Old-School CMS Giants – And Why I Wouldn’t Install TYPO3 or Drupal for Your Company in 2026
Big companies, universities and government projects often end up with TYPO3 or Drupal.
These two systems have been around since the early 2000s and are still used in 2026 because they can handle very complex, multilingual, high-security websites with lots of users and strict rules.
But here’s the honest truth most business owners don’t hear:
TYPO3 feels like a monkey trying to scratch its ear with the other foot.
It’s powerful on paper, but in real life it’s awkward, complicated and frustrating. You need to learn a whole private language (TypoScript), huge configuration arrays (TCA), special templates (Fluid), and a backend that looks and feels old. Upgrades can take months, frontend work is messy, and the documentation is often hard to follow.
It’s excellent if you run a giant international organisation with a full team of TYPO3 experts (very common in Germany and Austria).
For almost every other company?
It’s too heavy, loads slowly, costs more to host properly, and requires constant specialist help.
Drupal is actually much nicer to work with.
I used it a lot in the early days and always liked it when a project really needed that depth. It’s built more like a modern framework (powered by Symfony), the modules and design system are logical, and it handles complicated content very well without so much strange magic.
Even so, Drupal now feels like yesterday’s news in 2026.
The entire “big traditional PHP CMS” idea is starting to look dated.
Drupal 10 stops receiving security updates at the end of 2026.
Newer versions are faster and better, but most normal businesses simply don’t need all that extra weight.
What most companies actually want in 2026
- Pages that load in under 1 second
- Very low hosting and maintenance costs
- Easy (and cheap) updates without calling a specialist every time
- No endless legacy problems or surprise bills
TYPO3 and Drupal are usually overkill for that.
They’re like bringing a tank to do your weekly grocery shopping: impressive, but slow, expensive and unnecessary.
There’s a much better way now
Today you can build websites that are:
- Lightning fast
- Secure by design
- Easy to grow and update
- Exactly the size and features you really need (including modern login systems like OpenID Connect / OAuth2, clean APIs, mobile-first design)
No unnecessary complexity. A site that loads quickly, keeps your data safe, and makes your customers happy to use it.
If you’re tired of wrestling with complicated old CMS systems and want something simple, fast, secure and built precisely for your real business, drop me a message - I’d be happy to chat and show you what’s possible in 2026. 😊
