TYPO3 vs WordPress: Choose Right CMS for Your Business

TYPO3 has features and abilities that make it more powerful than WordPress in several areas from my experience and perspectives. Stick around, and I’ll show you why TYPO3 is worth paying attention to.

If you’re still here, it means this made you curious to explore more,
So, let's dive and get a deep view!

A content management system is software that enables users to create, edit and manage digital content such as text, images and videos. A CMS offers a variety of functions, including user management, content creation and design customization. There are different types of CMS, including open source CMS such as WordPress and TYPO3, which are free and freely available. Choosing the right CMS depends on the individual requirements and goals of the project. A CMS can significantly increase efficiency and productivity by simplifying content management and facilitating team collaboration.

TYPO3 is a powerful content management system (CMS) that’s especially well known for its flexibility and scalability. Earlier it was a choice for professionals and enterprise-level employees looking for more control, security, and customization over their websites, especially when the project grows beyond the capabilities of typical platforms like WordPress. But now it is meant for every level of business and any startup can have it.

As you already know, WordPress was first built for only blog purposes, but now it has become the go-to platform for many. It's perfect for beginners and small to medium-sized websites, with simplicity and ease of use. But there’s more beneath the surface that you may not know about TYPO3.

Source: WordPress Hacking Statistics (How Many Websites Get Hacked?)

Performance & Speed

Performance can change based on how you set things up, and speed is critical for user experience and SEO. TYPO3 excels here, and it is known for its efficiency in handling large websites with its strong, optimized code and ability to easily customize your website's performance. It allows developers to fine-tune every part of the website to ensure it runs smoothly.

WordPress can be fast, too, but it often needs third-party caching plugins and regular performance monitoring. It might require more effort to achieve the same level of performance as TYPO3.

Multilingual websites

If you are planning to reach a global audience, TYPO3 would be the best choice for multilingual websites. It has a built-in language management system that makes it easy to translate content into various languages without any extra plugins or complex configurations.

WordPress can support multiple languages, but it often requires additional plugins like WPML or Polylang to achieve the same functionality, which can be heavy.

Multisite Functionality

Managing multiple websites from one platform is another area where TYPO3 shines. TYPO3's multisite feature allows you to easily manage different websites under a single installation, saving time and resources.

WordPress offers multisite through its network feature, which is also powerful but might require more configuration, but TYPO3 provides more flexibility in managing complex structures, which can be a huge advantage for businesses that need to run multiple websites seamlessly.

Website Expansion

TYPO3 is specially designed to grow with your business without any limitations. It scales effortlessly, whether you're adding new pages, users, or features. It's perfect for large enterprises that need a CMS that can handle complex requirements and high traffic.

WordPress, on the other hand, may require more resources, plugins and custom development to handle very large or complex websites as your site expands.

SEO

Both TYPO3 and WordPress offer SEO capabilities, whereas TYPO3 gives you more control over technical TYPO3 SEO elements. You can optimize every aspect of your site, like meta tags, advanced URL structures, and many more, without any need for third-party tools. Even its easier now with TYPO3 AI Extension which is built-in and thus it helps for everything.

WordPress has various SEO plugins like Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack, which make it easy to optimize your site for search engines. Still, it does not have any built-in SEO functionality for granular control like TYPO3.

Installation

WordPress is famous for its quick and easy installation process. It's designed to be user-friendly, even for those with little technical knowledge.

TYPO3's installation might be a bit more complex, but it comes with detailed documentation to guide you through the process. Once installed, TYPO3 offers a powerful and flexible platform that can be tailored to your needs. TYPO3's setup is more suited for users who have some experience with web development, which makes it ideal for developers looking for more control.

Templates & Extensions (Plugins)

WordPress has a bulk of plugins for almost any functionality; whether you need an e-commerce solution, a contact form, social media integration, or more, there's likely a plugin for it. But it would help if you had plugins for almost everything; there are rarely any built-in features.

