Choosing & comparing
A CMS on your website or not? A content management system, such as WordPress or Joomla, makes publishing and expanding yourself easy. A pure HTML site, on the other hand, offers minimal complexity, top speed and hardly any CMS maintenance.
Here we place both worlds side by side: vulnerabilities, costs, speed — and when which approach is smartest.
HTML wins on simplicity, speed and predictable costs. A CMS wins on publishing yourself and scalable management. Which one fits depends on how you work.
01
The big difference is not in how the site looks, but in what happens on the server when someone opens a page.
With a CMS site, software runs on the server to assemble the pages: a database, an admin login, themes and often dozens of plug-ins. That provides power and convenience, but also structural maintenance: every link in that chain may need security updates.
With a static HTML site, the live site consists of fixed files: HTML, CSS and images. There is no CMS that you have to update to “stay secure”, as with WordPress or Joomla. Hosting and any custom scripts do remain important, but most of the classic CMS attack surface disappears.
Side by side
| Topic | Static HTML | WordPress | Joomla |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editing content yourself | Neutral: Via us or in HTMLNo built-in editor | Advantage: YesVia admin and editor | Advantage: YesVia the backend |
| Database on the server | Advantage: No databaseNot needed by default | Neutral: MySQL/MariaDB | Neutral: MySQL/MariaDB |
| Speed of first load | Advantage: Very highThe server delivers directly | Neutral: Good to mediumDepends on theme and plug-ins | Neutral: Good to mediumCache & extensions determine a lot |
| Hosting (per year) | € 69,-/yearHTML-only package, without email | € 135,-/yearBasic package suitable for a CMS | |
| Maintenance (per year) | Advantage: No fixed amountCosts only when changes are made, on request | € 379,-/yearUpdates, backups and fixed hours — see website maintenance. Exact terms are always stated in the quotation. | |
| Custom build price (from) | € 399,-Custom-built, no CMS layer | € 999,-Custom-built on a CMS | |
| Vulnerability pressure (CMS layer) | Advantage: Very lowNo CMS to patch | Needs attention: HighMainly via plug-ins/themes | Neutral: MediumLower than the WP ecosystem, but structural |
02
Public databases and security overviews count reports — not automatically “hacked sites”. Still, you can see a clear pattern: the bigger the ecosystem and the more extensions, the more known vulnerabilities are added each year that you have to track and cover with updates. Such a known vulnerability is called a CVE.
new vulnerabilities in core, themes and plug-ins combined — an increase of 34 % compared with 2023. 97 % of them are in plug-ins, 3 % in themes and only 0.2 % in WordPress core itself.
new CVEs across Joomla core and common extensions combined. Far fewer in absolute terms, partly because the Joomla Extensions Directory (~5,700 extensions) is also about 10× smaller than the WordPress plug-in repository (~59,000). Updates remain necessary.
Within those ecosystems, the core itself is actually very small. WordPress core had around 13 CVEs in 2024, Joomla core around 15. The vast majority of the risk therefore lies in plug-ins/extensions and themes.
No CMS layer, so 0 CMS or plug-in CVEs to keep track of. The server, TLS and any form or analytics code do still need attention — just as with any other site.
03
If you choose HTML without a CMS, this is what you get in return.
No CMS core, theme stack or plug-in chain to keep running.
You pay for hosting, and for changes when you need them. See also website without maintenance costs.
The server delivers static files; ideal for Core Web Vitals and modest hosting.
No /wp-admin or Joomla backend that looks the same on every installation by default.
Lower entry price for custom work: with us from € 399,-.
Less server work per page; see the comparison CMS vs. HTML sustainability.
Universal technology that virtually any web builder can take over, so you are not tied to one supplier or platform.
Choose a CMS if you often want to publish yourself, have many authors, need complex permissions, or want to handle integrations with other systems via the CMS. A powerful foundation is then WordPress, provided you take maintenance seriously or outsource it. The same applies to Joomla.
So the answer to “a CMS or not?” is: it depends on how you work — and we help you weigh that up honestly.
Does the assessment come out in favour of “no CMS” while a CMS site is already running? Then the choice is not irreversible and you do not have to start over either. On the page Converting a CMS website to HTML you can read how such a conversion works, what you gain in security and speed and what you give up for it.
We build both and help you weigh up honestly what suits your way of working — personally and without obligation.
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Digital solutions with character · Rosmalen