Choosing a content management system (CMS) that is perfectly suited to the respective project is crucial for success. Because with the right CMS, maximum efficiency can be created at all levels. Ideally, it is equipped with all CMS functionalities that are necessary for a purposeful operation. It is also easy for users to use, offers a long-term stable solution and has a good price-performance ratio.
PIMCORE and TYPO3, as flexible Open Source PHP systems, are known for their ability to fulfill precisely these requirements. This makes them a good choice for websites and applications. Each CMS, however, has its own specific areas of application, where their potential comes into its own.
But when should PIMCORE be used and when TYPO3? The short answer is: PIMCORE generally plays to its strengths whenever e-commerce requires a solution with the requirement of more in-depth Product Information Management (PIM). TYPO3, on the other hand, often proves to be the best choice when Internet sites are to be set up in a more editorial manner and complex page trees are required.
PIMCORE vs. TYPO3 - Facts in comparison
PIMCORE and TYPO3 actually have many similar characteristics: Both are Open Source PHP systems and can, among other things, be individually adapted to the requirements of the respective project through extensions or plug-ins. Both TYPO3 and PIMCORE reliably offer new Major Releases every two years or so, and generally a good supply of updates. In addition, the systems are relatively easy to use as headless CMSs, which means that in the course of an omnichannel strategy, channels of the most diverse categories can be accessed via the CMS. Both focus primarily on the European market and serve the local legal requirements. Furthermore, both CMS are basically suitable for a quick and intuitive start into a new project. The operating costs are also similar in the respective core areas of use.
Experienced web developers get a very large design freedom through PIMCORE's e-commerce framework.
The system does not offer ready-made shop software, but rather the design for an online shop front, so to speak. Here, a shop can be designed with various available modules. With this approach, it is possible to create a completely unique e-commerce solution that is precisely tailored to the respective requirements and has the greatest unique selling proposition potential.
PIMCORE is available as a Community Edition completely free of charge. All core features, i.e. PIM, MDM, CDP, DAM, DXP, CMS and e-commerce are included.
Those who want to integrate marketplaces or long-term support, however, must pay. TYPO3 as a CMS, on the other hand, is always free of charge.
Only the so-called Extended Long Term Support and, if necessary, special extensions have to be purchased separately.
Since TYPO3 has a wide field of application, it can be a challenge to find the perfect composition. PIMCORE already offers a very good all-round solution for e-commerce out of the box.
TYPO3 is currently much more widespread than PIMCORE. While more than 120,000 websites worldwide are based on TYPO3, PIMCORE only has around 4,000. However, it should not be forgotten that TYPO3 has been on the market for much longer (1998) than PIMCORE (2013) and the area of application for the former CMS is definitely broader.
According to SimilarTech, however, PIMCORE's user numbers are steadily increasing, whereas TYPO3 has seen a certain slump in recent years.
In principle, online shops can also be realized with TYPO3 and PIMCORE is also suitable for websites with a more editorial background. However, these are not the core competencies of the CMS.
Especially in e-commerce contexts, which require the management of large assortments, PIMCORE is clearly stronger than TYPO3. The latter, on the other hand, scores particularly well when it comes to the realization of extensive, complex and perhaps multilingual websites with special web applications.
The PIM module forms the center of PIMCORE. The acronym "PIM" stands for "Product Information Management". Accordingly, all kinds of product information in e-commerce can be organized with the PIMCORE PIM.
If corresponding data is entered directly into the database of an online shop, operators are quickly confronted with a considerable disadvantage: One and the same information can only be used with difficulty in applications and channels. For example, if product information is needed both in the web shop and for a virtual catalog, multiple database maintenance is often unavoidable.
The PIM system offers a media-neutral memory so that various databases do not have to be laboriously filled with the exact same information. With the help of specific interfaces, this can control all relevant channels and also retrieve data from different sources.
