Concrete CMS 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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On this page

Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
User Reviews

Overview

Concrete CMS

4.5

(54)

Pricing

Pricing available upon request

About Concrete CMS

Concrete CMS is an Open Source Content Management System for teams. Run a secure website your content contributors will love using with Concrete CMS.

The user experience is built around in-context editing. It’s as easy to use as a word processor.
Users will spend less time training people, and less time having to fix things themselves.

As an open source framework the software 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 users quickly deliver effective solutions using Concrete CMS.

Concrete CMS Screenshots

Concrete CMS Pricing and Plans

Starting price: Connect with an advisor for pricing

Free Trial

Free Version

Basic

Pricing available upon request

No plan information available

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Concrete CMS Features

Popular features found in Web Content Management
Content Personalization
Content Publishing Options
Drag & Drop Editor
eCommerce Management
Multi-Channel Distribution
SEO Management
Website Accessibility Tools
More features of Concrete CMS
Access Control
Access Controls/Permissions
Activity Dashboard
Activity Tracking
Alerts/Notifications
Approval Process Control
Asset Lifecycle Management
Calendar Management
Collaboration Tools
Compliance Management
Configurable Workflow
Content Library
Content Management
Customizable Branding
Customizable Forms
Customizable Templates
Design Management
Digital Asset Management
Document Classification
Document Management
Document Storage
Drag & Drop
Electronic Forms
File Management
Forms Management
Full Text Search
Image Editing
Landing Pages/Web Forms
Media Library
Metadata Management
Mobile Access
Multi-Language
Pre-built Templates
Preview Functionality
Real Time Editing
Search/Filter
Single Sign On
SSL Security
Tagging
Template Management
Templates
Text Editing
Third-Party Integrations
Version Control
Website Management
Website Publishing Options
Workflow Management
WYSIWYG Editor

Concrete CMS User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.5

Ratings Breakdown

70%

20%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.5

Value for money

4.6

Customer support

4.0

Functionality

4.3

Chris K.

Verified reviewer

Banking

11-50 employees

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review source

Reviewed February 2021

Concrete5 is fast to setup and looks amazing while being very easy to use

Fast setup and easy to use. Just enough expansion to make everything work the way we needed it to.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Its ease of use and high quality looks. It has just enough addons to make everything work as it should and the community is there for you if you have any issues. Plus, since it is open source you can make changes where you need to or even make your own addons.

Cons:

The addons market is a little on the small side, but Concrete5 is growing fast and that won't always be the issue. The ones that are there are of high quality.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

Ease of use and quality for the price.

Brian M.

Verified reviewer

Online Media

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed February 2021

Powerful, Extendable, User-Friendly

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Concrete5 is great for everything from simple websites to custom, complex, applications. The peer-reviewed marketplace offers out-of-the-box solutions that save plenty of time and cost less than developing on your own with many add-ons available for free. Community support is fantastic with user forums and projects, including an e-Commerce solution that is robust and inexpensive to run with no monthly fees (seriously, the best e-Commerce package you're going to find). Sites can be deployed quickly with minimal costs and end-users can be trained often in minutes instead of hours or days. The platform is secure and allows fine-tooth permissions control. Internationalization is handled too for those that need to display their sites in multiple languages. Self-hosted and Concrete5 hosted options are available and maintenance is usually easily managed at the user-level. Without question, Concrete5 is the perfect mix of power and usability to allow sites to be deployed quickly at a reasonable cost.

Cons:

There can be a learning curve and the technology used in the background has grown more complex over the last few years. This is not to say that it can't be used by those with less technical knowledge, just that like with any CMS there is a learning curve and some occasional pitfalls.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

I have used Concrete5 for "business-card" type websites and complex applications including product lifecycle management, project management software, and health claims. Costs are very low to implement and the structure is robust and well thought out. Concrete5 allows me to build secure sites quickly that my clients love to use.

Marybeth K.

Verified reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

10000+ employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Reviewed November 2019

Have we lost 15 years of work?

