What AI assistants actually recommend when buyers ask about open-source content management systems — measured on a rolling 4-week window across 4 engines, published as open data.
Updated 2026-10-13 · 20 sampled answers · rolling 4-week window · methodology
Rankings are measured from sampled AI answers — never editorial, never paid. Orbator builds AI-visibility tooling; when Orbator itself appears in any category, it is measured by the same rules as everyone else.
Measured by Orbatormethodology owner Henrik Tellewindow ends Oct 13, 2026
Sample: 20 AI answers · Window: Sep 15, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026 (4-week rolling) · trend vs prior 4 weeks (28 answers)
Samples by engine: GROK 5 (last run Sep 30, 2026) · GEMINI 5 (last run Sep 30, 2026) · CLAUDE 5 (last run Sep 30, 2026) · PERPLEXITY 5 (last run Sep 30, 2026) · CHATGPT 0 (last run Sep 5, 2026 — stalest)
How these numbers are made: sampling design · prompt provenance · what counts as a mention · what we cannot see
On the record: This ranking is frozen as a dated snapshot every day. View this category's history to see what entered and left the ranking and when, or read what the engines actually said on a given day.
Across 20 sampled AI answers from 4 engines, Drupal is recommended most often — appearing in 70% of recommendations, followed by Strapi (50%) and Joomla (30%).
This is a measurement of share of voice across 4 AI engines — not an editorial pick. See the full ranking below.
Orbator asked Grok, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity buyer questions about open-source content management systems and sampled 20 answers between Sep 15, 2026 and Oct 13, 2026. Recommendation share counts the answers that recommended or listed a product, so a passing mention or a warning adds nothing to it. A category publishes once it holds at least 20 independently sampled answers in the window. Read the full methodology or download this ranking as CSV.
Buyer prompts in this window split between design-led marketing sites, headless developer builds, multilingual news, large content teams, plugin ecosystems for ecommerce and membership, and nonprofit versus media use cases. The intent groups show different recommended leaders. Strapi led best_in_category at 100% of 18 runs. WordPress led recommendation at 88.2% of 17 runs. Payload led alternatives at 77.8% of 9 runs. Drupal and WordPress tied comparison at 88.9% of 9 runs each. Directus led problem_solving at 88.9% of 9 runs.
So the shortlist depends on which question you are actually asking. A headless frontend build points at Directus and Payload, both recommended in 100% of the 9 runs on that prompt. Two products carry verified pricing facts: Strapi at Starter: $35 a month and WordPress at Personal: $9 a month (free tier available), both last verified 2026-09-05.
| # | Product | Share | Trend | Engines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | drupal.org | 70% 95% CI 48.1–85.5% 14 mentions · avg pos 7.2 first pick 14.3% | — | GROK 60%GEMINI 80%CLAUDE 40%PERPLEXITY 100% | Claim |
| 2 | strapi.io | 50% 95% CI 29.9–70.1% 10 mentions · avg pos 5.4 first pick 30% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 60%CLAUDE 40%PERPLEXITY 60% | Claim |
| 3 | joomla.org | 30% 95% CI 14.5–51.9% 6 mentions · avg pos 6.3 first pick 0% | — | GROK 60%GEMINI 40%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 4 | wordpress.com | 30% 95% CI 14.5–51.9% 6 mentions · avg pos 6.4 first pick 0% | — | GROK 80%GEMINI 20%CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 5 | nextjs.org | 30% 95% CI 14.5–51.9% 6 mentions · avg pos 8.2 first pick 16.7% | — | GROK 60%GEMINI 60% | Claim |
| 6 | payloadcms.com | 30% 95% CI 14.5–51.9% 6 mentions · avg pos 9.6 first pick 0% | — | GROK 60%GEMINI 40%CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 7 | TYPO3 | 30% 95% CI 14.5–51.9% 6 mentions · avg pos 10.2 first pick 0% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 40%CLAUDE 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 8 | ProcessWire | 25% 95% CI 11.2–46.9% 5 mentions · avg pos 9 first pick 20% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 20%CLAUDE 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 9 | sanity.io | 25% 95% CI 11.2–46.9% 5 mentions · avg pos 9 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%GEMINI 40%CLAUDE 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 10 | craftcms.com | 25% 95% CI 11.2–46.9% 5 mentions · avg pos 12.5 first pick 0% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 20%CLAUDE 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 11 | react.dev | 20% 95% CI 8.1–41.6% 4 mentions · avg pos 3.5 first pick 25% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 40% | Claim |
| 12 | directus.io | 20% 95% CI 8.1–41.6% 4 mentions · avg pos 9 first pick 0% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 40% | Claim |
| 13 | astro.build | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 5 first pick 0% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 14 | getgrav.org | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 7.7 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%GEMINI 40% | Claim |
