WordPress or Webflow [2022]: Choosing the Right CMS for Your Website
Many of the websites we come across are built on WordPress. It's a great option for companies who want to hand over the entire responsibility to a web agency. However, the limitations of WordPress websites become apparent when companies have the need to make fast changes and optimizations, which can be both costly and time-consuming. At Bloomweb, we build websites that are easy to edit and optimize without limitations of themes and templates, and we use Webflow to help us. Read below about the advantages of Webflow, how it differs from WordPress, and why it's a clear choice for us.
WordPress - An open-source CMS for creating beautiful websites, blogs, or apps.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a content management system that makes it easy for companies and individuals to create their own blog or website. From a technical perspective, WordPress is an "open-source" CMS system licensed under GPLv2, which means that anyone can use or modify WordPress for free. A CMS system is in short, a tool that makes it easy to manage content and important components on a website for people without programming knowledge.
Advantages of WordPress
- Easy to use for marketers, companies, and individuals without programming knowledge
- With the right expertise, there are unlimited development possibilities
- WordPress is scalable
- E-commerce can easily be installed and used on the same site as the website
- It's a popular platform that's been around for a long time and there's always support available
Disadvantages of WordPress
- Websites in WordPress are often built from ready-made templates, which come with limitations when it comes to desired adjustments and optimizations in design, layout, and features. If the company tries to make adjustments on their own, it often turns out wrong and a web agency needs to be brought in.
- WordPress websites are a good target for hackers as it is an open-source platform, and the company is responsible for the security.
- WordPress requires continuous maintenance in the form of updates of the system, templates, and plugins.
- Websites in WordPress often load slowly due to large and slow templates and plugins.
Webflow - A "no-code" tool for creating beautiful, fast and smart websites.
What is Webflow?
Founded in 2013 in San Francisco, Webflow is a SaaS (Software as a service) website tool. Webflow can be summed up as an all-in-one solution that gives web designers and web developers everything they need to design and develop powerful websites: design, content management (CMS), hosting, security and animation are some of the features included in Webflow.
Advantages of Webflow
- Webflow comes with everything a business needs: design, content management (CMS), hosting, security and animations.
- User-friendly content management (CMS)
- No limitations in design
- World-class security according to ISO 27001 and CIS Critical Security Controls.
- High performance through powerful and reliable AWS servers worldwide. Websites in Webflow load quickly regardless of where in the world it is visited.
- The code can be exported out of Webflow and stored on your own servers.
Disadvantages of Webflow
- Despite the custom code in Webflow, it reaches certain limitations.
- Webflow has many different plans, which can be experienced as complicated and inhibiting.
- Limited "number of edits" depending on which plan is used.
- Limited number of CMS pages.
Summary
After reviewing Webflow and WordPress side-by-side, it's clear that both tools are useful options. The main difference between them is that WordPress is an open source content management system (CMS) that is installed on a web host, while Webflow is a SaaS (monthly subscription) application that is complete in terms of development and maintenance.
WordPress is a great tool and a flexible option for companies that want to get started with their website quickly and easily. The problem with WordPress occurs when further developing the website. Companies are then dependent on expensive web agencies or web developers with long development times. For companies and marketers who want a website where it is possible to effectively and easily change the design, create landing pages or launch campaigns, Webflow is an easy choice for us.