No. Drupal core is the base software. Drupal CMS is a separate Composer project, drupal/cms, that pulls in core (^11.4 in release 2.2.7) and adds an installer, site templates and preconfigured features. Its README says it has the same system requirements as Drupal core.
' - '@type': Question name: 'Which version of Drupal CMS is current?' acceptedAnswer: '@type': Answer text: 'On 26 October 2026 the project page lists 2.2.7, released on 23 October 2026, as the latest release. Stable releases are covered by the Drupal security advisory policy. Drupal CMS 2.0.0 came out on 28 January 2026 and made Drupal Canvas the default editing experience.
' - '@type': Question name: 'Does Drupal CMS include Project Browser and Automatic Updates?' acceptedAnswer: '@type': Answer text: 'Yes. The Drupal CMS Basics project, which provides the foundation of Drupal CMS, lists both the Project Browser and Automatic Updates modules among its included modules (checked 26 October 2026).
' - '@type': Question name: 'Can I apply Drupal CMS recipes to an existing Drupal site?' acceptedAnswer: '@type': Answer text: 'You can apply a recipe to an existing site, but the 2.0.0 release notes warn that recipes have no update paths. Applying one to an existing site may therefore not do everything it does on a new site. The same notes say Drupal Canvas can be added to an existing site, which needs a component-based theme to use it well.
' - '@type': TechArticle headline: 'Drupal CMS' description: "Drupal CMS is the Drupal project's own starting point for new websites, aimed at marketers and site builders, set up from a site template." image: '@type': ImageObject url: 'https://dxpr.com/themes/custom/dxpr_com/images/dxpr-share-card.jpg' width: '1200' height: '630' datePublished: '2026-10-26T18:01:04+0000' dateModified: '2026-10-26T18:01:04+0000' author: '@type': Organization '@id': 'https://dxpr.com/#organization' name: DXPR url: 'https://dxpr.com/' logo: '@type': ImageObject url: 'https://dxpr.com/themes/custom/dxpr_com/dxpr-logo-dark.svg' width: '1348' height: '501' publisher: '@type': Organization '@id': 'https://dxpr.com/#organization' name: DXPR url: 'https://dxpr.com/' logo: '@type': ImageObject url: 'https://dxpr.com/themes/custom/dxpr_com/dxpr-logo-dark.svg' width: '1348' height: '501' mainEntityOfPage: 'https://dxpr.com/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/drupal-cms' articleSection: 'Drupal glossary' - '@type': WebPage '@id': 'https://dxpr.com/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/drupal-cms' description: "Drupal CMS is the Drupal project's own starting point for new websites, aimed at marketers and site builders, set up from a site template." breadcrumb: '@type': BreadcrumbList itemListElement: - '@type': ListItem position: 1 name: Home item: 'https://dxpr.com/' publisher: '@type': Organization '@id': 'https://dxpr.com/#organization' name: DXPR inLanguage: en --- [Help Center](/hc)/[Documentation](/hc/documentation) /[Learn Drupal](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal) /[Drupal glossary](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary) # Drupal CMS Drupal CMS is the Drupal project's own starting point for new websites, aimed at marketers and site builders, set up from a site template. Learn DrupalDrupal glossary Last updated October 26, 2026 ## In this guide Related terms - [Distribution](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/distribution) - [Recipes](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/recipes) - [Project Browser](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/project-browser) - [Automatic Updates](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/automatic-updates) - [Drupal Canvas (formerly Experience Builder)](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/drupal-canvas) - [Install profile](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/install-profile) [All Drupal terms from A to Z](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary) Drupal CMS is a ready-to-use website platform that the Drupal community releases on drupal.org as the project `cms`. It adds an installer, site templates, preconfigured features and a visual page builder to Drupal core. Release 2.2.7 of 23 October 2026 requires Drupal core `^11.4`: 11.4 or a later 11.x release. ## How Drupal CMS works Drupal CMS is a Composer project. Its `composer.json` requires `drupal/core-recommended` at `^11.4`, so it always installs a Drupal 11 core. It also requires `drupal/core-recipe-unpack`, and its installer paths put packages of type `drupal-recipe`, the [recipes](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/recipes), in a `recipes` folder. The installer is an [install profile](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/install-profile) named `drupal_cms_installer`. You pick a site template, the installer applies it, and the profile is meant to be used once. Its project page calls it an internal part of Drupal CMS with no backward-compatibility promise. Its info file carries the `distribution` key with the name Drupal CMS, so the installer skips the profile choice. In installer terms, that makes Drupal CMS a [distribution](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/distribution). A site template is a recipe. The 2.0.0 release notes describe the Byte and Starter templates, and the 2.1.0 release notes mention free and premium templates. The shared foundation is the Drupal CMS Basics project. On 26 October 2026 its page lists two roles, four media types and 54 modules and themes, among them Automatic Updates, Project Browser, Drupal Canvas, the Gin admin theme, Pathauto and Scheduler. Since 2.0.0 (28 January 2026), [Drupal Canvas](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/drupal-canvas) is the default editing experience, with the Mercury component library for cards, heroes, menus and accordions. The drupal.org Drupal CMS initiative page lists Project Browser, Recipes, Automatic Updates and Drupal Canvas among its initiatives (checked 26 October 2026). ## Example The README recommends DDEV for running Drupal CMS locally: install DDEV, open a terminal in the project folder and run `ddev launch`. The installer opens in the browser and asks you to choose a site template. After installation, go to `Extend › Recommended` (`admin/modules/browse/recommended`) and click Install next to an add-on. Drupal CMS installs the modules and applies preconfigured settings. It may ask for an API key or identifier, and it may add demo content. ## Common mistakes - **Treating a trial as a site.