Liferay vs Drupal in Enterprise Applications

Choosing the right content management system (CMS) for your enterprise is a big decision. With so many options out there, it can feel overwhelming. But don't worry – we've got you covered! In this post, we'll explore two popular CMS choices: Drupal and Liferay.

Liferay and Drupal logos featured in a Rubic's cube collage.

Let's look at the facts: Drupal, known for its versatility and flexibility, powers an impressive 8.2% of the top 10,000 sites. On the flip side, Liferay, an enterprise portal known for efficiently deploying business solutions, is used by 0.6% of those top sites.

The best CMS for your enterprise depends on what you need. What are your unique business requirements? What are your goals and aspirations?

That being said, it’s easy to see why Drupal is a favorite among developers and content creators alike. Thanks to its modular architecture, Drupal excels at adaptability and customization. This means you can add or remove features as needed, making it highly flexible to changing requirements.

Let’s unpack Drupal and Liferay’s features, weigh their pros and cons and equip you with the insights you need to make the best choice for your enterprise.

Deep Dive Comparison: Drupal and Liferay

When comparing Drupal and Liferay, it's essential to understand their core characteristics and strengths.

Open Source vs. Closed Source

Drupal is open source software written in PHP. This makes it freely available for anyone to use, modify and distribute, contributing to its extensive flexibility and customization capabilities.

Liferay, on the other hand, offers a variety of products, some of which are open-source, while others are closed-source. For instance, Liferay DXP (Digital Experience Platform) is a closed-source product written in Java and designed for comprehensive digital experience management. Meanwhile, the Liferay Portal is open source, offering fundamental portal capabilities.

Specializations

Liferay excels in the enterprise portal space. It's particularly well-suited for companies needing intranets and extranets, as well as consumer-facing websites. Its strong focus on enterprise solutions makes it a preferred choice for organizations looking to integrate various business functions (like content management or customer relationship management) and provide a smooth digital experience across multiple channels.

Drupal stands out for its extensive customization options. It's excellent for sites that require a high degree of personalization and flexibility to develop “ambitious digital experiences”. This means developers can build sophisticated, engaging and dynamic web applications that offer a smooth and interactive user experience. Want a totally unique website? Drupal is your best bet.

Additionally, with robust API integrations and an extensive library of modules, Drupal can easily adapt to evolving business requirements. Developers can integrate third-party services, automate workflows and enhance site performance without being constrained by the limitations of less flexible content management systems. Whether it's an e-commerce platform, a content-heavy news site or a community-driven social network, Drupal's flexibility enables developers to implement bespoke features and designs that stand out.

While Liferay also offers customization options, they are far less extensive than Drupal's. Liferay’s customization capabilities are geared more toward enterprise needs rather than the broad, detailed customization that Drupal facilitates.

Content Hub Capabilities

Drupal is ideal for enterprises operating multiple platforms (such as websites, apps and kiosks) that require a centralized content hub. Drupal champions the “Create Once, Publish Everywhere” approach to content management, allowing businesses to create content in one place and push it out to multiple platforms easily.

Popularity and Community Support

Liferay is pretty reliable when it comes to support, offering web-based help within one working day. They also have forums and community support. However, since Liferay’s user base is much smaller than Drupal’s, finding specific solutions or support from the community might be a bit trickier.

Drupal, on the other hand, doesn’t come with the same kind of built-in software support because it’s open source. But don’t let that fool you – Drupal’s community is extremely passionate and helpful. You’ll find incredibly engaged and supportive members, along with a treasure trove of resources, forums and events.

Drupal’s popularity means you have a wide array of agencies and developers to choose from, not to mention numerous hosting options like Pantheon. This extensive ecosystem makes it easier for businesses to find the right expertise and resources for their Drupal projects.

To make things even better, Pantheon provides 24/7 support from Drupal experts, ensuring that help is available whenever it's needed.

Assessing Scalability and Performance

When your website is under heavy traffic or dealing with vast amounts of data, its performance can make or break the user experience. Drupal is designed to handle large volumes of content through various performance optimization techniques. Liferay also focuses on maintaining high performance under demanding conditions.

From load balancing to caching and database optimization, both Drupal and Liferay have strategies to keep things running efficiently – but the differences are negligible. For example, both platforms support load balancing, distributing incoming traffic evenly across multiple servers to prevent any single server from becoming overwhelmed.

Drupal employs multiple levels of caching to enhance content delivery speed, including page caching, view caching and block caching, significantly reducing server load. Similarly, Liferay utilizes advanced caching mechanisms like page caching and fragment caching to optimize performance.

For database optimization, Drupal uses efficient querying, indexing and technologies like MariaDB or MySQL, alongside techniques such as query caching and schema optimization. Liferay also focuses on performance tuning by optimizing database configurations to handle large datasets and complex queries, using connection pooling, proper indexing and optimizing SQL queries for efficient data processing.

