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Concrete CMS

Concrete CMS
Formerly Concrete5

Overview

What is Concrete CMS?

Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is a free and open source, PHP built content management system for content on the web and also for intranets. It is optimized to support the creation of online magazines and newspapers.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Smooth User Interface: Many users have praised the smooth user interface of the product, stating that it is intuitive and easy to …
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Best CMS

10 out of 10
March 06, 2021
Incentivized
Concrete5 gets used from standard websites to big portals with a lot of individual funcionallities. It also gets used as a framework.
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 16 features
  • Admin section (40)
    10.0
    100%
  • Page templates (40)
    10.0
    100%
  • Mobile optimization / responsive design (39)
    9.7
    97%
  • WYSIWYG editor (42)
    9.2
    92%
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Pricing

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N/A
Unavailable

What is Concrete CMS?

Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is a free and open source, PHP built content management system for content on the web and also for intranets. It is optimized to support the creation of online magazines and newspapers.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Alternatives Pricing

What is ExpressionEngine?

ExpressionEngine is a content management system from EllisLab in 2002, a successor to pMachine Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL for data storage. ExpressionEngine is their flagship Content Delivery Platform.

What is Square Online?

Square Online (formerly Weebly) is a basic content management system with blogging and eCommerce features. It can be utilized for building standard websites or specialized webpages for online stores.

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Product Demos

Concrete CMS DevOps Hosting

YouTube
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Features

Security

This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.

9.4
Avg 8.0

Platform & Infrastructure

Features related to platform-wide settings and structure, such as permissions, languages, integrations, customizations, etc.

9.7
Avg 7.7

Web Content Creation

Features that support the creation of website content.

8.4
Avg 7.6

Web Content Management

Features for managing website content

7.1
Avg 7.3
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Product Details

What is Concrete CMS?

Concrete CMS (formerly concrete5) is an Open Source Content Management System for teams. The vendor states users can run a secure website that content contributors will love using with Concrete CMS. Concrete is a platform that grows with the user's needs.

The user experience is built around in-context editing and is designed to be as easy to use as a word processor so that users spend less time training people, and less time having to fix things.

As an open source framework the user can build complex applications as features like permissions, workflow, file management, calendar, forms, SEO and so much more are built right in. A marketplace of add-ons & themes and an active community can help quickly deliver solutions using Concrete CMS.

The vendor boasts fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, individuals and the U.S. Army as users of Concrete CMS to power critical parts of their web presence.

Concrete CMS Features

Web Content Creation Features

  • Supported: WYSIWYG editor
  • Supported: Code quality / cleanliness
  • Supported: Content versioning
  • Supported: Admin section
  • Supported: Page templates
  • Supported: Library of website themes
  • Supported: Mobile optimization / responsive design
  • Supported: Publishing workflow
  • Supported: Form generator
  • Supported: Content scheduling

Web Content Management Features

  • Supported: Internal content search
  • Supported: Content taxonomy
  • Supported: SEO support
  • Supported: Browser compatibility
  • Supported: Bulk management
  • Supported: Page caching
  • Supported: Availability / breadth of extensions
  • Supported: E-commerce / shopping cart extension
  • Supported: Community / comment management
  • Supported: Import / export

Platform & Infrastructure Features

  • Supported: API
  • Supported: Internationalization / multi-language

Security Features

  • Supported: Role-based user permissions
  • Supported: Multi-factor authentication
  • Supported: User-level audit trail
  • Supported: Version history
  • Supported: Simple roll-back capabilities

CMS programming language or framework Features

  • Supported: PHP

Concrete CMS Screenshots

Screenshot of In-context editing is simple to understandScreenshot of Change text just like a word processorScreenshot of Versioning and workflow built on top of powerful permissionsScreenshot of Flexible backend to power complex communities and intranets.

Concrete CMS Videos

What problems does Concrete CMS solve?
Testimonial from a customer

Concrete CMS Competitors

Concrete CMS Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported Countriesanywhere
Supported Languagesarabic, bangla, bosnian, chinese, czech, danish, dutch, english, estonian, finnish, french, german, greek, hebrew, hungarian, icelandic, indonesian, italian, japanese, korean, lithuanian, malay, persian, polish, portuguese, romanian, russian, slovak, spanish, swedish, thai, turkish, vietnamese, welsh

Frequently Asked Questions

Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is a free and open source, PHP built content management system for content on the web and also for intranets. It is optimized to support the creation of online magazines and newspapers.

