WordPress vs Webflow:
Which Website Builder is Better?
A functional website is a fundamental part of any digital marketing campaign, and if you are looking to create your website using a website builder, when it comes to website building platforms, WordPress and Webflow are leading the pack. If you want to figure out which of the two you should use for your next project, we suggest that you look at the pros and cons of each option first before you decide.
In this article from White Peak Digital, we will compare Webflow and WordPress based on their ease of use, cost, design, and other features. But before we see how they stack up against each other, let’s first have an overview of the two platforms.
WordPress
If you’ve been using the internet for long, it’s hard to think you haven’t heard about WordPress. Dubbed as the most popular website builder in the world, it powers over 38 percent of all websites you see on the internet! It is basically a free and open-source software, which means you just need to download it to create a blog or a business website.
Webflow
Unlike WordPress that has been around for so long, Webflow only saw the light of the day in 2013, but that doesn’t make it any less of a website builder. This app offers a visual web design tool to create your website, making the job as easy as pie. Since it’s a hosted software, you use Webflow as a service. To get started, you just need to make a Webflow account and link it to your domain name.
Now let’s talk about the nitty-gritties...
WordPress vs Webflow: A Comparison
Ease of Use
If you’re looking for a website builder to build your own website, then it’s safe to assume that you’re not a programmer or a coder. After all, why would you need a platform that’s fairly easy to use? In this regard, both WordPress and Webflow can fit the bill. Aside from WordPress lets adding content to your website so easy, it also lets you make your pages and customize them using blocks. It comes with thousands of free templates and plugins that let you do just about everything you want to do with your site, which means you can make pretty layouts without even having to ever write any code!
Meanwhile, Webflow also offers a clean dashboard to manage your website and comes with a visual interface to let you design your content. Just like WordPress, it also offers various templates that you can use for your project. But since this app is made for designers and developers, you may struggle a bit finding your way around it if you’re a beginner.
Cost
Needless to say, the cost of building a website is a huge factor when you’re choosing a website building platform. When it comes to this, both WordPress and Webflow have options to keep your costs down but you don’t get to pay exactly the same for both. While WordPress is a free software, you’ll need to pay for your domain name and hosting, as well as for any premium plugins or themes you may need to create your website. Since a domain name costs around $15 a year and website hosting starts at $8 per month, it’s not as cheap as you think especially if you’re just starting out and testing the waters.
Webflow, on the other hand, offers a limited free version that lets you create your website and host it using a subdomain with Webflow branding. When you use this software, you also have the option of getting paid plans. The pricier the plan gets, the more features you get to enjoy. Its most basic plan is around $12 per month, and prices are based on the type of site you wish to make. In this regard, WordPress is the winner since it lets you wait for your website to take off before you upgrade your hosting or buy premium addons. Even if you don’t avail of its premium themes and plugins, you’ll still be fine.
Design
Both WordPress and Webflow have a lot to offer but depending on the plan you choose, your end result may not look as good as a professionally designed website. Even if you don’t have a plan, you can have access to thousands of themes when you use WordPress. Not only are they free, they are also mobile-friendly out of the box. WordPress also keeps all your design elements separate from content to ensure that your design is consistent throughout your website. It even lets you use tools to make your own templates and themes without the need to write a code!
Just like WordPress, Webflow also offers dozens of free templates that are mobile responsive. This app lets you edit your templates easily as it comes with a powerful visual editor that helps you change any element on any page of your website. If there’s one major difference between WordPress and Webflow in this respect, however, it’s that Webflow doesn’t let you change your template. Once you select a template, you can’t change it unless you create a new project.
Support
As you build your website, there will certainly come a time when you will encounter an issue and need help, even if you’re an expert web developer! Luckily, both WordPress and Webflow have support options that you can turn to for help. WordPress comes with lots of free community support, including official WP support forums and resource sites like WPBeginner and WPBeginner Engage. If you can’t find answers to your queries from these groups, you can watch WordPress video tutorials for more visual help or follow official WordPress guides step by step.
Webflow also boasts of its massive library of video tutorials, how-to guides and step-by-step articles, so you won’t have any problem going about this app even if you’re a beginner. One major strength of this app over WordPress is that it offers email-based support and an AI-driven chatbot, although it doesn’t really offer live chat support.
So… which is better?
Both WordPress and Webflow are great website building platforms, but WordPress is a way better option if you’re just beginning to learn how to build a website. Webflow better suits experienced web developers and designers so it is more complex to use. WordPress, on the other hand, offers more design options and flexibility, all at a price you can afford. It also gives you the freedom to manage your costs and only spend when needed, which is hard to achieve when you use Webflow.