Drupal vs Liferay Digital Experience Platform comparison

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Q&A Highlights
Question: Drupal vs. Liferay: Which one is better? Pros and Cons?
Answer: I have not used Drupal, but with my experience these are the points you need to answer to choose: 1- Are you a java OR a PHP developer (that is if you are going to do some custom development) ? 2- Do you just need a Content Management System OR an advanced CMS with some custom requirements ? 3- Last one is, do you need "Personalization OR Customization" ?
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Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"We use a part of the solution called Acquia. The personalization portion of this is the most valuable aspect fo the solution.""The feature I find most valuable is that Drupal is a framework and not only a CMS.""You can build websites on it very quickly.""It is good for big projects."

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"It allows us to arrange and develop new ideas, then incorporate them into the portal. We can create a one stop information center, so people can access the information from one window.""I think that it could be interesting to expand the eCommerce capabilities to the B2C sector.""The look and feel and the user interface are great.""Manageability is very good and probably the most valuable part of a tool of this type. There is a little more of a learning curve than you have with a simple tool, but a business user can learn to manage the system as an administrator very easily.""The integration capabilities of the product are super easy to use.""We chose Liferay because it is open-source and that we can make any number of users apply, register into the system and use the system, as opposed to other solutions where the cost is based on user licenses. This is one of the most attractive features.""The web/mobile/portal integration was one of the features that we found most valuable, primarily because it reduced our development time.""The solution is easy to install."

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Cons
"It is a little bit simplified.""The user experience in designing layouts should be much easier or much more helpful.""I think the support needs to improve, as well as the integration with tracking and analytics systems.""Digital experience features like target, segmentation, and campaign management have a long way to go."

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"The LAR import and export feature of the product doesn't work well. From a developer's point of view, the tool's OSGi framework is not easy.""It could have better built-in integration with a wider variety of extensions out-of-the-box.""The integration and configuration need to be simplified.""The plugins should be more affordable.""The documentation provided needs to be more detailed. It's sometimes hard to develop things because the documentation is so sparse.""It could be improved in terms of adding filters to some of the rules. Therefore, you can retain how long a document would need to stay in an archive.""Social area and capabilities need improvement."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I would like to see better pricing."
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  • "Their pricing model should be modified to include per user options instead of just servers/cores, etc."
  • "It is a bit expensive."
  • "It's an open-source structure. Other costs are for professional services to integrate Liferay to other existing systems."
  • "Licensing costs can be very expensive."
  • "The product is neither cheap nor expensive. What Liferay Digital Experience Platform offers at its current price can be considered something that is worth the money."
  • More Liferay Digital Experience Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    At Mediacurrent we often get requests to compare Drupal to other platforms used for intranet sites and social business platforms (like https://dev.twitter.com/ for example). This is often referred to as “Social Business Software”, which has grown in popularity in recent years. I decided to do a round-up of a couple of the more well known platforms and compare their products to Drupal. In this roundup we will be comparing Jive, Sharepoint and Drupal Commons. Drupal Commons is a popular distribution created by Acquia to compete with some of these other proprietary platforms. There are many other options out there, commercial and otherwise, to compare with Drupal but I want to focus on Jive and Sharepoint for a couple of reasons. I chose Jive because it is one of the leading competitors in this space in respect to market share. Next, I chose Sharepoint because I have some history with Sharepoint. This experience dates back to when I built www.adhe.edu with Sharepoint 2007 a few years ago. I subsequently wrote this blog entry about my experience shortly after joining Mediacurrent. This roundup will also act as a refresher for those who read my original “Drupal vs. Sharepoint” blog. Yammer, which was recently bought by Microsoft and is the tool we currently use for office communication will also get some mentions throughout this article. As I went through and tested each of these tools I used three main criteria in my evaluation Cost Ability to Customize Overall features… Read more →
    Answers from the Community
    Avigail Sugarman
    it_user104490 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user104490 (Works at a tech company with 51-200 employees)
    Vendor

    If the core need is to have a web content tool to manage the UI primarily then Drupal is the choice. If the core need is to have a
    "functional " portalized UI with social features, personalisation,
    integrate various apps and show it to the user based on user profile then
    Liferay is ideal as the UI layer.

    Toby Ward - PeerSpot reviewerToby Ward
    Consultant

    Drupal and LIferay are not at all similar; akin to comparing apples and oranges. Drupal is a social community platform designed primarily for external Internet scenarios. Liferay is an enterprise portal solution primarily designed for internal intranet scenarios. There are many dozens of other solutions for both scenarios. However, any organization looking at evaluating a software solution should first detail their plans and business requirements before looking at the technology.

    it_user121236 - PeerSpot reviewerit_user121236 (Consultant at PwC Belgium)
    Real User

    I have personal experience only with Drupal, I suggest you check what type of requirements you have, for example:
    - type of database
    - middleware (PHP/Java), not only if have to install them but also if one day you need to develop for or in case you have to search for an hosting website
    - user centralization and authentication (LDAP/AD, SSO)
    - integration with other applications (for example a DMS like Alfresco or search engine like Solr)
    - commercial support (cost and/or location of possible support)
    - business view (which role would have a different view (mobile/different viewed content on desktop), which has security and style impact)

    and then match them with the functionalities/plugin they both have

    Sanjeev_Gupta - PeerSpot reviewerSanjeev_Gupta (Digital Web Advisors Pvt Ltd)
    Consultant

    I wouldn't really compare the two - they both cater to different set of requirements / use cases.
    While Drupal is Web Content Management (WCM) tool and is good fit for small to medium size interactive or social web solution requirement.
    Liferay on the other hand is an Enterprise Portal software (it also has WCM as part of it's offering). It would fit in better where your requirements are more toward sharing personalized information to users / exposing several application to users though a common interface.

