In the DrupalCon Atlanta Driesnote and follow-up blog post, Dries laid out a bold vision:
Site Templates combine Drupal recipes, a theme, design elements, and default content to give users a fully functional website right from the start."
He also posed a big question to the community: Should we build a Marketplace for these templates—and if so, how?
In just the first couple weeks of conversation, hundreds of community members have weighed in across Slack, blog comments, and BoFs. From enthusiastic endorsements to thoughtful concerns, the input is rich, complex, and deeply-rooted in the spirit of Drupal.
This post captures what we’re hearing so far.
The Opportunity
Many in the community agree: the lack of easily accessible, visually appealing starting points is one of Drupal’s largest barriers to adoption. A Site Template Marketplace could:
- Lower the barrier to entry for site builders and small organizations
- Give developers a fast, “wow-worthy” way to spin up sites in hours, not weeks
- Highlight the full potential of Drupal CMS + Experience Builder
- Generate new opportunities for agencies, makers, and module maintainers
- Strengthen the Drupal Association’s sustainability with shared revenue
As one commenter put it:
Every sold theme means a new Drupal site, likely a happy user... and the community gets something back."
What Would Make the Marketplace Useful?
In our first weekly Slack Prompt (#1), we heard:
- Fast paths to beautiful results: Templates you can install, customize, and deploy in days—not weeks.
- Tiers of complexity: Lightweight starter kits, robust enterprise templates, and everything in between.
- Paths for free and commercial use: A mix of free, contributed templates and paid offerings with premium support or assets.
- Rewards for collaboration: Incentives that elevate templates built by multiple contributors or agencies working together.
- SaaS-style options: Templates bundled with hosting, updates, or paid support for non-technical audiences.
I wanna grab something from the marketplace, put it together in 2–3 days max, and blow people’s minds." —Community member
The Questions We're Hearing Most
Across Slack and the blog post, several themes of inquiry and caution have emerged:
1. Legal Clarity & Licensing
- What parts of a Site Template can be sold under Drupal’s GPL license?
- Will template buyers be able to redistribute what they purchase?
- Can we enable commercial distribution while staying true to open source values?
Dries has addressed this nuance, noting that:
Assets like images, fonts, and demo content are not code and are not derived from Drupal. These elements… can use other licenses, including commercial ones."
2. Quality, Curation, and Trust
- How might we prevent a flood of low-quality or AI-generated templates?
- What might the minimum standards be for a “Marketplace-worthy” template?
- Will there be community reviews, security checks, and update requirements?
Many worry about the “freemium wasteland” effect—where flashy templates lack depth, break easily, or are quickly abandoned.
3. Revenue, Incentives, and Equity
- How might we compensate module maintainers when their code is included in paid templates?
- Should the marketplace allow non-fiat options like contribution credits?
- How might we incentivize the initial wave of templates while avoiding a “race to the bottom” on pricing?
Seeing others earn money by building on that work without recognition can be disheartening... But when it happens on Drupal.org, we have an opportunity to do better." —Dries
4. Experience & Accessibility
- Templates must support non-technical users: installable from the CMS UI, not just Composer.
- The Marketplace should integrate with Project Browser and potentially with hosters.
- Examples, walkthroughs, and support channels are key for adoption.
5. Governance & Structure
- Where might the Marketplace live? Drupal.org? Drupal.com? A subdomain?
- What rules, vetting, and governance structures might protect quality and community trust?
- Should a rollout be phased—starting with free templates first?
Additional Ideas from the Community
- Use contribution credits or sweat equity as alternative currency
- Add a “Marketplace-ready” badge system for contributors
- Offer lead generation or support links for template maintainers
- Allow template variation/extension patterns for maintainability
- Define the relationship between templates, themes, and recipes
- Rethink terminology: “Site Templates” vs. “Experience Kits” or “Project Starters”
Drupal has always had functionality. What it’s lacked is themes—and that’s what makes users fall in love with a CMS."
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. Over the next few months, the Marketplace Working Group will continue to:
- Collect input via weekly Slack prompts, community surveys, and live feedback sessions
- Map feedback to the F-V-U-D-E model (Feasibility, Viability, Usability, Desirability, Ethics)
- Explore different models for governance, monetization, and sustainability
- Share out summaries like this one every few weeks to keep the community involved
We’re on track to make a go/no-go decision in Q3 2025, and your participation is essential in shaping that outcome.
How Can You Get Involved?
There are many ways to plug in and volunteer—whether you have 5 minutes or a few hours a week:
- Share your thoughts - Reply to the weekly Slack prompts in #drupal-cms-marketplace
- Take a survey - Survey #1: Shaping the Drupal Marketplace: Contributor Perspectives targeted at Agencies, Drupal Contributors and Drupal Certified Partners
- Join a real-time session - Help shape decisions in live 50-min community calls
- Become a volunteer - this work is open to all community members—no special technical background required. Many roles are great fits for folks who enjoy facilitation, organizing, writing, or user-centered thinking.
- Spread the word - Invite others to share feedback or join a session