The Ultimate Webflow vs Wordpress Comparison in 2024

Intro

Building a new website or revamping one is often a careful decision, you want to make sure you're using the best platform that suits your business. Two popular comparison often comes in mind — Webflow and Wordpress. The follow up question? Why is Webflow better than Wordpress? Is Webflow better or Wordpress?

Read our ultimate comprehensive comparison between Webflow vs Wordpress to learn where Webflow shines over Wordpress.

At a glance

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What is WordPress?

WordPress, one of the most widely used open-source CMS platforms, serves a vast number of websites globally, including a significant presence in Singapore. It empowers users to create and host their websites using their preferred hosting solution. While offering a range of CMS-powered services, such as business sites, portfolios, and e-commerce, WordPress's foundation lies in its origins as a powerful blogging platform. To unlock its full potential, users heavily rely on extensions and plugins to incorporate essential features like SEO, A/B testing, and robust site security.

What is Webflow?

In comparison, Webflow emerges as a leading SaaS product for website development, employing a user-friendly WYSIWYG model. When businesses contemplate establishing a new website, Webflow becomes a key competitor and decision-making factor. Unlike other low-code website builders like Squarespace and Wix, Webflow shines with its remarkable level of customization, catering to individual needs and preferences. Moreover, Webflow enables users to export their website's code, providing the freedom to scale and expand beyond the confines of the Webflow platform. With its versatility and flexibility, Webflow finds popular use cases in diverse areas such as marketing sites, product/service sites, business sites, and even career portals. Users can leverage Webflow's pre-designed templates for a quick start or enlist the expertise of a Webflow agency to create fully tailored designs.

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Ease of Setup

WordPress
Setting up WordPress can involve multiple steps and external dependencies. You'll need to connect to various sources using plugins for SEO, plugins for security purposes, and find an external hosting provider like GoDaddy or SiteGround to host your pages. Once the backend work is covered, you'll also need to install additional plugins and themes to kickstart your website design. These tasks can be time-consuming and often require the assistance of a WordPress specialist to ensure everything is properly set up.

Webflow
In contrast, setting up Webflow is a straightforward process. There are only two things that require external access: domain and tracking. All other essential aspects such as SEO, security, and hosting are conveniently covered under the Webflow site settings. This makes the setup process fuss-free and can typically be completed within just 10 minutes.

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CMS

WordPress
WordPress is built upon the foundation of a Content Management System (CMS), which is widely used for building pages and blogs. However, when it comes to adding new functionality or even basic features that are closely tied to the CMS, it can often be challenging and require additional effort. For instance, implementing a simple FAQ section on WordPress would typically necessitate the use of a plugin for proper management, and additional features may require payment in the future.

Webflow

In contrast, Webflow CMS offers an impressive level of flexibility without constraints on how it can be utilized and displayed on the front end of your website. Whether you need a simple FAQ section, a classic blog, or even a career page, Webflow's CMS allows you to easily structure and design these components without significant effort. The ability to create and customize various elements based on your unique requirements is exactly why Webflow's CMS outshines WordPress in terms of versatility.

Cost

WordPress
When it comes to cost, WordPress software itself is completely free. However, to host a WordPress-powered site, you'll need to invest in your own web hosting, which comes at a price. Popular hosting providers like GoDaddy (S$190.88), SiteGround (S$179.88), and Hostinger (S$107.88) range from USD$100 to $190 per year, depending on your preferences. While discounted rates are often available for the first year, subsequent years may incur the regular price. Additionally, depending on your requirements, you may opt for premium WordPress themes or plugins. On average, a quality WordPress theme costs around $50-$60, and popular plugins like YoastSEO or Elementor range from $49 to $59. All in all, this adds up to an annual expense of approximately $150-$350.

Webflow

On the other hand, Webflow follows a straightforward SaaS model. They offer free regular site plans, but small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) often opt for the entry-level CMS plan at $23 per month. This plan covers hosting, security, SEO, and regional CDN features. If you choose to use a Webflow template, they typically cost around $50-$70. Taking these factors into account, a realistic price range for Webflow would be approximately $240-$450 per year. Although Webflow may be slightly more expensive than WordPress, its hassle-free setup and management experience give it a distinct advantage over WordPress.

SEO

WordPress
When it comes to SEO management, WordPress offers a range of popular plugins such as YoastSEO, AIOSEO, and Semrush. These tools can assist you in optimizing your website for better rankings in Google search results. However, using these plugins often adds additional code to your site, along with other plugins, which can lead to slower site performance and potentially lower rankings in search engine results.