TYPO3 also has a range of TYPO3 extensions and TYPO3 templates, though it might be less compared to WordPress, but it has a highly customizable core standard. TYPO3's extensions are known for their high quality and reliability and are built to maintain high performance and security, which is often a challenge with some WordPress plugins.

Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design is more important in today's mobile-first world, and TYPO3 makes it easy to build mobile-friendly websites. It provides a variety of tools and templates that automatically adjust to different screen sizes.

While WordPress also supports responsive design with many templates and themes, TYPO3 gives you more control over the design and layout for every device type.

User Access Permissions

TYPO3 has advanced user access permissions, which makes it ideal for large teams with complex roles. You can create detailed user groups and assign specific permissions to each group, ensuring that everyone has the right level of access.

WordPress also manages and provides user roles and permissions, but they might not be as precise as TYPO3. TYPO3's user management is more detailed and suitable for large-scale projects.

Certification

TYPO3 provides certification which gives you peace of mind, knowing that your website is being built and maintained by certified professionals. This is the best thing in TYPO3 you can consider.

WordPress, while popular, is more suitable for personal blogs or small businesses. It does not have an official certification program but has a community of experienced developers who can provide support and services.

Web Accessibility

When it comes to creating inclusive websites, TYPO3 accessibility features stand out. TYPO3 follows WCAG guidelines closely, making it easier to build accessible websites for users with disabilities. 

Unlike WordPress, which may require multiple plugins for full accessibility compliance, TYPO3 provides more control at the core level, helping developers meet legal and usability standards from the start.

Open source CMS such as WordPress and TYPO3 offer a variety of benefits that make them popular options for many businesses. The main benefits include:

• Cost-free: free and freely available, making them a cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.
• Flexibility: These systems can be easily customized and expanded to meet the specific needs of a project.
• Community support: Have a large community of developers and users offering support and resources.

However, there are also some drawbacks that should be considered:

• Security risks: Can be prone to security vulnerabilities if not updated regularly. It is important to install security updates and patches in a timely manner.
• Complexity: Can be complex and require technical expertise to manage and customize. This can be a challenge for users without technical knowledge.

WordPress has over 40% of all websites on the internet, making it a popular CMS. Its popularity shows how easy it is to use and how flexible it can be.

TYPO3, while less common, might not be as widely used as WordPress, but its dedicated user base includes some of the world's largest websites. It's used by over 500,000+ websites globally, proving its value for large-scale, enterprise-level websites.

Here I would like to mention the functions that WordPress does not offer, but TYPO3 provides by default. Since TYPO3 is a real CMS tool

1. Workspace

If your website has a large number of pages and content and you have a large team to manage them, you can set up this great feature of TYPO3 Backnend. This is a simple workflow or lifecycle that you can set up to ensure that every change made by an editor needs to be approved by a reviewer.

With the custom workspace, you have many advantages such as security, transparent versioning, preview, overview of changes, flexibility, etc.

2. History / undo

You can undo your changes and restore the original state. To undo the deletion of an element, you must use the History/Undo function for the entire page. This option opens the Rollback function, which lists all the changes made to the page.

3 TYPO3 Logs

In the TYPO3 backend, there is an area that displays the list of actions, errors as log, changes, etc. This can help the administrator to check the changes in each content/element. The administrator can identify who has made the changes. It also logs the login and logout details of the users. In this way, the administrator can check who logged in at what time and what changes they made.

4. Copy/paste (content elements, data records, etc.)

WordPress has only recently introduced the copy and paste of elements, but TYPO3 has offered this function for years. You can copy and paste elements from one page to another or add a reference to any element to reuse any element. TYPO3 also offers the option of copying and pasting the element as a reference. This way you only have to change the content in one place and the changes can be applied to all affected elements/content. This can save a lot of time.

5. Forms

For every CMS it is necessary to create different types of forms. You should not be dependent on a third-party provider or an external plugin. By default, Wordpress does not offer this basic form feature.

TYPO3, on the other hand, offers form management by default. This allows you to create and use an unlimited number of forms.

