Webflow vs WordPress – Which Is Best In 2023
Webflow vs WordPress – Complete comparison and detailed guide on how to choose the right platform.
Webflow vs WordPress Comparison Guide
In this article, we will compare Webflow with WordPress and discuss 10 different points to see which one is the best website building platform in 2021.
Covering design, control, flexibility, scalability, ease of use, eCommerce features, popularity, support, pricing, and much more!
We will start first by general definitions then we will dive deeper into our comparison.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress.org is a self-hosted version of WordPress.com. It is an open-source content management system (CMS) that easily allows content creators and businesses to run and manage their own websites and blogs.
What Is Webflow?
Webflow is a cloud-based website builder and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. It also has content management tools that make it popular among professional web designers.
Round 1 - Is It Open-Source?
WordPress.org is open-source, meaning you have the freedom to use, modify and redistribute it in any way without any cost.
Moreover, users can access community forums and make suggestions for changes. Developers can improve on WordPress.org by contributing to its open-source code at Github.com.
On the other hand, Webflow is closed-source as it is a SaaS with managed hosting solutions and users have to pay to use its premium features which are free on WordPress.
Who wins?
WordPress.org wins this round as it is open-source and provides the freedom that Webflow fails to provide.
Round 2 - Comparing Design Options
Themes are the building blocks of design in any CMS, so if we compare simply on that basis, WordPress.org has more than 10,000 themes, compared to Webflow’s 200 themes.
When you type WordPress themes on Google, you get 510 million results as compared to Webflow that has only 1 million results.
We must consider that the majority of WordPress themes are relatively inflexible unless you are using premium accessible themes. In comparison, Webflow gives you more flexibility to adjust existing templates.
Who wins?
WordPress.org wins this round as it has a higher number of design tools, such as themes and easy-to-use page builders.
Round 3 - Comparing Control & Customizations
WordPress.org offers you almost complete customization of your site and control of your content since you can manipulate any file as per your requirements provided you know PHP, CSS, JS and HTML.
Besides, WordPress is easy to customize. Navigation is simple and users can modify any part with a few clicks.
The best part?
Most WordPress themes provide video tutorials, well-written documentations, and exclusive support.
Overall, the essential control and level of customization are very similar to WordPress.
Who wins?
It is a tie as both platforms provide excellent control and customization.
Round 4 - Comparing Flexibility & Scalability
Both WordPress.org and Webflow are equally scalable. From a flexibility perspective, WordPress.org allows you to build a website from scratch, while Webflow already integrates specific components from the outset, which cannot be altered.
Who wins?
Both platforms are equally scalable, but WordPress.org wins from a flexibility standpoint, predominantly due to its open-source nature.
Round 5 - Comparing Ease Of Use
For different reasons, both platforms require a bit of learning. How fast you get used to them greatly depends on your own experience and preferences.
Webflow’s interface can be a little intimidating at first. You need time to adapt to it. It has, though, a smooth learning curve. WordPress.org is slightly more tailored to the inexperienced user, and many actions can be undertaken through the use of plugins. A bit of a learning curve is also required for WordPress as you need to find the best combination of plugins to use in every case.
Our WordPress marketplace greatly simplifies this job, though, as it offers everything you need in one affordable package.
Who wins?
Overall, there isn’t really a winner for this round. When given some time, users will quickly adapt to either platform.
Round 6 - Comparing Core Features
Both WordPress.org and Webflow offer a comprehensive list of core features. WordPress.org does require plugin installation, but most of the required plugins are free. Webflow has certain built-in features as well as additional add-on features.
When it comes to SEO, Webflow has serious limitations. You cannot access .htaccess that is extremely helpful for a variety of reasons for SEO.
It’s 2021, the feature of editing .htaccess on Webflow has been added yet. The .htaccess file can be used to block bad SEO bots and hide your blogs from your competitors.
For example, you can block Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush bots so that your competitors cannot see the secret data of your backlinks and keywords.
You might ask, can’t we use robots.txt to block the bots since Webflow allows to edit it? You can, but bad bots don’t follow robots.txt at all.
