WordPress is the most popular and widespread website development platform, with a current market share of over 40%. At the same time, in the last few years, more and more alternatives have emerged that offer huge advantages over the current leader. Is the hegemony of WordPress in web development coming to an end?
In this article, we will take a detailed look at the capabilities and application of WordPress - a long-standing leader among CMS systems, as well as Webflow - the undisputed trendsetter in no-code web development. We'll look at the pros and cons of each platform, then do a comparative analysis on several criteria, including the cost of website development and maintenance. Our goal is not only to present a great new technology, which is still gaining ground but also to sum up the types of projects which it suits the most.
To make our analysis of the two systems as objective as possible, we opted for an article structure that mirrors the process of developing and maintaining a website. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive comparison between the two systems, available on the Internet to date. We say it boldly because during our research we read and watched everything we could find... :D
So, buckle up for a 40-minute high-speed ride through the exciting labyrinth of web technologies!
If you are interested in cutting-edge developments or need a new website and are wondering which way to go, keep reading…
WordPress
What is WordPress?
WordPress.org was born in 2003 as a blogging platform. After adding some key features such as themes and layouts for sites built on WordPress, in 2011 it gained widespread popularity and became the dominant content management platform on the Internet. As of August 2022, about 43% of all websites use WordPress.
At the time of its creation, WordPress was revolutionary software. At a time when "creative commons" was gaining momentum, Richard Stallman popularized copyleft, and "open source" was the buzzword in the IT community, WordPress created an open-source ecosystem where anyone with knowledge could share their skills by creating useful plugins or themes. Each line of freely available code, in turn, had the potential to become a catapult for another programmer, who could use it as a base to develop something even better.
Thus, more and more WordPress applications began to appear, solving a large variety of problems, until eventually, the system evolved from a blogging platform into a full-fledged CMS that could even be used for e-commerce.
This is the main reason for the smashing success of WordPress: this system was developed by the creative genius not of individuals, but entire societies. This is what ensures the development of open-source software over a long period: it is not dependent on the existence of any individual company, and any willing programmer with the necessary knowledge and experience could maintain and develop it.
How does the platform continue to evolve today?
Because it is an open-source system, WordPress is highly decentralized. That is why there is no unified vision for its development. Each developer decides for themselves what they will build, how long they will support their plugin or theme, and whether they will continue to develop it in response to the rapid technological development.
Is there a difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?
When talking about WordPress, in most cases people mean WordPress.org. This is an open-source content management system (CMS). WordPress.com, on the other hand, is a hosting service. Using the content management system does not require purchasing the hosting service - the user has a choice. In this article by WordPress, we mean the CMS.
What are the benefits of WordPress?
Technical implementation
If we must point out one of the greatest advantages of WordPress, it is that the user gets a very good CMS system completely free of charge, and (since its source code is freely available) they can do with it whatever they wish: modify it, rebuild things, develop the system, and most importantly - use it with a hosting service of their choice. This is the reason why WordPress has such a large market share – it gives users the freedom to take something free and use it as they see fit.
The process of creating a website in WordPress consists of downloading and installing the CMS, adding the necessary plugins, adding a chosen design theme, and populating the database with the desired information (photos, copy, etc.). Technically there is no need either to understand how the Web works or to know what HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are.
Working with the administrative panel is familiar to many people because the system has been on the market for more than 20 years. Therefore, many specialists and customers feel comfortable with it.
Design
Themes, visual editors, and front-end management.
Design in WordPress is contained in themes. The installation of the core comes with several default ones. (Therefore, if you have no specific requirements about the design, you can in theory start immediately to populate your website content).
However, if the design needs to meet specific needs or solve certain problems, there are several options:
- To install a pre-designed theme that best fits your needs;
- To develop your custom design theme with the help of an additional plugin that allows visual development: the so-called site builders;
- To develop a custom theme from scratch (either by yourself or by hiring a professional to do it). Countless companies on the market can handle this task, which gives people a lot of choices.
Design themes
The WordPress ecosystem offers a huge range of themes. Most of these designs are made by top professionals and are of extremely high quality. Thus, for a small fee, you can purchase a professionally made design that is ready to go.
