webflow vs wordpress

We’ve built a lot of websites over the years. Full disclaimer: most of our websites are built in Webflow, including this one. A few years back, we made the decision to focus on Webflow, and often we get asked a lot of questions about the platform when discussing a new web project with potential clients. The latest data shows that 39.5% of websites are powered by WordPress – so you might be wondering why WordPress isn’t our first choice.

We’ve seen a lot of WordPress sites up close. Several of our clients do have WordPress websites, and that doesn’t prevent us from working together. However, we’ve got a lot of thoughts when comparing the two platforms.

Webflow allows you to build fully custom-designed websites without entering a single line of code. For those who are looking to design and build sites in Webflow, Webflow University is a great place to start. There’s also a nice library of existing templates that can help you get a head start. The client websites you’ll see in View’s portfolio are completely custom designs that have been created from scratch in Webflow without code.

WordPress uses pre-made templates or requires coding for a fully custom design. WordPress has a much larger library of templates, and there are a lot of page builders out there that help you achieve the look you’re looking for. But we’ll touch on page builders and other plug-ins later.

Webflow has native SEO functionality built into the site. Header and paragraph tags are built into each text box type, and metadata is easily added right inside of the Designer.

WordPress requires a plug-in for these same SEO capabilities. Yoast SEO is a popular choice among WordPress sites.

Having an accessible website means that you’re ensuring that all of your potential users, including people with disabilities, have a good user experience and are able to access your information. If that isn’t enough of a reason to ensure your site is accessible, you could face a lawsuit if a person with a disability claims that your site is not ADA Compliant.

Webflow has built-in accessibility checking tools at no additional cost. They’ve also created a comprehensive checklist for designers to confirm that the site meets The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

There are plug-ins available for WordPress to check accessibility. This article outlines some options and their pricing.

4. CMS Blogging

Both platforms have very similar CMS capabilities. Entering a new blog into Webflow is extremely similar to entering a blog in WordPress.

Webflow has the functionality of WordPress plug-ins already native to the platform. This means that the code is cleaner, which means a faster site (which also helps you rank better on Google!).

WordPress requires plug-ins. In our experience, the plug-ins require a lot of regular maintenance including updating the plug-ins. The plug-ins can break things in the site, and this requires a lot of ongoing support. Having third-party plug-ins also slows down the performance of the site.

Webflow has easy editing tools with an in-browser editor allowing you to customize text and images. There are no software updates or plug-ins to update over time.

WordPress requires you to know the page builder editor that it is using or have a developer assist with custom-coded pages. There are frequent software updates and plug-ins that need updating overtime.

Webflow has 3 standard options for pricing. We find that the middle option (called “CMS”) works best for most of our clients and costs $16 per month. This includes hosting, SSL certificate, security, and CMS functionality.

WordPress pricing is varied depending on which hosting platform you choose. You’ll pay for the cost of hosting, plus the cost of the SSL certificate, and security from that host. You’ll also want to budget for the cost of the page builder and any premium-level plug-ins you’ll need to achieve your desired functionality.

In short, Webflow is our jam. We’ve had a lot of success with Webflow and have a lot of happy clients who love the flexibility of in-browser editing and the lack of site maintenance. If you think Webflow is a fit for your next web project, let’s chat.