Drupal development in 2026 affects owners of Drupal 7, 10, and 11 sites and teams building new marketing sites. Evidence centers on Drupal CMS 2.0 for visual builds and a December end of life for Drupal 10; audit version and plan migration now. Drupal is an open-source content management system for structured, secure websites. Development now follows two paths: full-code core builds and no-code CMS builds for marketing teams.
Table of Contents
- Who still uses Drupal?
- Core or CMS: which build fits you?
- Which versions need action?
- What should you do next?
Who still uses Drupal?
W3Techs reports Drupal powers 0.6% of all websites for a 0.9% content management share as of October 22, 2026, per W3Techs comparison. That share confirms a small but steady niche in enterprise, government, and universities.
These organizations choose Drupal for access control, multilingual content, and complex content types. Small brochure sites rarely need that power and often move faster elsewhere.
Core or CMS: which build fits you?
The Drupal Association describes two paths: core for full architectural control, and CMS for marketers building without code. Drupal CMS launched in January 2025 and reached 2.0 in January 2026. Version 2.0 made Canvas the default visual page builder.
It added assisted tools and site templates for launching branded sites in days, according to the Drupal Association in the Drupal CMS 2.0 announcement. Choose core for custom integrations, migration logic, or strict governance. Choose CMS with Recipes and Canvas for campaign pages and faster marketing launches.
Which versions need action?
Drupal 11, released August 2, 2024, is the current supported major version. Patch releases such as 11.4.9 continue. The 11.4.x line is covered until June 2027, according to the Drupal Association 11.4.9 release notes.
Drupal 10 reaches end of life on December 9, 2026. Drupal 12.0.0 and Drupal 11.5.0 are scheduled for the week of December 7, 2026, according to the Drupal Association core release schedule. Drupal 7 reached end of life on January 5, 2025. Remaining sites get no security updates or compatibility fixes and face unpatched vulnerability and compliance risk.
What should you do next?
Move Drupal 7 and Drupal 10 sites to Drupal 11 now. Inventory custom modules, themes, and integrations before you migrate.
Start with three checks: Build new marketing sites with CMS Recipes and Canvas. Test custom modules against the Drupal 12 beta before December.
- current major version and patch level
- contributed modules with Drupal 11 releases
- marketing pages suited to Recipes and Canvas
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