Guides

Choosing a CMS, without the sales pitch.

Leaving a platform, still deciding between renting and owning, or down to two? Start with the one that fits. Written by CMS makers, with our bias declared up front.

Every guide is checked against each vendor’s own documentation, cited, and dated.

Leaving a platform

Alternatives, one product at a time.

What each replacement costs, what you give up, and what you can take with you. Total CMS is in every list, marked, and every list says where the others win.

  • wordpress.org, captured
    WordPress alternatives: eight honest options Website builders you rent, a publishing platform, and self-hosted CMSs you own: what each one is genuinely good at, what it costs, and what you can take with you if you leave. Also: WordPress alternatives for freelancers Checked 28 Oct 2026
  • webflow.com, captured
    Webflow alternatives: six honest options Whether it is the 2026 price changes, the code export gate, or a sense that Webflow is now being built for someone else, here are the serious alternatives for people who design visually: what each costs, what you give up, and what you can take with you. Checked 28 Oct 2026
  • squarespace.com, captured
    Squarespace alternatives: six honest options Other hosted builders, a store platform, a publishing tool and self-hosted software: what each one is genuinely good at, what it costs, and what you can take with you if you leave. Checked 28 Oct 2026
  • wix.com, captured
    Wix alternatives: six honest options A Wix site can only ever run on Wix, so the most useful question about an alternative is what you could take with you next time. Checked 28 Oct 2026

Or see if Total CMS fits.

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