Drupal vs Carbonmade: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

Drupal and Carbonmade cater to different audiences with distinct needs, making each platform suitable for specific purposes.

• 
  Drupal (Overall Grade: 6.4/10)
  
  is a powerful open-source CMS known for its flexibility and extensive customization options. It is ideal for developers and businesses looking to create complex websites with custom functionalities. Drupal excels in providing a wide range of modules and themes, robust security features, and comprehensive marketing tools. However, its steep learning curve and the need for technical knowledge can be a barrier for beginners.
• 
  Carbonmade (Overall Grade: 4.4/10)
  
  is designed for creatives who want to showcase their work online without coding skills. It offers an easy-to-use interface, customizable layouts, and features tailored for portfolio creation. Carbonmade is perfect for photographers, illustrators, and designers looking for a simple and fast way to build and manage their online portfolios. However, it lacks advanced features like ecommerce capabilities and extensive plugins, making it less suitable for complex web projects.

Best for ecommerce

Verdict

: Drupal is a robust choice for ecommerce, offering extensive features and customization options, while Carbonmade lacks any ecommerce functionalities.

• 
  Drupal
  
  : Known for its flexibility and extensibility, Drupal is ideal for complex ecommerce needs. It supports a wide range of ecommerce functionalities through its Drupal Commerce module, including product management, payment gateways, and customizable workflows. When comparing Drupal vs Carbonmade, Drupal stands out as the superior choice for ecommerce.
• 
  Carbonmade
  
  : Designed specifically for creatives, Carbonmade excels in portfolio creation but does not offer any ecommerce features. It is suitable for professionals looking to showcase their work online but falls short in supporting ecommerce operations.

Best for informational & business websites

Verdict

: Drupal is the superior choice for creating complex, highly customizable informational and business websites, while Carbonmade is more suited for creatives looking to build simple, visually appealing portfolios.

• 
  Drupal
  
  : With a score of 7.5, Drupal excels in flexibility and extensibility, making it ideal for a wide range of informational and business websites. Its extensive module library and customizable templates allow for a high degree of personalization, catering to various industries and needs. However, its steep learning curve may be a barrier for beginners.
• 
  Carbonmade
  
  : Scoring 5.9, Carbonmade is tailored for creatives who need a straightforward, user-friendly platform to showcase their work. It offers fully customizable layouts and pre-designed templates, making it easy to create visually appealing portfolios. While it lacks the advanced customization and integration options of Drupal, its simplicity and ease of use make it accessible to users without technical skills.

Detailed comparison

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Winner: Drupal.

If you’re looking for a platform with extensive customization options and a vast array of templates, Drupal is the preferred choice.

Drupal, as a highly flexible and powerful content management system, offers a vast array of templates and designs to cater to virtually any website need. With thousands of themes available, users can choose from minimalist designs, industry-specific layouts, and highly customizable multipurpose themes. These templates are designed to be responsive, ensuring that websites look great on any device. Moreover, the Drupal community continuously contributes new designs and templates, expanding the options for users to keep their websites modern and engaging.

Drupal Themes

Compared to Drupal, Carbonmade does not have templates, the platform creates a personalized portfolio website based on the inputs of the users. Carbonmade offers a specialized platform for creatives to build personalized, professional portfolios with a wide range of features tailored to showcase their work effectively. The website builder supports responsive designs optimized for all devices, allows unlimited uploads of images and videos, including 4K content, and provides various premade blocks and layouts for customization without the need for external templates or platforms.

🏆 Winner: Carbonmade

. Scoring an impressive 8.3, Carbonmade excels in user-friendliness, making it an ideal choice for creatives who want to build and manage their portfolios without any coding knowledge. Drupal, with a score of 5.4, offers extensive customization and scalability but comes with a steep learning curve, making it less accessible for beginners.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Drupal

. While both platforms offer valuable learning resources, Drupal provides a more extensive range of documentation, tutorials, and community support, making it easier for users to find the help they need to master the platform.

Drupal is a robust choice for ecommerce, offering a wide range of features through its Drupal Commerce module. It supports product management, shopping carts, payment gateways, and customizable workflows, making it suitable for complex ecommerce needs. On the other hand, Carbonmade does not provide any ecommerce functionalities, focusing instead on portfolio creation for creatives.

