Webflow VS WordPress – What To Know And What To Choose

In this blog on Webflow VS WordPress, you will get to know the pros and cons of both of these platforms to make an informed decision for your business.

New technologies emerge, cashing in the loopholes or setbacks of the existing ones. There was a time when developers had to write thousands of lines of codes to create and operate a simple website. But with time, writing so many codes became obsolete. Then a new technology in the form of done-for-you website builders evolved. And this is how WordPress came into effect.‍

The Inception : Beginning of the WordPress website era

Since its emergence in 2003, WordPress has grabbed popularity on a multitude of levels. The reason was quite simple. People didn’t see (or even couldn’t think of) anything like this before. In the pre-WordPress era, websites were sort of a monopoly to the big shots in the business industry as building a website required a hefty amount of investment. But with WordPress individuals and small businesses could build a website within a very short time and with a minimal amount of expense. This, along with hundreds of other reasons, made WordPress so popular that now 43.1% of all websites on the internet use WordPress.

The Alternatives : Emergence of other website builders

But no technology on this earth has been able to perfect itself. There have to be drawbacks and disadvantages. No matter how popular WordPress has become, it too has some downsides. For that, so many other platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc. have emerged. But all of these platforms are industry-specific. For instance, with Shopify, you may develop one of the best eCommerce websites, but it won’t be so good for a blog site. That’s why there was always a demand and supply gap in the industry.

The Tertiary Era : Webflow websites participating in the race

The rule of thumb says, where there is a gap, it will be filled with new products. The same thing happened in 2013 when Webflow made its presence. It certainly offered great value to the companies because, within the next couple of years, 0.6% of total websites started using Webflow. Today, about 544,053 websites are using this platform.

After 9 years of establishment, the top 3 CMS contenders of the 4, Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace, experienced only 0.3%, 0.1%, and 0.1% usage respectively. When we compare these stats with Webflow, it can be certainly said that Webflow is the fastest-growing CMS at present.

Webflow VS WordPress : A bout with the big brother

What are the features that made Webflow so popular? Is Webflow really that good? These are some of the questions that may arise in individuals and business owners alike. Moreover, being a comparatively new technology with recent popularity, people are still in the dark about Webflow. So it’s very important to let you know everything about this platform. And being one of the pioneering developer companies in the Webflow industry, we feel it’s our responsibility to inform you of this CMS. So, let’s get right into the details.

What is Webflow?

Simply put, Webflow is a visual website builder. The main attraction of this platform is its ease of use. You don’t need to write a single line of code to create your website. Moreover, you can develop your entire website on a visual canvas where you can see what exactly you’re creating – in real-time. It is completely a hosted software, meaning you don’t have to go anywhere else to create and publish your website. You can do everything right here.

What is WordPress?

WordPress, without a doubt, is the most popular website builder in the world right now. It is an open-source software that anyone can download and start using for developing a website. And when we are talking about WordPress, we are generally referring to WordPress.org. There’s a premium version of this CMS too – WordPress.com – that comes with a price. To use WordPress, you’ll need a domain name, a hosting plan, and some themes and plugins. Domain and hosting come with a price tag. And for themes and plugins, you may choose the free options or the paid ones.

What are the basic differences between these two?

There are both advantages and disadvantages of the two platforms. And quite frankly, either of these two might prove beneficial for your business at a certain point in time. So in this Webflow VS WordPress debate, we are going to portray the pros and cons of each of these platforms so you can decide which one would be the best fit for your business. We’ll do it based on these frequently asked questions.

Which is easier, WordPress or Webflow?

WordPress and Webflow are both easier than the other solutions available in the market. But which is easier between these two? Let’s have a look at how each of them is used to know more about it.

you want to use WordPress, start by purchasing a domain and a hosting plan. Then you need to install the WP software into your hosting. This might sound a bit difficult, but don’t worry, because most of the hosting providers offer simple installer tools to do that easily. After installation, you can manage your site from the dashboard. From there you can install themes and plugins and upload content. For content creation, you will have to use another block editor which is built-in to the dashboard. Pretty easy, right? But if we speak honestly, with these steps you might get a very basic sort of website which may be of no or little use to your business. If you want to make it more dynamic, you will need a visual drag ‘n drop builder such as Elementor. And using Elementor can be quite intimidating because though it is a drag ‘n drop builder, it has a long learning curve.

On the contrary, Webflow has gained popularity based on ease of use. When you register for a Webflow account and sign up, it will initiate a short survey to understand your needs and then it will reveal a guide that will help you learn the basic concepts of this platform. There are templates for you to use and the moment you start building your website with its visual builder, you will feel the difference for yourself. The strongest benefit of this builder is that it gives you absolute control of every element and style.

Is Webflow or WordPress better for SEO?

In the battle for search engine optimization, Webflow is the clear winner. It comes with a variety of tools to achieve higher search engine ranking within the shortest possible time. To start with, Webflow comes with clean, lightweight, and clutter-free codes. As a result, crawlers can better crawl the site, increasing the chance of indexing faster. Its lightweight construction ensures faster loading of the site and it auto-generates and submits sitemaps. It also gives options to create mobile-friendly pages which is very critical for a higher SEO score.

On the other hand, WordPress relies solely on plugins to optimize your sites. Now the problem with plugins is that when you install a number of plugins on your WordPress site, it creates bloating on your site. As a result, it might show errors, access could be denied, or even the site could completely crash. Moreover, these plugins can only cover a part of your on-page SEO requirements, but beyond that, you have to do everything manually such as creating mobile-friendly pages or submitting sitemaps etc.

Which is better for security – Webflow or WordPress?

Webflow, in general, is the more secure of the two. Because Webflow sites are hosted on Amazon’s AWS platform which ensures enterprise-grade security for your websites. It also offers SSL encryption for all the pages, establishing a completely secure connection between your web pages and visitors.

On the other hand, more than 90% of CMS websites that got hacked in 2018 were hosted by WordPress. To let you get a clearer picture, that’s 90,000 attacks per minute we are talking about. Why? Because WordPress uses plugins for everything. And these plugins are the main source of hacking attacks and these plugins are offered by third parties and might contain backdoors and loopholes in their codes.

Who’s the winner in the design and coding category?

Webflow has started a no-code movement worldwide. If you use Webflow, you don’t need to write a single line of code. Everything on this SaaS is done for you. Just drag and drop the elements and styles you need and that’s it. If you think of design-friendliness, Webflow excels in this area too. They offer pre-made templates designed by developers.

In contrast, WordPress is a low-code website builder. If you want to add some advanced options to your website, you need to write codes manually or hire a development professional. It lacks in design too, compared to Webflow.

What about the pricing?

The debate turns upside down here as Webflow is not free, as WordPress is. Webflow comes with site plans for general and eCommerce purposes. Though under the general site plan, the starter pack says it’s free, it’s best for learning purposes only.

WordPress, on the other hand, is completely free to use. You don’t have to spend anything to use the basic software. But you will have expenses for the domain, hosting, themes, plugins, and builders. So it’s not as free as they claim it to be. If you want to develop a professional website for your business, you have to spend a handsome amount of money.

Who’s the winner?

The direct answer is Webflow. Because the factors we have explored here and the ones we couldn’t; proved that Webflow has a slightly bigger edge compared to WordPress. Yes, it might be still low on templates and resources, but looking at the pace Webflow is evolving, you can certainly rest assured that more and more resources will come up sooner than you think.