Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ProcessWire VS Joomla

Compare ProcessWire VS Joomla and see what are their differences

ProcessWire logo ProcessWire

ProcessWire is a PHP5-based open source CMS/CMF built to save you time and make development fun at any scale. It works the way you do.

Joomla logo Joomla

Joomla! is the mobile-ready and user-friendly way to build your website. Choose from thousands of features and designs. Joomla! is free and open source.
  • ProcessWire Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-04
  • Joomla Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-18

ProcessWire features and specs

  • Flexibility
    ProcessWire allows you to define custom content types, fields, and templates, providing great flexibility for different types of projects.
  • User-Friendly API
    The API is simple and intuitive, making it easy for developers to interact with the CMS and retrieve or manipulate data.
  • Scalability
    Due to its robust architecture, ProcessWire can handle a large number of pages and high traffic, making it suitable for both small and large websites.
  • Security
    ProcessWire places a strong emphasis on security, offering features like CSRF protection, secure user authentication, and other best practices.
  • Community Support
    The platform has a strong, active community that contributes plugins, modules, and offers support through forums and documentation.
  • Performance
    ProcessWire is known for its high performance, thanks to its efficient core and caching mechanisms.
  • Customizable Admin Interface
    The admin interface is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor it to fit the needs of your clients or project requirements.

Possible disadvantages of ProcessWire

  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a learning curve, especially if they are not familiar with PHP or custom CMS development.
  • Limited Ready-to-Use Themes
    While ProcessWire offers great flexibility, it lacks a large selection of ready-to-use themes compared to other CMS platforms like WordPress.
  • Third-Party Module Dependency
    Some advanced functionalities require third-party modules, which may not always be actively maintained or could introduce security risks.
  • Documentation
    While the existing documentation is good, some users find it lacking in certain advanced areas, requiring more detailed guidance.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    ProcessWire has a smaller ecosystem compared to more popular CMS platforms, meaning fewer plugins, themes, and community contributions.
  • Hosting Requirements
    It requires a more robust hosting setup than simpler CMS platforms, which could be a con for smaller projects with limited resources.

Joomla features and specs

  • Flexibility
    Joomla offers a high degree of flexibility and customizability. It is suitable for creating a wide range of websites, from small personal blogs to complex corporate websites.
  • User Access Control (UAC)
    Joomla has advanced user access control mechanisms, allowing you to set different permissions and access levels for various types of users, which is particularly useful for large websites with multiple contributors.
  • Multilingual Support
    Joomla comes with built-in support for multilingual content, making it a great choice for websites that need to cater to different language speakers.
  • Extensive Extension Directory
    Joomla has a large extension directory with thousands of free and paid plugins and templates that can be easily integrated to extend the functionality of your website.
  • Strong Community Support
    Joomla has a large and active community of developers and users who contribute to forums, documentation, and third-party resources, providing strong community support.

Possible disadvantages of Joomla

  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Compared to other CMSs, Joomla can be more challenging to learn for beginners due to its extensive features and complex interface.
  • Limited Built-in SEO
    Joomla's out-of-the-box SEO capabilities are not as advanced as those of other CMSs like WordPress. It often requires additional plugins for better SEO performance.
  • Performance Issues
    Joomla can sometimes have performance issues due to its resource-heavy nature, especially if not properly optimized.
  • Compatibility Issues with Extensions
    Not all third-party extensions and templates are always compatible with the latest version of Joomla, which can create challenges during updates.
  • Hosting Requirements
    Joomla has specific hosting requirements that not all web hosts can meet easily. This can limit your choices when it comes to hosting providers.

ProcessWire videos

WordPress vs. ProcessWire - Bootstrapping

More videos:

  • Demo - ProcessWire Module Demo - MarkInPageTree
  • Demo - ProcessWire Module Demo - Admin Actions

Joomla videos

10 Reasons Why You Should Use Joomla in 2018

More videos:

  • Review - [BEFORE You Buy] Joomla Extensions Review
  • Review - Helix Ultimate Joomla Framework [Setup/Demo/Review]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ProcessWire and Joomla)
CMS
22 22%
78% 78
Blogging
27 27%
73% 73
Blogging Platform
21 21%
79% 79
Website Builder
15 15%
85% 85

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ProcessWire and Joomla

ProcessWire Reviews

11 Popular Free And Open Source WordPress CMS alternatives in 2021
Processwire is a friendly, powerful open source CMS with a strong API.ProcessWire gives you more control over your fields, templates, and markup than other platforms, while ProcessWire’s API makes working with your content easy and enjoyable.
Source: medevel.com

Joomla Reviews

Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
Joomla! is an open-source, free WordPress alternative that combines advanced features with user-friendly interfaces. To customize your sites, check out the software’s massive library of over 5,000 extensions that integrate newsletters, user management, and site search.
Source: webflow.com
19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Joomla is an open-source content management system (CMS) that allows organizations to create and manage their websites. It offers a wide range of features, including content management, user permissions, SEO tools, and customization options.
Source: www.pixpa.com
Top 10 Web Content Management Systems
If for whatever reason WordPress does not float your boat as a CMS, then Joomla is a great alternative as a customizable CMS. Joomla is one of the best free CMS options in 2024, featuring a wide range of plug-ins, templates, and extensions, Similar to WordPress it is also an open-source CMS, and it focuses on enabling more advanced developers who already have some coding...
Source: cloudzy.com
Joomla vs WordPress: Which CMS Should You Choose?
Joomla’s Joomla Extensions Directory and WordPress’s Plugin Directory differ in their offerings. The Joomla Extensions Directory focuses on providing extensions specifically for Joomla, including plugins, modules, components, and templates. It caters directly to the Joomla community and offers a diverse range of extensions developed and tested specifically for Joomla websites.
8 Great Drupal Alternatives to Try for your Website (Nov 2021)
Joomla is an excellent CMS solution for those who don’t want to work with a lot of HTML and JavaScript. If you want the flexibility and extensibility to adjust your website however you choose, Joomla is the solution for you. This service can power any website, from the smallest solutions to the more complex. As a Drupal alternative, Joomla is usually the go-to choice for...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Joomla seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ProcessWire mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ProcessWire yet. Tracking of ProcessWire recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Joomla mentions (2)

  • Joomla 3x - How to create a Custom Registration Form (Custom Fields) w/o 3rd Party? [Dev Only Please]
    What resources could someone who has achieved this, point me to. I once came across a development doc link on joomla.org I thought; I cannot seem to find it. I can only recently find this : https://docs.joomla.org/J3.x:Creating_a_Plugin_for_Joomla which is not how I remembered if it's done by plugin. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Helping with the basics
    The forums found on joomla.org are great and there are tons of people there to help. Source: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ProcessWire and Joomla, you can also consider the following products

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

Drupal - Drupal - the leading open-source CMS for ambitious digital experiences that reach your audience across multiple channels. Because we all have different needs, Drupal allows you to create a unique space in a world of cookie-cutter solutions.

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Grav - The modern open source flat-file CMS

Progress Sitefinity - Sitefinity's web content management software is a marketing command center to drive growth for your business. Easily manage multi-site experiences deployed your way.

SquareSpace - Squarespace is the easiest way for anyone to create an exceptional website. Pages, galleries, blogs, e-commerce, domains, hosting, analytics, 24/7 support - all included.