Special mention to Processwire. Worked with it a few years ago and really loved it at the time. https://processwire.com/
Craft is great but a bit slow in my tests. They have a really powerful e-commerce offer though and is really flexible.
Craft is great but a bit slow in my tests. They have a really powerful e-commerce offer though and is really flexible.
I made this 36-part video series comparing WordPress to ProcessWire which I recorded on-and-off between 2014-2018 and released it that year. Although that was a while ago, it's still mostly accurate since both systems are mature and haven't changed drastically in that time (this is before Gutenberg): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOrdUWNK38ibz8U_5Vq4z...
Also worth a read: https://processwire.com/about/wordpress-vs-processwire/
For the JS devs, ProcessWire has a similar approach to Payload CMS from what I've seen (although ProcessWire dates back to 2003 and open-sourced in ~2010/11).
Best CMS ever. :)
For a WordPress alternative, however, ProcessWire is perhaps not batteries-included enough. Like many of the systems in this thread, it caters more to developers who want full control over their site. For someone who just needs a blog with maybe a contact form and wants to choose a nice “template” and be done with it, ProcessWire isn’t a good fit. While it has “site profiles”, it’s lacking a lot of traction in that area, as well as a consumer-oriented marketplace that’s nice to browse (screenshots, curation etc.).
But for anyone who wants to build something more complex, it’s a great choice. Cozy little community, too.