One of the most critical decisions for a business is where to host its website, and a CMS or content management system is a crucial component. Some companies with an internal IT team prefer to self-host their CMS because they require higher-level security or business integrations. However, a growing trend is towards using a SaaS (software as a service) CMS because you can leverage a shared hosting platform with hosting benefits like security, a content delivery network for images, fast servers, customer support, etc.
WordPress has long been the CMS leader for business websites, but now there are more options to consider, like Webflow, Squarespace, Spotify, Bigcommerce, and the HubSpot CMS. This article will introduce you to the HubSpot CMS and how its features compare to WordPress.
HubSpot is primarily a free CRMcustomer relationship management software to help companies manage their customers throughout their customer journey. CRM is the bedrock of the core of the business. As time passed, HubSpot added additional Hubs that could stand alone as separate products but can be bolted on for added functionality. This gives a company one relationship, one CRM, and a centralized hub for marketing, sales, operations, and customer service.
The CMS Hub is one of the newest hubs and provides businesses an opportunity to build their website, landing pages, and blogs using their page-building platform. One of the great features is using your CRM data to personalize website content using smart content logic on your websites.
HubSpot CMS vs. WordPress Feature Comparison and Review
For this review, I am going to look at some of the main features when considering a CMS for your business. Each component is given a grade of 1 through 5. 5 being the best and 1 being the worst score possible. I provide a comparison table with a total score at the end of this section.
What makes me credible to write this review? I have used WordPress for more than ten years for my sites and as a developer. I have also used HubSpot CMS for about seven years and have seen significant improvements to the platform. My opinion is skewed towards the benefits of using a CMS for a business vs. a personal blog.
Page Builder
By default, WordPress recently added blocks which makes adding content a lot easier but it isn’t an actual page-building experience similar to what you might find in WebFlow or Squarespace. You have to install third-party plugins like Beaver Builder, Elementor, Divi page builder, or SiteOrigin builder.
HubSpot has a page builder built into its CMS. So you benefit from solid documentation, customer service, and product feature updates coming from the same place.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 3
Content Translation
WordPress has plugins you can use for translation, but from my experience are visually clunky and look like afterthoughts, and are not seamless with the CMS. HubSpot CMS has localized translation built into the product, which makes it extremely easy to use.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 2
Ease of Use
Imagine asking a room of people to design their ideal car. You would get a wide variety of designs, some being cars and other trucks. This inconsistency would make making piles of similar vehicles very difficult and time-consuming.
This visual sorting example is one of the critical components of website usability. Consistency. The repeated patterns make it easier to use because you can assume one behavior will be the same in a different application section. In HubSpot CMS, this is the case because it is designed and developed by one company master at website design and usability.
Since WordPress requires plugins designed and developed by different people with different skill sets, you will have different usability patterns for various plugins. This can cause confusion for content editors and makes things feel clunky.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 3
Security & Speed
If you use WordPress, you can decide if you want to self-host it or use a hosted option. Security and speed will be comparable to HubSpot CMS if you use a hosted option. Self-hosted WordPress has an edge in security if you have a very skilled server admin. Since you have control of the server, you can set up things exactly as you need them and block countries and IP addresses you do not want access to.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 3
Server control
WordPress wins this category because you can self-host on your server, which will give you total control. HubSpot CMS requires a CNAME DNS record in your name to point traffic to their servers. Also, HubSpot CMS uses HubL language, which is limited in functionality compared to the open-source PHP WordPress uses.
HubSpot CMS: 2
WordPress: 5
SEO
WordPress has a lot of SEO plugins you can add to help with search engine optimization. HubSpot CMS has an advantage here because it is built-in. Also, they provide SEO recommendations and a tool to monitor the results of a popular SEO technique called pillar and hub content model.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 4
Customer Support
If you use a WordPress-hosted solution like Kinsta or WPEngine, you will benefit from customer support. Still, you may run into roadblocks if you ask for support with a plugin compatibility issue. Since many functionalities found in standard plugins are built into the HubSpot CMS, customer support knows how to help you with everyday issues.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 3
Extensions & Plugins
WordPress will probably always win this category because it is open-source software and has long and established community-building plugins. You can build pretty much any website with WordPress.
HubSpot CMS has a lot of great native app integrations. Also, if your extension is javascript based, you can create a lot of the functionality you need using a custom module. A custom module is a component you can add to a page that has data fields, HTML, CSS, and javascript. If you have ever used Advanced Custom Fields in WordPress, it is similar to this but more portable.
HubSpot CMS: 3
WordPress: 5
Ecommerce support
WordPress has a popular plugin for eCommerce called Woocommerce. There are also a lot of services like Shopify and Bigcommerce that are exclusively for eCommerce. So if you are looking to be primarily an eCommerce site, I would use one of those solutions.
You could use HubSpot CMS for eCommerce, but it would require more work to stitch together your need like payments, sales reporting, product feed creation, email automation, shipping, etc.
HubSpot CMS: 2
WordPress: 5
Forms & marketing
HubSpot has a feature-packed marketing automation tool. If you plan on having email workflows and lead generation, HubSpot is a great option.
