Drupal Site Template Marketplace Under Review as Working Group Tests Key Assumptions

The Drupal community is in the early stages of evaluating whether a Site Template Marketplace can become a trusted, sustainable, and scalable part of the ecosystem. The initiative is being led by the Marketplace Working Group, supported by volunteers and the Drupal Association, with a target to make a final go/no-go decision before DrupalCon Vienna in October 2025.

Instead of rushing into development, the team is working transparently with the community to test a set of critical assumptions—factors that, if proven wrong, could undermine the project’s success. The assumptions currently under review include demand for site templates, long-term maintenance of high-quality contributions, operational sustainability, the impact of commercialisation on open-source values, and the ability to implement trusted governance at scale.

In a public update on Drupal.org, Tiffany Farriss, CEO of Palantir.net, shared insights from the Marketplace Working Group's early efforts, highlighting why the group is prioritising open community feedback before any development begins.

How You Can Get Involved

The Working Group is inviting broader participation from the community. Here’s how:

• Respond to weekly Slack prompts. This week’s prompt: “What would make it worthwhile for you to contribute a template?”

• Join the upcoming Real-Time Collaboration (RTC) session on 1 May 2025 at 15:30 UTC, focused on Co-creating Value and Incentives. Register here.

• Participate in upcoming surveys that explore how a Site Template Marketplace could benefit agencies, developers, and end users.

• Share your assumptions or concerns that the group may not have considered yet.

What’s Next?

In the coming weeks, the group will focus on understanding contributor motivations, defining governance expectations, aligning the marketplace with existing agency workflows, and identifying the support contributors need to succeed. This effort will continue to evolve through community input and transparent iteration.

The final decision—whether or not to move forward with building the marketplace—will be grounded in validated evidence and direct engagement with the Drupal community.

More details and ongoing updates can be found on Drupal.org.