Backdrop CMS is a free, open-source content management system forked from Drupal 7, built for affordable, easy-to-manage websites on shared hosting.
Backdrop CMS is a free, open-source content management system written in PHP. It was forked from Drupal 7 in 2013 by developers Nate Lampton and Jen Lampton, out of concern that the major architectural changes in Drupal 8 would be too disruptive or costly for many existing Drupal 7 site owners to adopt.
The project retains much of the functionality and interface familiar from Drupal 7 while continuing independent development under community governance, and it offers a direct upgrade path for organizations migrating off Drupal 7.
Backdrop is built to run efficiently even on shared, budget hosting, and its layout and content editing tools are designed to be usable without programming knowledge. The project supports an ecosystem of over 1,300 modules, themes, and layout templates that can be installed directly from the admin interface.
Development is community-driven, with contributions from roughly 2,970 community members and governance decisions made collectively rather than by a single company.
Backdrop CMS is completely free and open source with no licensing costs. Organizations needing implementation help can hire independent professional service providers, but the core software carries no fees.
Yes, Backdrop CMS is completely free and open source with no licensing fees.
Yes, it was forked from Drupal 7 in 2013 and retains a similar structure and interface.
It is maintained by an open-source community of contributors who make governance decisions collectively.
Yes, Backdrop offers a direct upgrade path for existing Drupal 7 websites.