Cost: $99.95 / $149.95 /$299.95

Development: Commercial

Specialization: Blog, Forum, Gallery

Source: Closed Source

Hosting: Own Server, Subscription

License: Custom License

Programming: PHP, XML

Database: MySQL

Our Impressions:

ExpressionEngine is best for those that want a feature-rich (blog, dynamic content, static pages, etc.), but have a little programming knowledge. (Hence why designers often gravitate towards this system). While EE does not have a huge development community for modules, they do provide fantastic support through their forums.  Custom fields can be set up and controlled by very specifically by the designer. Another impressive thing is how they have implemented their templates (themes); it does not take a die hard programmer to build a custom theme.

The system can be frustrating at times in that there are menus buried in menus buried in menus. It can take awhile to find what you’re looking for. Once you hit that lightbulb moment though, you’re in for a treat.

Development: Commercial

Specialization: Blog, Gallery

Source: Closed Source

Hosting: Subscription

License: Custom License

Our Impressions:

Squarespace is impressive when you first start using it, it’s elegant to use and simple to change content around. With their custom templates, its easy to put in your own content, move it around and change up the page. They have a lot of “blocks” which let you add functionality to your website like a photo gallery, forum, forms, maps, etc. The controls for editing and designing templates were good enough that anyone could make themselves a unique site, however it may requires knowledge of CSS for complex things.

This is a solid offering as a CMS that few would be dissapointed with. It may be limiting for advanced users in some ways, but we haven’t experimented with the system enough to really give it a run for its money. The only disadvantage we can point out is the recurring monthly cost.

Development: Commercial

Hosting: Subscription hosting

Source: Closed Source

License: Custom

Our Impressions:

LightCMS is well-featured for a basic CMS. The layout is a “edit-in-place” kind of system, where you’re working within the template layout. They have thought through a lot of the basic things that a user wants to do (create a page, web form, photo gallery, etc.) and make it simple to add these elements into your site. Its the kind of system that is easy to understand, and easy to implement.

Their pricing is pretty steep, considering you’d have to be paying $70/month in order to have an unlimited number of pages. But, is much more reasonable for 10-25 page sites. They also enable you, as a designer, to pass these costs onto your clients and charge whatever you want for them, so it could be a money maker too.

Development: Commercial

Specialization: Lite CMS

Hosting: Own Server, Service

Source: Closed Source

License: Custom

Our Experience:

If you don’t want to take the time to figure out all of the mumbo-jumbo of all the other CMS’s (such as installing software, creating databases, learning their tags, etc.)  this is the CMS for you. (It took us about 10 minutes to convert a site for Cushy to use) It is extremely client friendly, and easy to figure out for simple, static websites. It can handle a few various types of content including headlines, text, images, and code.

That’s about it though. If you’re looking for anything more dynamic, or more complicated then this probably isn’t for you.

Development: Commercial

Hosting: Subscription hosting

Source: Closed Source

License: Custom

Our Impressions:

Eden CMS is a fun to use editor that functions smoothly. It would be easy to explain to anyone how it works and how to build their own personal or small business website. Everything is drag and droppable so you can quickly create new content and reorganize your existing content. The most unique feature is the pages section, where you can get a visual hierarchy of all of your pages much like a sitemap. With added features for SEO optimization, event & registration, creating simple forms, and testimonials, the focus is on small businesses and it does it well.

The only thing we found lacking is some sort of blog or news ability, which a lot of small businesses want. We were informed that there is a way to do something like this, but it is not currently in the “core” of the program. If you don’t need that capability though, then this system would work well.

Cost: Starting at $499 for commercial use

Development: Commercial

Source: Closed Source

Hosting: Option

License: Custom License

Programming: ASP.NET

Database: MsSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Azure

Our Experience:

Sitefinity is layed out really well and makes things easy to understand. The main focus is on pages within the administration. Editing pages makes use of a cool edit-in-place deal that shows you which content can be edited. There are lots of modules too, like polls, forums, blogs, lists, events, etc. so it can handle a lot of kinds of content.

Theming a site with Sitefinity may take some extra time to figure out. You have to create a master theme, and then apply both skins and css to it, and then define what kinds of content can go in it.