pointing your domain name at the new hosting. Check that forms submit correctly, that email keeps working throughout the move, and that old page URLs redirect to their new equivalents so you don’t lose search rankings or send visitors to broken links. A staged approach, tested on a temporary URL before going live, reduces the risk of downtime during the switch.

Joomla vs WordPress FAQs

Does anyone use Joomla anymore?

Yes. Joomla is still used by businesses, organisations and developers who need structured content, flexible permissions and a CMS that can handle complex website setups. It’s not as widely used as WordPress, but it remains a practical option for the right project.

Is Joomla free or paid?

Joomla is free open source software. You can download and use the CMS without paying a licence fee. You still need to pay for related website costs such as a domain name, web hosting, premium templates, paid extensions or professional development support if you need them.

Is Joomla still relevant in 2026?

Joomla remains relevant for websites that need structured content, multilingual support, user permissions and flexible management. WordPress has a larger market presence and broader plugin choice, but Joomla still has a clear place for users who value control and site structure.

What are Joomla’s disadvantages?

Joomla can take longer to learn than WordPress. It also has a smaller marketplace for templates and extensions. That doesn’t make it a poor choice, but it does mean you should choose it for the right reasons and make sure your team or developer is comfortable managing it.

Is WordPress better than Joomla for SEO?

WordPress is often easier for beginners because there are many SEO plugins and tutorials available. Joomla can also support strong SEO when configured properly. The platform matters less than the quality of your content, site structure, page speed, metadata, internal links and ongoing maintenance.

How does Joomla vs WordPress compare with Drupal?

Drupal is a third open source CMS often mentioned alongside Joomla and WordPress. It’s generally considered more technical than either platform, with strong options for large, complex websites that need custom development. For most small to medium Australian businesses, WordPress or Joomla will usually be simpler to manage than Drupal, but Drupal can suit larger organisations with dedicated development resources.

For more info on this, check out our Drupal and WordPress comparison guide.

Can VentraIP host Joomla and WordPress websites?

Yes, you can host a WordPress or Joomla website on our web hosting platform.

Build Your CMS Website with VentraIP

The right CMS should make your website easier to manage, not harder. WordPress may be the better choice if you want simple editing, a large plugin ecosystem and a fast path to launch. Joomla may suit you better if your site needs structured content, stronger access control or multilingual features.

Whichever platform you choose, reliable hosting gives your website a stronger base. VentraIP supports Australian businesses with hosting options and domain names, and local help when you need guidance. VentraIP is 100% Australian owned and operated, with support and technical teams based in Australia.

Choose a hosting plan that fits the way your website will be built, managed and maintained.

Ready to compare your options? View web hosting plans, or contact the VentraIP support team for help deciding which setup suits your website.