| 15 | storyblok.com | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 7.7 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 40%CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 16 | ghost.org | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 8.5 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%CLAUDE 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 17 | hygraph.com | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 8.7 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 60% | Claim |
| 18 | umbraco.com | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 12 first pick 0% | — | GROK 40%GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 19 | pimcore.com | 15% 95% CI 5.2–36% 3 mentions · avg pos 19 first pick 0% | — | GROK 40%CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 20 | gohugo.io | 10% 95% CI 2.8–30.1% 2 mentions · avg pos 3 first pick 50% | — | GROK 20%GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 21 | Backdrop | 10% 95% CI 2.8–30.1% 2 mentions · avg pos 6.5 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 22 | backdropcms.org | 10% 95% CI 2.8–30.1% 2 mentions · avg pos 6.5 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 23 | nuxt.com | 10% 95% CI 2.8–30.1% 2 mentions · avg pos 7 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 24 | sulu.io | 10% 95% CI 2.8–30.1% 2 mentions · avg pos 21 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 25 | ibexa.co | 10% 95% CI 2.8–30.1% 2 mentions · avg pos 23 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20%CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 26 | acquia.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 1 first pick 100% | — | GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 27 | wagtail.org | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 2 first pick 0% | — | PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 28 | gatsbyjs.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 6 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 29 | contentful.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 7 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 30 | getkirby.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 7 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 31 | agilitycms.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 11 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 32 | djangoproject.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 11 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 33 | polylang.pro | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 12 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 34 | ACF | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 13 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 35 | prismic.io | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 13 first pick 0% | — | GEMINI 20% | Claim |
| 36 | wpml.org | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 13 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 37 | weglot.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 14 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 38 | elementor.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 15 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 39 | webflow.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 17 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 40 | sylius.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 24 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 41 | lokalise.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions · avg pos 28 first pick 0% | — | GROK 20% | Claim |
| 42 | Armonic | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 43 | bolt.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 44 | forkcms.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 45 | Kunstmaan | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 46 | modx.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 47 | pagekit.com | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | CLAUDE 20% | Claim |
| 48 | Winter CMS | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
| 49 | wordpress.org | 5% 95% CI 0.9–23.6% 1 mentions first pick 0% | — | PERPLEXITY 20% | Claim |
Reading the numbers: Share is a point estimate on 20 sampled answers, so each row also shows its 95% CI — the Wilson score interval around that share. When two products' intervals overlap, the gap between them isn't statistically meaningful at this sample size. First pick is the share of a product's recommending answers where it was named first, which separates “always mentioned” from “usually the top recommendation”. Full methodology.
Independence: Orbator customers are badged for disclosure. Customer status does not affect prompts, sampling, extraction, or ranking — see the methodology. Your product on this list? Claim it to see the prompts behind your rank and track it weekly.
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Head-to-head pages for products ranked in Open-source content management systems. Each one sets out sourced facts side by side, plus which product AI assistants recommend more, engine by engine.
Strapi ranks first, recommended in 100% of the 9 runs on the prompt about the best open-source CMS for a marketing team that wants full design flexibility. Across the category it was recommended in 23 answers and listed in 21 of 62 sampled answers in the 4-week window to 2026-09-05. Its engine range is the widest in the top five, from 100% of Grok's 7 answers down to 42.9% of Claude's 7 answers. Pricing fact: Starter: $35 a month, last verified 2026-09-05.
