What is the Best Adobe Business Catalyst Alternative?

Business Catalyst Alternatives for Lead Generation Websites

A lead generation website is the most basic kind. It offers information to visitors and lets them get in touch with a business through a contact form, a phone button, and social media buttons. Two prominent Adobe Business Catalyst (BC) alternatives you may choose for such a website include WordPress and Wix.

While using Wix is simpler than WordPress, non-developers may still use WordPress to create functional and good-looking websites. However, WordPress scores over Wix when it comes to customization and flexibility.

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Apps and Plugins

If you wish to make your Wix website more functional, you have to limit your search to the Wix App Market, which currently has around 800 apps. In addition, tweaking or adding code comes with various restrictions. WordPress, on the other hand, lets you play with functionality by offering over 50,000 free plugins and scores of premium plugins as well.

Data Control

If you’re wondering about data control on both platforms, WordPress scores over Wix. While you may move your Wix website to another platform, the process is not particularly easy. In addition, the company’s policy surrounding exporting or embedding your Wix website states that “In order for your site to work properly, it needs to be hosted and operated on Wix’s servers.” It also adds that “If you embed your site into an external location, Wix cannot provide support, and Wix is no longer in control of the way your site appears or functions.”

If you shift from Adobe Catalyst to WordPress, you remain in complete control of your data, and you may download or export it easily, as and when you like. You may also migrate your WordPress website to a different hosting platform.

Business Catalyst Alternatives for eCommerce Websites

eCommerce websites are ones that sell products online. People looking for Adobe BC alternatives to migrate their eCommerce websites may benefit by checking what Shopify and Adobe Commerce (previously Magento) have to offer. While the latter was the go-to option until a few years ago, Shopify currently leads the race according to Ecommerce-Platforms.com. Others on the list include:

• Wix
• BigCommerce
• Squarespace
• Sellfy
• WooCommerce

Often pitted against each other, while Adobe Commerce and Shopify come with similarities, they also offer completely distinct features.

Ease of Use

Shopify scores over Adobe Commerce on this front. It gives you the ability to customize your online store by moving elements around the page and you may personalize themes by adding custom images. In addition, you can add products, set up payments, and start selling rather quickly.

With Adobe Commerce, you need to learn basic coding and some other technical aspects to make the most of the platform. While it offers excellent flexibility and in-depth user guides, it involves learning the ropes first.

Themes and Extensions

Shopify currently offers over 220 customizable themes, all optimized to run on mobile devices. While it offers a few free themes, you have to pay for most. Once you select a theme, you may make a variety of changes without needing any coding knowledge. Of the handful of themes Adobe Commerce offers, only a few are mobile-responsive. While it lets you create themes from scratch, this requires extensive knowledge of coding.

Adding to your website’s functionality is simple with Shopify and Adobe Commerce. Shopify lets you choose from more than 8,000 free and paid applications, which you may add to your website with a single click. Adobe Commerce offers thousands of free and paid extensions as well, and you may use them without any coding-related knowledge.

Payment Processing

Questions surrounding which company’s payment processors are better come with no conclusive answers. Shopify offers Shopify Payments, its own integrated payments processor, which lets you save money in the form of transaction fees. You may integrate external payment processors such as PayPal or Amazon Pay with your Shopify website, although you’ll then have to pay a per-transaction fee.

If you use Adobe Commerce, you may rely on its payment provider gateway to integrate your store with one or more payment service providers. Alternatively, you may turn to Adobe Commerce Payment Services, a payment solution that lets you accept payments via popular methods such as credit and debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Venmo.

Adobe BC Alternatives for Custom Websites

Custom websites are typically the most complicated when it comes to Business Catalyst migration. Some of your options in this scenario include Webflow, Weebly Cloud, and Duda. platformOS, founded by Business Catalyst’s co-founder Adam Broadway, can also work as an effective alternative.

Webflow

• Coding support.
• Responsive web design.
• Responsive templates.
• User-friendly visual editor.
• Drag-and-drop web forms.
• 3D transforms and animations.
• Content management system (CMS) editor.
• Intuitive website editor.
• Dynamic content filtering and sorting.
• HTML5 background videos.
• eCommerce capabilities.
• Password protection.
• Hosting and custom domain names.
• Website backups and versioning.
• Custom branding.
• Great for search engine optimization (SEO).
• Google Analytics integration.
• Priority support for Pro, Team, and Enterprise plans.

Weebly Cloud

• User-friendly website builder/visual editor.
• Drag-and-drop web forms with autoresponders.
• Responsive web design.
• Free templates.
• CMS editor.
• Video backgrounds.
• eCommerce capabilities and insights.
• Hosting and custom domain names.
• Email marketing.
• Secure zones for members and groups.
• Mobile app for website management.
• SEO-friendly.
• Google Analytics
• Weebly website statistics.

