Skip to main content
TrustRadius
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.

Read more
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 …
Continue reading

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.
Continue reading
Read all reviews

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%
Return to navigation

Pricing

View all pricing
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

Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?

18 people also want pricing

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 Adobe Business Catalyst (Discontinued)?

Adobe Business Catalyst was a cloud-hosted system for building and managing web content and online stores with a built-in CRM framework in addition to sales, service, and marketing features including eCommerce and Email Marketing tools. It has been end of life (EOL) since 2020.

Return to navigation

Product Demos

Concrete CMS DevOps Hosting

YouTube
Return to navigation

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
Return to navigation

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).
Return to navigation

Comparisons

View all alternatives
Return to navigation

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

(51-59 of 59)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Owen Dessauer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As "easy" as Concrete5 is, it is still not perfect for someone completely inexperienced in putting together a website, unless that person is prepared to learn a bit and take the time to do so. I think sometimes people mistake what they hear about Concrete5 being easy to mean it is like a Squarespace or Weebly alternative. It's not. It's much much more powerful and extendable. However, to address this, Concrete5 will be doing something similar to what Wordpress does with wordpress.com VS wordpress.org . So there will be a hosted, simplified version in the probably not too distant future at concrete5.com , and concrete5.org will continue as it is currently (although greatly enhanced with the upcoming 5.7 release and accompanying redesign).
Christine Will | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I installed Concrete5 on our in-house web server. I've also used Concrete5 for a few freelance jobs using a hosting service. I've noticed better site performance on the site hosted by the in-house server. This shouldn't be a surprise considering our web server is dedicated to only our site. There is a noticeable difference with the response time on the sites using a hosting service utilizing a shared server. If you are looking to build a large site you may want to look into having your own web server. Or, checkout the various different hosting options available and choose the plan that makes the most sense for your business needs.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is suited for media and content-driven websites, and integrating those sites easily with social media. I would not use this product for, say, CRM or an Enterprise support application, it's not a replacement for J2EE and those sorts of technologies. Persistence is managed within the Concrete5 framework, so, rendering tables off an external database, for instance, is something you'd have to customize on your own.
Nathanael Girard | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
As far as Content Management Systems (CMS) go, they are the best you can get for free. I've used many other solutions before and this is by far the most intuitive and easy to train people on. If you are looking for a flashy attention-getting site it might not suit your business needs, but if you need to have the flexibility to update content frequently and with people who are less skilled, this is your tool. It works very well for corporate sites and personal sites. I haven't yet tried to implement an e-commerce site with their plugins yet but they do have some specifically for that. I would imagine though that there are much better solutions out there for e-commerce sites.
Michael Thomas | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 wouldn't be my first choice to recommend unless they had a good understanding and experience with CMS's and CMS development and also had the budget to potentially spend some money on key functionality. From my experience, Concrete5 is not a very good CMS for eCommerce due to it's limited add-on's for in house online stores. It seems to only be beneficial if you have your store off site and wish to connect the two sites together. However if you have the know how and the budget, depending on your site purpose, Concrete5 is very useful. There's the right CMS out there for every application.
Brad Fogelstrom | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Generally, I tell my clients that Concrete is a "build-anything" type of platform. It is ideal for websites that are more basic in nature, such as informational websites. However, there are plenty of addons - some paid - that can be used to make Concrete more functional.

If you are looking to build a large ecommerce website with thousands of products, you are likely better off with a platform that is dedicated to ecommerce. The same goes for social networking sites that require complex functionality.

However, Concrete can be used for medium-sized ecommerce projects (hundreds of products), or even as a private intranet portal or similar small- to medium-scale social platform.

If you browse Concrete's addon marketplace, you may find what you're looking for. If not, there are plenty of developers that can be hired for custom development.

In short, Concrete is most ideal for small- to medium-sized businesses. In some cases, even large-scale ones, depending on the site's complexity.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is suited for general, mainstream web sites that are not very complex. It is not as appropriate for niche sites, like blogs, wikis, and even photography sites or video sites. You can make it work for you, but there are better options if you're looking to create something very specific and easily customizable. I find it's perfect for portfolios and businesses.
Doug Dawson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Concrete5 is an excellent tool for content management. If you have content that needs to be changed frequently or if non-technical users need to make updates, Concrete5 is a good tool for the job. Content that doesn't change often or if developers are making the changes, the learning curve and overhead may make Concrete5 inefficient to use.
Return to navigation