Every two years or so, the “Is Drupal still relevant?” debate surfaces. The same criticisms appear: it’s old, it’s too complex, it doesn’t look flashy out of the box. On the surface, those points have weight. But at the enterprise level, the conversation isn’t about surface polish. It’s about architecture, longevity, and trust.
Drupal’s longevity is precisely what makes it valuable. Over two decades, it has evolved into a framework with engineering depth that newer platforms simply haven’t had the time to develop. For organisations that depend on complex data models, secure processes, and long-term sustainability, that depth matters.
Content modelling as a foundation
At the heart of Drupal is the entity system. Every major data object—content, users, taxonomy terms, media—is an entity. What makes this powerful is how entities behave:
- Fieldable: Any entity can have fields attached. A “user” entity can carry profile fields; a “media” entity can hold metadata; a “node” can be enriched with structured attributes.
- Revisionable: Entities keep track of their history. For enterprises with audit requirements, this ensures accountability and rollbacks.
- Customisable: Beyond core entities, teams can define custom ones—like “course,” “policy,” or “warehouse item”—to reflect domain-specific needs.
- Cacheable and backend-flexible: Entities aren’t limited to Drupal’s database. They can be cached and even backed by external systems such as Elasticsearch or OpenSearch. This means massive datasets can live outside Drupal but still appear inside it as first-class citizens, avoiding brittle integrations.
This design makes Drupal not just a CMS, but a content modelling engine. For organisations like universities, government agencies, or corporates managing intricate information relationships, Drupal’s entity system remains unparalleled.
Functionality that doesn’t need reinventing
Enterprises are often surprised by how much Drupal delivers from day one. Out of the box, you get:
- Roles and permissions with fine granularity
- Media management that supports reuse and metadata
- Multilingual capabilities baked into core
- Revision history and workflow tools
- A configuration management system that’s version-controllable
In other ecosystems, these features are bolt-ons, premium add-ons, or custom builds. Each custom build increases development time, cost, and risk. In Drupal, they’re stable, integrated, and ready.
Configuration as code
One of Drupal’s most underrated strengths is its Configuration Management (CMI). Site configuration lives as YAML files, making it easy to track in Git, peer review, and deploy consistently across environments.
The practical benefits are clear:
- No more “it worked on staging but not on prod.”
- Config changes can be code-reviewed alongside custom code.
- Pipelines can apply config safely without manual steps.
More advanced still, configuration can be split per environment. That means API keys, site-specific overrides, or local settings don’t pollute global config. This keeps deployments clean, secure, and predictable—exactly what enterprises need.
Modularity and hooks that extend hooks
Drupal’s extensibility runs deeper than many realise. Modules don’t just extend core—they can provide their own hooks, which in turn can be extended. This recursive design creates a culture of extensibility by default.
For enterprises, that means resilience. Features don’t dead-end; they branch. A contributed module you rely on today can be extended tomorrow without replacing it, giving organisations the freedom to adapt while maintaining stability.
Security with structure
Security isn’t just about patching vulnerabilities—it’s about governance. Drupal has a dedicated Security Team responsible for triaging vulnerabilities, coordinating fixes, and publishing advisories with clear remediation steps.
This structured model is rare in open source. It’s one reason Drupal underpins GovCMS in Australia, powering hundreds of government sites under stringent compliance regimes. For enterprises handling sensitive data, this level of organised security oversight is a critical advantage.
API-first, headless-ready
Drupal has embraced an API-first philosophy for years. JSON:API is part of core, and GraphQL is widely supported. Because APIs are integrated with the entity system, you’re not just exposing content—you’re exposing structured relationships, workflows, and permissions.
This makes Drupal a strong candidate as a content hub in headless or hybrid setups. Whether you’re serving a React frontend, a mobile app, or multiple third-party integrations, Drupal ensures consistency and governance across channels.
The downsides (with nuance)
It’s true: Drupal isn’t the best choice for five-page brochure sites. Its learning curve and architectural overhead can feel like overkill in those scenarios.
But the community is addressing this. Initiatives like Drupal CMS provide curated distributions with preconfigured modules and sensible defaults. This lowers the entry barrier for small to mid-tier sites while leaving Drupal’s extensibility in place for growth.
And when projects inevitably expand beyond their first iteration, Drupal provides headroom to scale without a rebuild. On the DevOps side, Vortex(Opens in a new tab/window) plays a similar role—making site maintenance and deployments more predictable and less error-prone.
Community as an engine
Drupal’s community is one of its defining strengths. Thousands of contributed modules are available—free, tested, and widely deployed. Many enterprises already rely on them in production.
But community is more than a library of free code—it’s a shared responsibility. Enterprises have a role to play:
- Funding maintainers: Paying developers who maintain critical contrib modules ensures continuity and professional stewardship.
- Contributing back: Features built in-house should be contributed upstream, reducing long-term maintenance costs and strengthening the ecosystem.
- Collaborating openly: Enterprise needs often mirror each other. Contributing solutions back transforms isolated costs into shared investments.
In short, enterprises shouldn’t just be takers—they should be active participants. The more organisations contribute, the stronger the ecosystem becomes for everyone.
Conclusion
In 2025, Drupal stands as one of the most mature, extensible, and future-ready platforms available. Its entity-driven architecture makes it uniquely suited to model complex information. Its configuration-as-code approach provides stability and predictability. Its API-first design ensures seamless integration into modern, multi-channel ecosystems.
And it isn’t static. Initiatives like Drupal CMS, the Gin admin theme, and Single Directory Components are modernising the editorial and developer experience. Tools like Vortex are accelerating DevOps practices. The community continues to refine, contribute, and innovate.
For enterprises looking for a secure, adaptable, and future-proof foundation, Drupal remains not just relevant—but essential.