Compare
Kaleta vs. Joomla.
Joomla is a mature open-source CMS with multilingual support and access control in the core. Kaleta takes a narrower path: a visual builder, a design system and Claude, for business websites. Here is how they compare.
Choose Kaleta if.
you build business websites: services, references, team, news, bookings and enquiries
you want Claude to build the site and help run it – as drafts, within limits you set
you want the essentials built in and tested together, not a stack of plugins and subscriptions
you want the site on your own hosting, free and open source
Stay with Joomla if.
- you rely on Joomla extensions or a template framework you know well
- you need user registration, access levels and member content
- your site is a portal or community rather than a business website
- your team already runs and updates Joomla sites
Side by side
Feature by feature.
Kaleta
Joomla + extensions
Licence and cost
Kaleta
GPL-2.0-or-later, free. No paid tiers or per-site licences.
Joomla
GPL-2.0-or-later, free. Many templates and extensions are paid.
Visual builder
Kaleta
Built in: 46 elements, 40 ready-made sections, styles per screen size and hover.
Joomla
Articles in the core editor; visual page building through extensions such as YOOtheme Pro or SP Page Builder.
Building with AI
Kaleta
Claude connects over MCP with your account’s permissions or less: drafts, signed previews, guardrails, undo of a whole session, scheduled runs.
Joomla
Through extensions; varies by extension.
Design system
Kaleta
Colours, fonts and spacing as tokens, shared classes and components, W3C Design Tokens export.
Joomla
Template-based with template styles; design tokens depend on the template or framework.
Forms, booking, SEO, statistics
Kaleta
Built in: multi-step forms and quote calculators, online booking, sitemap, structured data, llms.txt, 301 redirects and self-healing links, cookie-free statistics, Google and CRM connections.
Joomla
Core has SEO-friendly URLs, a redirect component and contact forms; richer forms and statistics come from extensions.
Languages
Kaleta
Language versions built in: around forty site languages, regional versions and Arabic written right to left; visitor texts translated into 12 languages.
Joomla
Multilingual in core, with many language packs.
Backups and updates
Kaleta
Automatic database backups, copied off the server once you add an FTPS or S3 target; signed updates on the Latest or Stable channel, security releases install on their own, the old files come back if an update fails.
Joomla
One-click core updates in the admin; extensions update separately.
Page weight
Kaleta
Clean HTML and CSS only for the elements on the page; the only third-party script, Leaflet for maps, is served from your own site and loads after a click.
Joomla
Depends on the template and extensions.
Extending it
Kaleta
Built-in modules you switch on and off, webhooks, the Claude connection (MCP), and add-ons through a versioned extension API – switched on by an administrator who trusts them.
Joomla
Thousands of extensions in the Joomla Extensions Directory.
E-commerce, memberships, courses
Kaleta
Not included. Online booking of appointments is built in, without payments.
Joomla
Through extensions (for example HikaShop or VirtueMart).
Hosting
Kaleta
Any hosting with PHP 8.3+ and MySQL 8 / MariaDB 10.6+; install over FTP in about ten minutes.
Joomla
Runs on common PHP hosting.
Community
Kaleta
New (2026) and small; open development on GitHub.
Joomla
Established, volunteer-run community with user groups worldwide.
Checked in October 2026 against Kaleta 3.31. Other systems change quickly – check the current state of the tools you use.
Where Joomla is stronger
Users, access and languages in the core.
Joomla handles registered users, access levels and multilingual content without extra plugins, and its extension directory covers portals, directories and communities.
Where Kaleta is stronger
Visual building and Claude.
Kaleta builds every page, header and footer in one visual builder on a design system, keeps features built in and tested together, and lets Claude build and edit the site as drafts you approve.
Moving over
Moving from Joomla.
The Joomla importer reads a Joomla 4 or 5 site through its Web Services API, with an API token you type once and that is never stored. Articles come in as news with their categories, tags and images, and every old address gets a 301 redirect. Joomla’s API does not give article addresses, so the old ones are a best guess – the migration report checks every old address against the new site before you switch the domain. Modules, menus, the template and custom fields do not come across – connect Claude and it reworks each page as a draft from Kaleta sections, in your design system.
FAQ
Questions from Joomla users.
Does Kaleta have user accounts for visitors?
No. Kaleta is built for business websites; accounts are for the people who run the site, with roles and permissions.
Can I add extensions like in Joomla?
Yes, as add-ons. Since Kaleta 3.0, code from other developers can hook in through a versioned extension API, and an administrator switches each add-on on after confirming they trust the code. There is no extensions directory – most of what a business website needs, such as forms, booking and SEO, is built in.
Can I keep my addresses when I move?
Yes. The importer creates 301 redirects from the old addresses; set the new pages to the same addresses where you can, and add redirects for the rest in Redirects – or ask Claude to create them.
Is Kaleta free like Joomla?
Yes. Kaleta is open source under GPL-2.0-or-later, with no paid tiers or paid extensions.
More comparisons
Compare Kaleta with similar systems.
Try Kaleta next to your Joomla site.
Install it on a test subdomain and compare – it takes about ten minutes.