Duda

• User-friendly drag-and-drop editor.
• Developer mode.
• Versatile templates.
• Ready-to-use dynamic pages.
• Completely responsive designs.
• Multi-language websites.
• Multiple widgets.
• eCommerce capabilities.
• Hosting and custom domain names.
• AI assistant.
• SEO-friendly.
• Easy widget building.
• Email marketing.
• Website stats.
• Google Analytics integration.
• Client billing tool.

Other Alternatives for Adobe Business Catalyst Developers

While platforms such as WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Webflow, Weebly Cloud, and Duda can serve as effective alternatives for many Business Catalyst developers, some might need to look beyond these names. A few others on the list include HubSpot, Squarespace, and Kentico.

HubSpot

This cloud-based content management system (CMS) finds favor with several digital marketing experts, primarily because of the inbound marketing software and tools it offers. Besides, given its CMS hub and easy-to-use website builder, it finds favor with businesses that need a website along with a marketing platform. It gives website owners the ability to steer clear of traditional marketing methods that might seem overly intrusive and reach out to their audiences through personalized experiences and relevant content.

The main advantages of HubSpot include:

• Completely customizable and responsive themes.
• A unified publishing platform.
• A drag-and-drop editor.
• A fully integrated CRM.
• Multilingual websites.
• SEO recommendations.
• Supports Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP).
• Supports smart content.
• Simplifies adaptive testing.
• Built-in security features.

Possible drawbacks of using the HubSpot CMS include:

• Learning curve.
• Navigating within the dashboard might seem confusing.
• Drag-and-drop editor does not offer extensive control.
• Professional and Enterprise plans might seem expensive.
• Custom reports and advanced analytics only for Professional and Enterprise plans.

Squarespace

Several Business Catalyst websites have moved to Squarespace because of its solid set of features and functionalities. For starters, it boasts of among the best customizable templates in the market, making it ideal for creating portfolios, publishing online courses, blogging, and content creation. While this platform lets you add eCommerce functionalities to your website, Shopify, Adobe Commerce, and WooCommerce tend to work better for this purpose. However, Squarespace offers some fantastic sales tools that can help promote your brand.

Advantages of turning to this Adobe Business Catalyst alternative include:

• Like Business Catalyst, Squarespace is a SaaS solution.
• Used by businesses of different sizes.
• Can build a website with no knowledge of coding.
• Many customizable responsive templates.
• Generous page limits.
• Offers various eCommerce features.
• SSL certificate.

Possible drawbacks include:

• Switching templates requires starting from scratch.
• Low-level customization.
• Website editor leaves room for improvement.
• Slow page loading speed.
• No deep menu hierarchy.
• Creating multilingual websites is challenging.
• No multi-currency selling.
• Limited integration with third-party marketing apps.

Kentico

People who knew their way around Business Catalyst development should find Kentico fairly similar, and it shares some features with HubSpot too. However, an aspect in which this CMS stands out is that you don’t have to use third-party tools for important functions like multivariate and A/B testing.

Given its ease of use, Kentico works as an effective Adobe BC alternative for non-technical users. It gives digital marketers the ability to create personalized customer journeys with its no- and low-code tools as well as the means to try new marketing channels. Besides, it offers wide-ranging solutions for eCommerce as well as digital marketing and automation.

The top benefits of using Kentico include:

• Completely customizable CMS.
• Responsive web design.
• Can import source code from eCommerce projects.
• Good eCommerce capabilities.
• Great for marketing automation.
• Built-in A/B testing.
• Highly scalable.
• Robust security features.
• Web analytics.
• Internal workgroup collaboration and intranet.
• A simulator that lets you look for bugs and errors.
• Lets you extract variables in XLS format.

The potential drawbacks of using this CMS are:

• Building eCommerce websites requires technical expertise.
• The Kentico mobile app lacks major functionalities.
• The interface might seem cluttered if you operate at scale.
• Maintaining consistency might seem challenging.
• Rising costs of subscription plans.
• Limited freedom in customization.

Should You Partner With an Expert?

Whether you have a Business Catalyst blog or website, when it comes to migrating, you get to choose from two basic paths. The first is to identify a suitable Business Catalyst alternative and handle the migration on your own. The other is to turn to a digital agency that specializes in web development and online marketing. If you don’t have the required technical expertise to make an informed decision and carry out the migration, it’s best to seek professional assistance.

Ideally, you should look for an agency that is proficient in migrating Business Catalyst websites to different platforms. This way, it can recommend a CMS based on your existing website, its specific requirements, and the goals you want it to achieve. Partnering with an agency that specializes in digital marketing is beneficial if you want to your increase online presence and attract more traffic to your website.

Conclusion

At some point or the other, Business Catalyst experts had no other option than to look for suitable alternatives. After all, the platform stopped hosting all websites in 2021. Fortunately, website owners had and still have multiple alternatives from which to choose based on their specific requirements. If you’re looking for a platform to build your website, consider seeking advice from a reputable web development company that specializes in creating custom websites. This way, you can be sure of selecting an Adobe Business Catalyst alternative that works well for you.