3 min read
SilverStripe vs Craft vs WordPress - which CMS is right for your NZ business?
A practical comparison of the three CMS platforms we build on - SilverStripe, Craft CMS and WordPress - covering cost, security, editing experience and which NZ businesses each suits best.
By Long White Digital
A content management system (CMS) is what lets you edit your own website - change text, add pages, publish news - without needing a developer every time. Choosing the right one matters, because you’ll live with it for years.
Here’s an honest comparison of the three we build on most often, from a studio that works across all of them - so we have no platform to push.
WordPress
The world’s most popular CMS, powering a huge share of the web.
Great for: Most small businesses. It’s cost-effective, familiar, and has a plugin for almost anything.
Watch out for: It’s only as good as how it’s built. Cheap WordPress sites are often bloated, slow and a security risk. Built lean and kept maintained, it’s excellent.
Typical NZ cost: The cheapest of the three to build and to find developers for. A properly built small-business site usually runs $4-12k; template-based builds cost less but age badly.
Craft CMS
A premium, designer-friendly CMS with a beautifully flexible way of modelling content.
Great for: Content-rich, design-led brands that want full creative control and a clean editing experience without plugin clutter. Editors consistently rate Craft’s control panel the nicest to work in of the three.
Watch out for: It has a licence cost (US$299 plus annual renewals) and a smaller pool of NZ developers than WordPress - though the quality is high. We wrote more on when Craft is the right choice.
Typical NZ cost: Builds generally start around $10k. The licence is a rounding error next to build cost; the real consideration is developer availability.
SilverStripe
New Zealand’s own enterprise-grade CMS, widely used across government and large organisations - it powers a large share of govt.nz sites, councils and universities.
Great for: Organisations needing structured content, fine-grained user permissions, strong security and long-term stability. A natural fit if you value local, open-source software or need to meet government security expectations.
Watch out for: It’s more than many small brochure sites need - but exactly right when you need that robustness. Also: many NZ organisations are running ageing SilverStripe 4 sites whose original agency has disappeared. Upgrades to SilverStripe 5 are very doable - that rescue work is a big part of our CMS practice.
Typical NZ cost: Comparable to Craft for new builds. Upgrades and rescues vary with how the original site was built - we audit first, then give a fixed quote.
Head-to-head
| WordPress | Craft CMS | SilverStripe | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Small business sites | Design-led brands | Government / enterprise |
| Editing experience | Good (if built lean) | Excellent | Very good |
| Licence cost | Free | US$299 + renewals | Free |
| NZ developer pool | Large | Small | Small-medium |
| Security posture | Depends on build quality | Strong | Strong (govt-grade) |
| Structured content | Via plugins | Native, best-in-class | Native, very good |
So which should you choose?
| If you want… | Consider |
|---|---|
| Cost-effective and familiar | WordPress |
| Design freedom and a premium feel | Craft CMS |
| Enterprise structure and security | SilverStripe |
The honest truth: the best CMS is the one that fits your content, your team and your budget - and that’s built and maintained properly. A well-built WordPress site beats a badly built anything. Our CMS website development covers all three platforms, and we’ll recommend based on what you actually need, not what’s easiest for us.
Talk to us about your project and we’ll point you in the right direction - including “keep what you’ve got” if that’s the right answer.