The theme we paid hard-earned donor money for was never upgraded to keep up with the updates Concrete 5 made to its operating system. Our theme no longer works with current versions of Concrete 5 (5.6) and I have no idea how to fix it. "Explanations" online require a Computer Science PhD to understand and I don't have the knowledge to figure out what they say to do. We've just let it go for years, but now we have t to change servers and I don't think the new server can handle the outdated version of Concrete 5 needed for our site to operate. YEARS of work are going to go down the drain if I cannot somehow salvage this. I have NO IDEA WHERE TO TURN for a plain-English response as to what to do.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Concrete 5 was OK in the beginning but now it looks like our choice to use this is going to cost us YEARS of hard work.

Cons:

It is VERY hard to understand what to do with this software. Support is poor to nonexistent. Vendors are not required to keep up their products, leaving customers hanging. See our dilemma, below.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

I liked the theme we had for our site. But had I known that the vendor AND Concrete 5 were both going to drop support for this version I would have gone with WordPress. It is better-known and easier to get help!

Reasons for switching to Concrete CMS

I wanted our organization to have a more modern-looking site with responsive pages.

Vendor Response

I'm disappointed to hear this Marybeth. You're right that in the 10 years we've been open source we've changed a lot. Keeping your site on the latest version is something that does require ongoing attention from a somewhat technical resource. Version 5.6 is actually legacy at this point, we're all the way to version 8.5 and are looking at a version 9 release in 2020. Today, to keep your concrete5 site running in a healthy manner it will need occasional attention from a web developer, who we'd happily make an introduction to if you filled out the contact form or the "We can build it together" overlay at the top of every page on concrete5.org. That said, I'm sure it will cost more than the $30-$50 you spent 10 years ago on that theme, and I completely understand if that's not the right choice for your non-profit. This is pretty common with open source software, but we are working on some new hosting approaches that mitigate some of the challenges around this in the future.

Replied December 2019

Jordan S.

Verified reviewer

Internet

2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Reviewed August 2019

Great for end-users and developers

Love it as a developer and I love providing Concrete5 powered websites to my clients. Doesn't get too much more ideal than that!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Functionality

Pros:

I love to provide Concrete5 powered websites to my clients for many reasons. In particular though, the in-context page editing abilities of Concrete5, easy-to-use dashboard, customizable theme styles and extensibility through the Concrete5 marketplace make it a tool that suits a WIDE range of needs.

Cons:

My only dislike with Concrete5 is the lack of native e-commerce functionality built into the CMS. If Concrete5 and/or the C5 community were able to develop some simple e-commerce functionality (much like woocommerce) I think C5 could re-gain some market share from other CMS tools in the industry today.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

The complicated mess of plugins (and their delicate inter-connectivity) inside of Wordpress was a HUGE turn-off to me. Also the page editing interface in the dashboard is MILES behind what Concrete5 can offer with it's file manager and in-context page editing. These other e-commerce tools are nice and serve some e-comm needs nicely. Unfortunately though, they come at a premium price to Concrete5 and still don't offer all of the tools that make editing and updating content on a web page very easy.

Vendor Response

Good news, there is ecommerce for concrete5 here: https://github.com/concrete5-community-store

Replied August 2019

David K.

Verified reviewer

Accounting

2-10 employees

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Reviewed September 2019

Flexible, Customizable, Edit Anywhere Web Sites

We needed to upgrade a very old website and do it in stages, when we had time. We needed the website to work on mobile devices as well as computer browsers. Finally, we are a professional firm, so we needed a website that looked professional and not canned or weak. Concrete5 provided us with a solution that worked on cross platforms and provided templates that look professional from the start. We have also been able to develop the site in stages. While we are not completed, we are much closer, much faster than other tools would have provided us. Page styles give us some structure on different sections and multiple users also allow faster setup and maintenance. I will use this on other websites I manage.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Concrete5 is very customizable regardless of the template used, and many templates exist that let you hit the ground running. Most of the editing capabilities work on iOS, so you can perform most edits and design work on an iPad and mobile. The interface is clean and the version control allows some experimenting. I have used blog software and computer based software, but this allows the best of all worlds so far.

Cons:

The learning curve to purchase a template and add controls to a web site took a little bit to figure out, but this is done very infrequently. Using a templated page, it also took some time to figure out some heading columns and other columns were fixed and not movable, but so many other areas are customizable, workarounds were fine.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

I essentially chose Concrete5 over all other software items I reviewed because of the ability to design, edit and correct items on the fly, on my iPad or my computer. Real cloud development.

