Total Cost of Ownership

When evaluating a content management system, the initial license fee is just the beginning of the story. The real question decision-makers should ask isn’t “What does it cost to buy?” but rather “What will it cost us to own, operate, and scale this platform over five years?”

The answer might surprise you. Despite aggressive marketing from proprietary vendors positioning themselves as “enterprise-ready” or “all-in-one solutions,” the total cost of ownership (TCO) and long-term return on investment (ROI) consistently favor open source platforms—particularly Drupal and WordPress.