Website builders are a perfect solution for individuals and small businesses to start a website without hiring a developer. However, finding the best website builder can be tricky for beginners.
Opportunities in the web content management market
WordPress and Webflow are two of the most popular website builders that are widely used by people all over the world. If you’re wondering which one is better, then you have landed at the right place.
In this article, we will be comparing the 2 platforms to find out which one is better so that you can select the most suitable website builder for your business.
Note: This comparison is between Webflow and self-hosted WordPress.org (not Webflow vs WordPress.com)
Overview: WordPress vs Webflow
If you are looking for an appropriate platform for building your website, chances are WordPress is one of your first choices, since it is the most widely used content management system worldwide. However, you must be exploring alternatives too, and one great alternative you may have come across is Webflow. Here is an in-depth comparison to help you with your choices.
WordPress
WordPress is the most popular website builder allowing users to easily create a website without coding & it holds 40% of all the websites in the market. The reason that it is a widely used platform is that it is a free & open-source CMS, which means anyone can install & use it to write a blog, create a website, build an online store, and more. To start a WordPress website, you need a domain name and a web hosting account. One-click WordPress installation and super easy setup are provided by many of the best WordPress hosting providers.
Key Advantages Of WordPress
• Drag and drop page builder
• Free and easy to install
• Responsive design support
• Access to WordPress themes
Webflow
Webflow is a visual web design platform, CMS, and hosting provider for building production websites and prototypes. Domain and hosting features are included within Webflow, which is not the case with WordPress. It is a highly customizable platform and is extremely suitable for businesses looking to have full control over how their website should be designed.
The following diagram shows the market position of Webflow compared to other CMS. (Source: w3techs)
Key Advantages of Webflow
• CMS data-driven editor
• Create SSL secure websites
• Clean and semantic code
• Create animations and interactive content
A Comparative Study Of WordPress & Webflow
Now that we have understood the two website-building platforms well, let’s look at some comparative points that will help you decide which platform is best for your business.
Design Capabilities
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like.
Design is how it works.”
Steve Jobs
Design is an integral part of building a website because it can shape people’s perspectives about your website and get more leads for your business in the future. 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.
WordPress
For design, WordPress offers thousands of themes (free and paid) that are provided by WordPress itself, hence it is slightly different than Webflow. Interestingly these free-of-cost themes are mobile-friendly as well.
The themes are all professionally designed and you can change them & switch between different themes at any time. WordPress also allows you to design and develop custom themes according to the needs of your business. You can create as many page templates as you wish and use different plugins like the page builder plugin to create fully functional web pages.
WordPress also uses Gutenberg editor which helps users create content like paragraphs, images, headings, etc, hence ensuring that the design is consistent throughout the website by keeping the design elements separate from the content.
Webflow
Webflow also has tons of themes & templates (paid & free) you can choose from, that can be used for different kinds of websites and all the themes are mobile responsive as well. But in contrast to WordPress, once you start a project using a specific theme, you cannot change it later. You will need to create a fresh project to change the theme.
It provides a strong visual editor and allows you to take over HTML, JavaScript & CSS3. This system also provides the function of dragging and dropping which makes it easy for users to create any project. You can check and preview how your design is responding on different devices and make changes accordingly.
Ease Of Use
Most people looking to build a website are beginners, and not professional coders or developers. This is why it is important to have a platform that is easy to use so that you can get the best results without any understanding of coding.
WordPress
WordPress is one of the most widely used CMS because of how easy it is to use for anyone. Starting with its installation process, most of the hosting providers created for WordPress offer a 1 click installation feature making it easy for even beginners to make use of it.
That said, to efficiently use WordPress, even beginners might need to have an understanding of basic concepts like themes, plugins, posts vs pages, categories vs tags, etc.
When it comes to adding content, WordPress offers a seamless process because it has an intuitive visual editor within the system. It is called the block editor, you can make use of these blocks to edit and customize your page, without having to use any codes. Make full use of ready-made templates and customize them according to your need.
If you’re not impressed with the default WordPress editor, you can install drag and drop page builders to customize the page as per your liking.
Webflow
Webflow provides a clean dashboard & a strong visual interface where you can design layouts and write your content. It also provides the feature of live preview where you can watch what you’re creating. It offers various design templates that you can edit and mold as per the project in hand. You can change and add new elements using the element button on the left panel.
It offers various design templates that you can include in your project & edit with the help of its visual editor, however, it might be difficult for beginners to understand the features that the visual editor offers.
This platform is made for designers & developers because if you’re just starting out, you will need to have a basic understanding of different concepts on Webflow such as box model, flex boxes, breakpoints, containers, the structure of the editor, etc.
Add-ons & Integrations
Though each website builder tries to offer a feature-rich product. Still, depending on your needs, you might need extra features. Introducing the day saver for the extra business needs: Plugins, Add-ons & Integrations.
WordPress
WordPress comes with a huge library that contains thousands of add-ons and plugins which can be used to include additional functionality while building a website. They function like apps for a WordPress website and you just simply need to install and activate them. WordPress offers over 57,000 free plugins which is a wide range for anybody to choose from. Although, we suggest not add too many plugins to your website in order to keep your website light and fast.
Different features that plugins offer are building contact forms, installing Google Analytics, adding SEO features, and more. Most of these plugins offer a simple solution, it is easy to maintain them and backup your website data in just a few clicks. It works with all 3rd party services.
Webflow
On the other hand, Webflow offers only a limited number of addons and third-party integrations. You will have to search through the various addons available on the Webflow system. These addons are designed to perform tasks that are not typically a part of the default package.
It is possible that if you shift your website to a different hosting provider, some integrations might break (eg., forms not functioning properly on a different hosting service). To prevent such issues you must take precautions and follow up when including third-party integrations in your project.
Support
Customer support is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost-effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. No technical expert can ever claim to know any technology to its 100%. Support is, therefore, one of the most important verticals for any IT product.
WordPress
WordPress is open-source software that is widely used by everyone around the world, providing multiple free resources for community support. Majorly, themes on WordPress also provide product support 24×7.
WordPress official support forums are available, as are informational sites like WPBeginner, as well as Facebook groups like WPBeginner Engage. WordPress queries can be answered easily using Google Search. But you can also make use of step-by-step guides & video tutorials. If you are still facing issues, you can always hire an experienced developer to help you through the process and build a website for you.
Webflow
Webflow, on the contrary, hosts a platform named Webflow University that contains a library of articles and tutorials. It provides highly interactive tutorials & step-by-step articles that help guide you throughout the website development process. You can also find support in the form of video tutorials that Webflow posts on their Youtube channel. If you visit the official website of Webflow, you will also find AI-driven chatbots that are designed to address issues like troubleshooting, etc.
Along with this, Webflow also provides support through email to its clients, which is available from Monday to Friday (6:00 am – 6:00 pm, PT). The last resort is a community forum that Webflow provides where you can post your queries and receive help/advice/tips from Webflow users.
Conclusion: WordPress or Webflow?
In light of the above points, WordPress is the obvious choice for anyone looking to build their professional website. The features, design options, and abundance of support all advocate for WordPress as an optimal CMS.
Webflow is also a great option but when compared to WordPress, the latter takes the win.
Need help with website development? Help is an email away at contact@42works.net.
