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Webflow vs Wordpress, that is the question. There are so many options when it comes to building a website; from custom code to Squarespace to Wix to Webflow to WordPress, the options are overwhelming. And if you decide to go the route of a builder, choosing one without getting in and making something in each of them (which would be incredibly time-consuming) means that you’re flying blind while making the most important decision of building your site.
When it comes to popularity, WordPress is the winner by far — but that doesn’t mean that it’s the best option. As a Webflow agency, we’re pretty partial to Webflow here at Edgar Allan — it’s the only platform that we build on. But let’s break down what exactly makes Webflow such an incredible tool — and where it falls short.
First, what’s the difference between Webflow and WordPress when you’re building a site?
Webflow is a robust low- to no-code website building and hosting platform for creating professional-grade sites.
This means that you have complete design freedom from the jump, and you don’t have to know how to code in order to build the website of your dreams. What this doesn’t mean is that it’s immediately easy and intuitive to design a site from scratch — there’s definitely still a learning curve. It’s just a different kind of curve when compared to WordPress.
WordPress, on the other hand, was originally conceived as a blog-building platform.
Over time, that focus has changed and expanded to include all kinds of sites and functionalities, but because they weren’t the original focus of the tool, even simple builds in WordPress can feel over-complicated. Webflow was purpose-built to make building professional websites as streamlined as possible, so you don’t have to implement as many workarounds as when building in the comparatively ancient WordPress.
If you do go with WordPress, you have the benefit of choosing from a ton of templates to start your site. The variety is staggering, and can feel overwhelming, but almost any industry, need, or design style you can think of is represented. The downside to all of these template options, though, is that if you decide to stray outside the lines of your template, it’ll require custom coding. If you know how to code, then great! But if you don’t, that learning curve can be even steeper than Webflow’s.
Which platform has better templates?
Webflow templates are easy to use and customize, but there aren’t as many as there are on WordPress. Because the only two options with WordPress are to use a pre-built template or code from scratch, that’s sparked huge growth in the WordPress template market — there are over 31,000 to choose from.
But even though Webflow has fewer total templates, the options themselves are more customizable, since you won’t need to add code on top of them if you want to change anything about them or add to them. And since you don’t have to code from scratch, non-developers, from digital designers to writers to in-house design groups, are empowered to bring their visions to life without having to learn how to code or employ a developer. Ultimately, this helps both parties: it helps designers create beautiful, sophisticated sites on their own, and it helps clients have beautiful, sophisticated sites without spending a fortune.
Webflow vs WordPress, by the numbers:
To break it down, here’s how the two options stack up:
*Pricing for Webflow and WordPress, and the differences between what both offer in their different tiers, can get pretty complicated. This is just an overview of two of their more popular, comparable tiers — check out their pricing pages for more info.
While WordPress is by far the more popular option, it’s also been around much longer. Though it has long reigned as the top tool, Webflow has had a huge spike in adoption in recent years, and its popularity is only growing.
To us, this is where Webflow really shines. At Edgar Allan, we see Webflow as a way to work ourselves out of a job. While most digital agencies make their bread and butter keeping clients on long-term retainers for site maintenance and updates, that work isn’t in anyone’s best interest. Instead, we train our clients on Webflow so that they make do all of the simple changes themselves; things like swapping out photos, changing text, even adding new pages and sections. Clients love having ownership of their own sites, and we love being able to do the real work: building the next bigger, better thing for your brand.
WordPress, comparatively, is just a more complicated tool. Clients get lost in it, and making even small edits is overwrought, so they’re forced to put someone on retainer to handle all those little changes.
Though we will always champion Webflow, it is the more expensive option. We think its price is 100% justified because it’s the more powerful builder. It’s more dynamic, more customizable, and creates cleaner, easier-to-work-with code. But if you’re looking for the cheapest option, don’t plan on customizing your site much, and don’t need e-commerce or CMS capabilities, then WordPress could be a sufficient option for you.
Edgar Allan is a brand- and content-focused Webflow agency. Check out our blog to learn more about how we use Webflow to create awesome sites, plus more of our brand and project management strategy.
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