Site builders
In a general sense, site builders are plugins. However, they provide a powerful arsenal of design tools. They allow the technical development, maintenance, and ongoing improvement of themes directly in WordPress. Thus, they provide users with the opportunity to opt for custom designs.
Site builders give designers and developers great power and freedom, while for customers they offer peace of mind and significantly reduced costs for design development and maintenance. If you've never heard about this option before, here are 2 of the market leaders:
Elementor is a visual editor that allows the creation, editing, and maintenance of designs (themes) directly in WordPress. Among its advantages are its speed, drag-and-drop feature, as well as a large gallery of widgets (additional applications).
Oxygen is a somewhat newer player in this field. It features a modern, beautiful, and user-friendly interface. Oxygen has capabilities for custom animations and interactions. Currently, this plugin is the closest WordPress "answer" to the capabilities provided by Webflow.
Personal solutions
When the need for a custom solution arises, there are two options: 1. The design theme can be developed specifically for the project, according to its requirements and needs. This option is not very popular because it is the most time-consuming and expensive. 2. A ready-made theme is used as a base and is then edited as needed. This option is used more often: because it doesn’t start from scratch, it saves time and resources.
The possibilities for creating a design in WordPress are many and varied. Which option is most suitable depends on the project and the specific situation. When making this decision, it's a good idea to think a few steps ahead to ensure that the needs of the site and the business will be met in the future.
I do not claim to be exhaustive in this section. There are many software solutions for creating WordPress themes, such as multifunctional themes with built-in visual editors and many other options.
Support and development
Maintaining and developing a WordPress-based website requires persistence, time, and skill. The good thing is that there are solutions for every problem in the well-developed ecosystem.
When you want to add new functionality, the chance for it to have already been developed as a (free) plugin is very high. Thus, just an installation is required for the work to continue.
You can even add functionalities that you never even thought might exist. You can find wonders with just a simple search in the vast pool of plugins.
Ecosystem
The WordPress ecosystem is huge, fully developed, and self-sustaining
Because WordPress has been the most famous CMS for many years, a huge variety of services, themes, plugins, etc. have been created for it. There are solutions for almost all needs, trials, and tribulations. This, combined with easy access to the source code, is the reason why WordPress is the preferred choice for most people who need a website (clients, developers, and designers alike).
Developers. Many professionals deal with WordPress and maintain such sites
As already mentioned, over 40% of all websites in existence are built using WordPress. That's why every respectable web professional – even if they haven’t specialized in it – knows something about WordPress site maintenance. Why is this an advantage? Because even if you suddenly find yourself in a blood feud with the person who developed your site, you will relatively easily find someone to take over the regular site maintenance, which is inevitable for WordPress sites.
Training, courses, and lessons are many and varied
Besides being the most popular CMS on the market, WordPress has been around for almost 20 years now! During that time, the community around it has produced thousands of hours of video tutorials and even more articles and blog posts on any topic or trouble that could arise. This means that you could find a solution to almost any problem you encounter.
There are plugins developed for (almost) every need
Although it started as a blogging platform, the modular structure (i.e., the option to use plugins to extend the functionality of the site) gives WordPress enormous flexibility. By installing plugins, it can be used for almost anything: a blog, a corporate site, a portfolio, or even an e-shop.
Design themes
As I mentioned above, the pool of design themes is vast. Just two of the market leaders https://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes.php and https://themeforest.net/ offer over 7000 WordPress theme designs! You can imagine why the chance of not finding a design you like is almost nonexistent.
What are the disadvantages of WordPress?
As we already explained, WordPress is a highly decentralized system. This is where its main shortcomings come from.
Technical implementation (Backend)
The technical implementation of a website based on WordPress always goes through the process of a "clean installation", i.e. installing the WP core without plugins, themes, etc. This clean install always requires the configuration of hosting, FTP users, database, WP install, etc. All these tasks must be completed for every new site and client (if you are a professional developer).
After the clean installation comes the time to select plugins, and themes, and go through the additional settings. And even if you've done this a thousand times, you still must go through the same steps, again and again, with each new project. If you have never done it before, this process is not only annoying but also quite laborious and time-consuming.
Plugins. Impossible to function without installing (many) plugins.
