Pick WordPress if you want the larger hiring pool, a familiar editor and simple review steps. Pick Joomla if you want workflow, language, redirect and schema.org components shipped in its core package. Joomla's user documentation was unreachable for us, so test its workflow and feed behaviour yourself before committing.
Word & Press is an independent publication. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to WordPress, the WordPress Foundation or Automattic. This profile describes the open-source WordPress software as a third party.
The short version
Pick WordPress if hiring, familiarity and speed to launch matter most. It documents six default roles, a review step for contributors, scheduling, revisions, a built-in sitemap and feeds, and the project describes its plugin directory as the largest directory of free and open source WordPress plugins. What core does not describe is multilingual content or structured data, so those become plugin choices.
Pick Joomla if you would rather have more in the box. Its repository ships components for workflow, languages, associations, redirects, scheduled tasks and content history, plus a schema.org plugin and a web services API. The catch is on our side as much as theirs: docs.joomla.org refused our automated requests, so we know these components exist but not how well they behave. Test them.
Both are GPL, self-hosted PHP systems with no licence fee. Read the full profiles for WordPress and Joomla, or the comparison index. Everything here is from vendor documentation and repository listings, not installs of our own.
At a glance
| Feature | WordPress | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | GPLv2 or later | GNU GPL version 2 or later |
| Latest version | 7.1.3 (6 October 2026) | 6.1.4 (29 September 2026), a security release |
| Written in | PHP; 8.3 or greater recommended | PHP; 8.4 recommended, 8.3.0 minimum for Joomla 6 |
| Hosting | Apache or Nginx; MariaDB 10.11+ or MySQL 8.0+ | Apache 2.4, Nginx or IIS 10; MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL |
| Editorial roles and workflow | Six roles; pending status; scheduling; revisions | Workflow, Users, Content History and Scheduler components exist; behaviour not verified |
| SEO and structured data | Sitemap index and feeds in core; structured data not described as core | schemaorg, sef and redirect plugins and a Redirect component; sitemap and feed output not confirmed |
| Multilingual | Multisite; content translation not described in core | Languages and Associations components, language filter plugin |
| Headless and API | REST API returning JSON | Web services API for content, categories, tags, media, users |
| Typical cost | Software free; hosting, plugins, development extra | Software free; hosting, extensions, development extra |
| Best for | Fast launch, large talent pool | Multilingual or component-rich builds, if tested |
Editorial workflow
WordPress describes a clear path. A Contributor writes but cannot publish, presses Submit for Review, and the post waits in the pending status for an Editor. The future status schedules a post. Revisions come with a slider and Restore button, and by default every revision is stored.
Joomla’s repository includes a Workflow component and a workflow plugin group, along with Users, Content History and Scheduler components. Those are the likely building blocks for stages, permissions, version history and timed tasks. We have not opened user documentation explaining how stages and transitions are configured or how revisions are restored, so we do not describe the process.
If a formal approval chain is central to your newsroom, neither profile settles it. WordPress gives you one review step; Joomla may give you more, but verify it on a staging copy of the version you intend to run.
Search, structured data and feeds
WordPress exposes a sitemap index at /wp-sitemap.xml and documents RSS 2.0, Atom and RDF feeds plus a comments feed. Titles, meta descriptions and JSON-LD are not described in the pages we opened as core features.
Joomla’s system plugin directory includes schemaorg, sef, redirect, httpheaders and cache plugins, and the repository has a Redirect component and a Finder component. Because the schema.org plugin sits in core, structured data does not obviously depend on a third-party extension. We have not verified which schema types it outputs, whether core publishes your own RSS feed, or whether it produces XML sitemaps.
For either, measure output against Google’s structured data documentation and the questions in our features checklist, not against a vendor’s list of components.
Hosting, performance and security
WordPress recommends PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, HTTPS, and Apache or Nginx. It warns that PHP 7.4 and MySQL 5.5.5 are end-of-life. Its release archive says only the most recent release in the 7.1 series is safe to use and actively maintained.
Joomla 6 recommends PHP 8.4 with 8.3.0 as the minimum, MySQL 8.4 (8.0.13 supported), MariaDB 12.0 (10.6 supported) or PostgreSQL 17.6 (14.0 supported), and lists Apache 2.4, Nginx 1.29 (1.26 supported) or Microsoft IIS 10. Its manual labels 6.1 Current, 6.2 Upcoming, 5.4 Legacy and 4.4 Archived, so an older site faces upgrade work.
Joomla has a cache system plugin; WordPress documentation points to caching plugins and a CDN. We measured neither and make no performance claim.
Cost of ownership
Neither charges a licence fee. WordPress is GPLv2 or later and its plugins and themes inherit the GPL under the project’s statement. Joomla is GPL version 2 or later, with copyright held by Open Source Matters, Inc.
Costs are hosting that meets each system’s PHP and database requirements, paid extensions or templates, and developer time. We have not verified public prices for extensions, templates or hosts for either, so we give no figures, and we did not verify the size of Joomla’s extension library or either talent pool. See the cost guide and licence guide.
Migrating between them
We did not open an official migration tool or guide for either direction, so we make no claim about one. Plan it as an inventory job: articles, categories, users, media, redirects and any language associations. Joomla has a Redirect component; we did not verify how WordPress core handles redirects, so map old URLs to new ones before you change anything. Our demo page describes what we have and have not run ourselves.
