When comparing web2py vs Wagtail, the Slant community recommends Wagtail for most people. In the question“What are the best Python based CMSs?” Wagtail is ranked 2nd while web2py is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Wagtail is:
Although Wagtail comes with only the most basic features, it's by no means an incomplete CMS. It's very extendable and it's up to the developer to choose how to extend it.
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Pros
Pro Documentation is written in form of a book which is good for beginners
web2py documentation does not follow the common pattern of using Sphinx, MkDocs or ReadTheDocs which is goos for exeperienced developers. Although documentation in form of a book is very easy and good for beginners. Turning web2py the most easy and comprehensive framework to learn and also to teach.
Pro Web2py apps run on GAE, AWS, VPNs, PythonAnywhere, etc
Web2py apps are designed to be portable. With some minor restrictions web2py apps can run on any VPS on SQL databases and/or Mongo, as well as on Google App Engine with the Google Datastore. It is truly code ones and run everywhere. For example at Camio.com we use web2py internally to access a GAE datastore which contains more images than Instagram.
Pro User support
The web2py community is open and friendly and it gives concrete support to newbies and old timers. It's not difficult to get answers from the BDFL Massimo Di Pierro himself.
Pro Maintainable over time
One really positive aspect of web2py application is their maintainability over the years. Old code works even if the framework is updated to the latest version. Not only that, if code is written well it is very short and a new team can pick it up over in little time.
Pro PyCharm supports web2py
While web2py has its own web based IDE which is convenient, it works with WinIDE, PyCharm, and Eclipse. The first two explicitly support web2py. The latter requires some configuration.
Pro Easy to learn without losing any power
web2py is very easy to learn for beginners, yet it has a great deal of power and flexibility as application needs become more complex. It includes an impressively comprehensive set of features, making development very productive without the need to integrate a lot of third-party libraries.
Pro Can be tuned to be really fast in production
The framework is really fast in production after some optimization and fine tuning which can minimize the memory footprint in order to make it run on a really small VPS or slice.
Pro Easily extendable
Allows users to easily extend functionality by using external libraries.
Pro No need to import the API to access the models and controllers context at every request
Models and controllers live in the context of the HTTP request. So the developer does not have to import the API to access this context at every request.
In other words, the models, controllers and templates in web2py use a domain specific language which uses pure web2py syntax and allows to import any module but exposes a few additional objects.
Pro Includes a web-based IDE for creating and managing applications
web2py includes an "admin" app that serves as a web-based IDE for web2py applications. It includes many features, such as application creation, compiling, and packaging; an error ticketing system; a code editor; a debugger; a controller doctest runner; Git and Mercurial integration; and one-click deployment to PythonAnywhere, Google App Engine, and OpenShift.
It is not intended as a full desktop IDE replacement, but it includes some helpful web2py specific functionality and can be convenient for basic editing and debugging tasks and quick prototyping, even for those who primarily work with a more full-featured desktop IDE or editor.
Pro web2py supports the classic editor Vim
Pro Extendable
Although Wagtail comes with only the most basic features, it's by no means an incomplete CMS. It's very extendable and it's up to the developer to choose how to extend it.
Pro Lightweight with the most useful functionalities
Wagtail is a simple and lightweight CMS with the most basic and useful set of features baked in out of the box.
Pro Great separation between developers and editors
Wagtail has the perfect separation between developers and editors. It allows you to construct a site with minimal fuss with features like the awesome stream field and hand it over to virtually any content editor. You can build the site with no knowledge of Django and with the simple interface require no training to get started.
Although this will always require developer time, with 2 or 3 days you can quickly get up a boilerplate site that will fulfill 80% of any site you will develop. Leaving only the bespoke parts to do.
It also nicely slots into any Django project with no fuss.
Cons
Con Abandoned framework with (almost) no community
Con The web IDE is not a full-featured IDE
web2py includes an "admin" app that serves as a web-based IDE for web2py applications. It includes many features, such as application creation, compiling, and packaging; an error ticketing system; a code editor; a debugger; a controller doctest runner; Git and Mercurial integration; and one-click deployment to PythonAnywhere, Google App Engine, and OpenShift. However, particularly with regard to code editing and debugging and version control integration, it is not as full-featured as some of the more popular desktop IDEs such as PyCharm. So, developers expecting a PyCharm-like experience may be somewhat disappointed. In any case, use of the web-based IDE is completely optional.
Con ImageChooser widgets dont fully work in sub panels
Con You need to be experienced in Django to get the most of it
Installing Wagtail on a remote server is a little more complicated than FTPing a bunch of files. Furthermore there's no ecosystem for plugins and themes so it can only be fully extended by a developer experienced with Django.
