CMS Platform Comparison for 2026 – From WordPress to HubSpot

Are you planning a new website and trying to figure out which CMS is the right fit? The market is full of platforms that may look similar at first glance — but in reality, they differ significantly in what they’re best suited for, how easy they are to work with, and what they’ll cost you in the long run.

From our experience, there’s no such thing as one “best” universal solution. We’ve helped different clients implement different systems, and in most cases, what works perfectly for one company isn’t the best choice for another.

It all depends on who will manage the website, what the website is meant to achieve, which integrations you need, and how your business is likely to evolve over time.

That’s exactly why we created this comparison. We’ll walk you through six widely used CMS platforms – WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Webflow, Shopify, Framer and Storyblok, and quickly highlight their key strengths and weaknesses, who they’re best for, and what typical costs you can expect.

What is a CMS?

Before we dive into the comparison, let’s quickly clarify what CMS actually means.

A CMS (Content Management System) is a system used to manage your website’s content. It allows you to edit text, add new pages, publish articles, upload images, and in some cases also manage products.

That said, CMS platforms vary widely in how they work and what they can handle. Some are great for simple websites and fast content updates, while others are better suited for e-commerce, larger companies, or projects that require more integrations, stronger security, and room to scale.

Stručné srovnání CMS platforem

WordPress – The Most Popular CMS for Business Websites and Content

WordPress is the world’s most widely used CMS. It’s open-source (with no licensing fees), and thanks to its huge library of themes and plugins, it can power anything from a simple website to a complex corporate site, or even a full e-commerce store (most commonly via WooCommerce).

Advantages

• Highly flexible and easy to adapt to almost any type of website

• A massive ecosystem of themes and plugins (forms, SEO, multilingual support, third-party integrations, and more)

• User-friendly content management for everyday edits (pages, articles, images)

• Vendor independence—you can host and manage your website wherever you want

Disadvantages

• Requires ongoing maintenance (plugin, theme, and core updates)

• Security depends heavily on proper management—outdated sites are a common target for attacks

• Performance depends on the quality of the theme, plugins, and hosting (overbuilt sites can slow down quickly)

• Complex setups can become technically challenging, especially if the site relies on too many plugins

Who is it best for?

In most cases, we recommend WordPress to companies that want to grow their website over time while keeping full flexibility, whether that’s choosing their hosting provider, switching vendors, or gradually adding new features. It’s an excellent option for content-heavy websites such as company presentations, blogs, and online magazines.

Pricing (rough estimate)

WordPress itself is free, but you pay for everything around it. The basics include a domain and hosting, and potentially a paid theme or premium plugins (some are free, others come with annual fees). For business websites, it’s also important to factor in ongoing technical support—updates, backups, and security.

In practice, WordPress can be very cost-effective. However, for a professional website, ongoing maintenance should always be part of the budget.

If you’re considering WordPress and want to make sure it’s set up properly, we’ll be happy to help. Book a free consultation and we’ll walk through your requirements together and suggest a solution that’s sustainable long-term and won’t hold back your future growth.

HubSpot CMS (Content Hub) – A CMS Tightly Connected With CRM and Marketing

HubSpot CMS (now called Content Hub)is a cloud-based platform that combines website and content management with the wider HubSpot ecosystem, including CRM, forms, email marketing, automation, and analytics.

Its biggest advantage is that your website isn’t a “separate tool.” Instead, it becomes a natural part of your entire marketing and sales process.

Advantages

• All-in-one platform: CMS connected to CRM, forms, marketing tools, automations, and analytics

• Easy for marketing teams: pages and landing pages can be edited without a developer

• Hosting and security included: HubSpot handles updates, performance, SSL, and protection automatically

• Content personalization: visitors can see different content based on CRM data

• Clear performance and lead tracking: you can see what drives demand and what impacts revenue

Disadvantages

• Higher cost – especially if you need advanced features (A/B testing, personalization, reporting)

• Platform lock-in: once your website and processes are built inside HubSpot, leaving can be challenging

• More limited customization: highly specific or non-standard functionality can be harder to build

• Not an e-commerce platform: for online selling, HubSpot is typically paired with Shopify or another solution

Who is it best for?

HubSpot CMS is a great fit for companies that want their website to be an active part of marketing and sales, not just an online brochure, but a tool for generating leads, managing demand, and tracking real results. It makes the most sense in B2B environments where forms, segmentation, automation, and handoff to sales teams are key.

It delivers the most value for businesses that already use HubSpot—or plan to fully adopt it—because everything works together in one place without complex integrations.

Pricing (rough estimate)

HubSpot is a paid SaaS platform, typically billed monthly (with pricing depending on the plan, number of users, and features). To give you a quick idea:

• Content Hub Starter: from $9 per user/month with annual billing (often promoted; standard pricing is usually higher)

• Content Hub Professional: typically around $500/month (often includes a bundle with “core seats”)

• Content Hub Enterprise: typically around $1,500/month

If you’re considering HubSpot, we’d be happy to review your specific use case and help with setup and implementation. As a HubSpot Diamond Partner, we have extensive hands-on experience with Content Hub and the wider platform across real client projects.

