WordPress vs Webflow – Which is Better for Your Business?

After putting WordPress vs Webflow head-to-head, our researchers found that WordPress is stronger overall, offering a lower price point, wider selection of templates, and an unbeatable blog functionality. While neither is particularly easy to get started on, WordPress’s interface is slightly more user-friendly, making it a marginally better website builder for small businesses. 

This isn’t to say WordPress is the best option for everyone. Webflow offers a quality free plan and, if you’re happy to put in the hours, the web builder has fully customizable features and a virtual design assistant. These additions can give users greater control over their creative process, making it better equipped than WordPress for creating bespoke websites. For more information, check out our article on Webflow pricing.

Ultimately, the best website builder for you will depend on the needs of your business. Read on to learn more about how WordPress and Webflow’s features, ecommerce functionality, and price plans compare. Or, take our one-minute web builder quiz to receive tailored quotes from these and other top providers.  

In This Guide:

• • WordPress vs. Webflow – Which Is Better?
  • WordPress vs Webflow – Main Takeaways
  • Best Value – WordPress
  • Best for Features – WordPress
  • Best for Ease of Use – Tie
  • Best for Help & Support – Webflow
  • WordPress & Webflow Alternatives
  • What’s New in 2024?
  • How We Test Website Builders
  • Verdict: Which Website Builder Is Better?
  • WordPress vs Webflow FAQs

WordPress vs Webflow – Main Takeaways

WordPress and Webflow are both advanced website-building platforms that require some building and design experience to master. Digital publications will benefit from WordPress’s expansive blogging, SEO features, and generous plugins, which make it ideal for creating a blog, while Webflow’s granular design customization and responsive templates are great for web designers with no coding experience.

Here’s a quick round-up of how WordPress vs Webflow compare side by side:

WordPress vs. Webflow – Which Is Better?

WordPress Overview

WordPress.com is a website builder designed with the needs of bloggers and publishers in mind. It’s wildly popular, currently powering a third of all websites on the internet. Everyone from Sony to TIME Magazine use an instance of WordPress, so it’s many people’s first port of call when it comes to creating a new blog.

Both WordPress and Webflow offer free versions, but the WordPress one offers better value, as Webflow users have to purchase both a Site and Workspace plan. WordPress also offers a bigger selection of templates than its competitor – 30,000 compared to 1,000+ – alongside more comprehensive SEO and marketing features.

Who should use WordPress?

• Digital publications, blogs, and freelancers. The platform is geared towards bloggers.
• Experienced coders and website builders. WordPress is not the easiest platform to grasp straightaway.
• Businesses on a budget – the free plan offers a suite of great functionality.

Who shouldn’t use WordPress?

• Beginners looking for a low learning curve – you will not find it with WordPress.
• Design-focused businesses should look elsewhere, as WordPress is not blessed with customization options.
• Advanced features often require forking out for added plug-ins, which can be expensive.

Webflow Overview

Webflow is a website builder that allows users to create high-performing sites from scratch. It’s a powerful builder – especially when it comes to design and customization. However, it’s not as easy to get started with or as user-friendly as Wix and Squarespace.

Webflow is a better solution for users with no coding experience, and users who are more concerned with the look and feel of their site. While it’s ecommerce plan has a much cheaper starting price than the WordPress equivalent, users do have to buy both a Site and Workspace plan, which bumps the price up.

Who should use Webflow?

• Experienced designers that want full creative control will relish the possibilities.
• Users with no coding experience – Webflow doesn’t require any.
• Corporate and creative businesses. Webflow offers a broad range of customization features that will suit these businesses well.

Who shouldn’t use Webflow?

• Digital publishers and bloggers would be better-placed going for WordPress, which is closely aligned with their needs.
• Web builder beginners with no design experience. Design-minded individuals will get the most out of Webflow.
• Growing businesses looking to scale. The pricing plans are complex and can be frustrating for businesses in transition.

Best Value – WordPress

While both builders both offer reliable free versions, WordPress is a slightly better value than Webflow overall because the average price of its plans is much lower. Not only are WordPress’s web building packages more affordable at $45 per month, its ‘Commerce’ ecommerce plan costs substantially less than Webflow’s mid-tier eccomerce package, Plus ($74 per month), making WordPress better value for online sellers too.