Pantheon plays a crucial role in avoiding scalability issues and maintaining high uptimes. Pantheon’s Global Content Delivery Network (CDN) ensures that Drupal sites maintain high speed even during traffic spikes, providing fast, reliable access to content globally.

Which CMS is More Secure?

Of course, website security is a top priority for any enterprise-level platform. Both Liferay and Drupal are built with a strong focus on safeguarding data and preventing threats.

Liferay is built with security in mind, incorporating several features to protect against threats. It offers advanced authentication mechanisms, ensuring secure access control. Liferay’s design philosophy ensures that security features are enabled by default, reducing the risk of misconfigurations.

Drupal is renowned for its security, making it a preferred choice for security-conscious enterprises and organizations. It provides a wide range of security modules, such as the Security Kit module for protection against cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. These modules offer strong protection, making Drupal a popular choice among large institutions and businesses.

Additionally, Drupal is very transparent with its security, offering regular security reports and updates (every Wednesday). New releases with security fixes are scheduled every Wednesday, accompanied by detailed security scoring. Critical updates come with advanced warnings through the Drupal Steward Program, of which Pantheon is a founding partner.

Get the Most Out of Drupal With Pantheon

Pantheon is a lightning-fast WebOps platform that enhances Drupal workflows. We offer powerful tools and features designed to streamline development, improve performance and ensure reliability. By leveraging Pantheon, enterprises can maximize their Drupal experience and achieve their digital goals more efficiently with key features such as:

Structured Agile Workflows: Pantheon supports agile development methodologies with its structured workflows. This allows teams to collaborate effectively, implement changes rapidly and continuously deliver improvements.
Multidev Environment: Pantheon’s Multidev feature provides isolated cloud development environments for every team member. This means developers can work on their features without impacting the main site, facilitating parallel development and reducing integration conflicts. Each environment is a complete replica of the production site, ensuring consistency and reliability.
Terminus Command Line Interface (CLI): Terminus, Pantheon’s CLI, allows developers to manage their Drupal sites from the command line. This powerful tool enables the automation of routine tasks, such as backups, deployments and site updates, improving efficiency and reducing the risk of errors.

Even better, Pantheon enhances Drupal’s security with several key features:

Advanced Global CDN with WAF: Pantheon’s Global CDN includes a Web Application Firewall (WAF) that provides additional protection against common web threats.
Automated Backups with Autopilot: Automated backups ensure that data is consistently saved and can be quickly restored in case of any issues.
DDoS Protection and Intrusion Prevention: Pantheon’s infrastructure includes robust defenses against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and intrusion attempts, ensuring that Drupal sites remain secure and available.

Pantheon in Action: The Wallace Foundation

The Wallace Foundation, a national leader in supporting arts and education programs for youth, recently transformed their online presence by migrating from Microsoft SharePoint to Drupal, hosted on Pantheon. This move was driven by a mission to enhance user experience, boost page speed and streamline content management for their editorial team that previously needed custom coding and developer help for most updates.

With the help of Pantheon, the Wallace Foundation celebrated several major improvements:

Significantly faster page load times, making the website more accessible and enjoyable for users.
Freed from the constraints of needing developer assistance, the communications team can now independently create and edit content, allowing the web technology specialist to focus on other essential tasks.
With two decades of content to manage, Pantheon revamped the search function, making it simpler for users to find and access the Foundation's vast repository of research materials.
The integration of IntelligenceBank, a digital asset management provider, streamlined how the Foundation manages and shares its content assets, including reports, photos and documents.
Pantheon's Advanced Global CDN with WAF and Image Optimization ensure top-notch security and easier management.

As you can see, the Wallace Foundation’s migration to Drupal on Pantheon unlocked new efficiencies for its content team and the ability to serve stakeholders with a more user-friendly and effective website.

Your Next Step: Choosing Between Drupal and Liferay

Choosing the right CMS for your enterprise is more than a technical decision – it's a strategic one that will shape your online business’s future. In this post, we’ve delved into the unique strengths of both Drupal and Liferay, but ultimately, the best choice hinges on your specific needs and resources.

Think about your team's skill set. If your developers are seasoned PHP enthusiasts, Drupal might feel like a natural fit. On the other hand, if your team has Java expertise, Liferay may be the way to go.

But keep in mind that if you’re planning to outsource development, PHP developers are often easier to find and the market is rich with agencies experienced in Drupal. This can simplify the hiring process and ensure you find the perfect match for your project’s needs.

And here's the game-changer: Pantheon can supercharge your Drupal site. Imagine lightning-fast load times, even during peak traffic, thanks to Pantheon’s Global CDN and optimized infrastructure. With features like structured agile workflows, Multidev environments and automated backups, Pantheon makes development smooth and reliable.

Why not see for yourself? Try Pantheon today or chat with one of our experts to discover how Drupal on Pantheon can elevate your business. Whether you're aiming to boost performance, streamline development or enhance security, Pantheon has the tools and support to propel your Drupal site to new heights!