WordPress vs Joomla: Performance Comparison in 2025

## A Fair Comparison

Both WordPress and Joomla have evolved significantly. Let's compare their performance characteristics using identical hosting environments and representative configurations.

## Test Setup

- **Server**: 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, NVMe SSD
- **PHP**: 8.2 with OPcache enabled
- **Database**: MySQL 8.0
- **Content**: 100 posts/articles, 5 categories, standard theme

## Base Installation Results

### WordPress 6.7
- Time to First Byte: 120ms
- Full Page Load: 680ms
- Memory Usage: 42MB
- Database Queries: 22

### Joomla 5
- Time to First Byte: 95ms
- Full Page Load: 590ms
- Memory Usage: 38MB
- Database Queries: 18

## With 5 Common Plugins

This is where things get interesting. Adding 5 popular plugins to each CMS shows the real impact of plugin architecture choices.

## Key Takeaways

Both CMS platforms are capable of excellent performance. The biggest factor isn't the CMS itself — it's the plugins you install. That's exactly why swiftlypress exists: to give you the functionality you need without the performance penalty.