WordPress vs Joomla: Cost, Support Dates and Which to Pick

WordPress wins the WordPress vs Joomla decision for most business websites, mainly because the people who update the site can do it without help, and help is easy to find when they need it. Joomla remains a capable, free CMS that suits a smaller group of sites, especially multilingual ones run by someone who already knows it well.

Most people comparing the two in 2026 are not starting from zero. They own a Joomla site that has fallen behind on versions and are deciding whether to upgrade it or move. This guide covers both cases: a side-by-side comparison, the support dates that set your deadline, what each route costs, and how a move works if you choose one.

WordPress vs Joomla at a glance

Both are open-source content management systems written in PHP, and both are free to download. The differences show up in daily use: who can edit pages, how features get added, and how hard it is to find someone to look after the site. Our WordPress migration service exists because those differences add up over the years, and the table shows where.

Factor	WordPress	Joomla
Share of all websites (W3Techs, Nov 9, 2026)	39.4%	1.1%
Editing pages	Block editor: editors build and rearrange page sections visually	Article editor plus modules placed in template positions; layout changes often need an administrator
Several languages	Added with a plugin such as WPML or Polylang	Built into core, with language associations between pages
User groups and access levels	Five standard roles, extended with plugins	Detailed groups and viewing access levels in core
Custom fields	Added with code or a plugin	Built into core since Joomla 3.7
Online store	WooCommerce, the most widely used WordPress store plugin	Third-party extensions such as VirtueMart or HikaShop
Major version upgrades	Routine updates; most sites apply minor and security releases automatically	A new major version every two years, with older templates and extensions often needing updates
Finding a developer	Very large pool of agencies and freelancers	Smaller, more specialist pool

The share figure matters less as a popularity contest and more as a staffing question. With roughly 35 WordPress sites for every Joomla site, the odds that your next developer, your next plugin and your next hosting company already know the platform are much higher on WordPress.

Joomla support dates: which versions still get security fixes

Joomla 3 and 4 are past end of life, so a site on either version is running code that no longer gets security patches. Joomla’s software release cycle sets the rules: a major version every two years, released in October of odd-numbered years, four minor releases per major, then one year of bug fixes and two years of security fixes after the x.4 release.

Version	Status in November 2026	What it means for your site
Joomla 3	Official support ended August 17, 2023; a paid extended security program ran to February 2025	Unsupported. Templates and many extensions will not run on newer versions, so most sites need a rebuild whichever platform you choose
Joomla 4	Security support ended in October 2025	Unsupported. Upgrade to 5 and then 6, or move
Joomla 5	Last bug-fix release (5.4.10) on October 13, 2026; security fixes only	Safe for now, but security fixes are due to stop around October 2027 under the two-year rule
Joomla 6	Current series; Joomla 6.2 released October 13, 2026	Fully supported. Joomla 7 is due in October 2027 under the same cycle

The upgrade path is one major version at a time. Joomla’s documentation describes moving to the latest minor release of your current series, then to the latest minor release of the next one, so a Joomla 4 site goes to 4.4, then 5.4, then 6.2. Each step needs every extension and your template to be compatible first. Updates from versions that are already end of life are, in Joomla’s own words, not supported by definition.

Where Joomla is the better choice

Joomla is a good fit when your site needs what its core already does well and you have someone who knows it. We would not move a site away from Joomla just because WordPress is bigger. Staying usually makes sense in these cases:

• A multilingual site with simple needs. Joomla handles several languages and links translated pages in core, with no paid plugin. A WordPress site needs WPML, Polylang or similar to match it.
• Members-only areas with several access levels. Joomla’s user groups and viewing levels let you show different content to different groups without extra software.
• The site is already on Joomla 5 or 6 and working. If your extensions are maintained and your editors are comfortable, a supported Joomla site is not a problem to fix.
• You have a Joomla developer you trust. The biggest risk with a smaller platform is losing the one person who understands your setup. If that person is in place and plans to stay, the risk is lower.

Where WordPress is the better choice

WordPress fits better when the site is a sales and marketing tool that changes often. That covers most business websites: service pages, landing pages for campaigns, a blog and lead forms. These are the reasons we see owners choose it:

• Marketing teams can work alone. The block editor lets a non-technical person build a new landing page from existing sections. On many Joomla sites, the same job means asking whoever manages modules and template positions.
• More ready-made tools. SEO, forms, bookings, memberships and CRM connections usually have several maintained WordPress plugins to choose from, which keeps custom development for the features that are truly yours.
• Selling online. If a store is on the roadmap, WooCommerce runs inside the same site and the same admin area.
• Easier to replace your supplier. If your developer or agency stops responding, finding another WordPress team takes days, not weeks. That is the quiet advantage many owners only notice when they need it.