WordPress has plugins, but they are not seamless, and the form builders are hard to use.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 2
Files & media management
HubSpot CMS file manager makes hosting images, videos, PDFs, and documents accessible. Some WordPress hosts limit the file types and sizes you can host.
One feature I like with HubSpot CMS is the ability to upload and replace a file and automatically redirect all links to the new file.
HubSpot CMS: 5
WordPress: 3
Data migrations
Moving sites and data to HubSpot is pretty straightforward, and if you have a large area, they also offer a site migration service. Moving sites out of HubSpot CMS to WordPress can be done, but it is a pain and more of a manual process.
Also, since WordPress is so prevalent, most hosts and developers know how to work with these files and site migrations.
HubSpot CMS: 3
WordPress: 5
Theme Development
If you are used to building WordPress themes, moving to HubSpot CMS will feel very contrived. Developers have way more control of their development workflow and management because WordPress uses PHP and doesn’t care too much what you add to it as long as you have the core functions in place.
HubSpot CMS, however, requires developers to follow their rules and often runs into limitations. The limitations I have faced have been rare, and I remind myself my frustrations are less critical than the frustrations of the end-user. Themes are products for a marketer to use to build pages, and they don’t care how they are constructed as long as they do what they need them to do.
I create and sell HubSpot themes in their marketplace and the majority of customers do not ask me support questions on how to build and use the CMS. This speaks volumes about how they have perfected the experience for their customers.
HubSpot CMS: 4
WordPress: 5
Feature
HubSpot CMS
WordPress
Page Builder
5
3
Content Translation
5
2
Ease of use
5
3
Security & speed
5
3
Server control
2
5
SEO
5
4
Customer Support
5
3
Extensions and plugins
3
5
Ecommerce support
2
5
Forms & marketing
5
2
Files & media management
5
3
Data migrations
3
5
Theme development
4
5
Total score
54
48
HubSpot CMS Pros and Cons
HubSpot CMS Pros
Simplifies hosting and maintaining a website (SSL, CDN, security, user permissions, backups, redirects, translations, split testing, analytics, image assets, CRM) – less reliance on a developer and IT
Scales for large global teams creating hundreds of marketing assets like landing pages, emails, CTA’s, etc.
One login – convenience for marketing and sales to be on the same page
HubSpot doesn’t make sense for micro or solo businesses unless you have the revenue to cover the expense. But if you have a larger team and need to invest in creating a marketing machine it is a perfect solution. Below in my opinion are use cases for using HubSpot CMS vs WordPress + HS plugin. Here is another good list of HubSpot CMS benefits.
You have more money than time. Will one new customer easily cover the cost of HubSpot?
Your marketing and sales organization has more than 5 people and you are generating a lot of marketing assets.
You don’t have access to an in-house developer or agency retainer to maintain your site.
HubSpot CMS Frequently Asked Questions
How is HubSpot CMS different than WordPress?
HubSpot CMS is part of a larger SaaS product HubSpot is primarily a CRM. The CMS is a lot more expensive, but the value it provides a business is increased because company data is unified and shared across business departments.
Is HubSpot the same as WordPress?
No, it’s different. If I had to generalize, WordPress is website software, and HubSpot is business software. HubSpot has a collection of Hubs you can use to manage your business processes.
Is HubSpot a good CMS?
I like how easy it is to build pages and content with HubSpot. The development experience has improved by introducing themes and a CLI. But the fact that many sales and marketers use the platform speaks to its ease of use.
Which CMS is better than WordPress?
Wikipedia has this excellent list of CMS options available. Better can only be determined based on your needs and list of requirements.
HubSpot CMS Decision Tree Checklist
Is your site primarily public-facing content, and does nothing need to be private or require high levels of secure access?
Do you have a global team of marketing and sales?
Do you need to translate content?
Do you need the ability to create hundreds of landing pages and email campaigns?
Do you have a developer to maintain your WordPress site hosting and security regularly?
Would you like to split-test web pages to optimize lead generation?
Do you see the benefit of having one login for your marketing and sales efforts?
Would you like to use personalized pages with CRM data to increase conversions?
Do you see the value of having access to a support team to ask questions when things are not working?
The WordPress editing experience is clunky and confusing using third-party page builder plugins?
If you answer yes to many of the questions below, I would consider HubSpot CMS.
Summary and Recommendation
Both WordPress and HubSpot CMS are great options for building a business website. Any CMS will make building and managing a website a lot easier. Before you decide, I suggest you write down a list of all of the needs and all of the nice to have. Try and identify deal-breakers. One deal breaker I have seen others face is the server control issue. If you need complete control of the server, you are best to use WordPress. If you are a business with 50+ employees and want an easy-to-use website and work autonomously from your IT department, I would give HubSpot CMS a look.
Written by:Jacob Lett, a website designer & developer who creates HubSpot CMS themes and writes web design & marketing books to help marketers, designers, and web developers grow their businesses. This blog is my own personal journal and source to help others through some challenges I have faced. Connect on LinkedIn