    Questions from the Community
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    Top Answer: A tricky question because it'd depend on what your focus will be on Liferay as a digital experience platform. I mean, if for me the experience management is the best feature, for someone with… more »
    Top Answer:A non-developer here, and frankly, a little bit of a tech beginner in general. My company branched out into digital experience a bit later than we should have but picking Liferay as a DXP was one of… more »
    Top Answer: Yes, I think you can trust the cloud feature of Liferay pretty well. It gives you the option to back up your data as well as restore it and that's pretty vital for any digital experience platform. Do… more »
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    Also Known As
    Liferay DXP
    Learn More
    Overview
    Drupal is an open source content management platform powering millions of websites and applications

    Liferay is a top-ranking digital experience platform used by companies in industries such as financial services, manufacturing, and energy and utilities. This product allows companies to initiate highly personalized digital experiences through mobile, social, and web. Organizations can use Liferay DXP for customer, partner, supplier, or employee portals, as well as integrational platforms, taking advantage of the platform's many customization options to suit their needs completely. The Liferay Experience Cloud offers companies the ability to use the Liferay DXP to build their own digital experiences, as well as to use it as a fully managed cloud platform, including options for self-management and self-hosting.

    Liferay Digital Experience Platform Features

    Liferay Digital Experience Platform provides various features in the following categories:

    • Identity management and access control (application security): These features include identity management support, user management, service access policies, and personal data management.

    • Platform services: Clustering and performance monitoring, auditing and optimization, back-end APIs, dynamic virtual hosting, site and search administration, and single-page applications.
    • Integration and interoperability: The features in this category include integration framework, developer studio, front-end toolkits, IntelliJ IDEA Plugin, Liferay connected services (LCS), Liferay marketplace and workspace, and Blade CLI.

    • Collaboration and social: Blogs, knowledge base, social networking, wiki, forums, message boards, calendar, AlloyEditor, inline image editor, and polls, among other features.

    • Forms, workflow, and business process automation: Features include forms, validation, field library, various types of form entries, data provider integration, and several other features.
    • Content management: Vast array of features for companies to take advantage of when preparing and publishing different types of content, including text and images.

    • Experience management: The features in the experience management category include building pages through fragments and editors for them, various widgets, as well as templates for pages, and SEO-friendly updates.

    • Segmentation and personalization: These features are designed for the full personalization of the platform in order to reach different types of customers and appeal to their individual needs regarding the company that is using Liferay.

    • Multichannel support: The features in multichannel support include APIs, adaptive media, and responsive design, providing companies with the ability to apply Liferay's full customization to their digital experience platform's design and function.

    • Search: Liferay Digital Experience Platforms provide various features for search integrations, multi-language search, and options for filtering and sorting.

    • Analytics and optimization: A crucial part of every digital experience platform is the analytics option for companies to monitor the data of their users and, based on it, improve their approach. That is why Liferay Digital Experience Platform provides five different analytics features.

    • Cloud capability: To provide companies with the best possible experience, Liferay offers various features regarding the proper operation of the platforms, including real-time alerts, monitoring, and options for backup and restoration.

    Liferay Digital Experience Platform Benefits

    Liferay Digital Experience Platform offers the following benefits:

    Sample Customers
    BMJ, The Economist, New Republic, SpaceX, Lush, Danone, Tesla Motors, Peugeot, Stanford Law, Harvard, Oxford University, MIT Media Lab, The Beatles, MTV UK, The Weather Channel, NBC, BBC, grammy.com, Mus_e du Louvre, Whitehouse.gov, London.gov.uk, Gouvernment.fr, New Zealand Government, The Prince of Wales, British Council, NYC Metropolitan Transport Authority, Gatwick Obviously
    Adidas, Carrefour, Cisco Systems, Danone, Fujitsu, Lufthansa Flight Training, Siemens, Société Générale and the United Nations
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Marketing Services Firm20%
    Media Company20%
    Non Profit20%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Government16%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    REVIEWERS
    Government18%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Educational Organization11%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise28%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise64%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise46%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise54%

    Drupal is ranked 5th in Web Content Management while Liferay Digital Experience Platform is ranked 4th in Web Content Management with 44 reviews. Drupal is rated 8.6, while Liferay Digital Experience Platform is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Drupal writes "Through my different companies, we have developed many Drupal sites, from simple ones to complex E-commerce sites and custom made applications. The UI could be improved, though". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Liferay Digital Experience Platform writes "Allows us to extend its CMS, site management, and workflow features". Drupal is most compared with SharePoint, WordPress, Adobe Experience Manager, Atlassian Confluence and Ibexa DXP, whereas Liferay Digital Experience Platform is most compared with Adobe Experience Manager, Magnolia CMS, WordPress, SharePoint and Atlassian Confluence.

    See our list of best Web Content Management vendors and best Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) vendors.

    We monitor all Web Content Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.