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Guide · State October 2026
Create an esports clan website: 5 options compared
A website of your own turns a Discord server into an organization: visitors see your teams, the schedule and the news, applicants find the form, partners see who you are. We show what you can build it with, what it costs and which option suits whom.
To be upfront: With Clan CMS we sell a solution ourselves. We checked the information about the other options on the providers’ own pages (October 2026). Prices change often, so please check with the provider before you decide. We write from a German perspective, so prices are in euros and some providers are mainly German.
1. What an organization site really needs
- Teams and players with photo, role and game
- Schedule and results, so fans know when you play
- News about tournaments and new signings
- Application form for new players, ideally with spam protection
- Partners and sponsors with their logo
- Press kit with logos, colors and contact
- Legal notice and privacy policy (required in Germany, no legal advice here)
- Admin area that several people can maintain without programming
2. Five options compared
| Option | Cost | Technology | Teams & schedule | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site builder | Promotional prices from about €1 per month, then €5.50 to €33 | none | via apps | provider |
| WordPress | Hosting plus plugins | medium | via plugins | you |
| Free portal | €0 | none | yes | provider, can end |
| Ilch CMS / webSPELL-RM | €0 plus hosting | medium | partly | you |
| Clan CMS (ours) | €199 one-time plus hosting | low | yes | updates in one click |
Site builder (Webador, IONOS)
Build a site quickly without technology. Webador has a free plan without a domain of your own; the paid plans start at €2.75 per month for the first 12 months and cost €5.50 afterwards. The clan homepage packages from IONOS start at €1 per month in the first year and are €12 to €33 per month after that. The domain is included in the first year.
Done quickly, no hosting of your own needed.
You have to piece together teams, schedule and applications from apps, and you stay with the provider.
WordPress
Very flexible, with a huge choice of designs and plugins. For teams, schedule and results you need plugins. If you host it yourself, updates and security are your job.
A lot of freedom, big community.
Setup takes time, and every plugin is one more thing to keep updated.
Free clan portals
Once the standard, now a risk: Clanplanet said goodbye in September 2025, and its pages now exist only as an archive. If you rely on a free portal, back up your content regularly.
Ready immediately, costs nothing.
The provider decides how long the offer exists.
Open-source CMS (Ilch CMS, webSPELL-RM)
Free and made for clans. Ilch CMS 2.2.20 is from 23 September 2026, is licensed under the GPL-3.0 and needs PHP 8.1 or newer. The project page lists forum, gallery, members, rules and news; further modules and designs can be installed. webSPELL-RM names PHP 7.x or 8.0 and MySQL 5.x as requirements. The former address webspell.org is no longer a project site.
Free, with a community and extensions.
You host and maintain it yourself. Check beforehand that everything you need is included.
Clan CMS (our product)
A CMS made for esports organizations: teams, player profiles, schedule with results, news with an approval workflow, applications, press kit, three designs, roles for several admins, two-factor login, backups and updates in one click. It runs on your own hosting (PHP 8.1, MySQL). The lifetime license costs €199 once, the subscription €49 per year. Add-on modules such as tournaments, shop and sponsors are available separately. Our founder price currently applies: 20% off the lifetime license while seats are left.
Everything an organization needs is ready, with a German interface and active development.
Not free, you need hosting of your own, and there is no forum and no player registration.
3. Step by step to your site
Using a CMS of your own as the example; the process is similar with open source and WordPress.
- Get a domain and hosting (PHP 8.1 or newer, one MySQL database).
- Upload the installation package and open the setup wizard.
- Pick a design and set logo, colors and header image.
- Add the first content: teams, players, a few matches and a first news post.
- Check and complete the legal notice and privacy policy, then publish the site.
- Invite more admins and assign roles.
4. Frequently asked questions
Can I do this without programming skills?
Yes, with a site builder or a ready-made CMS. With WordPress and open-source CMSs, basic knowledge of hosting and updates helps.
Is there anything free?
Yes, for example open source or free site-builder plans. In return you maintain everything yourself, have no domain of your own or live with restrictions.
How long does it take?
With a ready-made CMS a few hours, with WordPress and plugins more like a few evenings.
What belongs in the legal notice and privacy policy?
That depends on your organization (club, individual or company) and on where you operate. We do not give legal advice here, have it checked if in doubt.
Can I switch later?
You can take your texts and images with you, but you usually have to rebuild the structure of the site.
An organization with several teams?
If you only need something simple and fast, a site builder is enough. If you manage several teams with a schedule and applications, a CMS for esports saves the most work. Clan CMS has teams, schedule, news and applications ready, plus three designs.
View Clan CMS