Which Is Better: Open Source or Proprietary CMS (Content Management System)

Content Management Systems (CMS) often run a number of business websites these days. CMS is a web application that is designed for non-technical users to be able to add, edit, and manage a website. Using a CMS, website owners can edit content and also manage a number of backend features including navigation elements, content searching and indexing, keeping track of users and security settings, and many more. There are two kinds of content management systems. One is open-source and other is proprietary (closed source).

In an open-source CMS, the underlying source code is available at zero cost to developers. The code can also be modified. A large community of volunteer developers, nonprofits and some paid developers conduct the development and support for it. It is free of cost. Examples for this inlcude WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, DotNetNuke, and Type3.

When it comes to proprietary or closed CMS, the underlying source code is compiled and not available for free. The product improvement and support is undertaken by the company which initially development the product. To be able to use it, website owners need to pay license fees. Some of the popular closed content management systems include, Telerik’s Sitefinity CMS, Kentico CMS, SiteCore, Ektron, and Autonomy TeamSite.

There are a number of differences between open-source and proprietary CMS even though they both perform the same job of helping in building and managing websites. The following are the differences between the two.

Open-source developers are not paid to work on Drupal. They usually involve in self-learning and contribute their time outside of a day job. On the other hand, the developers of proprietary CMS are paid well and are professionally trained. Experience level and accountability are the plus points they hold.

Professional support can be sought easily from the developers who are accountable to provide you with reliable software. Developers, who have no obligation to help you out, may not often respond to the issues you are facing as they have no accountability. This may leave you stranded in a complicated issue.

Owing to the number of challenges faced by open source CMS, it is easy for it to lose the security challenge. Proprietary CMS apps have an advantage as they can protect your website and its users. The openness of open source content management systems makes it vulnerable to attack.

A number of companies wish to add additional functions to their CMS so that it supports their web marketing plans. This can be done via extensions – add-on software built either by the CMS maker or third-party developers. Third-party extensions are generally made by a developer or a small group of developers. These are not vetted for security by the CMS creator. These extensions serve as the highest security risk to open-source CMS. Open-Source CMS extensions do not guarantee safety. They may contain accidental security holes, purposely built backdoors into the website, and malicious code dangerous to servers. On the other hand, for proprietary CMS extensions are usually created by CMS maker or licensed developers and this ensures security.