Although in theory WordPress can function without any plugins, in practice this is impossible if you want any site different than a simple blog. You need a plugin for almost everything: SEO optimization, design, language versions, galleries, e-commerce, shipping, etc., depending on the project's requirements. Each added plugin burdens the site, slows down its speed, creates the need for constant updates, adds another level of maintenance complexity, reduces security, and ultimately makes the project more expensive: most quality plugins are paid. Some have a one-time fee, but most use a SaaS (Software as a service) business model and have a monthly subscription.
Due to the abundance of options, the chance that there is a plugin developed for your specific case is high. This is, on the one hand, a huge advantage. On the other hand, the knack for choosing plugins that are of good quality, work well with all the other elements of the site, and are maintained over time, is an extremely important skill, the acquisition of which requires many years of experience with the system.
In addition, every business and every situation has its quirks, and if you don't find exactly what you need, you will have to develop a personal plugin. This development goes through 1. choosing a contractor with enough experience to create a quality plugin; 2. design, 3. implementation, 4. debugging, and most importantly, 5. long-term dependency on the creator for support and fixes every time the WordPress core is updated (which happens fairly often).
Speed
We've already mentioned speed several times. It is an extremely serious problem with WordPress. On the one hand, the architecture of the system itself is old and clunky. After installing most of the themes and plugins, the situation becomes even more difficult, because every little addition you install requires resources.
The speed problem significantly affects the SEO performance of a site. It also affects the overall user experience. Long gone are the days when users went for a coffee break while waiting for website pictures to load. Today, even a delay of a few seconds can be too much to ask and may cost us a huge amount of website traffic.
This problem is addressed by the creation of additional services by the hosting companies. These include smart site caching, creating local copies of the site on many servers to optimize access to it through a local rather than an international network, caching and resizing automatically the photos etc. Some of these services do a really good job and manage to deliver great page load time results. Naturally, all of this comes at a price – in addition to all the expenses paid so far.
Security
WordPress is notorious for its extremely low level of security, the main (but not the only) reason for this being the easy access to the source code and the lack of any control or regulation over the plugin market.
Easy access to the system's core code allows anyone to search for and exploit its flaws, bugs, and "backdoors", so they can create malware to "hack" sites that don't take good care of their security.
This problem is being addressed by the WordPress community through updating on a very regular basis. This, however, means every WordPress site needs constant maintenance and updates of the system, as well as all its plugins.
It is practically impossible to have a secure WordPress site without constant technical support from a specialist. And this seriously affects a site’s monthly budget.
Another factor contributing to the low level of security is that plugins released on the market are not required to go through any control or review. This is a consequence of WordPress being built on the concept of open source and decentralization. And no matter how charmingly utopian it sounds, this creates problems.
Most of the published plugins are of low quality and have many bugs, which provide yet another backdoor through which a site can be hacked by ill-wishers. This problem is addressed in the same way: with many updates, separate for each plugin. Again, this means that the site needs regular support from someone who creates backup versions, updates all plugins, and restores information in case something goes wrong.
Design (Frontend)
Design themes
The vast pool of themes and designs that you can choose for your site is indeed a plus, but it also has its dark side. To sell the theme/design to more people, developers make many different configurations, structures, variations, and types of pages. The goal is to solve as many problems as possible at once. This entails hundreds of thousands of lines of code, of which you only use a small fraction. However, the site loads everything. Every time. And this "weighs down" the site without providing any real value.
Site builders
On the other hand, there are builders like Elementor and Oxygen. They solve this problem to some extent because they allow the development of the configuration and design that is needed. However, the code they generate is still huge! A simple table germinates hundreds of lines of code, which slows down the site. A theme developed through such an editor is a good solution. However, for this, you need to pay a developer/designer to implement it or buy the plugin and learn to work with it.
Personal solutions
So, the best chance to have a website with high-quality, appropriate design is to hire professionals to create a custom theme for you. This of course comes at a price. And the better the studio, the higher that price will be.
Support and development (Support)
Technical Support
We have already partially touched on this topic, explaining why constant updates of WordPress sites are necessary. A huge inconvenience is that everything - both the core and each plugin - is updated on its own schedule because it was created by independent developers. However, these updates often engender problems stemming from incompatibilities (for example, between the updated core and outdated plugins). Thus, each update can lead to the sudden need to partially rebuild the site, change plugins, and other troubles.