Drupal ecommerce features:

• Shopping Cart and Checkout Process
• Payment Gateway Integration
• Order Management and Invoicing
• Tax Calculation and VAT Support
• Shipping and Fulfillment
• Promotions and Discounts
• Reporting and Analytics
• Security and Compliance

Carbonmade ecommerce features:

Carbonmade does not offer any ecommerce features.

Ecommerce themes & templates

Drupal offers a wide array of ecommerce themes designed to cater to different types of online stores, from clean and simple designs to more sophisticated and feature-rich options. These themes are built with responsiveness in mind, ensuring that stores function seamlessly across various devices. Themes like Fiora, DrupalMag, and Storefront highlight the diversity available, offering customization options to match the unique needs of each business.

Carbonmade does not provide any ecommerce templates.

Product page customization

Drupal offers extensive customization possibilities for product pages through its modular architecture, allowing for detailed content types, flexible displays with Views, and theme customizations. The Drupal Commerce module enriches ecommerce functionalities, enabling tailored product management, checkout flows, and payment systems. With the ability to develop custom modules, Drupal provides a range of possibilities to meet specific ecommerce needs.

Carbonmade does not have ecommerce capabilities, thus it’s not possible to have product pages.

Payment processing

Drupal supports a wide range of payment gateways through third-party modules, including popular ones like PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.Net. These modules enable seamless integration for ecommerce functionalities on Drupal sites. While Drupal itself does not charge any commissions or transaction fees, the individual payment gateways integrated with it do have their own fee structures, which typically include per-transaction charges and may also have monthly fees. The specific fees depend on the chosen payment gateway and the terms of service agreed upon by the website owner.

Carbonmade does not have payment processing capabilities.

Considering the comprehensive ecommerce features, flexibility, and customization options, Drupal is a far superior choice for ecommerce compared to Carbonmade, which lacks any ecommerce functionalities.

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Winner: Carbonmade

. Carbonmade, with a score of 7.6, offers a range of features designed for creatives to build personalized, professional online portfolios without requiring coding knowledge. Its editor provides responsive design across devices, 4K video support, unlimited image and video uploads, and premade blocks for customization. The platform also includes unique features such as private portfolios, a before/after block, gallery slideshows, and a talent pool to connect with other creatives and potential clients.

Drupal’s editor, scoring 7.5, is commonly integrated through modules such as CKEditor, offering a wide range of features tailored for content creation and management. It supports rich text editing, enabling users to format text, insert links, images, and media, as well as create tables and lists with ease. The editor is highly customizable, allowing administrators to configure toolbars and options according to the needs of their site. However, its steep learning curve can be a limitation for new users.

Mobile editor/app

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Winner: None

. Both Drupal and Carbonmade do not offer dedicated mobile editor apps. Drupal, being an open-source content management system, focuses on providing extensive customization and flexibility through its web-based editor, which can be accessed on mobile devices but lacks a dedicated mobile app. Similarly, Carbonmade, designed for creatives to build online portfolios, does not provide a mobile editor app, focusing instead on its web-based editor for portfolio creation and management.

In summary, neither platform offers a dedicated mobile editor app, making this a non-factor in the comparison between Drupal and Carbonmade.

Overall Result

:

Carbonmade edges out Drupal

. Carbonmade scores 7.2, slightly higher than Drupal’s 7.1, due to its trial version that allows users to test all features. Drupal, as an open-source CMS, offers a free version but lacks a trial period or premium features testing.

Drupal is free but requires additional costs for domain and hosting, while Carbonmade offers affordable plans with a discount for annual subscriptions.

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Winner: Carbonmade

. While Drupal does not offer hosting services directly, Carbonmade provides managed hosting with unlimited storage, making it a more straightforward option for users who prefer an all-in-one solution. However, Carbonmade’s lack of disclosed uptime statistics and data center locations may be a concern for some users. Drupal’s hosting quality depends on the chosen provider, offering flexibility but requiring more setup and management.

🏆 Winner: Drupal

While both Drupal and Carbonmade have their unique strengths, Drupal’s extensive customization and optimization options give it an edge in website speed optimization.

Drupal, an open-source content management system (CMS), is known for its flexibility and extensibility, allowing developers to create complex websites with custom functionalities. Drupal provides a wide range of modules and themes that can be used to customize the appearance and behavior of a website. It offers numerous guides and tutorials on speed optimization, enabling users to optimize almost all aspects of their website. Load times and PageSpeed scores for Drupal websites vary depending on the level of optimization and the complexity of the website. Core Web Vitals improvements also depend on the users’ efforts in optimizing their sites.

