The best Joomla alternative for teams that never wanted to run a server
Joomla is free software with a real learning curve, an ageing extension market and a hosting bill you manage yourself. Grigora is a managed platform with the website, CMS, newsletter and store already included, from $12/mo.
Last updated August 2026
Joomla is a capable, genuinely free CMS with two features almost nobody else builds into core: proper multilingual publishing and a granular permissions system. It is also administratively heavy, thin on modern templates, and dependent on an extension market that has thinned out as developers followed the larger platforms. Grigora is the opposite: no server, no extensions, one subscription, and a first-draft site generated from a sentence.
- A managed platform rather than hosting plus extensions
- A modern editor instead of a two-decade-old admin panel
- A newsletter and subscriber list in the same subscription
- A store without choosing between three commerce extensions
- A first-draft site generated from a sentence
- •Need core multilingual publishing across many languages
- •Rely on its granular user-group and permission model
- •Have a developer already maintaining the installation
Joomla alternatives at a glance
How Grigora and the other main Joomla alternatives compare on the essentials.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Platform | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Sales commission | Export your site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grigora | All-in-one sites, fully managed | Yes | From $12/mo | 0% (processing only) | |
| Joomla | Multilingual sites with complex permissions | Software is free | Hosting + extensions | 0% (processing only) | |
| WordPress | Maximum plugin choice | Software is free | Hosting + plugins | 0% (processing only) | |
| Drupal | Complex structured content | Software is free | Hosting + developers | 0% (processing only) | |
| Wix | Templates and app market | Yes (Wix ads) | From $17/mo | 0% (processing only) | |
| Squarespace | Design-led sites | No (trial) | From $19/mo | 2% on Basic, 0% on Core+ | Partial |
List pricing (billed annually) as of August 2026. Joomla, WordPress and Drupal software is free; the cost is hosting, premium templates, extensions and maintenance.
Why people switch from Joomla to Grigora
The friction points Joomla users hit most often, and how Grigora handles them.
The admin panel is a training course
Articles, categories, menus, modules and module positions are separate systems you have to understand before a page can change. Most people just wanted to edit some text.
Extensions age out
The extension directory is broad, and maintained by small teams. Discovering that the gallery or commerce extension you depend on has stopped receiving updates is a familiar Joomla moment.
Upgrades are events
Joomla's major version transitions have historically broken extension compatibility, which turns an upgrade into a project rather than a click.
Nothing is included
No store, no newsletter, no comments. Every one of those is another vendor, another licence and another thing to keep current.
What Joomla does well
- Free, open-source software with full file and database ownership
- Multilingual publishing built into core, not bolted on
- A granular ACL permission system few platforms match
- Structured content model with a real MVC architecture
Where Joomla falls short
- Steep administrative learning curve before the first page
- You own hosting, security, backups and version upgrades
- No store, newsletter or comments without extensions
- A thinner and ageing template and extension market
Grigora vs Joomla at a glance
The differences that decide whether you spend your week publishing or administering.
Self-hosted CMS + extensions
All-in-one platform
Grigora vs Joomla: feature by feature
A category-by-category breakdown, pricing, AI, design, e-commerce, email, SEO, performance, and support.
Pricing & value
Grigora winsJoomla charges nothing and a Joomla site is not free. Hosting, a commercial template, a page-builder extension, an SEO extension, a backup extension and an email service are the normal shape of the bill, each renewing separately.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Software licence | Included | Free (GPL) |
| Hosting | Included | Separate, $5 to $50/mo |
| Commercial template or builder | Included | Common annual licence |
| Newsletter platform | Included | Extension or separate service |
| Predictable monthly total | $12 to $45/mo | Varies widely |
Takeaway: Free software, priced stack. The total is rarely lower once you have assembled a working site.
Ease of use & setup
Grigora winsJoomla's administrator is powerful and dated. Articles, categories, menus, modules, module positions and templates are separate concepts you have to hold in your head before the first page goes live. Grigora starts with a sentence and gives you a site to edit.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Time to a first live draft | Minutes | Hours to days |
| Concepts to learn before publishing | Pages and blocks | Articles, modules, positions, menus |
| AI site generation | ||
| Visual editing on the page | Extension dependent | |
| Mobile editing | Limited |
Takeaway: Joomla's admin was designed for site administrators. Grigora is designed for whoever needs the page changed.
Extensions & ecosystem
Joomla winsAn honest category. The Joomla Extensions Directory still covers a great deal, and self-hosted software will always beat a closed platform on raw extensibility. The caveat is market direction: many extensions are maintained by small teams, and some have not kept pace.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Extension marketplace | Built-in features | Large, ageing in places |
| Template marketplace | 131 templates | Large, fewer modern options |
| Custom code access | Custom code injection | Full PHP and MVC |
| Abandoned add-on risk | None | Real |
| Developer availability | Smaller pool | Shrinking pool |
Takeaway: Joomla extends further. Check that the extension you need is still actively maintained.