Plugins or themes often stop being supported and are therefore overtaken by newer technologies. This forces any users who rely on them to quickly find a replacement if they want their site to continue to function.
Also, if you use custom themes or plugins, you become completely dependent on their developers to sync with the constantly updated "core".
Conclusion: Building a complete WordPress site requires serious experience and knowledge in WordPress development. You need to be able to judge which themes and apps are quality and potentially long-lasting. But even then, there are no guarantees that you won't one day wake up and find that everything has gone down the drain.
Information support
The CMS panel is well-known to most people and relatively easy to use. However, with the modular structure of the system (a site is assembled from the main CMS + plugins + theme), adjustments must be made in many places: sometimes in the main CMS, sometimes in the theme, and sometimes in the plugin. And sometimes you must go directly into the code. This structure may vary, depending on the decisions made during the process of development, but in any case, the administrator should be well acquainted with the intricacies of each website they support, to be able to keep its content up to date.
If you work every day with the same website, this will not be a (huge) problem, but if you must make corrections relatively rarely, or you maintain many projects with different configurations and themes, the question: "Now where did this come from?” will pop up in your head a lot.
SEO Optimization
SEO Optimization
WordPress has no built-in SEO optimization features. Although this problem is solved with the help of dedicated plugins, high-quality ones are not free. That is, if you want your site to rank well in search, it is almost certain that you will have to pay additional fees: first for the plugin, a second time for good hosting, and a third time for an optimization layer (speed-up services, such as WP Rocket https://wp-rocket.me/ for example).
Development and expansion
Expanding an existing website built with WordPress is a real challenge unless you are an expert at it. To add new functionalities to your site, you need to go through editing the theme (if what you want is not already done), installing additional plugins (or developing new custom ones), and synchronization with everything existing on your site. All this adds yet another level of complexity, slows down the site, and increases overhead costs. It is also sometimes the case that the specialists who made and maintain your site are not able to solve your newly arisen problem. This makes it necessary to look for other specialists... Here it is important to note that the more unusual the issue, the more expensive and difficult it will be for you to solve and maintain it.
E-commerce
Given the size of the ecosystem, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of options in the plugin market to turn your WordPress website into an e-commerce store with just one installation. And even though WordPress was not designed as an e-commerce CMS, some of the solutions deliver very good results. There are numerous examples of successful e-stores based on WordPress, but they come at a significant cost - not only in money but also in time and human resources for support and administration.
Therefore, if you need a bit e-store with a large range of products and specific requirements, WordPress is not the best system to choose. In such cases, you could turn to similar types of systems that specialize in e-commerce, such as Magento, Shopify, Open Cart, etc.
Summary and conclusion
Why is WP currently a dinosaur, quickly losing its relevance?
At the time of its creation, WordPress was revolutionary. That is no longer the case. There is a multitude of tools on the market right now which are much better than it.
WordPress became a revolution years ago because of its innovative approach, as well as the fact that anyone could get this wonderful content management system for free and use it as they saw fit. It was conceived as a blogging system at the dawn of web 2.0 – a time when user-generated content was a novelty quickly morphing into a trend.
In the following years, the platform became a market leader, thanks to a rapidly growing ecosystem, beautiful design themes, a whole constellation of additional services, and many specialists.
While WordPress is still the uncontested leader, when it comes to market share, the truth of the matter is that today it no longer meets the growing and changing demands of website builders and users. Many problems have accumulated over the years: speed and security issues, difficult and time-intensive maintenance, the need for constant upgrading, the complexity of the administrative panel, and the high costs of custom design development, among others, doom it to an imminent loss of relevance. Therefore, it will inevitably also start losing its market ground to modern solutions that, using a new approach, solve all the above-mentioned problems with ease, thus creating much more value.
Webflow
What is Webflow?
Webflow is an American company based in San Francisco. It offers SaaS services including hosting and no-code software for visual website development. Webflow's visual editor allows web developers to build complex sites with the full power of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript using a visual canvas.
SaaS is a method of delivering applications over the Internet as a subscription service. Users use the service most often on a monthly or yearly basis. This model allows the necessary software to be accessed through a browser without the need to install or maintain software locally. This means that the users are freed from the task of managing hardware and updating software by themselves. And every time they use the platform, it's in its most up-to-date version.
