Starting a business or a web development agency requires making wise decisions, and choosing a website-building platform is one of them.
With numerous providers available, it can be challenging to make the right selection.
It often happens that businesses can’t decide between two of the biggest web-building platforms - Webflow and WordPress.
Webflow and WordPress are both in-browser platforms commonly used by organizations for website building.
The advantages of one over the other are hotly debated in the web development community for valid reasons.
In this article, we will conduct a thorough comparison of Webflow vs WordPress, two of the biggest and most popular website builders in the market.
What Is Webflow: An Overview
Webflow is a cloud-based Content Management System that, like other website builders, enables users to create websites without needing to code.
However, what sets Webflow apart from other CMS platforms, including WordPress, is its unparalleled customization options.
Web designers often prefer Webflow due to its extensive customization capabilities.
Experienced web designers appreciate the wide range of choices available, while beginners may find it overwhelming as they strive for perfection.
Webflow Benefits
Webflow offers numerous advantages as a website-building platform.
These include:
1. Drag and drop page builder functionality: Webflow's intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create and customize web pages without the need for coding expertise, allowing users to design visually appealing websites with ease.
2. Intuitive editor: Webflow's editor provides a user-friendly interface for making edits and updates to websites, making it simple to manage content, images, and other elements.
3. Work directly with CMS data: Webflow allows users to work directly with content management system (CMS) data, making it seamless to create dynamic websites with dynamic content that can be easily updated.
4. eCommerce site functionality: Webflow offers built-in eCommerce capabilities, allowing users to create online stores with product listings, shopping carts, and payment processing, making it a suitable choice for businesses looking to sell products online.
5. Responsive page designs: Webflow enables users to create responsive web pages that adapt to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring a seamless user experience across desktop and mobile devices.
6. Work with reusable CSS classes: Webflow allows users to create reusable CSS classes, making it efficient to apply consistent styles and design elements across multiple pages on a website.
7. Work with Flexbox: Webflow supports Flexbox, a popular CSS layout technique that allows for flexible and responsive web designs, providing greater control over the appearance and layout of web pages.
8. Define global color swatches: Webflow allows users to define global color swatches, making it easy to maintain consistent color schemes throughout a website.
9. Publish straight to the web: Webflow enables users to publish websites directly to the web with just a few clicks, making it quick and convenient to make changes live.
10. SSL and ISO 27018: Webflow provides SSL security and ISO 27018 compliance, ensuring the security and privacy of user data.
11. Complete platform with marketing tools and data collection integration: Webflow offers a complete platform that integrates marketing tools and data collection, making it a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to build and optimize their online presence.
12. Export code for download: Webflow allows users to export the website code for download, providing flexibility and control over website hosting and deployment.
13. Code editor for adding custom code: Webflow includes a built-in code editor, allowing users to add their custom code if required, providing advanced customization options.
14. Create scroll-based animations: Webflow supports scroll-based animations, allowing users to create interactive and engaging web experiences.
15. Zapier integrations: Webflow integrates with Zapier, a popular automation tool, allowing users to automate tasks and workflows between Webflow and other applications, enhancing productivity and efficiency.
16. Figma to Webflow Plug-in: The integration of the Figma to Webflow plug-in marks a substantial improvement in the Webflow ecosystem, streamlining the interaction between these two influential platforms. This enhancement is made possible through the introduction of a companion app, which simplifies the process significantly. Users now have the seamless capability to synchronize Figma components and variables directly with their Webflow websites. Additionally, the incorporation of the Design System tab allows for rapid access to Figma projects and enables real-time connectivity, further enhancing the overall user experience.
Webflow Shortcoming
While Webflow has several advantages, there are a few potential drawbacks to consider, particularly when compared to WordPress:
- Learning curve: Webflow may have a learning curve, especially for those who are new to web development. However, Webflow does provide a growing library of video tutorials to help users get up to speed.
- Cost: Compared to open-source software like WordPress and WooCommerce, Webflow can be relatively more expensive. Webflow offers different pricing tiers, including a premium plan, which may not be as cost-effective for some users compared to other website-building options.