Drupal ranks second, recommended in 100% of the 9 runs on the prompt about choosing between self-hosted open-source CMS options for a large content team. It was recommended in 23 answers and listed in 17. Highest engine share was 85.7% of Grok's 7 answers, lowest 42.9% of Perplexity's 14 answers.
WordPress ranks third, recommended in 100% of the 9 runs on the nonprofit versus media company prompt. It was recommended in 28 answers and listed in 9, the largest recommended-to-listed gap in the top five. Highest engine share 85.7% of Grok's 7 answers, lowest 42.9% of Claude's 7 answers. Pricing fact: Personal: $9 a month (free tier available), last verified 2026-09-05.
Directus ranks fourth, recommended in 100% of the 9 runs on the headless developer prompt, with 20 recommended answers and 13 listed. Highest engine shares 71.4% of Grok's 7 answers and 71.4% of ChatGPT's 21 answers, lowest 28.6% of Claude's 7 answers.
Payload ranks fifth on the same headless developer prompt, recommended in 100% of its 9 runs, with 21 recommended answers and 9 listed. Highest engine share 61.5% of Gemini's 13 answers, lowest 42.9% of ChatGPT's 21 answers.
Four of the five engines recommended the same product most among the top five. Strapi led for Gemini across 13 answers, for Grok across 7 answers, for ChatGPT across 21 answers, and for Perplexity across 14 answers. Claude was the exception, recommending Drupal most among the top five across its 7 answers.
The widest gap between engines belongs to Strapi. Claude recommended it in 42.9% of its 7 answers; Grok recommended it in 100% of its 7 answers. That is a spread of 57.1 points on the same product in the same 4-week window to 2026-09-05. Both of those engines ran 7 answers each, so the two ends of that gap rest on small counts. A buyer weighing Strapi on one engine's answer alone is reading one point on a wide range.
This is the first measured window on record for open-source content management systems. It runs 2026-08-08 to 2026-09-05, 28 days, and covers 62 sampled answers across 5 engines. There is no prior window to compare against, so no product entered or left the top ten and no share change can be reported yet.
The order as measured now: Strapi first at 71% of 62 sampled answers, Drupal second at 64.5%, WordPress third at 59.7%, Directus fourth at 53.2%, Payload fifth at 48.4%, all over the same 62 answers in the window to 2026-09-05. Confidence intervals overlap across the group, with Strapi at 58.7 to 80.8 and Drupal at 52.1 to 75.3. WordPress had the highest first-recommendation rate in the top five at 43.2%, from 16 first-recommendation runs. Directus recorded 0.
Every number on this page is measured from sampled answers, and those answers are kept. The archive holds dated excerpts of what each engine answered, never full answers. Read the answer archive for open-source content management systems to see the excerpts by date and engine, or view the ranking history to see what entered and left this ranking and when.
Across 20 sampled AI answers from 4 engines (Sep 15, 2026 to Oct 13, 2026), Drupal is recommended most often for open-source content management systems, appearing in 70% of recommendations, followed by Strapi (50%). This is a measurement of what AI assistants recommend, not an editorial verdict.
No ChatGPT recommendation for open-source content management systems appears in this window's sample (Sep 15, 2026 to Oct 13, 2026). The per-engine breakdown in the ranking shows what each engine answered.
Orbator samples AI answers to buyer questions across 4 engines and counts how often each product is recommended. No product pays for placement. The open-source content management systems ranking is based on 20 answers in the current 4-week window (Sep 15, 2026 to Oct 13, 2026). Full methodology is published at https://www.orbator.io/ai-index/methodology.
Verified facts for the most-recommended products — each sourced and dated. No editorial scoring, just the data side by side.
| Strapistrapi.io | Joomlajoomla.org | WordPresswordpress.com | Next.jsnextjs.org | Payloadpayloadcms.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Starter: $35 a month ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | — | Personal: $9 a month (free tier available) ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | — | — |
| Features | Content Type Builder ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | Search Engine Friendly ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | Unlimited pages, posts, users, and visitors ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | Data Fetching ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | Multi-Tenancy ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 |
| Platforms | — | Web ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | — | Web ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | Next.js ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 |
| Integrations | Vercel ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | — | PayPal ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | Tailwind CSS ↗ sourceverified Sep 5, 2026 | — |
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