It is important to note that, unlike WordPress, Webflow is a closed-source system. What does that mean? This means that the service does not give users access to its source code. And, as you will see in a moment, this gives rise to some of the most important advantages and disadvantages of the system.
If you are interested in the history of Webflow and no-code technologies, check out our article A (somewhat) brief history of no-code
What are the benefits of Webflow?
As a product that was designed many years after the birth of WordPress, Webflow addresses all the problems that the older system manifested. This includes rapid development, extreme flexibility of the CMS system, full control over the frontend, exceptional level of security and loading speed, a modern solution for the services provided by third parties, as well as smaller but equally important bonuses such as one-click publishing and eliminating the need for constant technical support. Did we manage to pique your interest? Let's get into the details.
Technical implementation
Unlike WordPress, website development in Webflow starts much faster and easier. With Webflow, there is no need to "set up a new configuration" for each site. Instead, you simply log into your control panel and start a new project that you can work on right away. Another major advantage for developers is that they can manage and maintain multiple sites through a centralized admin panel. No need to constantly log in and out of each client's site, no need to log into different FTP servers, etc. In Webflow, you simply choose which project you want to work on – and you’re ready to roll.
The technical implementation of a website in Webflow itself is also different. Creating a site here is an easy and enjoyable process where the developer has complete control over every aspect of the site and can create it exactly as the client needs. The work can be started from scratch or based on a template, but in both cases, the developer can easily make corrections both on the backend and on the front end.
The developer creates each element of the site using a powerful visual editor that "writes" clean and semantic HTML and CSS code. This way, the finished product is fast and has no redundant code to burden it unnecessarily.
The development of the administrative panel is also done with the help of a visual editor, which allows extreme flexibility and can meet (almost) all the needs of a website. In comparison, if you choose WordPress, you get a ready-made system that you must either comply with or somehow circumvent.
The creators of Webflow have tried to solve as many problems as possible for developers while creating a lot of convenience for them. These include project launch with the push of a button, automatic backup versions, staging server, code compression, and easy 301 redirects, among many others.
Security and speed
The security of sites developed with Webflow is extremely high. This is a result of all sites using the same core, which is taken care of by a large team of professionals. In addition, the source code of this kernel is not publicly available, and it is much more difficult to find and exploit its weaknesses.
Website security is one of the greatest advantages stemming from the closed-source SaaS model of the system. What does this mean in practice? Users - both developers and administrators of already developed sites - always receive the latest version of the system, without any need to update it. It all happens automatically.
Sites built with Webflow are known for their exceptional loading speed. This results from a combination of a modern and well-built hosting infrastructure, the centralized main core, and finally – the constant optimizations that the company rolls out. Launching and maintaining the ultra-fast hosting happens without cPanel, FTP settings, and other annoying things that are an inevitable part of launching any WordPress-based project.
Ability to export the code
Another big advantage of Webflow is the option to export the frontend code. The visual editor generates and exports clean code that can be used for needs outside the Webflow ecosystem.
Design
Full control over the front end
This is where Webflow shines. Thanks to the powerful visual editor, designers and developers get unlimited freedom to create exactly what is needed with full control over the front end. Connecting to a custom CMS system is very easy, so complex sites with custom designs can be developed without the need to write code. Also, Webflow has a built-in editor for animations and interactions, which is another extremely powerful tool in the hands of a good designer. And the results can be impressive!
Templates
Webflow templates work somewhat differently than WordPress templates. They are not installed but copied into a new project that you can edit immediately. The advantage is that there is no redundant code, as with WordPress, and they can easily be edited through the visual editor. If the chosen template is structured well, the site can be completed in mere days. Unlike WordPress themes, Webflow templates can be easily extended and upgraded.
Support and development
Technical Support
The need for technical support on a website built with Webflow is virtually non-existent. The reason for this is again the SaaS business model. As previously mentioned, this means that the company takes care of security, updates, and bug fixes. The user of the website is under no obligation to update anything – on the contrary, they receive automatically and free of charge (i.e., within the hosting subscription) all new features and optimizations. Once launched, the site can be left without technical support, and it will continue to function without any security concerns for as long as it is needed.
