Over the past few years, a noticeable trend has emerged: many business and personal website owners are choosing to move away from Concrete5 (now called Concrete CMS) and migrate to other platforms—most commonly WordPress.
This shift isn’t happening because Concrete CMS is a bad system. In fact, it’s a powerful and well-engineered CMS. However, changing business needs, marketing expectations, and long-term maintenance concerns have pushed many site owners to rethink their choice.
If you’re wondering “Should I migrate my website from Concrete5 / Concrete CMS to WordPress?”, this article will help you understand why so many others already have.
Understanding Concrete CMS at a Glance
Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is an open-source CMS known for its in-context editing, strong permissions system, and structured page management. It has been widely used for corporate, government, and enterprise websites.
Despite these strengths, Concrete CMS is increasingly being replaced—especially for small to medium-sized business websites.
1. Smaller Ecosystem Compared to Modern CMS Platforms
One of the biggest challenges with Concrete CMS is its limited ecosystem.
Compared to WordPress, Concrete CMS has:
- Fewer themes
- A much smaller add-on marketplace
- Limited third-party integrations
For business owners, this often means:
- Custom development for basic features
- Higher costs for ongoing improvements
- Slower implementation of marketing ideas
When businesses want to move fast, this becomes a major drawback.
2. Limited Availability of Concrete CMS Developers
From a practical business standpoint, developer availability matters.
Concrete CMS has a relatively small global developer community. This creates problems when:
- Your original developer is no longer available
- You want to switch agencies
- You need quick fixes or enhancements
Many business owners migrate simply because they want a platform where any competent developer can step in without friction.
3. Major Version Upgrades Created Long-Term Fear
The transition from Concrete5 version 5.6 to 5.7 was a turning point.
That upgrade:
- Was essentially a full migration
- Broke themes and add-ons
- Required significant redevelopment
- Increased costs unexpectedly
Even though later versions (8.x and 9.x) are more stable, many site owners still remember this experience. As a result, they prefer moving to platforms with smoother and more predictable upgrade paths.
4. Marketing and SEO Tools Are Not Business-Friendly
Concrete CMS can be optimized for SEO—but it often requires manual configuration or custom development.
Modern businesses expect:
- Easy SEO plugins
- Built-in schema support
- Simple content optimization guidance
- Fast landing page creation
- Seamless marketing integrations
WordPress excels here, which is why many marketing-focused websites decide to migrate my website from Concrete5 ConcreteCMS to WordPress rather than invest further in custom solutions.
5. Agencies Prefer Platforms They Can Scale Easily
Most digital agencies choose CMS platforms based on:
- Hiring flexibility
- Faster project delivery
- Easier client handoff
- Lower long-term support burden
Concrete CMS, while technically elegant, is often viewed as harder to scale as a repeatable service offering. This has led many agencies to stop recommending it—triggering migrations for existing clients.
6. Business Owners Want Freedom, Not Structure
Concrete CMS is intentionally structured and permission-driven. This is excellent for large organizations—but many small business owners want:
- More freedom to experiment
- Easier content changes
- Access to endless plugins and tools
- Less dependency on developers
For them, WordPress feels more flexible and empowering.
7. Market Perception and Long-Term Confidence
Another important factor is perception.
When people search for:
“Best CMS for business websites”
Concrete CMS rarely appears in top recommendations. This affects:
- Owner confidence
- Stakeholder trust
- Long-term planning decisions
Even a solid platform can lose ground if it lacks visibility and mindshare.
The Bottom Line
Most businesses are not leaving Concrete CMS because it failed them.
They are leaving because:
- Their business needs evolved
- Marketing speed became critical
- Hiring flexibility mattered more
- Long-term costs needed to be predictable
For many, the logical next step is to migrate my website from Concrete5 ConcreteCMS to WordPress to gain flexibility, scalability, and peace of mind.