When it comes to building websites, choosing the right platform is like choosing a house style: a cape-cod and a victorian are both lovely options, but it all depends on your preferences, budget, level of involvement, and long-term vision.
In this comparison, we are going to break down three popular website-building platforms that we at STOA build with: WordPress, Webflow, and Framer. No one is perfect, and each has its strengths, weaknesses, and tradeoffs. We’ll dive right into some important aspects of a website and web platform: hosting flexibility, user-friendliness, security, stability, customization, innovation, and credibility.
(Psst. If you’re not ready for the nitty gritty and want the abridged version, feel free to scroll to the summary at the end!)
Hosting Flexibility
Remember, the beauty of a website is that one single space is accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime– as opposed to a store front or office that is only accessible to those that can physically get to it.
In either case, you have to rent the space from someone. And in a website’s case, you also have to get it to the people trying to access it, which means “delivering it” to their device. Your hosting provider both rents you the space and delivers your site. Your provider can affect the delivery speed, the proper functioning of the site, the security, and more.
WordPress offers significant hosting flexibility, allowing users to choose their hosting provider. This means that you are not locked in to a provider, and may choose to switch to another WordPress-ready hosting provider in the future without losing any content or having to redevelop. It also means more flexibility in pricing, with options that range from less than $100 a year to premium options over $400 a year.
Webflow and Framer, on the other hand, require you to host your site with them. This means that you are locked into their service and cost without other options. On the plus side, the inseparability of hosting provider and platform means that Webflow and Framer need to be more dedicated to maintaining top quality hosting and excellent customer service.
Backend and Maintenance
A website is really just a collection of files that is presented on the frontend in a way that is easy to take in. In short, the backend is both the filing cabinet and instruction manual. The initial development of the website and any ongoing maintenance and changes take place in the backend.
WordPress is known for its user-friendly backend, making updates and maintenance straightforward, and giving it a strong DIY advantage for those that wish to maintain their website on their own. It also helps that they have extensive resources available and a wide user base, making it easier to navigate and troubleshoot issues.
Less intuitive, Webflow and Framer present a steeper initial learning curve and time commitment when it comes to developing and making changes or edits. They are more user friendly for those with a design background but may be overwhelming to non-designer. While they both offer high-quality learning resources through their academies and community support, it's worth noting that Webflow has recently updated its user interface, which may add some confusion to their existing course materials that don’t align.
Stability and Longevity
Here we are essentially looking at the bones of the site and asking how strong they are and how well the joints connecting them work. In the case of websites, stability affects its constant functioning (uptime), security, loading time, and likelihood to rank in search engines.
Because WordPress relies heavily on plugins, it can be more prone to bloat, meaning it has additional code and processes that bog down the site and cause poor and slow performance. Think: arthritis. WordPress not only has a heavier CMS, but is also slowed down by loading a significant portion of its backend core functioning along with each page. Headless WordPress setups can now mitigate some of these issues, but they require more technical expertise.
Over time, this may turn into a greater problem as platform and plugin software updates are required that may affect compatibility and function. What were once easy changes on the backend may now cause big problems and breakage on the frontend. Think: atrophy.
In contrast, Webflow and Framer are generally more stable. Their built-in hosting and lighter CMSs lead to faster loading times and reduced vulnerability to breaks. Think: lean body with sturdy bones, better movement. Unlike WordPress, they do not rely on third-party plugins to expand their features, meaning less opportunity for instability. These platforms are also more promising to stand the test of time due to their integrated hosting and automatic software updates.
Customization and Scalability
Here we are looking at the ability to customize the features and aesthetics of your site to your needs, values, and brand as well as the ability of it to grow and expand with your business.
Feature Customization
WordPress ranks the highest here due to its vast selection of features and easy customization through the plugin library. It gives the impression that you can achieve any and all functions, as is particularly good for specific needs like community and restricted content.
Webflow comes as a second to WordPress as it offers a wide array of features including solid e-commerce capabilities but does not have the same level of robustness and diversity as WordPress.
Framer ranks lowest in this category as it offers more limited features, instead focusing more on interactivity and dynamic design.