WordPress and Drupal are common alternatives for Concrete CMS.

Reviewers rate Code quality / cleanliness and Admin section and Page templates highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Concrete CMS are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(85)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Smooth User Interface: Many users have praised the smooth user interface of the product, stating that it is intuitive and easy to navigate. Several reviewers have mentioned that they appreciate the clean design and well-organized layout, which enhances their overall experience.

Reliable Performance: Numerous customers have commended the reliable performance of the product. Several reviewers have stated that it consistently meets their expectations and performs tasks efficiently without any glitches or slowdowns. Users have expressed satisfaction with its stability and responsiveness.

Versatile Features: A significant number of users have highlighted the versatility of features offered by the product. Some reviewers have mentioned that it provides a wide range of functionalities, allowing them to accomplish various tasks effectively. The availability of customizable options has also been appreciated by several customers, as it caters to individual preferences and requirements.

Confusing User Interface: Many users have expressed frustration with the confusing and difficult-to-navigate user interface of Concrete5. They find it challenging to complete tasks efficiently due to the lack of intuitive design and organization.

Slow Rendering of Admin Pages: Some users have reported experiencing slow rendering of admin pages, particularly when using older computers. This sluggish performance hampers their productivity and can be frustrating during day-to-day usage.

Limited Customization Options: Users have voiced their concerns about the limited customization options in Concrete5. They feel that these options are buried within the software, making it harder for them to personalize their websites according to their specific preferences and requirements.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 59)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Jalen Séguin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Concrete CMS shines any time the end-user wants to be able to edit their own content. Even in situations where the information is formatted in a complicated and/or technical way, Express objects give the developer a magic wand to allow novice editors the ability to update and maintain site content. I offer Concrete CMS as a far more secure alternative to WordPress, due to Concrete's design and the fact that the brand is currently under the radar of most bad actors.
David Reeder | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
It's very well suited to projects where the client will want to edit their own site and make lots of changes. Because it is so intuitive, clients tend to love working with it. Projects that use feeds and process large amounts of data, are probably better off having a Concrete5 front-end and a separate element elsewhere doing the heavy lifting, perhaps another Laravel application.
Olivier Soille | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
more appropriate for a community-based web application, website. less for enterprise but I use it for that too with specific dev of plug-ins. a good choice for little e-commerce too. very good in terms of web security. also, sometimes used for document management in some enterprise and collaborative platforms.
Katz Ueno | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Suitable if you are part of small to large scale companies or web-houses which have PHP developers and frontend engineers with some budgets. [Also suitable if] you or your client want to build a website that requires some features or uniqueness [and needs] some customization and freedom. Additionally suitable if you want this project to be DevOps based project or if the project requires very tight security and is inside of a closed network.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
The right choice for more projects than it wins. Get a site up and running quickly and focus on the content, not the inner workings. Good for early-stage companies to use and grow with, when you don't need to mess with your website at the expense of your business. An economical choice without the fear of your information becoming part of the business success of the developer. (no ties into the Internet economy of big data).
Wayne Stewart | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is best for medium size web sites where two or more people will be maintaining the site. If you're planning on using Concrete5 as a blogging platform the blogging section is very limited. Look into the Pro Blogs add on in the Concrete5 marketplace.
March 06, 2021