This leads to another huge plus: the site owners are not dependent on the developers of the project (in cases where they did not build the site themselves). Once the project is completed, the developer transfers it to their client's account (unless they have a long-term maintenance agreement), and from that point on the site owner has full control over it. Since everything happens with the help of a visual editor – no code needed, even a non-professional can make small corrections and modifications without much difficulty.
So, finding yourself in a situation where you need a new field in your blog, but the site developer disappeared and now there is no one to do the job, is virtually impossible. You can just make the necessary alterations by yourself.
Content support
If we talk about the support from a content point of view - in Webflow it happens with the help of an intuitive visual CMS with in-line editing. This means that after logging into the system, you can edit ALL available content (and I mean all of it - not just select elements designated in the CMS system) directly on the page you are on. This is game-changing progress!
You don't have to wonder which plugin corresponds to a specific photo or text that needs to be changed, nor get frustrated because it's not an editable element, but you absolutely must change it.
You don't have to wonder which plugin corresponds to a specific photo or text that needs to be changed, nor get frustrated because it's not an editable element, but you absolutely must change it.
Just think of the amount of time and nerves saved!
SEO optimization
All necessary tools for SEO optimization are native to Webflow. This includes options like installing Schema.org and other bonuses that search engines love. The best part? If the site has a CMS panel, many of the texts can be generated dynamically. All the sites we have developed with Webflow to date have 100 points for the SEO section of Lighthouse.
Development and expansion
If the site or parts of it need to be expanded, this can happen through the visual editors - both for the CMS and for the design. Whether the case calls for expanding a module, creating a new one, altering the design, or something else, corrections happen quickly, without a great toll on time or budget.
Ecosystem
Although the no-code community is significantly smaller than that of WordPress, it is very active and supportive, developing at a very fast pace and providing solutions to more and more problems you may encounter.
Everyone is very responsive and enthusiastic about the new opportunities that are emerging. If we look just at the Webflow community, it's the same: small but active and full of enthusiasts who develop designs and services (quite often free, but still of very high quality).
Here are some of the most active Webflow and no-code developers we follow:
Finsweet
https://www.youtube.com/c/Finsweet
We put Finsweet first because they offer quite a few solutions for Webflow sites completely free of charge. The ones we must mention here are the Client-first site structuring system; Attributes: no-code solutions for your site, and of course a Chrome Plugin specifically for Webflow that gives many additional advanced features when developing sites in Webflow. While these are the top three, it's worth checking out all projects on their main site.
Timothy Ricks
https://www.youtube.com/c/TimothyRicks/
Timothy is also a serious no-code fan who has developed many tools and goodies for no-code developers. His tutorials and the tricks he demonstrates often fall into the low-code zone. But if you are more advanced, he can provide great solutions.
Connor Finlayson
https://www.youtube.com/c/ConnorFinlayson/
Connor has developed his own portal for freelancers, entirely with Webflow and no-code tools. In his channel, he shows the whole construction process, as well as all the experiments he does with his site.
Nikolai Bain
https://www.youtube.com/c/NikolaiBain/
Nikolai creates and sells templates for Webflow, and on his channel, he shows his creation process, earnings, lessons learned, etc.
These are just a few of the people who offer interesting tutorials related to no-code technologies.
Plugins. Third-party services.
Webflow has no plugins. For anyone used to the structure of WordPress, this is probably a culture shock and might sound like a huge downside. So why are we describing it in the benefits section? The lack of plugins, especially as implemented in WordPress, actually solves speed and security issues. This does not mean that there are no services developed by third parties. On the contrary - there are quite a few, but they work in a fundamentally different way.
Webflow “plugins” are not installed on a website and do not interact directly with the Webflow core. Instead, they are imported. Thus, there is no need for constant updates and worries about their maintenance.
Webflow can interact and automate with external services, including databases (Air Table), workflow automation services (Zapier, Integromat/Make), user authorization systems (Memberstack), and many more, which allow additional system expansion.
What are the disadvantages of Webflow?
Although Webflow solves many problems that arise when creating a website, it also has its own set of disadvantages.