The function of the DAM module of PIMCORE is similar to that of the PIM module. Here, too, the creation of a comprehensive database is made possible. However, the focus is now not on product information, but on assets. The term "assets" covers all types of content or media files that are to be displayed on a website - from texts to images to videos and similar content.
In PIMCORE's DAM system, corresponding files can be archived, provided with suitable meta data for better internal findability and for SEO, or edited in a different way and finally transmitted to the right places. For this purpose, PIMCORE creates a subordinate database that can be accessed by all other modules of the system as well as linked apps or third-party channels.
The CMS is used to create, publish and manage content directly in PIMCORE. Furthermore, the pages themselves or their layouts and the structure of the entire website can of course be adapted via this module.
Like other CMS, the CMS product portfolio of PIMCORE is designed to provide the user with as little work as possible. The CMS user interface is simple and intuitive to use.
As a headless CMS, PIMCORE has a multi-channel publishing feature that makes it possible to publish content not only on the website and in the online shop, but also to provide online marketing and public relations with content from a single source. Social media, newsletters, marketplaces, etc. - everything can be accessed via PIMCORE, completely without plugins or other additional software.
Furthermore, based on behavioral targeting or corresponding data and CMS rules, it is possible to get personalization in content with very little effort.
Basically, everything can be achieved with the application that TYPO3, WordPress and Co. can do - from the comprehensive organization of content to the customization of page layouts to the integration of web applications, such as a CMS product configurator.
Beyond the core functions of PIMCORE, i.e. CMS, PIM and DAM, there are two other useful modules. In a customer data platform (CDP), customer master data from different applications can be merged and an optimal overview of all customer activities can be obtained.
In addition, there is the e-commerce framework, whose basic function and advantages have already been explained above.
What are the advantages of PIMCORE?
Some of the clear benefits of PIMCORE have already been highlighted in the previous paragraphs. In addition, the system has the great advantage of an integrated data platform, especially in comparison to TYPO3.
Product Information Management is primarily of interest to e-commerce companies. However, the possibility of centralized organization of all assets, such as images, documents, videos and other content types, via a Digital Asset Management tool (DAM) is also highly relevant in any other business sector.
Data management applications enable organizations to manage all of their content or information in a centralized location. The resulting streamlining has a direct impact on overall operational efficiency. Manual, repetitive tasks can be greatly reduced and specific business processes can be greatly accelerated. Furthermore, a reduction in the error rate results by reducing manual input and having all responsible parties working in the same place with the same data. Finally, the information can be sent automatically to the appropriate channels via the management tools. This brings an overall increase in data reliability. It should not be forgotten that collaboration also benefits: All employees have a central point of contact to retrieve important product information or even assets for specific team tasks.
Without a data platform, all of this is a huge challenge, especially when a large number of products need to be distributed, a large mass of content needs to be organized, or online offerings of any kind are aimed at an international audience or multiple target groups with different requirements. Good product information management or digital asset management not only helps, but also makes it relatively easy for teams to personalize the customer experience and create highly customized customer experiences that are effective across multiple channels. In today's world, where (potential) customers increasingly make purchasing decisions online and based on value-added information and the quality of the overall customer experience, this undoubtedly has enormous potential.
What are the advantages of TYPO3
Nevertheless, the free TYPO3 CMS also has clear advantages to offer. Users do not need any prior programming knowledge to use it. In addition, the content organization is practical and intuitive for editors and can be controlled through a precise assignment of rights.
TYPO3 is international: the TYPO3 Community includes developers from all over the world (especially Europe), who are constantly updating, supplementing and optimizing the software. This knowledge support provides a professional basis for companies aiming for an international Internet presence.
In addition, TYPO3 is the only Open Source CMS to offer "Long-Term Support", with regular DSGVO-compliant security updates and bug fixes.
In addition, thanks to the automatic consideration of Core Web Vitals and the reading of the website in the search engine, websites created in TYPO3 are always subject to good search engine compatibility.
And even though TYPO3 is not a best-of-suite solution, complex websites can be easily integrated throughinterface integrations to business-critical applications such as CRM and ERP systems.
