--- title: Backdrop CMS Reviews meta_title: 'Backdrop CMS Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 11 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Backdrop CMS works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 3.9 review_count: 11 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-06-14' parent_category: name: Content Management url: https://www.g2.com/categories/content-management --- # Backdrop CMS Reviews **Vendor:** Backdrop CMS **Category:** [Web Content Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/web-content-management) **Average Rating:** 3.9/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 11 ## About Backdrop CMS The comprehensive CMS for small to medium sized businesses and non-profits. Mission Backdrop CMS enables people to build highly customized websites, affordably, through collaboration and open source software. Audience Backdrop CMS is for the small to medium sized business, non-profits, educational institutions, and companies or organizations who are delivering comprehensive websites on a budget. Backdrop values site builders over coders. It's most important that the product first be usable, and second, easy to extend. Developers should consider their users first, and choose to build intuitive user interfaces over flexibility. If options must be presented in the user interface they should be minimal, but APIs beneath the surface can expose more options to developers. Backdrop values contrib developers over core developers. Core developers should fight the urge to refactor, because small changes in core may result in large changes for contrib. Each major change will be weighed carefully against the principles of the project, and if a decision is not immediately clear, and issue should be escalated to the Project Management Committee. ## Backdrop CMS Reviews ### 1. A Great Alternative to Drupal **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Seraj A. | Technical Writer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 18, 2024 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** Robust Features and Intuitive Interface Cost Effective for low budget projects - Unlike many other content management systems, backdrop is open source and free to all. Hosting options are afforable making it ideal for low budget projects. Easy to use and easy to implement - Backdrop is one of the easiest CMS that I have ever used. It's easy navigation and hassle free implemention lets you create and streamline your project single-handedly. Vibrant Community - The Backdrop community is supportive offering helping documentations, forums, and steps for migration from other CMS. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** Limited Themes: Compared to other CMS, Backrop has limited templates therefore finding the right option for your project might be a challange. Migration Hiccups: You might face some issues while migrating from other platform as some modules might not be support by the Backrop. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** As our blog grew, we found the old platform limiting and expensive. Backdrop offered the perfect escape. Its modularity allowed us to import existing content effortlessly. Now, we have complete control over our blog and enjoy the freedom of open-source software. ### 2. Not beginner friendly **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Chelsey W. | Broadcast Media, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 25, 2024 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop CMS needs ro provide a user intuitive interface. It would be great that even someone, like me who is not very experienced would be easily navigate and manage my website. The pre built themes and modules provide a limited range of customization. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** It did not allowed me to create an personalized website. I find the community support cumbersome. There needs a helpful community to assist with any questions or issues. The regular updates and improvements are needed to ensure that my website remains up to date and secure. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** The learning curve is steep for newcomers when it comes to navigating and customizing the platform. Compared to systems there are plugins and theme options available due to its smaller community base. Documentation and support have room for improvement making troubleshooting more difficult at times. ### 3. Fails to manage our website consuming time **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sven E. | Office Administrator, Health, Wellness and Fitness, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 19, 2023 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** It has made advancements difficult with poor features, like Layouts and Configuration Management. Its user base is smaller and the number of extensions limited compared to platforms the available modules and plugins does not meet all the requirements. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop CMS provides a costly solution for website building and management its simplicity does come at the expense of functionality compared to Drupal. The available modules does not fulfill all your needs. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** There is a learning curve for beginners. The system requirements are low this limits scalability for enterprises. Backdrop CMS is not an option for those with budgets but lacks the depth and customization options provided by its counterparts. ### 4. User nature and simplified management **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Karan S. | Data/ML Engineer, Legal Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 07, 2023 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop CMS has made progress in years and continues to enhance with new update. Its core features, such, as Layouts and Configuration Management are highly commendable. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** It lacks the library of modules and community support that its counterpart Drupal provide. There is a learning curve involved for beginners. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Backdrop CMS has successfully found a balance, between the complexity of Drupal and the simplicity of Wordpress. Leverage the capabilities and adaptability of Drupal. This prioritize our business objectives. ### 5. Flexible,user friendly interface to build complex websites : Backdrop CMS **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dipak K. | Senior Research Fellow (PhD), Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 02, 2023 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** As a free and open source content management system Backdrop CMS has a simple UI for creating webpages. it is simplified version of complex Drupal. One of the benefits of Backdrop CMS is its customization. It has a robust API that enables developers to build custom modules and expand the platform's capabilities. This means that users can add new features to their webpages without knowing how to code. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop CMS has a smaller user population than other CMS platforms, which means that there may be less third-party support and fewer tools accessible. Particularly for begineers it is not so user friendly. Usability may not be as straightforward as some users would like, making it unsuitable for beginners. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Firstly, it provides a cost-effective solution for building and managing a website, as it is open-source and free to use. One of the most important issues addressed by Backdrop CMS is the difficulty of creating and maintaining a website. I struggled with technical aspects of website development, such as coding and design, before discovering Backdrop CMS. Backdrop CMS, on the other hand, simplifies the process by providing a user-friendly UI and a variety of customizable features that make it simple for me to create a website that fulfils my requirements. I can quickly add new features and modules to my website using Backdrop CMS without knowing how to write. This has enabled me to build a website that is genuinely one-of-a-kind and tailored to my particular requirements. ### 6. Focused on smaller non-profits **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Robert F. | retired, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 28, 2022 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop arose from Drpal, but refined the features rather than introduce new abstractions. It makes sense for smaller organizations, especially smaller non-profit organizations. