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Backdrop CMS vs CMS Made Simple: catalog facts
Backdrop CMS	CMS Made Simple
Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0 licence.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0 licence, funded by donations.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Built-in upgrade path from Drupal 7 Add-ons install from inside the site	Themes built from plain HTML and CSS with Smarty Modular with third-party modules and tags
Requires PHP and MySQL hosting Add-on selection is narrower than larger CMS ecosystems	Requires PHP hosting and some setup Smarty templating is a learning step for new designers
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: GPL-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.