Content management systems: choosing the right platform
Choosing the right content management system Choosing a content management system (CMS) is often the first big tech decision for a new website. A good CMS should fit your goals, match your team’s skills, and stay affordable as you grow. It helps teams publish reliably, organize pages and media, and scale without a constant rebuild. There are two broad families. Self-hosted or open-source options like WordPress or Drupal give broad control, a large plugin ecosystem, and strong customization. They require setup, regular maintenance, backups, and careful security work. Hosted or SaaS platforms such as Contentful, Sanity, or Webflow handle hosting and updates, with clear interfaces and fast timelines. They reduce admin work but limit server-side control and add ongoing subscription costs. ...