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** It's installed base is still small and has a correspondingly smaller let of extensions than Drupal. It can be used with CiviCRM and available extensions are growing in number. **Recommendations to others considering Backdrop CMS:** Makes sense for smaller non-profit organizations and for individuals seeking an open source CMS **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use it for my personal website and am recommending it for a small 3rd age learning group. ### 7. A simple and user friendly tool **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 28, 2021 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** Easier Updates and has backward compatibility. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop CMS has a very Limited Audience. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Good for small enterprises and has easy integration. It has low system requirements. ### 8. CMS for Small and Medium Businesses **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** A E. | Professor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 22, 2021 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** easy interface, values contributors and developers, easy to build websites and use them immeditiatly **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** Refractors, not easy for big companies to use **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** build website ### 9. Backdrop CMS offers quality to everyone **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** If you're looking for a free solution, you'd be hard-pressed to beat Backdrop. There's a huge variety of open-source modules to choose from and you can definitely customize your site and add on most of the tools/resources you need, even when they're not available in core. It's a great way to get started and I appreciate their mission of creating something simpler and easier to learn than Drupal. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** "You get what you pay more" might not be entirely true, but it is true that Backdrop has the limitations of free software. The core version is very simple and it can take some time and effort to find and implement all the modules you need for your site. It also has a bit more of a learning curve than something like Wordpress, for example, so it might not be as accessible to your whole organization. **Recommendations to others considering Backdrop CMS:** Backdrop might be the best option available if your budget is very constrained and you're looking for a high-quality option - it's definitely not perfect, but it's extremely usable and the learning curve isn't too steep. I would recommend that anyone considering Backdrop look into the modules available to see if you can find what you need there. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** When I used Backdrop, I was really struck by how much we were able to accomplish with this free, open source software. It did occasionally require some creative thinking to make things work the way we wanted, but overall it was very positive - Backdrop made it possible for a small education group like mine to build a website that worked for us. ### 10. Fast, efficient, capable and sexy too! **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brian F. | Brand and Technology Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 13, 2017 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** So much needed functionality is available in a core installation without having to locate plugins or modules. The admin is clean and easy to use. User roles are very configurable, and for sites that have multiple roles of access, this CMS excels. The community has also shown themselves to be very responsive and polite in their responses. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** As an app that is still in its early development years, there are necessary modules and plugins, but certainly some key missing modules that can alter the decision to deploy this app as an answer to all situations program. **Recommendations to others considering Backdrop CMS:** It's the power of Drupal, even easier than Wordpress and gives you so much control over your site. If you need to build fairly complex sites but don't want the headache and complexities of Drupal or the slowness and limitations of Wordpress, check out Backdrop. **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** objective 1 - Provide platform that allows for complex relational queries across content types and provide an easy non-sql admin method to set those queries. Objective 2 - provide a clean and simple admin for editors and data entry folks of different levels. A granular permissions system is required. ### 11. Sweet spot between Drupal and Wordpress **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Laryn K. | Director, Graphic Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 15, 2017 **What do you like best about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop is finding its niche in the sweet spot between Drupal and Wordpress -- the power, flexibility, and scalability of Drupal with UI and UX improvements that make it simpler to use out of the box. **What do you dislike about Backdrop CMS?** Backdrop is still young and although it's made enormous strides with Layouts, Configuration Management, etc. in core, it is still in growing stages. I look forward to each new release! **Recommendations to others considering Backdrop CMS:** Give it a try! **What problems is Backdrop CMS solving and how is that benefiting you?** * User interface: built with the end user in mind rather than the developer-centric approach that Drupal uses. * Flexibility: while Wordpress is fine for many simpler "brochure-style" sites, many other sites would benefit greatly from the flexibility that Backdrop provides. * Affordability: many of the groups we work with are small or mid-sized nonprofits without extra disposable income to rebuild their site each time a major release comes out. Backdrop values backwards compatibility. ## Backdrop CMS Discussions - [What is Backdrop CMS used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-backdrop-cms-used-for) - [View Backdrop CMS pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/backdrop-cms/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-20+07%3A30%3A20+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=a8d8d463-788d-4f62-aa29-2b5acce7f19c&secure%5Btoken%5D=1339691697fab54db288226fd162d0ffc624cce06ed553de7c74c0500808542f&format=llm_user) ## Backdrop CMS Features **Content** - Content Authoring - Rich Text Editor - Versioning - Plug-ins/Widgets/Apps - Approval Process - Content Scheduling - Asset Management - Internal Search - Content Repository **Design** - Breadth of Pre-Built Templates - Mobile - Branding/Themes - Customization **Platform** - User Community - SEO - Flexible Navigation Structures - User, Role, and Access Management - Enterprise Scalability - Internationalization - Dashboards and Reports - API / Integrations **Agentic AI - Web Content Management** - Cross-system Integration - Natural Language Interaction ## Top Backdrop CMS Alternatives - [WordPress.org](https://www.g2.com/products/wordpress-org/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (9,376 reviews) - [Drupal](https://www.g2.com/products/drupal/reviews) - 3.9/5.0 (405 reviews) - [Pantheon](https://www.g2.com/products/pantheon/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (586 reviews)