Frequently asked questions

Strategic and Business Value

Is Plone a future-proof solution?

Absolutely. Plone is currently in its most powerful iteration, Plone 6, which is built on React, the same modern technology Facebook and Netflix use. While Plone may not have the mass-market "buzz" of consumer website builders, it is actively developed and backed by the non-profit Plone Foundation. Plone 6 has a committed security support roadmap through 2027 and beyond, and has one of the best security track records in the industry. Because a foundation owns it (not a venture capital firm), it cannot be sold off or suddenly discontinued. It will exist as long as your business needs it. Plone’s long track record of over 20 years of backwards-compatible evolution makes it one of the most future-resilient CMS platforms on the market.

Is the Plone community active?

Yes, active and growing. Plone evolves in the open, with new releases, sprints, and conferences every year. The project is maintained by dedicated core developers, integrators, and companies across Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa.
If you haven't heard much about Plone recently, that’s because the community often prioritizes engineering excellence over hype. We are investing heavily in communication and visibility again. Watch this space.

Why do some vendors no longer offer Plone?

Like any mature open-source ecosystem, some agencies evolve their portfolios. Some providers moved toward headless or cloud-native stacks, but many long-standing and new companies continue to actively build and maintain Plone solutions.
Today, Plone is positioned as a high-quality enterprise CMS rather than a mass-market solution - which naturally attracts partners who value long-term stability, security, and the ability to customize deeply.

What happens if one service provider stops working with Plone?

Your project stays safe. Plone is open source, vendor-neutral, and supported by specialists worldwide. You are never locked in. If your provider changes direction, another Plone partner or community member can take over seamlessly.

I’ve noticed some universities and providers switching to Drupal. Why is that?

Universities make technology decisions during large procurement cycles, often for organizational or political reasons rather than technical ones. Meanwhile, many universities, public administrations, and research institutions stick with Plone because of its security, longevity, and flexibility. It's also about choosing the right tool. General-purpose systems like Drupal or WordPress can work for straightforward informational sites. Organizations stay with and continually return to Plone for complex, mission-critical needs like intranets, research portals, and secure document repositories. Plone is the open source "Formula 1 car" of CMSs; you could use it to go to the grocery store, but when performance and safety are non-negotiable, it's exactly what you want (and need).

We need to implement industry-standard interfaces. Why doesn't Plone have "ready-made" plugins for everything?

Plone actually connects to the world's largest ecosystem of "plugins": the Python Package Index (PyPI) with access to over 400,000 Python libraries. Because Plone is built on Python, Plone already has access to industry-standard tools (from business system connectors to data analysis libraries). Robust, enterprise-grade integrations can often be built faster than configuring a rigid pre-made plugin that doesn't quite fit your needs. And the same can be said for the JS/React ecosystem, which is huge too.

I can use AI features in your competitor’s system right now. Is Plone AI-ready?

Uniquely so. Plone is built on Python, the native language of modern Artificial Intelligence (used by OpenAI, Google, and NASA). While other systems (like PHP-based Drupal) require complex "bridges" to talk to AI, Plone speaks the same language natively. While at time of writing (Feb2026) Plone itself doesn't provide AI integrations yet as a per user feature, developers can and have built AI integrations on top of Plone. Watch this space.

Cost, Roadmap & Security

SaaS competitors can have us online "tomorrow." Why does Plone take longer?

Speed often comes at the cost of ownership. A SaaS platform gets you online fast by forcing you into their box—limiting your workflows and holding your data in their cloud. We take the time to configure Plone to fit your business logic perfectly. This takes time — but delivers a much more sustainable solution. The result is a platform that you own 100%, that grows with you for a decade and more, rather than a quick-fix you might outgrow in 18 months.

Are updates still "full-blown relaunches"? I heard they are expensive.

That was true in the past, but Plone 6 changed the paradigm. Upgrades are no longer "relaunches" - they are structured, predictable updates, especially if your site follows recommended best practices. We now use modern, industry-standard DevOps tools (Docker, pip) that make updates incremental and smooth. Once you are on Plone 6, upgrades are "evolutionary, not revolutionary," significantly lowering your long-term Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

What happens if my Plone provider goes out of business? I see fewer Plone providers than WordPress agencies.

The Plone ecosystem is focused on quality over quantity. While you won't find a Plone developer on every street corner, the ones you do find are generally senior software engineers, not just website assemblers. Furthermore, because Plone is Open Source and strictly standardized, you are never locked into one vendor. Any other Plone-specialized firm can take over your project without needing to rewrite code. And if you're up for it, you can even take it over yourself.

Can we host and maintain Plone ourselves?

Definitely. Plone can run on-premise, in your private cloud, in containers, or as a managed hosting service from multiple providers. Organizations that prefer full control—public administrations, universities, research institutions—often choose Plone precisely because self-hosting is first-class. And there's no per-user subscription cost.

Technical & User Experience

I tested the Volto frontend and it looked "unfinished" compared to a Wix-style editor. Is it production-ready?

Yes. Volto is designed for Enterprise Content Governance, not just visual page building. What you are seeing is an intentionally clean and minimal default theme, designed to be extended and branded for each project. While it allows for beautiful drag-and-drop layouts, its primary job is to ensure your content adheres to strict accessibility and brand guidelines. It is the default interface for major entities like the European Environment Agency and the German Aerospace Center, proving it is robust enough for the most demanding users in the world. Behind the simplicity is a fully-featured, modern, enterprise-ready frontend.

Why are there "two frontends" (Volto and the Classic UI)?

Plone comes in two flavours:

1. Volto (Frontend): is a modern React-based frontend. This is completely separated from the Python backend, talking to this via a well-defined REST API. If you have in-house React developers, they can get comfortable with this quickly, without needing deep knowledge of the backend. This is your first choice if you want lots of flexibility and creativity on your web pages.
2. Classic UI (Backend): is a more traditional frontend, tightly integrated with the backend. If you have in-house designers who know Bootstrap, they can quickly style your site. Other changes need deeper knowledge of Plone. This is your first choice if you have more structured data on your site, next to more free-form web pages.

If many competitors use Drupal or Typo3, why should I choose Plone?

Plone is not designed to compete on popularity — it competes on security, sustainability, and long-term value.
Organizations choose Plone when they need:

• Strong security (Plone has one of the best security track records in CMS history)
• Exceptional editorial experience
• Proven long-term stability
• Flexible governance and custom workflows
• Full control over hosting and data

If these factors matter to you, Plone is often the better strategic fit, even if others choose differently.

Do industry-standard interfaces and integrations exist for Plone?

Yes. Plone is built on an enterprise-grade Python stack and integrates with almost any system via:

• REST APIs
• Webhooks
• OAuth / SSO solutions
• CRM, ERP, and DAM platforms
• Search engines
• Identity providers

If an integration doesn’t exist out-of-the-box, Plone’s architecture makes it straightforward to develop cleanly and sustainably — usually more reliably than with plugin-heavy CMSs.