Best CMS

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 suits well for any CMS project - from a standard website to big portals. It is very easy to be administrated by editors and also can be extended quickly by developers.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Give a chance and you will never look back. Only will see the bright future. Concrete5 is a system to build a more inclusive Internet, with tools easier to manage. You can use an institutional website or build an awesome community to manage the company's workflow. Concrete5 is almost like a low code SDK.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is perfect for a website that needs to be regularly updated without accessing the code, whether that be because a developer created your site for you, or because you yourself are a developer who wants to keep the time spent on updates down.
In my experience, it's less useful for modern web apps such as PWAs that would benefit more from technologies such as React and Vue.
Chris Kerry | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Fast and easy to set up; looks very professional. Concrete5 runs great on most servers. This is great software for a small business or individual wanting more control over how their website works. I would not recommend this for a larger business or one that is migrating over a large, complex, older website with or without a previous CMS.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
Concrete5 provides the ideal solution where a website with bespoke functionality is needed. It is very flexible and can be configured to allow easy editing/maintenance for almost any requirement. It is ideal for slightly larger sites that have a team of people managing content rather than for a smaller sites.
Ngo Thien | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
With each project it is best to approach it with the goals in mind. Concrete5 may not be the best fit in all cases. Given that there is such a large community centered around WordPress for example, with a plethora of sound plugins that can accomplish much more that most CMS solutions, it is best to dive into Concrete5, understand how your team can best utilize what Concrete5 does best- content management.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It's best suited for complex websites with multiple contributors and editors, such as an online magazine. However, it also performs perfectly for small business brochure-style websites. Considering the wide range of third-party add-ons, what you can do with Concrete5 is only limited by your imagination. I've used it for intranet, e-commerce, and B2B solutions as well.

If you have a large inventory of products and want to build a comprehensive e-commerce site, then there are other CMSes that tackle that challenge better than Concrete5. However, if you only have a few basic products, then this can work very well.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
For medium-sized web applications with different users and more functionality than just content-pages, I would recommend it. Even for smaller, content-oriented apps, it is suitable if the required configurations are made. Larger apps require user training that consists of pointing out and schooling the users on the features they will actually need to not get lost in the number of features and configurations available.
Janne Wolterbeek | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 CMS is written by those who love clean, secure code. Especially if you are wishing to write your own PHP code for special requirements, C5 is really the most solid and affordable solution out there! It is less suitable for anyone who can not code when modules are not available.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is simple enough for a business-card type website yet powerful enough to build full blown apps like project management, product workflow management, and more. Can be used for blogging, eCommerce, and much more. Peer-reviewed themes and add-ons allow for fast deployment with minimal coding knowledge. Site editors can be trained very quickly and love the ease of use.
Marc Stress | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is simply best-in-class content management and website development platform. It's ready to use right out of the box, and it completely extensible and customizable as much as needed. Moreover, our clients love working on their sites for day-to-day updates and site management. Concrete5 runs on any Linux (LAMP stack) server that would support Drupal, Joomla, WordPress or any of the other platforms. Our clients love working on their Concrete5 powered websites. Whether it's adding articles to the news room, sharing brand assets, updating employee profiles, or posting job openings to for their HR departments. It's not uncommon for our clients to grow their sites 50% in size during the first year after launch. If your web team is tired of dealing with CMS training issues, you need to consider Concrete5. If your technical team and host are tired of dealing with website security issues, you need to consider Concrete5. If you're pulling your hair out over frequent update patches required to keep your CMS platforms secure, you need to consider Concrete5 as the primary platform to grow your business, build great sites and make clients happy.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
This CMS is well suited to anyone building and maintaining a website. It is easy to use and simple to setup. If you are a developer selling on this as part of a website package your clients will love it. Very little training is needed for editors to get updating sites. I have never had it hacked and [it] runs on most servers. It is easy to move between hosts and updates are simple.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 was created as a content management system from day one unlike its main rival WordPress. This has meant that whilst WordPress has only just caught up with regards to the block construction system it has done so at the cost of website speed. Concrete5 is lean purely as it was built as a CMS and doesnt suffer with bloated code.
Anel Pasic | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Best suited for any type of corporate website that is not a webshop, or requires a full-custom from scratch built CMS.

Whatever you imagine, you can build anything on it. All you need is a descent developer that has a few brain cells.

Not suited for webshops. You can make it work, but it's not an efficient solution.
Dave Becker | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
If you have some knowledge of coding or website editing, Concrete5 is a great choice. You can go into their marketplace and find additional add-ons or modules that you would like to add to your site. If you are looking for a simple web site hosting service, this may not be the option for you.
Collin Berg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is a good CMS for small websites that are not updated very often. I've built everything I needed with Concrete5, from booking systems, shopping carts, e-learning systems for schools. Beautiful, fast and robust websites are easily built. Don't be scared off by the relatively (compared to WP) small amount of free add-ons. It is a GOOD thing that Concrete5 does not need much of them.
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