Website & Blog Development Software & Platforms: comparison chart

Most Popular Software & Platforms for Developing Websites & Blogs updated 2/5/10

Category	Software/Platform (see below for definitions)	Website only	Enterprise Website w/Blog Module	Blog only	Blog with Website Pages	Comments
HTML-based Development Software	Dreamweaver Adobe $400	X				Also known as HTML editors and WYSIWYG editors. They offer greatest design flexibility. Amaya is inadequate for professional developers. (details below)
	ExpressionWeb Microsoft $150	X
	Amaya W3C (open-source) Free	X
Hosted CMS Platforms: Free	Blogger Google Free			X		Easiest to learn and use (details below)
Hosted CMS Platforms: Free	WordPress.com Automattic Free				X	More sophisticated than Blogger, not as easy to use. (details below)
Hosted CMS Platforms: Fee-based	TypePad Six Apart Starts $9/mo.				X	More flexible design options than WordPress. Good tech support. (details below)
Server-side CMS: Open-source	WordPress.org Automattic Free				X	More options & functions than WordPress.com. Codex user guide. (details below)
	Drupal Dries Buytaert Free		X			For business website, these are more sophisticated & versatile than WordPress (details below)
	Joomla! OpenSourceMatters Free		X
	Movable Type Blogger Six Apart Free			X		Lightweight CMS for individuals & grade schools
Server-side CMS: Commercial	Movable Type Business Six Apart Starts $395				X	For bloggers, design & development firms, small biz. (details below)
Server-side CMS: Commercial	ExpressionEngine EllisLab $100 and $250		X			"Core" version is free but with limited features. (details below)

Software = Program that you purchase and/or download, and store/use on your hard drive (or server).

Platform = software and hosting together as a service.

CMS = Content management system

Hosted CMS = Software as a service (SaaS), requiring a broadband Internet connection

Server-side CMS = CMS software that you install on your server. Website/blog files reside on same server.

Pages = Pages that resemble static website pages, in a CMS made primarily for blog development.

Open-source = Developed and supported by a community and provided free of charge (with free updates)

The Difference Between Hosted Services and Server-Side CMS

Hosted Services
Using a hosted service is the most popular way to build a blog for beginners and non-tech people. With a hosted service, you build your site on the host’s server (in the cloud), using the host’s software.

Server-side CMS
A server-side content management system (CMS) is software that you acquire and install on your own server. You may actually own the server, or rent space on a server owned by a third-party host like BlueHost or Network Solutions. In some cases (as with WordPress.org), the provider or vendor of the software also offers hosting services for a fee, in addition to software.

Details on Software and Platforms

Dreamweaver CS4 Adobe $400 ($200 upgrade)	Hosting not included. Best software for professional developers.
ExpressionWeb 3 Microsoft $150 ($80 upgrade)	Hosting not included. Successor to FrontPage.
Amaya W3C (open-source) Free	http://www.w3.org/Amaya/Amaya.html
Blogger Google Free	Video tutorial on YouTube Blogger Help (google.com/support/blogger) Reviews of how-to books and other guides
WordPress.com Automattic Free	Requires more tech know-how than Blogger, but offers more features and design options. WordPress comes in two versions, both free: The dot-com version is the hosted service. The dot-org version (below) is the CMS that you install on your server. Tech support by community.

TypePad Six Apart Starts $00/mo.	Different fees for different levels of service. Fees start at $8.95 per month for up to three sites and basic services, including good tech support. At the high end, you pay $89.95 per month for one site, with advanced services such as abundant bandwidth and priority tech support.

WordPress.org Automattic Free	WordPress Codex (wiki all about WordPress) WordPress Lessons (official online manual) Extends with plug-ins for e-commerce etc. but clumsy. Tech support by robust community. Quick history: Launched in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg as the successor to b2/cafelog, with a goal of creating an elegant, well-architectured personal publishing system built on PHP and MySQL. WordPress has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, according to CMS Expo.
Drupal Dries Buytaert Free	Other modules include e-commerce, social network, etc. Top-rated CMS for professional developers. Quick history: As a college student in 2000, Dries Buytaert created Drupal as an open source software system to help manage websites. Dries and a large core team of creators now have earned a massive, passionate community following, with venture funding. Today, Drupal powers the White House website.
Joomla! OpenSourceMatters Free
Moveable Type Blogger Six Apart Free
Moveable Type Business Six Apart Starts at $395	For "power bloggers," media & publishers, design & development firms, small & midsize biz. Pricing starts at $395 for up to 5 authors, $995 for up to 20 authors.
ExpressionEngine EllisLab $100 or $250	The Core version is free, but it has limited features. It does have a blog module (with comments and RSS), but no e-commerce, photo gallery, forum, membership, pages, or wiki module. And no tech support. The Personal version is $100 and is full-featured, but only for non-commercial and nonprofit use. Includes professional tech support. The Commercial version is $250. Same features and support as Personal version.

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