Book a Free Consultation

Webflow – A Design-Flexible CMS for Modern Marketing Websites

Webflow is a SaaS website-building platform that combines visual design and content management in one place. Compared to WordPress, Webflow is very much design-first: you build the site visually, and the platform automatically generates clean code while also handling hosting and infrastructure.

It’s most commonly used for marketing websites, landing pages, and projects where visual quality, fast editing, and quick publishing matter.

Pros

• Full design freedom – build a site without being limited by templates

• Fast build & updates – publish new pages and changes faster than in traditional CMS platforms

• Hosting included – SSL, CDN, security, and performance are handled automatically

• Clean output & strong performance – websites are typically fast without heavy optimization

• Easy content management – collections (blog, case studies, team, etc.) are simple to manage

Cons

• Vendor lock-in – Webflow is a closed platform; migrating elsewhere often means rebuilding a large part of the site

• Limits for advanced functionality – complex web apps, logins, or specific integrations usually require custom code or external tools

• Costs grow with the team – more users or add-ons (A/B testing, localization) can increase costs quickly

Who It’s Best For

In our experience, Webflow is a great choice for companies and teams that want a modern website with a strong focus on design, fast updates, and the ability to manage the site without needing a developer for every change.

It works especially well for marketing sites, landing pages, B2B service websites, and SaaS sites where content needs to be tested and iterated regularly.

Pricing (Approx.)

Webflow is billed monthly, and pricing depends on the website type:

• Basic (simple site without CMS): approx. $14–18/month

• CMS plan (site with blog/collections): approx. $23–29/month

• Business (larger sites, higher traffic): approx. $39–99/month

E-commerce plans are separate, typically:

• Standard: approx. $29/month (may include a transaction fee)

• Plus: approx. $74/month

• Advanced: approx. $212/month

For teamwork, you may also need Workspace plans (e.g., Freelancer/Agency), which are often billed per user.

If you're considering Webflow, we’re happy to help you assess whether it’s the right fit — and support you with the design, build, and implementation. Book a free consultation and we’ll talk it through together.

Shopify – The Best Platform for E-commerce

Shopify is primarily an e-commerce platform — a tool built specifically for online stores. While it includes basic content features (pages, a blog), its real strength is that it handles everything around selling online: products, payments, orders, shipping, integrations, and scaling.

Pros

• Fast store launch – you can build and launch a basic online store quickly

• Fully managed – hosting, security, updates, and performance are handled by Shopify

• Optimized checkout & payments – flexible checkout options and wide payment support

• Large App Store – thousands of apps for marketing, inventory, shipping, loyalty programs, and more

• Omnichannel selling – sell across web, social, marketplaces, and POS with inventory sync

• Scales with growth – you don’t need to switch platforms just because your store is growing

Cons

• Not a full CMS for content – the blog/content side is fairly basic compared to WordPress

• Vendor lock-in – you’re tied to Shopify, and migration away can be complex

• Advanced custom changes can be expensive – for non-standard functionality, you’ll often need a Shopify specialist

Who It’s Best For

We typically recommend Shopify when the main goal is selling online — and you want an e-commerce store that’s fast to launch, secure, and doesn’t require ongoing technical maintenance.

It’s a strong fit for small and mid-sized e-commerce brands and teams that want to scale and sell across multiple channels.

On the other hand, if your website is primarily driven by content marketing — meaning it’s mostly a blog or an information-heavy site — Shopify usually isn’t the best choice as a CMS.

Pricing (Approx.)

Shopify is a paid SaaS platform, and the total cost is usually a mix of subscription fees plus additional expenses:

• Basic: approx. $39/month

• Grow: approx. $105/month

• Advanced: approx. $399/month

• Shopify Plus: from approx. $2,300+/month (for large stores)

In practice, you’ll almost always need to factor in:

• Apps (often tens to hundreds of dollars per month, depending on needs)

• A paid theme (usually a one-time purchase)

• Development or consulting for larger customizations

If you’re considering Shopify, we’d be happy to review your sales model with you, recommend the right setup, and help with the implementation — so your store works well both functionally and financially.

Book a free consultation

Framer – A Fast Website Builder Inspired by Figma

Framer is a website-building platform that builds on a workflow most designers already know from Figma. Figma is one of the most widely used tools today for designing the look and structure of websites and digital products.

Traditionally, a website is first designed in Figma and then handed over to developers for implementation. Framer significantly shortens this process: you build pages visually in a design-like editor, and the result is a fully functional website that can be published instantly.

Framer also includes a simple CMS (for example, for a blog or case studies), but it’s best suited for fast, design-driven websites and landing pages—not for complex content projects or e-commerce.

