☕️ TYPO3, WordPress, and a Morning by the Sea
The window is open. Seagulls are shouting over Praia do Matadouro, the ocean rhythm humming underneath it all. I take a sip of coffee — still hot, still quiet — and let my eyes rest on the horizon.
It’s early. The kind of early where the sun is just starting to do its job, and the light is spilling across my desk in soft gold. A new tab opens. I’m checking a few websites for a client, like I do many mornings — quick source code scan, structure check, see what’s under the surface.
Mostly WordPress. Always WordPress.
But then I pause.
This website is powered by TYPO3 – inspiring people to share!
Wait a second. Is that… TYPO3?
I lean in, frown a little, and squint at the headers.
Yep. TYPO3. That takes me back.
A sudden rabbit hole
I don’t normally go down technical rabbit holes before 9 AM. But this one feels personal.
I start digging — not out of skepticism, but curiosity. I’ve built, scaled, and helped sunset plenty of CMS systems over the years. And while TYPO3 and I have crossed paths before, it’s been a while.
I open my dashboard notes, start running a quick comparison. What’s TYPO3 up to in 2025? Is it worth considering? And how does it hold up against my go-to workhorse, WordPress?
The market doesn’t lie
The numbers say it all:
- WordPress powers over 43% of the entire internet.
- TYPO3? Around 0.6% and mostly in German-speaking enterprise circles.
At this point, I mumble something like:
“Okay… maybe there’s a reason I don’t run into this very often.”
But I don’t want to dismiss it too quickly. So I pull up the data, and it turns into this neat little table:
| Aspect | WordPress | TYPO3 |
|---|---|---|
| Market Share | 43%+ of all websites worldwide | ~0.6%, strong in Germany, Enterprise markets |
| Ease of Use | Beginner-friendly block editor, drag & drop, real-time preview | Steep learning curve, developer-centric interface |
| Extensions | 60,000+ plugins and themes | 6,000+ extensions, fewer integrations |
| Performance | Great up to medium scale; needs tuning for enterprise | Built for complex, high-scale environments |
| Security | Secure if maintained; high attack surface due to popularity | More secure out of the box; enterprise-grade controls |
| SEO | Excellent with Yoast & others | Very strong technical SEO built-in |
| Cost to Develop | Lower – wide talent pool, lots of freelancers | Higher – specialized developer skill required |
| Community | Massive, global, vibrant (WordCamps, forums, etc.) | Smaller but passionate; focused around TYPO3 Association |
| Who it’s for | Bloggers, small businesses, e-commerce, creators | Corporates, governments, multilingual portals, regulated environments |
The honest verdict
So here’s the thing: TYPO3 isn’t bad. It’s focused. It’s opinionated. It serves enterprise environments well — and if you have a German government project or a multinational portal with strict workflows, it might even be the right call.
But for most real-world projects I work on — fast-moving, pragmatic, scaling from solopreneur to small team to mid-sized business — WordPress wins. Every time.
And it’s not just about the numbers.
It’s about how it feels to build with it. How fast you can launch. How easy it is to hand off. How your marketing team won’t hate you for choosing it.
Zooming back out
I glance back at the window. The ocean’s picking up. Light’s brighter now. The coffee’s cooling in my hand.
And I think:
“Yeah, WordPress just makes sense. It gets out of the way. It lets you ship.”
For someone like me — a fractional tech strategist who lives in that sweet spot between strategy and shipping — that matters. A lot.
I don’t need elegance for elegance’s sake. I need momentum. WordPress gives me that.
If you’re on the fence…
If you’re evaluating your next CMS stack — maybe you’re in that classic in-between moment of rebranding, launching, rebuilding — don’t overthink it. Start with WordPress. There’s a reason it keeps winning.
And if you’re knee-deep in legacy systems or evaluating “enterprise-grade” options that feel like overkill? Let’s talk. I’ve been in those rooms. I’ve made those migrations. I know the signs.
That morning, over coffee and a glimpse into someone else’s codebase, I was reminded why I keep coming back to WordPress.
Not because it’s flashy.
But because it works.
And if you work in the real world — with real clients, real budgets, real deadlines — that’s exactly what you need.
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