Is WordPress better than Drupal?

It depends on your use case. WordPress is a CMS platform while Drupal is a CMS platform. Our comparison table above uses 17 real detection signals for a data-backed verdict.

What is the key difference between WordPress and Drupal?

WordPress has 10 detectable signals in our database while Drupal has 7. Our scanner checks HTML patterns, script tags, CDN domains, HTTP headers, and meta tags to distinguish them.

How can I tell if a website uses WordPress or Drupal?

Use AI Website Detector — paste any URL at aiwebsitedetector.com and the tool simultaneously checks for WordPress's 10 signals and Drupal's 7 signals, returning a confidence score for each.

Can I switch from WordPress to Drupal?

WordPress and Drupal are both CMS platforms, making migration more feasible. Review the feature comparison table above for compatibility details.

WordPress

CMS

Drupal

CMS

WordPress vs Drupal (2026): Which Is Better?

WordPress and Drupal are both popular choices, but they serve different needs. WordPress is a CMS with a traditional, manual approach to building, while Drupal is a CMS that prioritises developer or designer control.

Below you'll find a side-by-side breakdown of detection signals, AI scores, and technical fingerprints — plus our honest take on which builder wins for different use cases.

How we detect WordPress vs Drupal — see our methodology: AI Influence Score calculation, evidence tiers, and fingerprint signal types.

Side-by-Side Comparison

	WordPress	Drupal
Category	CMS	CMS
AI Score	20/100 — Traditional	20/100 — Traditional
Detection Signals	10 patterns	7 patterns
Script Detection	3 patterns	2 patterns
CDN Detection	1 domains	—
Header Detection	2 headers

WordPress

CMS

WordPress is a cms with an AI Score of 20/100 (Traditional). Our detection engine uses 10 signal patterns to identify WordPress-built sites.

12,655 sites detected so far

Detection Guide Try WordPress →

Sites using WordPress →Gallery →

Drupal

CMS

Drupal is a cms with an AI Score of 20/100 (Traditional). Our detection engine uses 7 signal patterns to identify Drupal-built sites.

498 sites detected so far

Detection Guide Try Drupal →

Sites using Drupal →Gallery →

Platform Overviews

WordPress

WordPress is an open-source content management system powering everything from personal blogs to large-scale enterprise websites, making it the most widely deployed CMS on the web and a primary target for accurate fingerprinting. AIWebsiteDetector.com identifies WordPress installations using a layered set of technical signals, including 3 distinct script patterns, 2 HTML structural patterns, 2 HTTP response headers, 2 meta tag patterns, and 1 CDN domain reference — collectively providing high-confidence detection across both default and heavily customized deployments. These signals typically manifest as characteristic markup in page source, identifiable request headers returned by the server, and script references tied to WordPress core or its content delivery infrastructure. Because WordPress supports thousands of themes and plugins that can obscure surface-level indicators, the multi-signal approach ensures reliable identification even when administrators attempt to minimize the platform's visible footprint. WordPress itself is free and open-source, but hosting costs vary widely — from shared environments to managed WordPress hosting — meaning the same CMS signature can appear across dramatically different infrastructure setups, a nuance the detection engine accounts for when evaluating header and CDN patterns.

Drupal

Drupal is an open-source content management system written in PHP, widely adopted by government agencies, universities, large enterprises, and media organizations that require a highly customizable and security-conscious publishing platform. The AIWebsiteDetector.com engine identifies Drupal installations through a combination of seven distinct technical signals, including two JavaScript file patterns, two HTML structural patterns, two characteristic HTTP response headers, and one meta tag pattern embedded in page markup. Common detection indicators include Drupal-specific generator meta tags, inline HTML attributes such as data attributes injected by the CMS core, HTTP headers like the `X-Generator` or `X-Drupal-Cache` response fields, and script paths referencing Drupal's module or core directory structure. These layered signals allow the detector to distinguish Drupal from other PHP-based CMS platforms with high confidence, even when administrators have partially obscured the installation through security hardening measures. Drupal is self-hosted software available at no licensing cost from drupal.org, though its presence on high-traffic government and institutional domains makes it one of the more consistently detectable enterprise CMS platforms in the wild, owing to the persistence of its core-generated markup across versions.

Key Differences

Both WordPress and Drupal are classified as CMS tools, making them the most direct competitors in this comparison.
WordPress scores higher on AI involvement (20/100 vs 20/100 for Drupal), meaning it relies more heavily on AI for site generation and content creation.
Our detection engine identifies WordPress using 10 fingerprint patterns and Drupal using 7 patterns — more signals generally means more reliable detection.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose WordPress if…

You prefer a cms solution
You want more manual control over the final output
WordPress's detection fingerprint of 10 signals means your site is reliably identifiable

Choose Drupal if…

You need a cms approach
You prefer traditional building tools with predictable output
Drupal's ecosystem and community better match your team's existing workflow

WordPress vs Drupal (2026): Which Is Better?

Side-by-Side Comparison

Example Websites

WordPress websites

Drupal websites

WordPress

Drupal

Platform Overviews

WordPress

Drupal

Key Differences

Which Should You Choose?

WordPress

Check Which Builder Powers a Site

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