** The Drupal CMS launcher creates a temporary trial site. Use DDEV or a hosting provider for a real project. - **Expecting the update screen to do everything.** The documentation says the update UI does not work on all hosting providers. For core it supports patch updates only; minor and major versions need Composer, and the update cannot be reversed. Make a backup first. - **Editing the installer profile.** Its project page says to fork it under a new name if you need to customize it. ## For marketing and content teams You get a site that already has a Content editor [role](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/role), SEO modules (Metatag, Simple XML Sitemap, Real-time SEO for Drupal) and a consent manager (Klaro), all listed in the Drupal CMS Basics project. Your developer still needs to choose the site template and the hosting. After installation, the site is a standard Drupal site: the project page says you update its modules and themes like any other Drupal site, not Drupal CMS itself. ## With DXPR DXPR also publishes DXPR CMS. Its [DXPR CMS page](/marketing-cms) describes it as a distribution that brings Drupal, the DXPR Builder page builder and DXPR Theme together, curated and maintained by DXPR. ## Sources - [Drupal.org: Drupal CMS project page](https://www.drupal.org/project/cms) - [Drupal CMS 2.2.7 release notes](https://www.drupal.org/project/cms/releases/2.2.7) - [Drupal CMS 2.0.0 release notes](https://www.drupal.org/project/cms/releases/2.0.0) - [Drupal CMS 2.2.7 composer.json](https://git.drupalcode.org/project/cms/-/blob/2.2.7/composer.json) - [Drupal CMS 2.2.7 README](https://git.drupalcode.org/project/cms/-/blob/2.2.7/README.md) - [Drupal.org: Drupal CMS Basics project page](https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal_cms_site_template_base) - [Drupal.org: Drupal CMS Installer project page](https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal_cms_installer) - [Drupal CMS documentation: Updating Drupal](https://project.pages.drupalcode.org/drupal_cms/updates/intro/) - [Drupal CMS documentation: Updating Drupal core](https://project.pages.drupalcode.org/drupal_cms/updates/core/) - [Drupal CMS documentation: Installation options](https://project.pages.drupalcode.org/drupal_cms/get-started/install/) - [Drupal CMS documentation: Set up Drupal CMS](https://project.pages.drupalcode.org/drupal_cms/get-started/setup/) - [Drupal CMS documentation: Recommended add-ons](https://project.pages.drupalcode.org/drupal_cms/customize/add-ons/) - [Drupal.org: Drupal CMS initiative](https://www.drupal.org/about/starshot) ## Questions about Drupal CMS ### Is Drupal CMS the same thing as Drupal core? No. Drupal core is the base software. Drupal CMS is a separate Composer project, `drupal/cms`, that pulls in core (`^11.4` in release 2.2.7) and adds an installer, site templates and preconfigured features. Its README says it has the same system requirements as Drupal core. ### Which version of Drupal CMS is current? On 26 October 2026 the project page lists 2.2.7, released on 23 October 2026, as the latest release. Stable releases are covered by the Drupal security advisory policy. Drupal CMS 2.0.0 came out on 28 January 2026 and made Drupal Canvas the default editing experience. ### Does Drupal CMS include Project Browser and Automatic Updates? Yes. The Drupal CMS Basics project, which provides the foundation of Drupal CMS, lists both the [Project Browser](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/project-browser) and [Automatic Updates](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/automatic-updates) modules among its included modules (checked 26 October 2026). ### Can I apply Drupal CMS recipes to an existing Drupal site? You can apply a recipe to an existing site, but the 2.0.0 release notes warn that recipes have no update paths. Applying one to an existing site may therefore not do everything it does on a new site. The same notes say Drupal Canvas can be added to an existing site, which needs a component-based theme to use it well. ## Cite this definition "Drupal CMS." DXPR Drupal glossary, https://dxpr.com/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/drupal-cms. Last updated October 26, 2026. Copy ## Related terms - [Distribution](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/distribution) - [Recipes](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/recipes) - [Project Browser](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/project-browser) - [Automatic Updates](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/automatic-updates) - [Drupal Canvas (formerly Experience Builder)](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/drupal-canvas) - [Install profile](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary/install-profile) [All Drupal terms from A to Z](/hc/documentation/learn-drupal/drupal-glossary)