Reasons for switching to Concrete CMS

RapidWeaver allowed me much flexible and customizable development, but had to be done on my computer at home. The software provided the development and had to be uploaded to test how it worked. Concrete5 is a system installed on the website, so development of the site is a real cloud environment. This allows me to be flexible with my time and correct and edit when away from the computer as issues are found. I love Concrete5!

Verified

Reviewer

Marketing and Advertising

2-10 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed February 2021

Amazing CMS, easy to use for both developers and admins

A great CMS that makes updating a site easy. So easy, that as a web developer I choose it for my own sites safe in the knowledge that I can make updates quickly and easily without having to alter the code in most cases.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Functionality

Pros:

- 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).

Cons:

- 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.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

Speed and familiarity of both development and ongoing updates

Garrett E.

Verified reviewer

Design

Self-Employed

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed March 2021

The right CMS for me for years

No idea why people use any other CMS. Hard to be Betamax in a VHS world. Appreciate that add-ons can be tested on new sites before buying. Also the compact marketplace is easier to navigate, though there are some more advanced ones that haven't been developed/ported yet. The Major upgrade to Version 8 was manageable for them in a way other platforms can't pull off no matter how badly they need them.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

When I first started using it more than 10 years ago the field of CMS platforms was pretty rough. It had the best user interface for users to manage content. More recently others have imitated their approach but they still show their clumsy roots in a way C5 doesn't. Impressed by their commitment to update and upgrade over the years.

Cons:

The transition to the latest version a few years ago was a tad rough (it was a major update), but it was worth it. Required starting over for most sites, though the old version still runs so disruption was minimal. The user forum needs a shakeup and update. Wish it was easier to manage lots of sites, but luckily they don't require much attention. Some template designers use tricks that undo the ease of use.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

When I was first in the market it was still early and many of the other ones were still too technical to implement. Don't know that any of them survived. I've dabbled in WordPress and avoid it like the plague.

Raphael P.

Verified reviewer

Internet

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed February 2021

Awesome tool for a better web

I build a lot of websites for different industries like medicine, construction, food, automation, real state etc. The principal benefit is the time I save building with concrete5.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Easy: installation, configuration, customization and to do improvements. A great community that help everyone in trouble (if hapens). Tons of add-ons and great numbers of theme options (could be more, but is ok).

Cons:

A few options to customize a theme on core system and few themes selling on market place.

Reasons for choosing Concrete CMS

Concrete5 offer a better enviromment to build a solid website than the other I listed.

Reasons for switching to Concrete CMS

Concrete5 is a system to build an Internet more inclusive, with tools more easy to manage. Wordpress is a tool to make a blog and you need a lot of modifications to reach a basic Concrete5.

Glyn J.

Verified reviewer

Internet

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed February 2021

Powerful, easy-to-use website content management

We deliver content managed websites to our clients who find concrete5 easy to use. concrete5 has increased our client's enjoyment of the editing process and has enabled us to efficiently deliver sites that meet a very wide range of requirements.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

concrete5 delivers a complete content management system including WYSIWYG editing, forms etc. without the need for extensions to accomplish basic tasks. That said, concrete5 also provides an excellent modern php framework for further development and the marketplace provides a range of useful AddOn components.

Cons:

Documentation has previously been criticised but this is improving steadily and Portland Labs recognise the need to continue this.

Reasons for switching to Concrete CMS

Need something that was more intuitive for clients to use.

Vernessa T.

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services

Self-Employed

Used other for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed December 2019

Maybe Aptly Named for Non-Developers

I use a particular blogging/CMS platform for most projects but it is not necessarily suitable for every project. On numerous occasions I've tried to build a project out on Concrete 5 but meet with both usability challenges and prohibitive costs to integrate features.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I like the notion that Concrete 5 can be a replacement or alternative to CMSes like Joomla, Drupal, WordPress and others. I like the ways others have taken ideas and realized them with Concrete 5. My own efforts over the past few years have been amatuerish. Concrete 5 has remained a hobby.

Cons:

Usability challenges and prohibitive costs to integrate features. The platform is not easy to learn. The theming system is considered robust by some but doesnt have a wide range of good-looking affordable themes. The free ones are not easy to modify. Concrete 5 has plugins but they are costly to implement and the selection is not as wide-ranging as those for other CMSes like Drupal, WordPress or Joomla.

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