PIMCORE or TYPO3 - when to use which CMS?
PIMCORE always plays to its strengths when ...
- a more in-depth PIM functionality is required.
- a large number of products and a lot of content are to be offered online.
- dependencies in products have to be maintained.
- CMS rules need to be easily defined.
- a product finder or a CMS product configurator should be created.
- product information and content are to be played out via different channels in the course of an omnichannel strategy.
The use of TYPO3 is particularly useful when ...
- websites use complex page trees with a lot of text.
- Internet presences as a whole have a strong editorial structure.
- connections via API do not have to be made possible, or only to a very limited extent.
- no complex processing of writing processes (forms) is required.
Depending on which system is chosen, different CMS strategies are the consequence: best-of-breed vs. best-of-suite. These already differ with the choice of software solution. While the use of a conventional (TYPO3) CMS already determines the Best-of-Breed strategy, with PIMCORE both strategies are possible. The system can be integrated in parts into an existing architecture (Best-of-Breed) or used in its entirety as a central point for Product Information Management, asset organization and CMS (Best-of Suite).
Best-of-Breed vs. Best-of-Suite:
Welche ist die beste CMS-Strategie für PIMCORE?
There is no generally applicable solution. Which of the two strategies is ideal for your project depends first of all on the context. There are a few aspects that should be considered.
When using the best-of-breed strategy, new features usually have to be implemented in every part of the system or relevant interfaces between the individual components have to be adapted. Perhaps even more tools need to be added, which then make the construct increasingly complex. In addition to this direct additional technical effort, maintenance is also usually more complicated, as it has to be carried out individually. Keeping everything working together efficiently even after major updates is a lot of work.
Of course, these problems can be solved. In the long run, however, the cost of operating a best-of-breed solution is comparatively high - sometimes so high that such a system is hardly economical to maintain.
In the best-of-suite approach, the system consists exclusively of components from one vendor. Changes have a virtually automatic effect on all components. This applies to the technical and back-end levels as well as the front-end level. Users also work with a single user interface and do not have to keep rethinking. A good best-of-suite solution, such as PIMCORE, offers all the possibilities that one would expect in a best-of-breed case. Flexible structures, tracking, personalization, CMS rules, multilingualism - all this and more is no problem with PIMCORE.
Of course, there are drawbacks here as well: For example, CMS templating with PIMCORE is more complex and you make yourself dependent on a provider to a certain extent. Due to the orientation as open source software with interfaces to other tools important for the operation of web presences, however, both can be criticized less. Companies could easily integrate an external CMS, such as TYPO3, or shop software, such as Magento, for a quick launch, and then later switch to PIMCORE or replace components that no longer meet the updated requirements.
FAZIT
The question of which CMS is better can hardly be answered in a general way for TYPO3 and PIMCORE. Both systems have their specific advantages, which they bring to bear in different scenarios. Accordingly, you should first look at your requirements and then decide which option works best for you. In particular, consider whether you need software more for managing a perhaps larger online store or an editorial website. Also bear in mind that you could, for example, also use PIMCORE's PIM module with TYPO3 as a best-of-breed system. So you should also think about the right CMS strategy - best-of-breed vs. best-of-suite.
We are happy to support you in the decision-making process and introduction of a PIM (Product Information Management) system:
- Requirements workshop on the topic of product data - in the workshop we jointly develop the class model for maintaining the product information and set up the object classes together with you.
- Setup and installation of the PIM incl. required software components in a specialized hosting environment.
- Provision of a universal interface with which the import (MXL, CSV, JSON, Excel, etc.) of your existing product data into the PIM system can take place. The API also allows you to export feeds and create Rest APIs into any application.
- Connection of the PIM system to your required output systems (website, eCommerce shop, app, Adobe InDesign, etc.) as well as creation of the required templates
- Editorial training on the use of PIMCORE
You will find further interesting topics related to PIM here:
Oliver Parrizas will be happy to answer any questions you may have on the subject. 
+49-800-911-91-91
