[IgniteDM]

I think most of the major points have been covered by everyone else here...

but my 2 cents worth:

We use Business Catalyst not only for our own sites, but for quite a few client sites as well. It really depends on the budget they come to me with and what features they want out of it.

What I always say to people who only want something small to start with is always allow for expansion -because its so much easier down the track when you have an expandable platform! I generally recommend the base level options with Business Catalyst and let my clients know they can upgrade to using more features when they need to, i.e. to add marketing/ecommerce etc

I use Wordpress for some applications but just personally prefer the ease of adding all sorts of features to pages in BC without needing a coding person. ie. web forms, FAQ sections, Blogs etc. I find Wordpress is better for people with a more limited experience in editing websites... its quite user friendly. BC is great but can take a little more getting used for for the un-initiated.

Having said that BC has its limitations. But Adobe are continuously working on updates and roll these out quite regularly. Updates are automatically added on - you dont need to do anything.

My main point would be that no 1 solution is going to do everything perfectly. 1 CMS might be cheaper, but not so Search Engine friendly. Another might have more features but be more expensive. Just choose your most important must have features, budget and work your way back.

Good Luck !