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Joomla vs WordPress is, for most small businesses today, not a choice between two new systems but a question about an old site: stay on Joomla and upgrade to a supported version, or move to WordPress or a static site? If your site still runs Joomla 3 or 4, the Joomla project no longer ships security fixes for it, and that is the moment to decide.
Both are open software you run free on your own hosting. Joomla has more built in, such as user groups, permissions and multilingual content. WordPress has the largest range of themes, plugins and people who work with it. This comparison first puts support per version on a timeline, then what staying and moving involve, and the migration plan that keeps your Google rankings. What WordPress costs per year is in WordPress website cost.
How long each Joomla version gets security fixes
- 17 August 2023Joomla 3 endsNo more security updates from the Joomla project. A site on 3.x runs software nobody officially patches.
- October 2025Joomla 4 endsThe 4.x series stops receiving security fixes too. Joomla 6 is released on 14 October 2025.
- 13 October 2026Joomla 5: bug fixes endVersion 5.4.10 is the last bug-fix release. Security fixes only after that.
- 12 October 2027Joomla 5: security endsFrom here 5.x is where 3.x and 4.x are now.
- 16 October 2029Joomla 6: security endsBug fixes until 17 October 2028, security until 16 October 2029. The current version is 6.2, released 13 October 2026.
What support means for WordPress
WordPress works differently: the project officially supports only the latest major version. Security fixes for older branches are a courtesy, with no promise and no fixed term, and they stop once those versions see little use; updates for WordPress 4.1 to 4.6 ended in July 2025. A WordPress site stays safe only when it is updated, just like a Joomla site; the difference is that WordPress sites with automatic updates move to new versions almost unnoticed. Whether WordPress is safe mostly depends on upkeep; see is WordPress safe.
Three routes for a site on Joomla 3 or 4
| Route | What it takes | How much work | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrade to Joomla 5 or 6 | every extension and template must be compatible; from 3 you go via 4 | little if everything is compatible, a lot if extensions were abandoned | the site works well and you use Joomla's strengths |
| Move to WordPress | content moved, a new theme, plugins for what extensions did, a 301 per old URL | a rebuild, with an import tool for articles | you want to keep writing in the most widely used system |
| Move to a static site | content moved, a new design, forms through a function, a 301 per old URL | a rebuild, then no CMS upkeep | the site mainly informs and has to win clients |
Which route is cheaper over three years depends on your extensions. An upgrade looks cheap until three extensions turn out not to exist for Joomla 5; then you rebuild those features anyway. A move is easier to budget, because you know what you are building. What a new site costs is in website cost; when updating beats rebuilding in custom website or WordPress.
Where your site stands, and the three ways forward
bug and security fixessecurity only
Three routes forward
Upgrade to Joomla 6
If your extensions are compatible. Supported until October 2029.
Move to WordPress
A rebuild with an import tool, one 301 per old URL.
Move to a static site
A rebuild, then no CMS to maintain.
Joomla and WordPress side by side for a small business site
For a business site of one to fifty pages, possibly in several languages.
- Software
- Joomlaopen and free
- WordPressopen and free
- Support
- Joomlaper series with fixed dates: 6.x secured until 16 October 2029
- WordPressonly the latest major version, no fixed term
- Multilingual
- Joomlabuilt in
- WordPressthrough a plugin
- Users and permissions
- Joomlafine-grained, built in
- WordPresssimpler, extendable with plugins
- Joomla vs WordPress security
- Joomlacore fixes per supported series; extensions are the weak spot
- WordPresscore fixes on the latest version; plugins are the weak spot
- Developers who work with it
- Joomlafewer
- WordPressmany, in every country
- Upgrading to a new major version
- Joomlaa project, extensions must be compatible
- WordPressusually an update, plugins must keep up
For a new small business site most companies choose WordPress for its ecosystem and the number of people who work with it. Anyone already on a recent Joomla who uses its built-in features has no reason to move.
Moving off Joomla without losing rankings
A move from Joomla to WordPress or a static site almost always changes your URLs. Joomla URLs often carry a number before the title, such as /news/123-new-store-opening, or /index.php/ in the path when URL rewriting is off. On the new site the same page lives at a different address, and without a redirect every old URL returns a 404.
| Old Joomla URL | New URL, for example | Redirect |
|---|---|---|
| /news/123-new-store-opening | /news/new-store-opening | 301 per article |
| /index.php/services/renovation | /services/renovation | 301, and the variant without index.php if it existed |
| /index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45 | the page with the same content | 301 for every old URL Google knows |
| /component/contact/contact/1 | /contact | 301 |
| /de/leistungen/renovierung | /de/leistungen/renovierung on the new site | 301 per language |
- List every old URL from your Joomla sitemap, Google Search Console and the menus, including variants with and without index.php.
- Pair each old URL with its new one: same content, same question. Pages you drop point to the closest topic.
- Add one 301 redirect per old URL on the new site, in a single hop, no chains.
- Keep the titles and descriptions that bring visitors today, and only rewrite what does not work.
- Submit the new sitemap and watch the Pages report in Google Search Console for three weeks.
The full list of what can go wrong is in website migration SEO. If the domain stays with the same registrar, you only change DNS; if you move it, see how to transfer a domain name.
What we did in our own moves
SN Group moved from a site that builds itself in the browser to a static site with real 404s, redirects and a canonical on every page. Business Centrum moved from business-office.be to business-centrum.be with a single 301 per URL, and in the first five weeks after the technical basics were in place went from 220 to 10,200 impressions a day in Google. We do not yet show a client's Joomla migration; the method is the same. See the Business Centrum case and the SN Group case.
Do it yourself or have it done
A small Joomla site with a dozen articles can be moved to WordPress by yourself with an import tool and a short redirect list. Have it done if the site is multilingual, has hundreds of articles, relies on extensions for forms, a members area or a shop, or wins clients from Google today. From Ghent, Belgium, we build for businesses across Europe: a custom site starts from 1,500 euro, and the move with redirects is a fixed price agreed after a first call. See website design.
Leaving Joomla or keeping it
Is Joomla 3 still supported?
No. The Joomla project ended support for 3.x on 17 August 2023 and for 4.x in October 2025. Joomla 5 gets security fixes until 12 October 2027, Joomla 6 until 16 October 2029.
Is Joomla better than WordPress?
Joomla has more built in, such as multilingual content and fine-grained permissions. WordPress has the largest plugin and developer ecosystem. For most small business sites the latter weighs more.
Is Joomla or WordPress more secure?
Both patch their core quickly on supported versions. In both, most risk comes from outdated extensions or plugins and sites that are not updated.
Joomla vs WordPress vs Drupal: which to choose?
Drupal suits large, complex sites with developers on hand. For a small business site the choice is usually WordPress, or a static site if you want no CMS to maintain.
Will I lose rankings moving off Joomla?
Not if every old URL, including those with index.php or an ID, gets a 301 to the new page with the same content, and you submit the new sitemap.