Carbonmade, on the other hand, is a website builder designed specifically for creatives who want to showcase their work online without the need for coding skills. It offers fully customizable layouts and pre-designed templates, making it easy and fast to create and manage online portfolios. However, Carbonmade does not emphasize speed optimization features, and there is no specific information provided on their strategies for speed optimization or Core Web Vitals improvements. Load times and PageSpeed scores for Carbonmade websites also vary depending on the level of optimization applied by the users.

🏆 Winner: Drupal.

Drupal scores 8.6, showcasing its extensive modularity and flexibility with over 51,000 plugins available. These plugins, known as modules, cover a wide range of functionalities, making Drupal a highly customizable and scalable platform. Carbonmade, on the other hand, does not support any plugins or integrations, focusing instead on simplicity for creating online portfolios.

Drupal’s extensive module library and integration capabilities make it a versatile choice for complex web projects, while Carbonmade’s lack of plugin support limits its extensibility.

Drupal Applications

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Overall Winner: Drupal

. Drupal excels with its extensive marketing tools, including SEO, email marketing, and social media integration. Carbonmade, while user-friendly for creatives, lacks many essential marketing features.

🏆 Winner: Drupal

. Comparing Drupal vs Carbonmade, Drupal takes the lead in this category with its extensive community support system and professional 24/7 support services available through various providers. Drupal users benefit from a robust support network, including forums, documentation, and professional maintenance services, ensuring they have access to the help they need at any time.

Carbonmade, on the other hand, offers support primarily through a ticket-based system. While it does not provide live customer support, users generally receive responses within a few hours. Despite the lack of immediate assistance, Carbonmade’s support system is efficient and helpful for resolving issues related to portfolio creation and management.

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Winner: Drupal

. Drupal’s security framework is robust, featuring regular updates, role-based access control, and encryption for data at rest. Its proactive security team and extensive configuration options make it a reliable choice for websites requiring high security. Drupal’s comprehensive approach to security ensures that websites built on its platform are well-protected against common vulnerabilities.

Carbonmade, while providing basic security measures, primarily focuses on simplifying the creation of portfolio websites. It offers physical, electronic, and managerial safeguards to protect user data but lacks the advanced security features found in Drupal. This makes Carbonmade more suitable for users prioritizing ease of use over stringent security requirements.

🏆 Winner: Drupal

. Drupal, with a score of 7.5, integrates AI across various functionalities, enhancing e-commerce, content creation, and user engagement. Its AI capabilities include chatbots, automated content generation, SEO optimization, and cognitive services, making it a powerful tool for developers looking to leverage AI in their projects.

Carbonmade, with a score of 0, does not offer any AI capabilities. It focuses on providing a simple and fast way for creatives to build online portfolios without the need for coding skills, but lacks the advanced AI features that Drupal offers.

🏆 Winner: Drupal

. When it comes to managing users, Drupal offers a highly flexible and robust system compared to Carbonmade.

• Drupal’s flexible permission and role system allows for an unlimited number of users to manage and edit a website, only constrained by server capacity and practical management considerations. Administrators can create various roles, such as “Editor” or “Administrator”, each with customized permissions.
• Carbonmade, on the other hand, allows only one user to manage and edit a website, which significantly limits collaborative efforts.

Drupal User Roles and Access Levels:

Additional Features

User Feedback

Users appreciate Drupal for its ease of use, security, and flexibility as an open-source CMS, highlighting its ability to scale and support a variety of websites and applications with modern technology tools. The community and documentation are frequently mentioned positives, providing ample support and resources. However, criticisms include a relative lack of plugins and themes compared to competitors like WordPress, the learning curve for customization without coding, and some challenges with installation and updates. The platform is praised for its robust content management capabilities, enabling users to manage content and user access efficiently. Overall, feedback underscores Drupal’s strength in creating secure, customizable, and scalable web solutions, despite some desires for more intuitive UI and easier setup.

Users appreciate Carbonmade for its ease of use, modern design templates, and no-code platform, which simplifies creating professional portfolios. However, some express a desire for a freemium plan and note limitations in customization and mobile site loading times. The platform is highly recommended for creatives, particularly illustrators and graphic designers, for its variety of design options and efficient customer service. Despite concerns over pricing, the overall sentiment is positive, with users finding value in Carbonmade’s ability to showcase their work effectively and streamline portfolio management.

FAQ