Webflow’s pricing is also notoriously confusing. Unlike with WordPress, businesses using Webflow will need to purchase two separate plans: a Site plan to connect their site to a custom domain, and a Workplace plan to build and manage their site — bumping up its overall price. WordPress won’t be a better deal for every business through, so read on to learn more about each provider’s value.

WordPress pricing

WordPress offers one free plan and four paid plans: Personal ($4 per month), Premium ($8 per month), Business ($25 per month), Commerce ($45 per month), and Enterprise, which offers custom pricing. The website builder has a very low entry price, and its Personal plan gives users a free domain for a year. This is why we think WordPress’s value trumps Webflow. 

However, when compared with our top-rated website builders Squarespace and Wix — which offer quality plans for as little as $16 per month and $17 per month respectively — WordPress’s plans are quite steep. This is why it only receives a value score of 3.2/5 in our research.

Check out how WordPress’s plans compare below:

Webflow pricing

Webflow offers five Site plans to help businesses publish and host their website: Starter (free); Basic ($14 per month); CRM ($23 per month); Business ($39 per month); and Enterprise, which offers custom pricing. If you require more than basic hosting, or would like to host your site elsewhere, the web builder also provides five Workspace plans: Starter (free); Core ($19 per month); Growth ($49 per month); and Enterprise, which has bespoke pricing. To make things more complicated, there are separate plans for freelancers and agencies – the Starter Plan (free), Freelancer ($16 per month), and Agency ($35 per month).

There are also three Webflow pricing plans specifically for online stores: Standard ($29 per month), Plus ($74 per month), and Advanced ($212 per month).

You need a Site and Workspace plan to run a business on Webflow, but both types of plans offer free versions that allow you to test out the features for free. However, you will need to have a paid plan to obtain a custom domain, host multiple content editors, and gain access to exporting code. The average price of Webflow’s packages is higher than the industry standard, which is why we don’t view it as offering strong value.

See how Webflow’s pricing plans compare at a glance below:

WordPress vs Webflow – Which Has the Best Free Plan?

WordPress’s free plan is slightly more generous than Webflow’s — but there isn’t much in it. Neither free plans offer custom domains, but unlike Webflow Starter, which can only be used by one user to create two unhosted sites, WordPress Free has no page or user limit — making it better suited for smaller teams. 

Free plans normally end up costing businesses more in the long run, though. So if you’re interested in boosting your site’s long-term return on investment (RoI) with enhanced SEO features, analytics, and editor access, we’d always recommend opting for paid plans instead.

Best for Features – WordPress

WordPress beats Webflow when it comes to business features, but it’s not a clean sweep. 

Design

Webflow’s design features stand head and shoulders above WordPress’s offering. While WordPress has more pre-designed templates (over 8,000 vs Webflow’s over 1,500), Webflow’s themes allow for more customizability and require less coding to master. This gives Webflow users more creative control over their site.

However, Webflow’s Photoshop-style interface can seem overwhelming at first and will take some time to get used to. This means that while Webflow’s design suite is impressive, it has a steeper learning curve than WordPress.

Webflow design dashboard in action. The range of customization options can be dizzying. Source: Tech.co

Blogging

Both Webflow and WordPress offer a number of blog-specific features like writer profiles, archive options, and social sharing, while only Webflow offers its own CMS plan.

However, WordPress is a blogging platform first with a powerful publishing toolkit that includes commenting features, blog analytics, and integrations with Google Analytics and WordAds. These capabilities are assets to small and mid-size publishers looking to expand their audience, which gives WordPress the edge over Webflow.

SEO

If you’re looking to improve your site’s search ranking, WordPress has more potential. Webflow automates lots of its SEO processes, like its meta description creation, which is great for designers with little experience in the field. However, it does lack advanced capabilities like targeted keyword support and its own SEO app.

WordPress, on the other hand, offers a ton of enhanced SEO features, including front-page meta descriptions, custom title formals, and search previews. It integrates with Yoast SEO as well, which is a popular WordPress plugin that offers technical SEO guidance and real-time quality analysis, making it much more suited for larger teams with ambitious marketing strategies.