Multilingual & permissions
Joomla winsJoomla's two genuinely best-in-class features. Multilingual publishing is in core rather than bolted on, and the ACL system lets you define user groups and access levels at a granularity most platforms never attempt. Grigora does not match either.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Multilingual in core | ||
| Per-item access levels | ||
| Custom user groups | Basic roles | Fully configurable |
| Front-end editing by role | Limited |
Takeaway: If you run several languages and a layered editorial team, this is the reason to stay on Joomla.
Blog, CMS & directories
Grigora winsJoomla handles structured articles well and blogging awkwardly. Comments require an extension, author profiles are thin, and the editorial workflow was not designed around publishing regularly. Grigora treats content as the main event.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Blog editor depth | Full CMS editor | Article manager |
| Built-in comments and moderation | Included, with admin replies | Extension required |
| Structured collections and directories | Built in | Extension required |
| AI blog writing | ||
| Import and export posts | Extension dependent |
Takeaway: For a site that publishes regularly, Grigora removes three extensions from the stack.
E-commerce & online store
Grigora winsJoomla has no store in core. Selling means picking a commerce extension, learning its own admin, and keeping it updated alongside Joomla itself. Grigora's store is part of the platform on every plan.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Store included in the price | ||
| Catalog, variants and stock | Extension dependent | |
| Digital and physical products | Extension dependent | |
| Second admin to learn | ||
| Platform commission | 0% | 0% (extension licences apply) |
Takeaway: A Joomla store is a second product bolted to the first. Grigora's is the same product.
Newsletter & email
Grigora winsJoomla has no newsletter of its own. You either add a mailing extension and a sending service, or embed an external platform. Grigora includes the list, the campaigns and the automations.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Email included | 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers | |
| Campaign builder | Included | Extension or third party |
| Automation and segmentation | Included | Third party |
| Signup forms tied to the site | Extension required | |
| Professional inbox | From $5/mailbox | Separate provider |
Takeaway: Every Joomla site that mails its audience is paying someone else for it.
Maintenance, security & uptime
Grigora winsSelf-hosted software means someone owns the updates. Joomla's major version transitions have historically been more disruptive than most, and extension compatibility is the usual casualty.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Core and extension updates | Handled for you | Your responsibility |
| Major version upgrades | Not applicable | Historically disruptive |
| Backups | Automatic | Extension or host feature |
| Security hardening | Managed | Yours to configure |
| Hosting performance | Managed delivery | Depends on your host |
Takeaway: If nobody on your team owns the upgrade path, that is the strongest argument for leaving.
SEO & site speed
Grigora winsJoomla can rank perfectly well, with SEF URLs and metadata in core, but the finer controls and the schema markup usually arrive as extensions, and speed depends on your host and template.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Meta, schema and sitemap controls | Built in | Partly core, partly extensions |
| Page speed out of the box | Managed delivery | Depends on host and template |
| IndexNow submission | Extension required | |
| Free SEO tools suite | 210 tools | |
| URL structure control |
Takeaway: Same ceiling, more configuration. Grigora ships the tooling in the box.
Ownership, export & support
Joomla winsSelf-hosted Joomla is the stronger ownership story: your files, your database, your server, moveable to any host. Grigora exports your content but not the platform. Support on Joomla is community forums unless you have hired someone.
| Feature | Grigora | Joomla |
|---|---|---|
| Export content | ||
| Full database and file access | ||
| Move to another host | Content only | Whole site |
| Support | Email, priority on higher plans | Community forums |
Takeaway: Joomla wins ownership. Grigora wins the part where someone answers when it breaks.
Grigora vs Joomla pricing
Joomla has no price list. Here is what each side actually costs to run a working site.
Website, newsletter & store in one plan
Annual rates shown. Hosting, CDN, SSL, backups, the CMS, the newsletter and the store are included on every plan, with 0% platform commission on any gateway.
Free software, priced stack
Joomla itself is free under the GPL. There are no official Joomla pricing tiers; the cost is hosting, commercial templates, extensions and maintenance time.
Grigora Starter at $12/mo covers hosting, the CMS, the newsletter and the store. A comparable Joomla setup is hosting plus a template licence plus several extensions plus an email service, before anyone's time.
The real cost: Grigora vs Joomla
The licence is free. Count what a working Joomla business site actually renews each year.
| What you pay for | Joomla | Grigora |
|---|---|---|
| Platform and hosting | $5 to $50/mo hosting | $12 to $45/mo (all-in) |
| Commercial template or page builder | Common annual licence | Included |
| SEO, backup and form extensions | Often three licences | Included |
| Email marketing | Extension plus sending service | Included (2,500 to 25,000 subs) |
| Store | Commerce extension licence | Included |
| Maintenance and version upgrades | Your time or a developer | Managed |
| Professional email inbox | Separate provider | From $5/mailbox (optional) |
Grigora vs Joomla, side by side
Joomla gives you a platform to configure. Grigora gives you a site to edit.
