In recent years, the way companies establish their digital presence has undergone significant changes. User journeys have become more complex, and expectations around personalization, performance, and seamless cross-channel integration have skyrocketed.
Within this landscape, Drupal CMS, long recognized as a robust content management system, has evolved to meet the growing demand for complete digital experiences. These experiences unify all of a company’s touchpoints in a consistent, automated way, forming the foundation of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs). But what does this really mean in practice?
Today, Drupal goes far beyond just publishing and organizing content. It plays a critical role in building omnichannel experiences that are personalized in real-time and connected to marketing, data, and automation technologies. Its biggest differentiator lies in its ability to grow and scale without limitations, adapting to the unique needs of each business.
In this article, we’ll explore how Drupal CMS has evolved to meet the challenges of digital transformation, and why this shift matters for organizations looking for performance, scalability, and technological independence.
Drupal as a modular system: more than a CMS
Drupal was created in 2001 by Dries Buytaert as an open-source project for managing web content. At first, it was nothing more than an online forum, called “Drop.org,” for Dries and his friends to communicate.
Over time, the project became a more powerful content management system (CMS) and was renamed Drupal. Its core principle has always been flexibility, enabling developers to create dynamic, customizable websites.
Built in PHP, Drupal has always been about adaptability. Its modular architecture, with customizable themes and add-ons, means there are essentially no technical limits. Unlike rigid platforms, Drupal allows you to build exactly what you need, starting from scratch if you want.
At Dexa, we take this modular power a step further, designing solutions that go beyond the surface and aligning digital experiences to each client’s strategy.
The turning point: why is Drupal CMS also part of the DXP conversation?
In the beginning, CMS platforms like Drupal were mainly used to publish content. But both audiences and expectations around digital consumption have changed dramatically. Today, a simple web page is no longer enough. Companies now want:
Dynamic and personalized content delivery.
Seamless integrations with CRM, marketing automation, analytics, and social media.
Multichannel experiences across desktop, mobile, apps, and even IoT devices.
Continuous engagement powered by user data.
Real-time performance tracking and metrics.
These needs gave rise to Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs). According to Acquia, a DXP goes far beyond what a CMS can offer. It is an ecosystem designed to create, manage, personalize, and optimize the entire digital journey across different channels.
Drupal CMS vs. Drupal as a DXP: practical differences
Using Drupal simply as a CMS means building secure, powerful, and scalable websites and portals. But using Drupal as the foundation for a Digital Experience Platform takes things to a higher level, unlocking advanced capabilities without restrictions.
Drupal as a CMS
When used purely as a CMS, Drupal is ideal for building and managing robust, secure, and scalable websites and portals. It stands out for its ability to organize content efficiently and for offering practical tools to both administrators and developers. Key strengths include:
Intuitive content management: a user-friendly interface for creating, editing, and publishing content, enabling non-technical teams to manage the site with ease.
Advanced user and permissions control: an access system that allows administrators to define multiple permission levels for users and groups.
Support for various site types: suitable for institutional sites, blogs, portfolios, and custom functionality development.
Custom design flexibility: the ability to create unique designs through themes and personalization tools.
This setup is best for organizations that need a reliable and efficient solution to manage their online content without the complexity of multichannel integration or advanced personalization.
Drupal as a DXP
When Drupal is used as the foundation for a DXP, its role extends far beyond basic content management. It becomes a platform for delivering sophisticated and highly personalized digital experiences. This approach is aimed at companies that want to position themselves strategically in the digital market by integrating different technologies and channels. Key differentiators include:
User-specific personalization: delivering content and interactions tailored to each user’s preferences and behavior, enhanced by data and AI.
Multichannel journey orchestration: managing user experiences across web, apps, social media, and email, ensuring consistency and cohesion.
Marketing automation and BI integration: advanced tools to automate marketing campaigns, analyze data, and connect with Business Intelligence systems for data-driven decisions.