Webflow Pricing
Is Webflow free? Certainly not. Webflow offers three pricing models to choose from:
- Basic: This plan, priced at $12 per month, is ideal for those who do not require a CMS and simply need a basic website.
- CMS: Priced at $16 per month, this package is suitable for blogs or websites with substantial content. It includes support for up to 100,000 monthly visitors, 1000 form submissions, and 2000 CMS items.
- Business: Designed for high-traffic websites and blogs, this plan costs $36 per month and offers advanced features to accommodate larger online properties.
Webflow eCommerce
Webflow offers optimized eCommerce features and marketing tools, unlike WordPress. It includes essential workflows for modern sellers, such as shipping, taxes, Instagram purchases, and Zapier integration.
Webflow also allows customization of the checkout process, shopping cart experience, and integration with blogs. With Webflow, you have full control over layout, interactions, animations, and payment methods.
What Is WordPress: An Overview
WordPress is undeniably one of the most widely used platforms for building websites, currently powering an impressive 34% of the entire internet.
One of the crucial benefits of WordPress is that it is open-source. This means that it is free for anyone to use. However, keep in mind that you still have to pay for your hosting.
This makes WordPress an affordable option for businesses and individuals looking to create websites, blogs, online stores, portfolios, and more.
With WordPress, the possibilities are virtually limitless. You can choose from a huge library of themes and plugins to customize your website to suit your specific needs and preferences.
Whether you want a simple blog or a complex e-commerce website, WordPress provides the tools and flexibility to build virtually any type of website.
WordPress Benefits
WordPress offers a wide range of benefits, including:
1. Customizable Designs: WordPress provides a vast selection of customizable themes and templates, allowing you to create a unique and visually appealing website.
2. SEO Friendly: WordPress is optimized for search engines, making it easier for your website to rank higher in search results and improve its visibility.
3. Mobile Responsive Sites: WordPress themes are designed to be responsive, ensuring that your website looks great and functions effectively on all devices, including mobile phones and tablets.
4. High Performance: WordPress is known for its efficient performance, with fast loading times and optimized code that enhances the overall speed and responsiveness of your website.
5. Mobile Apps for Site Management: WordPress offers mobile apps that enable you to easily manage and update your website on the go, giving you flexibility and convenience in site management.
6. High Security: WordPress has a robust security framework with regular updates and security plugins that help protect your website from potential threats and vulnerabilities.
7. Powerful Media Management: WordPress provides comprehensive media management features, including image galleries, video embedding, and file uploading, making it easy to showcase and manage your media content.
8. Easy and Accessible: WordPress has a user-friendly interface, making it accessible even for users with minimal technical knowledge. It offers a simple and intuitive content management system for easy website management.
9. Wide Range of Plugins: With over 54,000 WordPress plugin options, you can customize your website with additional features and functionalities to meet your specific needs and requirements.
10. Huge Community: WordPress has a large and active community of users, developers, and contributors, providing extensive support, resources, and updates to enhance your website-building experience.
WordPress Shortcomings
When comparing WordPress to Webflow, there are some drawbacks to consider:
- Customization: While WordPress offers templates and themes for easy website creation, achieving a completely customized design may require coding skills or hiring a developer, unlike Webflow's drag-and-drop functionality.
- Updates and Maintenance: As a self-hosted platform, WordPress requires you to manage updates and maintenance for your website, unless you opt for managed WordPress hosting, which can add to the overall workload and responsibilities of website ownership.
- Platform Updates: WordPress is an older platform that may receive fewer updates compared to newer platforms like Webflow. This could potentially result in outdated features or functionality, making it less suitable as a long-term solution.
WordPress Pricing
Although the core software of WordPress is free, it's important to note that there are associated costs with getting your website live.
While WordPress itself is free, you will need to consider additional costs such as hosting, domain registration, themes, plugins, and other services based on your requirements.
To make your WordPress site available on the internet, for example, you'll need to figure out the best hosting package for your needs. This means that you will need help from a web hosting provider.
Additionally, certain premium themes, plugins, and services may come with additional costs if you want to utilize their advanced features or functionality.
WordPress eCommerce
WordPress-based eCommerce offers numerous advantages with plugins for payment options, product addition, and a wide selection of themes.
