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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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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.

9.5
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
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)
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Jalen Séguin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • create and publish user-defined database content
  • easy and intuitive for site editors *and* developers
  • standards compliant and highly secure
  • was built from the ground up to be a versatile and robust development environment
  • reinvigorate and grow the (addon) developer community
  • expand and refine the documentation/education program
  • grow brand awareness
David Reeder | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
  • Easy and intuitive for site editors
  • Standards compliant code
  • Up to date and secure
  • Limitless, easy to extend
  • Lots of functionality out of the box
  • Documentation could be more extensive
  • Need to grow community to encourage developers to sell more in the marketplace
  • Build brand awareness
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Great UI for users to create content
  • No need to deal with the maintenance structure, but when you do it is well designed
  • Doesn't most everything you need from the base install
  • The user forum needs a shake up. Can be hard to get activity on a thread
  • Some more complex features aren't being developed by the community and need to be
  • Needs more support to overcome the preference for the 800 pound gorilla in the sector
March 06, 2021

Best CMS

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Many built-in functionalities that makes it a complete CMS
  • It constantly keeps on developing and the community is very active
  • It can be extended very quick and easy and is a solid framework
  • Should be known better
  • Traning and certification
  • Partner program
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Easy: Installation, configuration, customization and to do improvements.
  • A great community that helps everyone in trouble (if it happens).
  • Tons of add-ons and great numbers of theme options (could be more, but is ok).
  • A few options to customize a theme on core system.
  • A few themes selling on market place.
  • Small community around the world.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • As a dev, the Page object (coupled with page attributes, nav menus and page lists) makes structuring a website or web app a dream. The separation of page templates from page types also helps, the former being about layout while the latter is more conceptual.
  • As an admin, you pretty much have as much control as the developers of the site decide to give you.
  • The versioning system allows admins to roll changes back and work on changes before publishing them.
  • The permissions system is exceptionally powerful, allowing roles and/or individual users to be included or excluded from each permission.
  • The attributes system allows pages, files and users to be given custom properties of various types (e.g. text, image, colour).
  • Lack of a REST API for using as a headless CMS (although I believe this will change with the next major version).
  • No built-in way that I'm aware of to integrate React and/or Vue components.
  • No equivalent to WordPress + Advanced Custom Fields' "repeater" fields for adding an indefinitely long list of page/file/user attributes (though it's worth noting that the way Concrete5 is structured makes the need for this much rarer than it is in WordPress).
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
  • Complete CMS out of the box - extensions not required for basic functionality.
  • Modern PHP development framework - build whatever you need to.
  • User friendly editing environment - clients love using Concrete5.
  • Knowledgeable, supportive and friendly community.
  • Documentation is gradually improving, this needs to continue.
  • Design and styling controls could be updated.
Ngo Thien | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Page rollback and backup functions are great features for clients.
  • Easy extendability with package system.
  • Fast setup on both local and remote web hosting servers, either via "one button" installs or manually.
  • From a designers point of view, Concrete5 is very easy to re-theme with your own custom web design. Any web designer with a basic understanding of HTML and CSS can re-theme a website.
  • End users can update their pages using built in forms. It's as easy as using MS Word.
  • Allow end users to clear cache when updating pages.
  • Needs a few more built in forms.
  • The CMS is not multilingual by default. Even though I managed to 'hack' it so, it would be nice to have it included.
  • It'd be nice to make use of custom PHP modules through shortcodes more straight forward. It seems the hooks are a bit contrived.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Comprehensive editing tools for site owners.
  • User-friendly and intuitive interface.
  • Extendable architecture for developers.
  • Solid community forum for asking questions and getting free and paid help.
  • Good number of third-party add-ons and themes to extend the core features.
  • Regular news updates from the core team about platform improvements and strategic direction.
  • Average quality and depth of developer documentation.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • It is quite extensible.
  • There are many add-ons and themes.
  • It makes it easy for even non-technical people to be able to update the content on the website.
  • The extensions for older versions could be better marked to show if they are compatible with the current version.
  • It could stand to have a bit of code optimizing to make it less resource intensive.
  • It would be nice if there was a way to import content from my development server to my production server.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Out-of-the-box functionalities like user management, search, SEO
  • Edibility by users.
  • Simplicity for non digital natives.
  • Backend is for inexperienced users overwhelming.
  • Management of custom models can be intensive.
  • Frontend in edit-mode is sometimes unresponsive and irritates inexperienced users.
Marc Stress | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Flexible, easy to manage websites.
  • In-context editor that users and site managers love.
  • Secure codebase.
  • Development transparency from core team.
  • Open-source license model.
  • Extensible architecture.
  • Ready-to-use out of the box.
  • Better documentation from core developers.
  • Better display of dashboard details.
  • More name recognition.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Ease of use
  • Ease of installation
  • Highly configurable
  • Highly extensible
  • Poor developer documentation
  • Could do with editor profiles already added so permissions dont have to be set
  • Doesn't have a very large marketplace so addons need to be created from scratch
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
  • Easy for non technical users to edit content
  • Curated marketplace of free and paid extensions at a fair price
  • Good platform for custom development and further integration
  • Reliable and secure
  • Easy to manage
  • Too much wisdom is lost in the depths of Slack
  • With each new release, the infrastructure increases in complexity and leaves the documentation further behind.
Anel Pasic | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Effective and easy to publish and edit content. You enter the page where you want to edit content, choose edit mode and all editable content is there for you to change. Great overview with sitemap feature, you get full view of your website structure.
  • Extremly flexible, you can define page-types and assign custom attributes to each.
  • Gives developer full controll over display, and lets the editor plot in correct values.
  • Easy to maintain, good security. No need for external plugins in order to preform advanced features.
  • Best plugin is no plugin.
  • Not suitable for webshops. Sure there are plugins for that such as WooCommerce on WP, but that's a poor choice. Best to go for PrestaShop or full-blood E-Commerce solution.
  • No list view edit of the pages such as Joomla, would make it more effective.
Dave Becker | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Concrete5 has a modular editing system, so you can edit the pages without having knowledge of coding. You just pick the module you want to insert or edit and click where you want it to go.
  • You are able to edit modules in an HTML format if you would like to, so if you have the knowledge you can have even more control over your modules.
  • You can also edit entire page themes by selecting them from the page layout menu. This allows you a greater versatility of the pages on your site.
  • The file sorting system can be clunky at times. It can be difficult to find the correct file when you are searching for files you have previously uploaded.
  • Sometimes the page will crash in the middle of editing, and there isn't an autosave feature to backup your work.
  • Without proper training on how to use Concrete5, you can easily get lost or overwhelmed. It's not exactly intuitive right away.
Collin Berg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • The live editing (and its ease of use) for every page is THE best thing Concrete5 ships with.
  • It is easy to use for (tech-unsavvy) users and still extendable for developers.
  • The ecosystem for add-ons is small compared to WordPress, so finding solutions is harder or they get updated less frequently.
  • The time between updates is slow and lengthy, which can lead to security risks.
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