You must use the following lines in your htaccess to block the bad bots:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} almaden [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Anarchie [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^ASPSeek [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^attach [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^auto email spider [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BackWeb [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Bandit [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BatchFTP [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^BlackWidow [OR]
The above list is incomplete since the list is incredibly long, download the complete list of bad bots from here.
Moreover, you cannot make bulk changes of SEO on Webflow.
Imagine a scenario where you have thousands of products or blog posts. You’ve forgotten to write impressive titles and meta descriptions for each post, what will you do? Will you hire assistance from freelancing platforms and waste hundreds of dollars let alone money?
WordPress has a great plugin known as SEO Yoast that has been in industry since 2007 where Webflow came out in 2017. The plugin has a great feature to bulk edits posts and pages.
It’s just the surface, you can manipulate any data on WordPress since you have complete control over the database.
Although Webflow has good SEO features when you buy the premium plan, on WordPress you can use SEO features for free.
Who wins?
Both platforms cover all the core and essential features you need to build a good website. It is a tie!
Round 7 - Comparing eCommerce Features
Webflow has its own integrated eCommerce engine that can be used to build an eCommerce site. The engine integrates with all significant eCommerce component platforms.
WordPress offers free plugins to build your eCommerce environment, such as WooCommerce.
Who wins?
There is no clear winner in this round either, as both platforms offer comprehensive eCommerce tools.
Round 8 - Comparing Popularity & Community Size
With its beginnings having been predominantly as a blogging platform, WordPress has gained a vast following worldwide.
As it has grown into the WordPress.org platform, it is now equally as popular with developers in both professional and amateur spheres.
Webflow, on the other hand, has had a slower start as it competes with WordPress, but it is growing in popularity and use.
Who wins?
For now, WordPress is still ahead in popularity and community size.
Round 9 - Comparing Support
The two platforms approach customer service and support differently, and this is, no doubt, due to the open-source nature of WordPress.org and the SaaS nature of Webflow.
WordPress’s support greatly depends on the hosting you purchase. Many hosting providers claim to be the best support, but in reality, they’re the worst.
For example, many bloggers promote Hostgator since they provide a high commision rate, but in reality, the hosting is worse from performance to support.
That’s why, you should be careful when selecting a hosting provider. You must try the free trial of the hosting and ask questions from customer support to know how they will help you if you are in hot water. Otherwise, you might need to waste for weeks to get a response that is painful.
At Labinator, we use HostArmada providing great performance and support.
Webflow does have a dedicated support team and also offers the Webflow University of tutorials for using the platform.
Who wins?
Both platforms offer equally good support in different ways.
Round 10 - Comparing Value & Pricing
From a plain dollar-to-dollar point of view, it is difficult to argue against WordPress because it is free and open-source. The complexity of a site-building project must, of course, be taken into account when comparing costs as the possibility remains that you may need some premium plugins or themes in WordPress. However, these costs are usually once-off, whereas Webflow’s cost is subscription-based and recurring.
Who wins?
Considering it is free and open-source, WordPress.org wins this round.
Webflow vs WordPress Comparison Table
| Feature | WordPress.org | Webflow.com |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Source | ||
| Design Options | ||
| Flexibility & Scalability | ||
| Control & Customizations | ||
| Ease Of Use | ||
| Core Features | ||
| eCommerce | ||
| Popularity & Community Size | ||
| Support | ||
| Value & Pricing | ||
| Total Points | 9.5/10 | 6.5/10 |
The popular open-source platform WordPress.org comes out tops in five of our rounds and matches its SaaS competitor in the other five.
Personal preference, though, will always need to be accounted for. When considering your choice of platform, you should undoubtedly take into account your skill level, the complexity of your project, and your budget.
For the amateur developer who is wanting to build a site for their own small business or blog, WordPress is ideal. In fact, it is used to great effect by professional developers as well. If you are developing a complex project and you have the skill level and budget to navigate a brand-new interface, then Webflow may be an option for you.
Open-source, however, will always have a wide array of benefits and the highest amount of control as you are not relying on a third-party software supplier to provide your service.
Build Your Site The Right Way!
If you decided to go with WordPress, Labinator covers all your WordPress needs from themes and plugins in one place.
Check our WordPress Marketplace today to get everything in one affordable package.
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