If you are building new rather than moving, our WordPress website packages start at $890 for a small business site, $1,690 for a growing business site with up to 12 individually designed pages, and from $2,990 for larger sites. We wrote a similar comparison for teams weighing WordPress against Drupal, which suits larger, more structured sites than Joomla usually runs.

Upgrade Joomla or move to WordPress: a quick decision table

The right answer depends on which version you run and how much of the site would need rebuilding anyway. Find your situation in the left column.

Your situation	Our usual recommendation	Why
Joomla 6, extensions maintained, editors happy	Stay on Joomla	Supported until the next cycle; no reason to spend money on a move
Joomla 5, standard extensions, simple template	Upgrade to Joomla 6, then review in a year	A one-step upgrade is usually smaller than a migration
Joomla 4 with custom or abandoned extensions	Get quotes for both, then compare	Two upgrades plus replacing extensions can cost as much as a move
Joomla 3, old template	Move, or rebuild on Joomla 6 with a new template	Either way it is a rebuild, so pick the platform you want for the next five years
Team struggles to edit, site needs regular landing pages	Move to WordPress	The editing gap costs time every month, not once
No one left who knows the Joomla setup	Move to WordPress	Support will be easier to find and replace

One honest caution: a move is not automatically cheaper. A small, healthy Joomla 5 site with standard extensions can usually be upgraded for less than it costs to migrate. Moving pays off when an upgrade would force a new template and replacement extensions anyway, or when editing friction is costing your team time every week.

What a Joomla to WordPress move costs: a worked example

Take a typical service business site on Joomla 4: 25 pages, a news section and a contact form, with an old template the owner wants to keep looking roughly the same. Using our published prices, the first three years on WordPress look like this:

Item	Price	Terms
Platform migration, up to 30 pages	From $890, one time	Covers mapping each old URL to its new page, a permanent redirect for each one, and moving your text, images and search settings; support for a month after launch
Essential WordPress care plan	$49 a month	Per website; updates tested before release, daily backups, security scans; cancel with 30 days’ notice
Three years of care (36 months)	$1,764	If you keep the Essential plan for the full period
Hosting and domain	Paid by you to your provider	Not included in our prices
Example total over three years	From $2,654, plus hosting	Migration plus 36 months of care

Sites with a store, member accounts or several hundred pages fall under our large migration package, from $2,490, which adds data and product migration, a staged launch and monitoring after launch. If you want a new design at the same time, a redesigned site of up to 12 pages starts at $1,690. All prices are on our pricing page, and every project starts with a fixed written quote.

On the Joomla side, the cost of upgrading depends on things only an inspection reveals: how many extensions you run, whether each has a release for the next version, and whether your template survives the jump. Ask any Joomla developer for a written list of what will break before you accept an upgrade quote, then compare it with a migration quote line by line.

How a Joomla to WordPress migration works

A careful move keeps your content, your search rankings and your forms working. These are the steps we follow, in order:

1. List every URL. We crawl the live site and export the URLs from Search Console, including the old index.php?option=com_content style addresses Joomla sites often still have indexed.
2. Copy the content. The free FG Joomla to WordPress plugin imports articles, categories, tags, images and media. Its premium version adds users with their passwords, menus, meta descriptions and custom fields.
3. Rebuild the template as a WordPress theme, matching the current design or a new one, with editable blocks for the sections your team changes most.
4. Replace extensions with plugins. Forms, galleries, maps and member areas each get a WordPress equivalent, set up and tested.
5. Map the redirects. Every old address gets a 301 redirect to its new page, so links and rankings carry over.
6. Test on a staging copy: every page, every form, mobile layouts and page speed.
7. Launch and watch. We submit the new sitemap and check Search Console for crawl errors in the weeks after launch.

From our projects: For De Biljart Ballen, a Dutch billiards news and magazine site, we rebuilt the site in WordPress with a news homepage, category archives and article templates, keeping the look its readers already knew. The aim was a site the client’s team could publish to without a developer, which is the same reason most content-heavy owners give us for leaving an older CMS.

Rankings are the part owners worry about most, and with good reason. The redirect map is what protects them. Our checklist for redesigning without losing rankings covers the same checks in more detail, and the steps are close to those in our Wix to WordPress migration guide.

Sources checked on November 9, 2026: W3Techs content management usage statistics (November 9, 2026); Joomla’s software release cycle in the official manual; Joomla announcements for the Joomla 6.2 and 5.4.10 releases of October 13, 2026; the joomla.org announcement of Joomla 3 end of support and extended security support; the FG Joomla to WordPress plugin page. Attors prices from our pricing page on the same date.

Find out what moving your Joomla site would involve

Attors Technologies builds and moves WordPress sites for businesses in the US, UK and Europe. Send us your Joomla site address and tell us which version it runs. We will check its extensions, languages and URLs and reply with a fixed written quote for the move. If a Joomla upgrade is the cheaper route for your site, we will say so.

Request a fixed quote for your Joomla to WordPress move