Aesthetic Customization
What Framer lacks in features it makes up for in design flexibility, allowing for unique creativity through easy absolute positioning of design elements (aka putting a design element wherever you want it), vertical and horizontal scrolling, reactive design elements, and complex animations.
Webflow provides good design capabilities, like animations without code, but may struggle with certain aspects like absolute positioning.
WordPress offers design customization and supports custom code, but often requires more cumbersome workarounds to achieve the desired aesthetics.
Scalability
Wordpress is designed to create websites that range in complexity from simple blogs to full scale e-commerce sites. Scaling and adding new functions or features is easily achieved through plugins. However, there is a tradeoff between plugins and performance.
Webflow was also designed with scalability in mind, and is able to handle growth well with content-heavy sites as well as easily scale design but does face limitations in the face of complexity.
Framer, best equipped to offer design customization over feature customization, is likewise easily scaled for design and content, but not as well for features or data-intensive applications.
Security
With the great accessibility of the internet, comes great risks of security. Hackers that break into your site may hold it for ransom, impact its functioning, steal its stored data, or implant unsavory ads. Website security is mainly affected by the number of entry points it has and its system being up to date, meaning less vulnerable.
WordPress ranks lowest in security, primarily because of its plugin ecosystem. Plugins represent new entry points, and as such, new points for break-ins. If one fails, it can compromise the entire site. Additionally, WordPress does not automatically update, or build in security measures. The security of the hosting provider depends on your choice.
Webflow stands out as the most secure and reliable option. This can be accredited to its lack of reliance on plugins, automatic updates, and built-in security measures. Its integrated hosting prioritizes security.
Framer also offers good security due to its plugin-free structure, built-in measures, automatic updates, and integrated hosting, however it is not as robust in comparison to Webflow.
Innovation
In today’s fast paced digital world, staying cutting edge can prove to be a big advantage. Here we will look at how quickly these platforms develop and evolve.
Framer is known for its rapid innovation, frequently releasing new features and integrations. This agility allows it to introduce cutting-edge capabilities, appealing to designers and developers alike.
Webflow has slowed its innovation pace, releasing updates monthly that focus more on technical improvements rather than groundbreaking features.
WordPress has stable core features but tends to take longer to implement significant updates. Many users find that recent updates, such as the Gutenberg editor, have not met expectations.
Credibility and Risk Factor
While innovation and evolution are important, you also want to trust that your website will not only continue to provide the same quality of service, but also stay available.
WordPress is the OG, powering over 40% of all websites on the Internet today. It is not only well-established but open-source, meaning it’s free, you don’t run the risk of losing your content, the community and support network is extensive. WordPress not only has a longstanding good reputation, but is an ecosystem that builds in low risk.
Webflow and Framer, while innovative, are newer to the market and proprietary. The integrated hosting and more controlled community means that if the platforms stop running, you run the risk of losing your site. Webflow has an 11 year history and has gained traction in those years, building great credibility. Framer has evolved from a prototyping design tool into a full web builder, and therefore is still building the leve of credibility webflow has.
Summary
Wordpress is highly regarded and the most used platform. It has flexibility in hosting, lower cost options, is open source, and comes with a lot of resources to help with troubleshooting. It is known for its user-friendly back end, high customization of features and scalability, and seemingly endless plugin options. That being said, it is more prone to bloat and experience performance issues like loading speed, stability and security. Updates are manual and are more likely to lead to breakage down the road. Additionally, although it has extensive features, aesthetic creativity has limitations, requiring more custom code and workarounds.
Webflow has built a great reputation in its 11 years and innovates regularly, offering great courses through its academy. It has a lighter CMS and does not rely on plugins while still offering a vast array of features. It allows for greater design creativity than WordPress, but not as much as Framer. The backend may be user-friendly for designers, but more complex to non-designers. It is proprietary and you must host your site with them, but it also has high performance and stability, and built-in security measures.
Framer has evolved from being a design tool into a web development platform, making it very innovative and highly customizable aesthetically, and much easier for a designer to understand. While it has a CMS, it is more limited overall in functions and features and scalability. Framer also offers academy style courses and, being proprietary, has built-in security measures, integrated hosting, and good performance.