Which should you choose?
- Small desk that wants to launch quickly: WordPress.
- You need to hire freelancers easily: WordPress, though we did not verify either talent pool.
- Multilingual site and a preference for fewer third-party extensions: Joomla, after a trial of its Languages and Associations components.
- Nonprofit or association with a news section: Joomla is a reasonable candidate; so is WordPress.
- Complex structured content or formal moderation: neither is the obvious fit; compare WordPress vs Drupal and Drupal vs Joomla.
Questions people ask
Is Joomla easier than WordPress?
The sources we could open do not say. WordPress has a simple role and review model and a large plugin directory. Joomla ships more components in its core package, such as workflow and languages, but we could not read its user documentation to judge how hard they are to configure.
Which is better for multilingual publishing, WordPress or Joomla?
Joomla's repository includes Languages and Associations components and a language filter plugin in core. The WordPress pages we read describe Multisite but not core content translation. We did not verify either translation workflow, so test your language setup before choosing.
Do WordPress and Joomla have the same licence?
Both are GPL. WordPress is GPLv2 or later and Joomla is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. Neither charges a licence fee. Hosting, extensions and development are the costs. See our licence guide for what the GPL requires.
Which has the newer PHP requirements?
Both recommend PHP 8.3 or newer in the sources we opened. WordPress recommends 8.3 or greater. Joomla 6 lists 8.4 as recommended with 8.3.0 as the minimum. Check your host before moving either.
Can Joomla be used with a separate front end like WordPress?
Its repository includes a web services API covering content, categories, tags, media and users, and WordPress has a REST API returning JSON. How complete Joomla's is for your case needs checking against its manual.
Sources
- The WordPress release archive lists WordPress 7.1.3, released on 6 October 2026, as the newest release, and states that only the most recent release in the 7.1 series is safe to use and actively maintained. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The WordPress software is released under the GPLv2 (or later) from the Free Software Foundation, and plugins and themes are derivative work and inherit the GPL licence. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The WordPress requirements page recommends PHP 8.3 or greater, and MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, with HTTPS support. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The WordPress requirements page recommends Apache or Nginx as the most robust and featureful server for running WordPress, and says older versions such as PHP 7.4 and MySQL 5.5.5 are end-of-life and may expose a site to security vulnerabilities. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- WordPress documents six default roles: Super Admin, Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor and Subscriber. An Editor can publish and manage posts including those of other users; an Author can publish and manage their own posts; a Contributor can write and manage their own posts but cannot publish them. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- WordPress provides 8 built-in post statuses, including draft, pending (awaiting a user with the publish_posts capability), future (scheduled to be published at a future date), private and publish. Users without the publish_posts capability see a Submit for Review button instead of Publish. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update, lets you drag a slider to see what changed, and has a Restore button. Since WordPress 7.0, clicking a revision opens a new revisions screen, with the classic screen still available. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- Since WordPress 5.5, WordPress exposes a sitemap index at /wp-sitemap.xml, with sitemaps created by default for all public post types and taxonomies, author archives and the homepage. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- WordPress documentation lists built-in feed formats of RSS 2.0, Atom and RDF/RSS 1.0, plus a comments feed in RSS 2.0. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The WordPress REST API supplies endpoints representing posts, pages, taxonomies and other built-in data types, and applications can send and receive JSON to query, modify and create content. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- WordPress Multisite enables you to create several instances of WordPress managed within one installation. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The WordPress.org plugin directory describes itself as the largest directory of free and open source WordPress plugins. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The Joomla CMS GitHub releases page lists Joomla 6.1.4, dated 29 September 2026, as the latest stable release and a security release, and Joomla 5.4.9 as the latest stable in the 5.x branch; 6.2.0 release candidates are pre-releases. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The Joomla manual lists version 6.1 as Current, 6.2 as Upcoming, 5.4 as Legacy and 4.4 as Archived. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The Joomla CMS README says Joomla is a content management system that enables you to build websites and powerful online applications, is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later, and carries a copyright held by Open Source Matters, Inc. established in 2005. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The Joomla manual's technical requirements for Joomla 6.x list PHP 8.4 as recommended with 8.3.0 as the minimum supported version; MySQL 8.4 recommended and 8.0.13 supported; MariaDB 12.0 recommended and 10.6 supported; PostgreSQL 17.6 recommended and 14.0 supported; and Apache 2.4, Nginx 1.29 recommended (1.26 supported) or Microsoft IIS 10. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The administrator/components directory of the Joomla CMS 6.1-dev branch includes com_workflow, com_languages, com_associations, com_contenthistory, com_redirect, com_scheduler, com_tags, com_fields, com_finder, com_media, com_newsfeeds and com_users. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The plugins/system directory of the Joomla CMS 6.1-dev branch includes schemaorg, sef, languagefilter, redirect, httpheaders and cache plugins. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The plugins directory of the Joomla CMS 6.1-dev branch includes plugin groups for schemaorg, workflow, task, multifactorauth, webservices, api-authentication, finder and editors. — source, checked 10 October 2026.
- The api/components directory of the Joomla CMS 6.1-dev branch includes web services components for content, categories, tags, fields, languages, media, menus, users and others. — source, checked 10 October 2026.