Webflow

On the other hand, Webflow takes a different approach to SEO. While it doesn't provide an automatic solution, this can actually be a benefit. With Webflow, the SEO process is more manual, allowing your in-house marketer to easily manipulate the necessary fields to optimize your pages for search engines. Additionally, Webflow prides itself on generating clean and efficient code, resulting in fast-loading websites. The improved website speed not only enhances the user experience but also positively impacts Core Web Vitals (CWVs), which are important factors for search engine rankings.

Design & Customisation

WordPress
WordPress offers a vast selection of off-the-rack design themes, providing convenience for those looking to hire a designer and developer. However, working with templates often means limited customization options. Once you've chosen a template, making significant changes or adding more content becomes challenging, as further customization may disrupt the overall site structure.

Webflow

Webflow offers a limited range of design themes available for purchase from their official store. These templates are created by Webflow Specialists and can be complex to configure. To assess the quality of a Webflow template, look for ones that adhere to a client-first model or follow coding structures like client-first or wizardry. Webflow excels, especially for startups in the early stages of discovering their product-market fit, as it allows for easy and quick design changes. Customization capabilities in Webflow are a definite advantage over WordPress, as almost every element on the site can be customized, as long as it's editable.

Plugins & Integration

WordPress
When it comes to plugins and integration, WordPress offers a vast library of third-party options. This extensive selection may seem convenient for new website builders, as there are plugins available for almost any functionality. However, relying on free plugins means entrusting your site's performance to various developers, with no guarantee of compatibility or ongoing support. As the site owner, you're responsible for keeping plugins updated and resolving any issues that may arise, which can lead to errors or unexpected behavior.

Webflow
In contrast, Webflow provides a unique advantage in terms of plugins and integration. Their curated marketplace exclusively features official plugins created by the Webflow brand. This approach prioritizes site security and reduces dependency on third-party updates. By relying on Webflow's official plugins, you can have peace of mind knowing that they have been thoroughly tested and designed to seamlessly integrate with the platform. Additionally, Webflow allows for code integration with third-party tools, offering flexibility for customization and expanding functionality.

Hosting & Security

WordPress
When hosting a WordPress site, you'll need to separately consider and select your preferred hosting vendor. As WordPress powers 37% of all CMS-powered sites worldwide, it has also become a popular target for hackers. While this security issue can be mitigated by choosing a reliable hosting provider and regularly updating your site, it remains a concern to be addressed.

Webflow

In contrast, Webflow includes hosting as part of the monthly fee paid. With their natively integrated Amazon Cloudfront CDN, Webflow offers excellent coverage and reliability, making it highly unlikely for your site to experience downtime. Webflow also provides transparency by openly releasing their SOC 2 Type II Report on their website. While no service can guarantee complete immunity to attacks, Webflow implements advanced DDOS protection measures to mitigate common attacks. Additionally, Webflow's internal hosting infrastructure incorporates HTTP/2, giving your website an advantage in terms of both speed and security.

Content Editing

WordPress
Content editing on WordPress is a straightforward process. You access your pages and make edits to the content fields, allowing you to publish them with ease. The platform provides a user-friendly interface for managing and updating your content.

Webflow
In comparison, Webflow takes content editing to a new level, empowering users with greater control. Picture a scenario where a marketer can make text changes without relying on engineers or risking site disruptions. That's the power of Webflow. With their content editing feature, you can grant internal team members access to the site, enabling them to make edits independently from the designer. This streamlined approach keeps things moving efficiently and ensures accountability.

Interaction & Animation

WordPress
When it comes to custom animations and interactions, WordPress relies on themes to provide those features. You can choose a theme that includes the desired animations, or you may need to enlist the help of a professional to create them for you. Adding animations to a WordPress site often requires the use of third-party scripts or plugins to achieve the desired effects.

Webflow

In contrast, Webflow excels in creating websites with impressive animations and interactions. As a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) platform, Webflow provides built-in tools that allow you to create animations and interactions without the need for coding. You have the freedom to bring your designs to life with dynamic elements, making your website highly engaging and interactive.

Analytics & Tracking

WordPress
When it comes to analytics and tracking on WordPress, you'll need to select a suitable third-party plugin from a list of options to add your tracking code. This additional step of finding and installing a plugin can be time-consuming and may require extra maintenance.

Webflow
In contrast, Webflow simplifies the process of analytics and tracking. With Webflow, you don't need to install any additional plugins. All you need is your Google Analytics ID, which can be easily added to your site. You can also integrate other popular tracking tools like PostHog or Hotjar by simply pasting the tracking code into the  section of your Webflow site.

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Summary

This is a rather lengthy comparison between the two. TLDR; if you are a business looking for a site that is lightweight, personalise, streamline, user-friendly for management and setup, Webflow is a better choice on the long run. WordPress works really well if you can manage the plugins well and keeping them updated.

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