Pros

• Very fast website creation – ideal for landing pages, startup sites, and campaigns

• Design freedom and interactions – animations and modern “wow effects” without plugins

• Designer- and marketer-friendly – Figma-like workflow with instant publishing

• Hosting included – performance, CDN, SSL, and infrastructure are handled for you

• Simple CMS – often sufficient for blogs, portfolios, or case studies

Cons

• Vendor lock-in – sites can’t be easily exported; leaving usually means rebuilding

• More limited CMS than Webflow or WordPress – can be restrictive for large content sites

• Not suited for e-commerce – Shopify or WooCommerce are better choices for selling

• Smaller integration ecosystem – custom integrations may require individual solutions

Who It’s Best For

Framer is a strong choice when speed, design, and flexibility are the top priorities—typically for startups, product websites, marketing campaigns, portfolio sites, or pages designed to impress visually and through interactions.

If you expect a content-heavy site, need complex content structures, multiple authors, or want to avoid long-term dependency on a single platform, Webflow or WordPress are usually a better fit.

Pricing (Approx.)

Framer is billed monthly, based on the selected plan:

• Free: $0

• Basic: approx. $10/month

• Pro: approx. $30/month

• Scale: approx. $100/month

• Enterprise: custom pricing

If you manage multiple websites, costs scale accordingly (typically one site = one plan). Advanced team features, localization, or larger content volumes often require higher-tier plans.

If you’re considering Framer, we’re happy to help you assess whether it’s the right choice for your project—and support you with design and implementation so the result is fast, clear, and sustainable long term. Interested? Feel free to get in touch.

Storyblok – A Headless CMS for Modern Websites and Multilingual Projects

Storyblok is a headless CMS—a content management system that’s separated from how a website looks and where the content is displayed. Content is managed inside Storyblok, and your website (or app) fetches it via an API and renders it based on how the front end is built.

That makes it possible to reuse the same content across multiple channels—such as a website, a mobile app, email templates, or other digital touchpoints.

Unlike WordPress or Webflow, Storyblok isn’t a platform where you click together a website and publish it immediately. It’s typically part of a broader tech stack and assumes that a development team (or a development partner) is involved.

A major benefit is Storyblok’s visual editor with live preview, which allows marketing teams to create and edit content without having to write code.

Pros

• Content isn’t tied to a single website – reuse it across channels and platforms

• Future-proof flexibility – you can change your front-end technology while keeping the same content

• Component-based approach – content is built from reusable blocks that are easier to maintain

• Visual editor with preview – more comfortable for marketers than many other headless CMS tools

• Strong multilingual support – multi-language features are built-in (no plugins needed)

• Scales well – suitable for larger sites, multiple teams, multiple markets, and long-term growth

Cons

• Requires developers – Storyblok won’t “build the website” on its own; you need a front end to display content

• Not the fastest path to a simple website – often unnecessary complexity for basic company sites

• Pricing jumps between tiers – once you outgrow the base plan, the next level can be significantly more expensive

• Marketing is limited by the content structure developers define – teams work within what’s been set up

• Some integrations require custom work – unlike WordPress, there isn’t a “plugin for everything”

Who It’s Best For

We typically recommend Storyblok to companies running modern websites built with frameworks like Next.js or Vue, who want content management that’s clean, modular, and sustainable long term.

It’s especially valuable when you need multiple languages, multiple sites, or multiple channels and want to manage content centrally. In practice, Storyblok makes the most sense for growing companies and larger organizations that have in-house developers or a trusted partner—because that’s where its flexibility pays off most.

If you’re building a simple company website or don’t have development capacity, it’s usually more efficient to stick with WordPress, Webflow, or HubSpot.

Pricing (Approx.)

Storyblok has several pricing tiers:

• Starter: free (very limited; mainly for testing)

• Growth: approx. $99/month

• Growth Plus: approx. $349/month

• Enterprise: custom pricing (often in the $2,000–$10,000+/month range depending on scope)

With Storyblok, you should also plan for development and integration costs, because headless setups require building the front end as a separate application connected to the CMS via API.

If you’re considering Storyblok, we’re happy to walk you through it in a no-obligation consultation. We can help not only with the CMS itself, but also with development and implementation, so the solution makes sense both technically and commercially.

Conclusion: There’s No “Best CMS” – Only the Right Fit for Your Context

When choosing a CMS, many teams look for one “best” option. In reality, the right choice depends on what you expect from your website, who will maintain it, and how your business is likely to evolve. The ideal platform will look different for a content-driven site, an e-commerce store, or a company that wants marketing and sales working from one connected system.

From our experience, the best results come from projects where the CMS isn’t chosen based on popularity, but on real needs, internal processes, and long-term plans. A well-chosen platform saves time, reduces costs, and prevents a lot of unnecessary frustration down the road.

If you’re not sure which CMS makes the most sense for your situation, we’ll be happy to walk through it with you in a free consultation and help you choose a solution that will work long term.

Book a Free Consultation

Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing a CMS