Starting to write this article I had the great desire to make a direct comparison between the two systems, but quickly found out a straightforward parallel comparison is impossible to do. The reason is that Webflow has none of the problems that WordPress does. No problems with speed, security, plugins, design templates, maintenance, and development - all these issues are fully resolved.
Its disadvantages are of a different nature…
Technical implementation
A steep learning curve
Unlike most site builders and similar no-code systems, Webflow strives to create clean semantic code. For this purpose, its editor does not allow the creation of a site with drag-and-drop but requires the developer to have certain knowledge of HTML and CSS (as well as JavaScript). You need to learn how the web works, what is the box model, what is the difference between FLEX and GIRD, etc. You should also be familiar with the specifics of class overlay because even if you have knowledge as a front-end developer, developing a site in Webflow is a bit different. Therefore becoming acquainted and getting used to it requires some time.
This problem has been addressed by the creators of Webflow by providing several short but extremely well-made video tutorials on their site: https://university.webflow.com/ Alternatively, you can use a free template to get you started.
Unlike WordPress, where everything comes pre-built, in this system, many more sites are built from scratch. Of course, you can use templates, but even so, most developers create their sites on a "blank canvas".
You are locked within the ecosystem of a private company
As we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, Webflow is a private company, and any projects you create there are locked into their system, which is a valid concern. What would happen if tomorrow the company went bankrupt, raised prices significantly, or made a sharp turn in policy? These are important considerations to keep in mind.
It is equally as important to note that the company is currently extremely stable, with growing investment interest in it, and in its 10-year history, it has not given any indication of implementing bad pricing practices. Still, even in a worst-case scenario, there are viable coping strategies, such as exporting the entire front end and database and migrating them to a custom CMS or other system.
If you want to take advantage of the CMS system, you must use hosting provided by Webflow
The big downside here is the lack of choice. A Webflow website with a CMS panel can only be hosted on its servers. The price of the hosting currently is 192 $ / year, but when doing a comparative analysis between the extras that this hosting offers and hosting with similar parameters from other companies, it turns out that the price is fair. Yes, it's high, but you get exceptional quality for your money and it's undoubtedly worth it.
Limitations on the types of projects that can be implemented with Webflow.
The Webflow system is developing at a very fast pace and expanding its capabilities, but there are still areas that it covers either only partially, or not at all. One of them is personalized content (gated content), which will soon be implemented with the launch of the Membership service. The other is e-commerce. Webflow can create e-stores, but at this stage, it is only applicable for small stores that do not have much complexity in their product catalogs. It is important to note that some of these limitations apply only to the system's built-in capabilities. However, they can be overcome by third-party services. This greatly expands the types of sites that can be built with Webflow. This is how many portals, classifieds sites, sites for selling digital resources, etc. have been created.
Not everything is full no-code
If the site needs to be more complex, you may eventually have to resort to writing code. The reason is that the creators of Webflow strive to develop a system which perfectly covers the basic needs of the web. For more specific cases, they leave the option to write the needed customizations with code.
When it comes to design, maintenance and development, Webflow has no apparent shortcomings.
Webflow for e-commerce?
It is possible to develop an e-shop using Webflow’s visual editor and CMS. Unfortunately, the system has many limitations still, such as the maximum number of products, varieties, etc. Therefore, we cannot take full advantage of such a powerful product if we need to create an e-store.
The currently available e-commerce system is only suitable for small design shops with a small product range or those that sell digital goods (courses, trainings, digital books, etc.) For them, however, it is a perfect choice because they can benefit from all the bonuses we covered already.
Summary and conclusion
Webflow solves all the problems that a developer or user faces when creating a website using WordPress. This gives us reason to think that in the future the market share of this system will grow significantly. And while it's unlikely to be a threat to the hegemony of the incumbent in the coming years, its popularity will surely grow at staggering rates.
WordPress vs. Webflow: General Conclusions
To be as objective as possible in this conclusion, we will divide it into 2 main subcategories:
The customer's point of view (you need a website and wonder which option to use)
WordPress lets you start quickly and get your site up and running on a hosting of your choice. If you don't have any specific demands on the design and functionalities or want to just have a site, this solution is suitable because it is more cost-effective. However, if you have specific design requirements and absolutely need certain functions, you will have to turn to a professional, and then things change significantly: both in terms of budget and time needed to complete the project.