WooCommerce, the popular WordPress eCommerce plugin, comes with a variety of extensions for expanding your online store's functionality. Other plugins provide customization options for creating a unique and robust online store.
Webflow vs WordPress: Why Webflow Might Suit Your Needs Better
Is Webflow better than WordPress? Let’s take a look at the key benefits that might make you consider this option rather than WordPress.
The advantages of using Webflow over WordPress include:
- Code-Free Customization: Webflow allows you to create fully customized websites without the need for coding. This gives you the freedom to design and customize your website to your exact specifications, regardless of your coding skills.
- Drag-and-Drop Page Builder: You can simply design and personalize your web pages with Webflow's intuitive drag-and-drop page builder. This makes designing and upgrading your website a simple procedure.
- Easy Animations and Interactions: Webflow provides built-in tools for creating animations and interactions without the need for coding. This allows you to add dynamic elements to your website, making it more engaging and interactive for your visitors.
- SEO-Friendly Websites: Webflow's websites are designed to be search engine optimized (SEO), ensuring that your site is easily discoverable by search engines and can rank higher in search results.
- On-Page Editing: Webflow allows you to make edits directly on the page, so you can see exactly how your changes will look before publishing them. This allows for real-time visual editing, making it easy to fine-tune your website's design and content.
- Collaborative Editing: Webflow allows you to invite editors and collaborators to add and review content on your website, making it easy to collaborate with team members and clients during the website creation process.
- Reliable Hosting: Webflow provides powerful hosting with minimal downtime for your visitors, ensuring that your website loads quickly and remains accessible to your audience.
- Included SSL Certificate: Webflow includes an SSL certificate, which ensures that your website is secured with HTTPS encryption, providing an added layer of security for your website visitors.
WordPress vs Webflow: Why WordPress Might Suit Your Needs Better
The advantages of using WordPress over Webflow include:
- Affordability: WordPress is free to use, and the main cost associated with it is hosting, making it a budget-friendly option for beginners or those on a tight budget.
- Customizability: WordPress offers complete customization options, allowing you to have full control over your website and data. You can easily customize your website's design, functionality, and features to suit your specific needs.
- Extensive Plugins and Extensions: WordPress has a vast library of thousands of plugins and extensions, providing endless possibilities for adding additional functionality and features to your website. This allows you to easily enhance your website's capabilities without requiring coding skills.
- User-Friendly: WordPress is designed to be easy to use, making it accessible to beginners with no coding experience. You can create a professional-looking website quickly and easily, even if you're a complete novice.
- Wide Range of Integrations: Due to its popularity, WordPress has a large community of developers and integrators, resulting in thousands of existing integrations with various tools and services. This makes it compatible with many third-party tools and services, making it a versatile choice for businesses using different tools in their operations.
- SEO and Mobile-Friendliness: WordPress allows for SEO with built-in features and numerous third-party plugins that can optimize your website for search engines. It also supports mobile-friendly designs, ensuring that your website is accessible and responsive across different devices.
Webflow or WordPress: Make Your Decision
Choosing between WordPress and Webflow ultimately depends on your specific requirements.
If you have a higher level of expertise in web design and desire a fully customizable website, Webflow may be the preferable choice, despite its higher costs.
However, WordPress is the most widely used website builder for a good reason. It provides excellent functionality at an affordable price point, making it a popular choice for many. That certainly is food for thought if you’re still on the fence about this.
Final Thoughts
There is an obvious reason why Webflow has become so popular among professional web developers and newbies alike. While the initial upfront costs can be higher when compared to WordPress, the amount of support from Webflow’s experts will reduce the need for maintenance and this easily offsets over some time.
So, when it is all said, read, and done it looks like Webflow is the best option for you to build your organization's website or for your client's website.
Although WordPress is still good for certain things, it is slowly becoming obsolete as platforms such as Webflow provide businesses with the convenience, speed, agility, and security they need to compete in today's market.
A site-building platform must be tailored to the needs of each client, starting with discovery processes to understand current and future needs. Take the time to make a decision, and consult with a Webflow Republic to see all of your options and what will truly pay off in the end for you and your business.