Is Grigora the right Joomla alternative for you?
Where Grigora is the strongest Joomla alternative, by use case.
Best Joomla alternative for small businesses
A site, a blog, a contact form, a newsletter and a small store, without a host to choose or extensions to license.
… for teams that inherited a Joomla site
If the person who built it has moved on and the version is behind, a managed platform ends the upgrade problem for good.
… for clubs, schools and associations
Pages, news, a directory and a mailing list, in one dashboard that a volunteer can be handed without training.
… for agencies
Stop maintaining ageing Joomla installations for clients. Resell a managed platform under your own brand instead.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Grigora if…
- You want to publish rather than administer
- One predictable bill beats hosting plus several licences
- You need a newsletter and a store without more extensions
- Nobody on your team wants to own the next major upgrade
- You are an agency that wants to resell under your own brand
Choose Joomla if…
- •You publish in several languages and want that in core
- •You need granular user groups and per-item access levels
- •You have a developer maintaining the installation already
How to switch from Joomla to Grigora
Joomla articles and media can be exported, so the content moves. The template is rebuilt, and the AI does most of that work.
- 1
Start your Grigora site
Describe your organisation in a sentence and the AI generates a first-draft site with pages, layout and copy.
- 2
Export your articles
Pull your articles, categories and media out of Joomla, then import the content into Grigora's CMS.
- 3
Rebuild the key pages
Home, services, about and contact are quick to reproduce in the block editor, and usually end up better than the originals.
- 4
Move the list and the store
Import your subscribers into the built-in newsletter, and your products into Grigora Commerce if you sell.
- 5
Point your domain and redirect
Connect your domain and redirect old Joomla URLs so existing rankings carry over, then retire the hosting account.
Why people look for a Joomla alternative in 2026
Joomla occupies an awkward middle. It is more structured than WordPress and less flexible, more approachable than Drupal and less powerful, and it asks for more administration than either relative to what most sites need. People rarely leave because Joomla failed at something. They leave because the work of running it stopped being worth the capability.
The learning curve arrives before the first page
Before anything is published you have to understand articles, categories, menus, menu item types, modules and module positions, and how the template exposes them. That model is coherent, and it is a lot to hold before writing a paragraph. Handing a Joomla admin to a colleague usually means handing them a training session too.
The extension market has thinned
Joomla's directory still covers most needs, and the developers behind many extensions have followed the larger platforms. Sites that depend on a commerce, gallery or forms extension eventually meet the version that stops being updated, and the replacement is a migration of its own.
Upgrades are projects
Joomla's major version transitions have historically been more disruptive than a normal update, with extension compatibility the usual casualty. That is why so many Joomla sites on the web today are running versions well behind current.
How Grigora compares
Grigora is a managed platform rather than software you install. There is no host to choose, no template to license, no extension directory to audit, and no upgrade path to plan, because the platform updates itself underneath you.
One bill instead of a licence pile
Starter at $12 a month billed annually includes the website and hosting, the CMS with directories and moderated comments, a newsletter with 2,500 subscribers, and a store with no platform commission on your own gateway. On Joomla each of those is a separate purchase from a separate vendor.
Where Joomla still wins
Multilingual publishing and access control. Joomla puts both in core at a depth Grigora does not attempt, and if you run a genuinely multilingual site with a layered editorial team, that is a real reason to stay. For the far more common case of an English-language business site with a couple of editors, you are carrying the complexity without using the capability.
Frequently asked questions
For small businesses, organisations and agencies that want a managed platform rather than software to maintain, Grigora is the strongest all-in-one Joomla alternative: website, CMS, newsletter and store in one plan from $12/mo. If you need core multilingual publishing or Joomla's granular permission system, Joomla remains the better fit.
Yes. Joomla is free, open-source software released under the GPL, and there is no official hosted plan or licence fee. The cost of a Joomla website is hosting, usually a commercial template, any premium extensions you need, and the time to maintain all of it.
Considerably, for most people. Joomla asks you to understand articles, categories, menus, modules and module positions before publishing. Grigora generates a first-draft site from a description of your business and keeps every block editable on the page.
No. Joomla ships neither. A store means a commerce extension such as VirtueMart, HikaShop or J2Store, each with its own admin and licence, and email marketing means an extension plus a sending service or an external platform. Grigora includes both.
Yes. Articles, categories and media can be exported from Joomla and imported into Grigora's CMS. The template is rebuilt rather than transferred, which the AI builder makes fast, and old URLs should be redirected to preserve rankings.
Core multilingual publishing, the granular ACL permission model, and full ownership of the files and database. Grigora covers the common ground natively, including blogging, comments, directories, forms, a newsletter and a store.
Compare Grigora with other platforms
Make the switch from Joomla to Grigora
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