Omnichannel delivery: API-based architecture for distributing content across multiple front ends such as mobile apps, web interfaces, and IoT devices.
Centralized digital asset management: unified control over assets like images, videos, and documents, along with performance monitoring and analytics.
This positions Drupal as a complete solution for organizations aiming to deliver integrated, engaging digital experiences that drive customer engagement, conversion, and loyalty.
The secret behind this transition lies in Drupal’s evolution without sacrificing backward compatibility. This has only been possible thanks to its community and the continuous improvements made to its architecture.
Inside the ecosystem: Drupal’s strongest points
Among the reasons that have placed Drupal among the leading options for websites, portals, and digital platforms used by global brands, some deserve special attention:
Extreme flexibility: from building a simple, customizable form to developing a complex multilingual e-commerce system, Drupal allows you to adapt or create new functionalities through its modular architecture.
Visual and structural customization: access to free and premium themes, editable and responsive layouts, and modular building blocks.
Security: a dedicated security team, real-time vulnerability alerts, and detailed documentation. This is one of the main reasons Drupal is trusted for high-security institutional websites worldwide.
Scalability: the ability to grow from zero to hundreds of thousands of pages without major rework or loss of performance.
With Drupal, the experience can scale in step with the growth of your project, without unnecessary limitations.
The role of the Drupal community
Another reason behind Drupal’s success is its strong global community. Millions of active members, including users, developers, theme designers, and module maintainers, contribute to constant innovation. Frequent updates, community-driven knowledge sharing, and an ever-expanding catalog of modules make the ecosystem stronger every year.
Recent changes: usability for everyone?
Not everything was easy in the beginning. The steep learning curve kept many newcomers away. But this has changed over time, especially starting with Drupal 9.4, with a major usability leap consolidated in Drupal 10 and expanded further in Drupal 11.
What exactly improved?
A cleaner and more accessible administrative interface, with the Claro theme as default;
A modern front-end theme, Olivero, built with accessibility in mind.
Module discovery and installation directly from the admin panel through the Project Browser.
Guided initial setup with recipes, including ready-made packages and a base recipe to speed up deployment.
Automatic updates for security releases and bug fixes.
Even so, moving beyond the basics and achieving complex integrations still benefits from specialized technical support. But for informational sites, editorial content, and common features, the environment is now far more user-friendly than it was just a few years ago.
Read also: DXP vs. CMS: what you need to know before choosing
When to think of Drupal only as a CMS? And when to move to DXP?
The answer depends on your business stage, your level of digital maturity, and your strategic objectives. Not every company needs a DXP from the start. Looking at the day-to-day reality of Dexa’s clients in industries such as finance, healthcare, and entertainment, we can see that:
Institutional projects, blogs, content websites, or collaborative portals work very well with Drupal used purely as a CMS.
Broader digital experiences, involving system integrations, personalization, automation, and omnichannel delivery, make the DXP model well worth the investment.
Practical examples highlight Drupal’s versatility
In a university portal, Drupal can deliver personalized experiences for different profiles, integrate restricted areas, and configure specific notifications for professors, students, and administrators.
In a marketplace, the focus is on real-time connectivity between sellers, buyers, and payment gateways, along with product recommendation features.
In a content platform for multiple countries, the need is for multilingual support, publishing flexibility, and different editorial workflows.
While each of these scenarios could begin with Drupal as a CMS, the natural evolution of business demands usually requires more advanced capabilities, which are standard in a DXP.
Conclusion
Drupal has evolved from a powerful CMS into a flexible platform capable of delivering complete digital experiences. You can start small, expand to enterprise scale, integrate multiple systems, and unify channels, all while maintaining full control.
Community support, strong security, and creative freedom make Drupal a standout choice. And with a trusted partner like Dexa, businesses can align Drupal’s potential directly with their goals. If your brand is aiming for innovation, relevance, and digital impact, exploring Drupal’s DXP capabilities is a smart move.
Want to explore how Drupal CMS or DXP can fit your project?