6. Clipboard

Every time a record is copied to the TYPO3 CMS backend. TYPO3 also provides access to its internal clipboard. So you can put anything on the clipboard and retrieve the information from it at the same time. This is the core API, so you can use and extend it for your own extensions.

7. Internal search engine

TYPO3 provides the search engine by default. It is called Indexed Search. Indexing helps with HTML data priority, word count and frequency to rank results, exact, partial or metaphonic search etc. And the search plugin helps to search for whole words, parts of words, sounds, sentences, language-dependent search and much more.

8. LDAP/SSO authentication (backend and frontend user authentication)

TYPO3 supports LDAP authentication and makes TYPO3 a secure CMS. TYPO3 LDAP/SSO authentication allows importing/updating/deleting users and groups (frontend, backend or both) from an LDAP directory and provides single sign-on (SSO) for frontend users. These features make it the perfect choice for using TYPO3 as an intranet CMS

9. User management, frontend users & login

As mentioned earlier, WordPress doesn't offer much when it comes to managing users and roles. TYPO3 offers a number of configurations, settings and features for roles, user management, access permissions, frontend users and default login module. So you don't have to rely on a third-party tool for the basics.

10. Powerful integrated cache

Since TYPO3 CMS 4.3, one of the most important parts of TYPO3 is the data caching framework for better website speed. TYPO3 can cache the front-end content and pages. Together with the localization, the system configurations, the file cache, the opcode cache etc...

TYPO3's strength lies in its flexibility and scalability, making it a top choice for large, complex websites.

• Flexibility and Scalability: Ideal for large, complex websites.
• Advanced User Access Permissions: Offers detailed user management.
• Built-in Multilingual Support: No extra TYPO3 extensions needed for language capabilities.
• Advanced Features and Strong: Perfect for organizations needing robust features and security.
• Growth-Friendly: Designed to grow with your business over time.
• Built-In Features: Unlike WordPress, which relies heavily on plugins, TYPO3 has built-in features ready to use.

If you're looking for a CMS that can handle complex requirements and grow your business, TYPO3 is the way to go.

The future of content management systems looks promising, with an increasing demand for flexible and scalable solutions. Some of the trends that will shape the future of CMS are:

• Cloud-based CMS: Cloud-based CMS offer a variety of benefits, such as scalability and flexibility. They allow companies to manage their content from anywhere and offer high availability and reliability.
• Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence is increasingly being integrated into CMS to automate the creation and management of content. This can increase efficiency and provide personalized content for users.
• Mobile-first approach: The mobile-first approach is becoming increasingly important as more and more users access content via mobile devices. CMSs need to be able to create mobile-friendly websites that work well on different devices.

Choosing the right CMS depends on the individual requirements and goals of the project. Here are some factors to consider when choosing a CMS:

• Requirements: What are the specific requirements of the project? Do you need multilingual support, extended user access rights or special SEO features?
• Goals: What are the long-term goals of the project? Are you planning to expand your website or add new features in the future?
• Ease of use: How user-friendly is the CMS? Can users without technical knowledge easily operate the system?
• Security: How secure is the CMS? Does it offer built-in security features and regular updates to close security gaps?
• Scalability: How scalable is the CMS? Can it grow with your business and meet increasing demands?
• Community support: How much community support is there for the CMS? Is there an active community that provides support and resources?
• Cost: What is the cost of the CMS? Consider both the initial costs and the ongoing costs for maintenance and updates.
• Extensibility: How extensible is the CMS? Are there a variety of plugins and extensions that offer additional features?

This checklist can help you choose the correct CMS for your project and ensure that it meets your requirements and goals.

Thanks for checking out our post!

We hope this article has helped you find the perfect CMS for your needs! If you still have questions, don’t worry—we’re here to help. At NITSAN - TYPO3 Agency, our expert team brings over 14 years of experience to provide you with TYPO3 services. Plus, be sure to check out our first-ever TYPO3 marketplace for even more information and resources. We're excited to support you on your TYPO3 journey!

Stay tuned for more updates—we’ve got plenty more coming!