When it comes to building and designing a website, there are several options to choose from. It’s no surprise that WordPress is the most popular CMS (content management system). While you may have heard of this platform, you may not be familiar with a website builder called Webflow. Keep reading to discover the differences between WordPress and Webflow.

WordPress vs Webflow

Established in 2003, WordPress is the most popular free and open source platform for building websites. Users have full customization to build any type of website they want, which makes it a go-to choice for beginners and professional developers and designers. To create a WordPress site, you need to purchase a domain name and site hosting account. Several reputable managed WordPress hosting providers offer easy one click site installations, so users can make a WordPress site in no time.

Launched in 2013, Webflow is a user-friendly site builder platform that uses a visual design tool to build a website. Webflow is a hosted software that allows users to build sites for free, but also has the option to upgrade sites with their paid features and hosting services. Once you create an account, you simply connect your domain name or download your site and host it with a different hosting company. 

Ease of Use

Like any technology, there is a slight learning curve to using WordPress. If this is your first time creating a WordPress site, you will need to learn the terms used to describe key features of your site. For example, common WordPress terms include categories, pages, plugins, posts, tags, and themes. This platform comes with a default editor called the block editor, which allows you to add content (i.e. text, images, videos, etc.) to your site. The block editor uses blocks to build and design content for your site, all without any need for coding experience. For those that prefer a different editor, there are several great drag and drop page builders that make it easy to design a simple site. 

Based on your site needs, budget, and experience level, you can either choose a pre-made template or build a site from scratch. With thousands of free and paid templates and plugins, the official WordPress directory makes it easy to choose a site design that meets your specific site goals.

Just like WordPress, Webflow requires a slight learning curve to build a website. This platform offers a simple dashboard to create and design your website with a live preview. Webflow offers various templates to design your site and edit them in their visual editor dashboard. Since this platform offers a lot of features, beginners may find this option a bit overwhelming to use. Unlike WordPress, Webflow does not offer the familiar categories, comments, discussions, and tags offered for posts. However, Webflow allows users to change a property and add a new element button from the editor.

Site Customization

WordPress users have access to thousands of site themes, which are mobile-friendly and optimized for SEO. These professional-grade themes allow users to customize the design to suit their site needs. Since WordPress is known for being one of the most flexible platforms in the world, users can easily change to a different theme later on. 

This platform helps users maintain a consistent site design by keeping design elements separate from content. If you cannot find a theme that fits your site vision, you can also build your own site template or theme, which requires extensive coding knowledge. For beginners, it’s best to hire a WordPress expert that can build a lightweight, modern, and responsive site theme that will help grow your online presence and create a positive first impression for site visitors.

With Webflow, you have access to dozens of paid and free templates that are mobile-responsive and ready to be used. It’s important to note that once you choose a site template, you cannot change it with a different one later one. The only way to choose a different template is to create a new project and start over from scratch. If you own a business and make this type of change, this can lead to a lot of wasted time, energy, and money. 

As far as editing your Webflow template, the visual editor makes it fairly easy to change page elements. When you tweak the layout elements, such as the navigation menu, footer, or header, this updates your whole site. If you are wanting to create a customized menu for certain pages, Webflow does not offer this type of flexibility.

Site Costs

Like anything, it’s important to research the costs of building a fully functioning, live website. Your budget plays a key role in helping you decide which is the best site platform for your site needs. While the WordPress software is free to use, users will need to purchase a site domain name and hosting provider to have a published website. The costs will vary, but a domain name can average about 15 dollars a year and hosting can average about ten dollars or more a year. Additionally, users must consider the costs necessary to purchase a site theme and plugins. One way to save money is to use free, highly rated themes and plugins, which can significantly cut down your annual costs compared to more restrictive platforms, such as Wix or Squarespace.

As for Webflow, you can take advantage of a limited time free version that allows you to build your site and host it using a Webflow subdomain. This platform offers two paid plans, the Site plans and Account plans. The Site plans option is priced per type of site you make and allows you to use your domain name. These plans starting at 16 dollars per month include Basic, CMS, Business, and Enterprise levels, which steadily increases with additional features. For E-Commerce plans, these start at 29 dollars per month. The Account plans starting at 16 dollars a month allow you to manage several sites as projects and either host them at Webflow or another platform. 

Site Functionality

No matter which platform you choose, it’s helpful to remember that you will likely need additional features to meet your site needs perfectly. WordPress is well-known for their third-party plugins designed to extend the functionality of websites. With thousands of free and premium plugins on the official WordPress directory, it’s safe to say that users can truly enhance their site with a wide range of plugins. Plugins play a key role in maintaining a fast, secure, and optimized website. For business sites, you will appreciate the plugins that offer live chat software, email marketing, and even a business phone service. 

On the other hand, Webflow only offers a limited amount of third party applications. While some applications are easy to set up, users will need to follow a tutorial for most just to set them up with the Webflow site. For users that choose to host their site somewhere else, this can break certain applications, such as a form. This will then require troubleshooting and possibly hiring an expert developer to solve the issue.

E-Commerce

If you own an online store, you have likely heard of one of the most popular e-commerce platforms known as WooCommerce. Only available to WordPress users, this plugin is used by millions of small and large online shops around the globe. WooCommerce offers hundreds of themes to choose the best choice for your brand, several payment gateways to meet customers’ needs, and several other plugins used to enhance your store’s functionality. 

As for Webflow, this platform offers a limited online store functionality. There are restrictions regarding the number of products you can sell, which depend on your plan. For example, the cheapest E-Commerce plan starts at 29 dollars per month for 500 products. If you own a large business and need to scale, WordPress offers better scalability with WooCommerce. 

Furthermore, Webflow only uses Stripe as the payment gateway. Webflow charges a 2 percent fee per transaction, which is required for users on the standard plan. Webflow only allows users to sell digital products, such as software and music, which can be a deal breaker depending on the type of online business site you need.

Tech Support

Whether you are a beginner or expert, there will be times when you need tech support. WordPress has an impressive community of WordPress developers, designers, and other experts that can help solve your common issues. Specifically, this platform has support forums, educational resource sites, and social media groups designed to help you. Depending on the type of question you have, you may find that a Google search doesn’t solve your problem. Indeed, you can research a solution and if that doesn’t work, you can hire a web expert. Since this is a very popular platform, you will find it easy to hire one of thousands of web developers. 

Webflow offers an extensive resource hub of articles and tutorials called Webflow University designed to help users build their site. If you cannot resolve your issues this way, they also offer email support for customers. This service is offered Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Additionally, Webflow offers a support forum thread to post questions and receive help from Webflow’s community of users, experts, and team.

As you can see, there are pros and cons to both platforms. The best platform for you will depend on your specific site needs, budget, and experience level. If you just want a simple site and do not need a lot of functionality or features, you may prefer Webflow. However, if you need a platform that gives you full customization, freedom, and options to build the perfect site for your business, we recommend WordPress. Here at Awesome Website Guys in Wilmington, NC, we specialize in building, supporting, and optimizing websites for our awesome clients. We encourage you to contact us and discuss how we can help you.