Yoast SEO integration in action. Image: Tech.co

Integrations

Webflow’s strength as a comprehensive solution means the most important features are already included in its packages. However, when compared with WordPress — which boasts thousands of plug-in options for anything from SEO and analytics to ecommerce — Webflow’s integration options are limited and many require troubleshooting.

This shouldn’t be an issue for smaller, design-focused teams, but if you’re looking for a builder that can integrate with multiple different domains, you’d be better off using WordPress.

Ecommerce

Both website builders let businesses sell online: Webflow uses its central platform, and WordPress through its WooCommerce integration. Webflow is a multi-functional ecommerce builder that lets you fully customize the shopping cart experience and checkout process. Its built-in visual designer feature makes it easier to create an eye-catching site than with WooCommerce. However, if you don’t have any web designing experience Webflow’s interface may take some getting used to.

Viewing products by category in the WooCommerce integration. Source: Tech.co

On the other hand, WooCommerce is easier to navigate than Webflow and doesn’t charge transaction fees for payment gateways. However, businesses will need to use an API to unlock lots of advanced ecommerce features, which is why we think Webflow is the better option for online stores. 

Best for Ease of Use – Tie

Without beating around the bush, neither WordPress nor Webflow offer a great user experience.

After testing WordPress, we found the platform lacked visual cues and contained a lot of tech jargon, which is why we were only able to give WordPress a score of 3.4/5 for usability. However, once the builder is set up, it’s pretty straightforward to use — especially if you have a little coding experience under your belt.

Similarly, Webflow has a cluttered interface that can be overwhelming for beginners. If you’re familiar with web designing or tools like PhotoShop, you shouldn’t find the learning curve too steep.

Best for Help & Support – Webflow

WordPress’s help and support options are slightly stronger than Webflow’s, but not by much. WordPress.com offers a wide range of online guides, but its 24/7 chatbot is only available to customers on its Premium, Business, or Commerce plans. This is why our research team only scores it a lackluster 2.7/5 for help and support.

Webflow has an online resource library called Webflow University and an email helpline open from 6 am to 6 pm PT, Monday to Friday. Unfortunately though, Webflow lacks a phone and a live chat service, making it less suitable than WordPress for users in need of urgent support.

Truth be said, if reliable support is important to your business, you’d be better off bypassing both of these website builders and opting for a solution like Squarespace instead.

How Do WordPress & Webflow Compare With Other Web Builders?

WordPress and Webflow aren’t the only competent builders out there. According to our research, unless you’re a blogger or experienced coder, Wix will likely be a safer bet than WordPress. The builder boasts much stronger website features (4.9/5 vs 2.5/5), and offers a much simpler start, with an all-inclusive style that doesn’t require navigating various plug-ins.

Similarly, with excellent UX and an impressive design score of 4.7/5, Squarespace will be a better choice for most creative businesses than Webflow. This isn’t to say Webflow should be overlooked entirely, but Squarespace excels when it comes to creating beautiful, high-performing websites.

Check out our table below to see how WordPress and Webflow compare with their competition:

What’s New in WordPress and Webflow for 2024?

WordPress has rolled out a number of new features this year. In June, for instance, the Hosting Dashboard was made available to users. With this update, site admin tools have been centralized in one location, with a “Quick Actions” feature for making speedy iterations. This new feature also centralizes all of a user’s domains, regardless of whether or not they’re connected to a WordPress site.

In April of this year, WordPress unveiled its Studio by WordPress.com, an open-source development environment for quickly building sites on your local machine. This feature makes it easier for users to showcase their work – and collaborate with stakeholders.

Just a month earlier, in March, the platform made GitHub Deployments available to its users. This makes it easier for take care of their development workflow, including managing their site’s code, running tasks, and adjusting deployment settings.

Webflow regularly rolls out updates and new features to improve its offering. Recently, the platform introduced page building and design approvals features for its Enterprise customers. With the former, users can now use drag-and-drop functionality to easily build landing pages that match up to your brand. Design approvals, meanwhile, ensures that any changes made are reviewed by the right person before they’re pushed live.

In July, Webflow also unveiled Libraries, giving users the tools to make sure their branding remains consistent across multiple pages. Instead of painstakingly trying to replicate existing pages, users can now install a shared library on any Workspace site and start using those same designs however they see fit.

Our Research and Testing into Website Builders

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