Drupal and the open web go hand in hand. The open web is a web that’s built for everyone — a free, public internet that all people around the world can access for information, connection, commerce, and political participation. Drupal, the world’s leading open-source, community-built content management system, powers the open web with innovative, secure, accessible digital experiences. Both are driven by the same core principles: access, freedom, inclusion, and empowerment. 

The Drupal Association issues the manifesto below as a public declaration of our commitment to the open web and belief in its power as a digital public good.

Drupal: The power behind the open web

The open web is more than a technology — it’s a cause.

It’s built on freedom: You don’t need permission to learn, build, or advance open web technology. Anyone, anywhere can contribute to making it better.

It’s defined by decentralization: No single person or entity controls the open web.

It thrives on inclusion: Everyone in the world, regardless of background, identity, ability, wealth, or status, has a home on the open web as a user, creator, architect, and innovator.

It requires participation: The open web is a shared resource and a shared responsibility, sustained by deliberate choice and collaborative effort.

It exists for empowerment: The open web is fueled by humanity’s collective quest for information, connection, and progress — and strengthened by every individual’s right to choice, privacy, and security.

To live up to that definition, an open web must not be built on proprietary technology. 

  • It must be designed to protect — not exploit — personal data and public discourse.
  • It must enable the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to compete effectively.
  • It must be resilient to a changing world and not controlled by a select few.

The open web must be more than an ideal or a set of principles: to achieve its full potential as a global, digital public good, the open web must prove it’s a better web.

That means competing in a marketplace of closed, proprietary solutions; embodying the limitless innovation that can only come from collaboration; integrating with the best technology available; and earning people’s trust.

Drupal makes an open web possible.

Our global community of makers and users create the code, solve the problems, and form the bonds that sustain it. 

  • Our creativity enables flexible, seamless digital experiences for creators and users alike.
  • Our diversity unlocks solutions and new opportunities for innovation.
  • Our integrity ensures independence and inclusion for all.

Every level of our community is both a participant in building and beneficiary of the open web:

  • The governments, educational institutions, nonprofits, and enterprises that rely on the Drupal platform.
  • The makers who contribute to Drupal and volunteer their time and energy to create and sustain it.
  • The millions of people who use Drupal every day — even if they don’t realize it.

Together, we’re shaping the foundation for how the digital world operates, and how future generations will live, work, connect, and express themselves.

As long as Drupal exists, that foundation will be an open web that’s open source, open access, and always open to improvement.