Webflow also enables you to launch a site quickly, ensuring a customized responsive design as well as functionality built according to the specific needs of the project. Websites built with Webflow require no technical support, information is easily added and edited, saving site owners and administrators time and allowing them to focus on the important things: site content and business goals, instead of forcing them to spread themselves thin dealing with updates and technical issues.
So, if you're currently considering whether to create a new site, or you need to redesign an existing one, I'd recommend going with Webflow. If you just need some kind of an online presence, with no special requirements for your site, then WordPress is the more cost-effective solution.
If all this is still not enough for you to decide which system to choose, drop us a line - we will be happy to help you 😊
The developer’s point of view (if you develop sites for clients)
Webflow requires knowledge of HTML / CSS. You don't have to write code, but you do have to know how the web works. The learning curve is relatively steep, especially if you don't have this knowledge, but once you go through it, this system gives you the option to create complex sites without being a programmer. Here, the difference with WordPress is that you are not limited to a pre-built system that you must extend with countless plugins, and you can create everything customized specifically for your clients. No need for permanent installations, new hosting accounts, etc. you manage everything through one account (which you can share with your team and collaborate on the projects), many of the small settings are automated or made to work easily, you can reuse components, themes, etc.
Sites built with Webflow require no technical support. This may be seen by some web developers as a downside because there is no good reason to charge a client on a monthly basis to "watch over" their site. For me it is a plus because it allows you to focus on creating value instead of wasting time on routine tasks.
If you migrate from WordPress to Webflow, you feel as if you were just reborn! I promise you! 😊
WordPress allows you to create sites for your clients without having any knowledge of the web structure: a lot of companies just install and configure themes for their clients, and there's nothing wrong with that.
I'm also sure that if you're a long-time WordPress developer who knows all the ins and outs of the system, you'll probably disagree with me! If that's the case, I'd be very interested in discussing our differences - virtually or over a mug of beer in Plovdiv. In any case I advise you to take an in-depth look at the possibilities that Webflow has to offer. A large part of the no-code community has migrated from the WordPress ecosystem and that happened for a reason.
Final words from George
In my opinion, Webflow is the future of web development because the development is fast, high quality and solves all the modern problems a web site can present. The support is a real pleasure, because it happens very quickly (something that all my clients are fascinated by) and without any issues: you don't have to deal with technical glitches, the site just works flawlessly, and all the time saved can be invested in optimization and adding functionality.
If you're just starting to learn and wondering which system to go for, I recommend Webflow, especially if you're a designer. Stay tuned for an article aimed specifically at designers!
If you need a fast and high-quality redesign, send me a message. I'd be happy to discuss it.
Comparison table: advantages/disadvantages
Website design and development
Comparison table: Price
The purpose of this table is to compare only the direct (unavoidable) costs of developing a website, without including the prices for design, development, and subsequent maintenance.
To be as objective as possible in the price comparison, we used the following methodology: we selected one of the projects we have recently developed. We used its structure as a baseline to compare the direct costs of building the site. We excluded development costs from the comparison because they can vary widely and have a subjective component.
The project is a product catalog for electrical equipment. Check it out at https://www.electroplus.net/. The site design was developed specifically for our client. But the cost of developing a custom design or theme could also vary dramatically. Therefore, for this comparison, we will assume that we have purchased and modified a template.
As you can see from the comparison table, the same project (with relatively equal parameters and level of quality) can be developed in Webflow for a much better price. As we already stated, we have included only the direct costs, so this price does not include development, maintenance, and any following expansion.
Notes:
* Hosting parameters can vary significantly. In our research, we were unable to find a WordPress hosting plan that covered 100% of the Webflow hosting parameters, which set a very high standard.
** When choosing plugins for the pricing comparison, we selected ones with Webflow-like quality. Therefore, we have excluded plugins that might have a lower cost but have not been proven reliable. And while it is true that some of the above-mentioned plugins can be replaced with free ones, however with each trade-off, the quality drops.
*** This comparison also excludes the time costs/gains stemming from the fact that every step in WordPress must be done manually, for every site, while with Webflow everything comes ready to go as a package.
Consultant and WordPress Expert: Daniel Todorov
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