Comparing Core Web Vitals Performance Across Leading CMS Platforms

The latest Core Web Vitals technology report reveals that in April 2024, five out of six of the most commonly used content management systems showed a decline in performance compared to the start of the year. This data, collected by HTTPArchive, provides insights into the reasons behind the decreasing performance scores.

Core Web Vitals Technology Report

The rankings for Core Web Vitals (CWV) are determined by a combination of real-world and lab data. Real-world data is collected from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), while lab data comes from an HTTP Archive public dataset (which is based on the websites included in the CrUX report).

This data is used to generate the Core Web Vitals technology report, which allows for an in-depth analysis of mobile and desktop performance across a wide range of content management systems. Users can customize the report to focus on specific metrics such as JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and image weight data.

The data presented in Search Engine Journal articles is gathered from mobile data measurements. The scores are shown as percentages, indicating the proportion of website visits that achieved a favorable Core Web Vitals (CWV) score.

Here is some background information on how HTTP Archive scores for CWV are calculated:

When it comes to Core Web Vitals, there are various ways to gauge the performance of a website or a set of websites. The method utilized by this dashboard is specifically tailored to align closely with the CWV evaluation in PageSpeed Insights.

This is the background information about the HTTP Archive lab data:

HTTP Archive focuses on measuring individual web pages rather than entire websites. Due to capacity constraints, only one page per website can be tested. Typically, the homepage or the root page of the website is chosen for testing.

Source of quotes, HTTP Archive.

Top Core Web Vitals Performance

Duda, a closed-source website builder platform, has been identified as the top-performing content management system (CMS) among the six compared. It is widely used by agencies and developers for managing large portfolios of client sites. With a remarkable 71% of website visits achieving good core web vitals scores, Duda outshines its competitors. In fact, its score surpasses the second-place winner, Squarespace, by 13 percentage points.

When it comes to CWV performance rates, sites created with Duda consistently outperform those built on any other CMS by a significant margin. Squarespace, Drupal, and Wix show similar performance scores, while Joomla and WordPress fall behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

WordPress's Performance Compared to Other Content Management Systems

While WordPress may be ranked sixth among content management systems, its performance has not decreased as significantly as some of the top competitors. This could be attributed to the various performance enhancements that have been made.

In early April 2024, WordPress 6.5 was released with over 100 performance improvements for both the backend and front end.

The performance score for WordPress in April 2024 was slightly lower compared to the beginning of the year, but the decrease was less than one percentage point. This drop in percentage is actually lower than the top ranked CMS, Duda, which saw a decrease of 5.41 percentage points.

Chrome Lighthouse is a handy tool that automatically measures website performance. In January, the Lighthouse scores for WordPress were at 35%, indicating that 35% of WordPress sites had a good Lighthouse CWV score.

The CWV score slightly dropped in February and March but bounced back to 35% in April, possibly due to the many performance enhancements in WordPress version 6.5. However, the average Page Weight may have been a factor in the performance lag.

Page Weight refers to the average number of bytes sent over the network, which could potentially be reduced through compression. In January, the average Page Weight for WordPress sites was 568.48, and it increased to 579.92 in April, showing an increase of 11.44 bytes.

Top CWV Performance By CMS

The average download size of images saw a 49.5 Kilobytes increase from January to April 2024. However, this change is more related to how publishers use WordPress rather than how WordPress itself is being utilized. This could be a factor in the relatively flat performance change observed this year. Nevertheless, maintaining virtually no change in performance is still preferable compared to the significant drops seen in performance rates of other content management systems.

The list of CWV performance represents the percentage of sites using a given CMS that has a good CWV score. Here is the list of the top performers with their respective percentage rates:

Duda 71%

Squarespace 58%

Drupal 54%

Wix 52%

Joomla 43%

WordPress 38%

Performance Drops By CMS

When comparing the performance drop by CMS, it is interesting to note that four out of six content management systems experienced relatively high drops in performance. Below is a list comparing the performance drops in percentage points, with a minus sign indicating the decrease.

Performance Change Comparison List

Wix -7.11

Duda -5.41

Joomla -2.84

Drupal -2.58

WordPress version 0.71 showed the smallest decrease in performance compared to other CMS platforms. Wix and Duda experienced the largest drops in performance, whereas Squarespace was the only CMS that saw an improvement in performance, with a positive score of +3.92.

Interaction To Next Paint – INP

One possible reason for the changes in scores could be the introduction of Interaction To Next Paint (INP) as an official Core Web Vital. This replaced First Input Delay (FID), which had limitations in measuring only the first input. INP now provides a more comprehensive overview of the user experience. Its official recognition in March 2024 may have influenced the fluctuations in Core Web Vital scores.

Key Points from Core Web Vitals Scores

Duda emerges as the top performer in Core Web Vitals, surpassing all other content management systems in this study. Squarespace, Wix, and Drupal closely follow behind in a competitive race. Among the six platforms analyzed, only Squarespace was able to enhance their scores this year.

All other platforms in this comparison scored lower in April compared to the beginning of the year. This could be due to increases in page weight, especially in images. However, there might be other factors contributing to this anomaly that are not reflected in the HTTP Archive reports.

The WordPress performance team is making significant improvements to the WordPress core. The slight decrease in performance of less than one percent may be attributed to how publishers are utilizing the platform.

It’s safe to say that all the platforms in this comparison are winners because all of them show steady improvements in general.

Explore the HTTP Archive Core Web Vitals report here.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Roman Samborskyi

Editor's P/S:

The latest Core Web Vitals report reveals a decline in performance for five out of six commonly used content management systems (CMS). This decline raises concerns about the user experience on websites built with these CMS platforms. The report highlights the importance of optimizing website performance to ensure a seamless and positive user experience.

Duda stands out as the top performer in Core Web Vitals, showcasing the platform's focus on delivering fast and responsive websites. The report emphasizes the need for CMS providers to prioritize performance enhancements and stay up-to-date with industry best practices. It also underscores the impact of publisher behavior on website performance and the importance of effective image optimization. The findings of the report provide valuable insights for website owners and developers seeking to optimize their websites for improved user engagement and search engine rankings.