WebFlow vs WordPress

Both WebFlow and WordPress are platforms where you can build a website without knowing how to write code. These platforms offer simple and easy-to-use tools for everyone from beginners to advanced website designers.

When choosing a website platform, you need to consider your long-term growth and functionality needs. This comparison of WordPress vs. WebFlow will offer you the tools and insights you need to make an informed decision between the two platforms.

What is WebFlow?

You might not be as familiar with WebFlow as you are with some of the other major website platform options. This leads people to search WebFlow to get a better understanding of how it fares in the marketplace.

WebFlow offers a no-code website design tool. You can build general websites, ecommerce websites, blogs and landing pages using the tool. It also offers a content management system (CMS) to make the ongoing maintenance and updates for your website simple.

WebFlow provides the option to host the website for you, or you can work with any other web hosting providers for this service. The platform has been around since 2013, which means it’s a newer entry into the do-it-yourself website and CMS arena.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is one of the most popular and well-known website platforms out there. Because it powers about 40% of all websites, you’ve probably heard a lot about it. 

WordPress is an open source platform, meaning anyone can access and modify the software to meet their needs. Open source provides some benefits in the sense that there are many plugins available for WordPress because anyone can code them and make them available for public use. 

The website platform is ideal for making a variety of website types, from a simple blog to a forum for your customers and followers to share their thoughts and insights. In short, the answer to the question, what is WordPress, is that it’s a user-friendly way to build high-performing, attractive websites.

Comparison of WebFlow vs WordPress

With so many great options out there for building your website without code, many people are unsure where to start with choosing one. See how WebFlow and WordPress compare to get a better look at which might be better for you.

Which fares better when it comes to flexibility? 

You’ll find incredible flexibility with both WordPress and WebFlow to achieve a website with the look and function you want. But WordPress has a slight edge over WebFlow for a few simple reasons.

Learning the editor for the WordPress CMS is much simpler and straightforward. While the WebFlow CMS will do all the same things as WordPress, it’s more challenging to navigate at first and has a much larger learning curve. 

Plus, WordPress offers post types, categories, tags, comment management and discussion options that WebFlow lacks.

Which has the better plugins? 

If you’re looking for a simple way to add functionality to your website, WordPress plugins offer superior options you won’t find anywhere else when shopping for a website platform. Because it is open source, developers are constantly adding to the library of options for plugins to provide seamless integration with a variety of software and services. 

WordPress is the clear winner when it comes to availability of plugins. But there is one downside to the way WordPress handles plugins. Because the platform is open source, when WordPress releases a new software update, there is no protocol for plugin developers to check compatibility with the new update.

This means that updating your WordPress version could make your plugins break. Or updating your plugins could cause compatibility issues with other aspects of your website. This requires a bit more quality testing when updating website plugins or software than other platforms do. 

Which platform provides better templates?

A website template makes it simple to get a stunning design without hiring a website designer to create your website. Template options and cost can be a huge factor in selecting the best platform for your needs.

WordPress has the widest selection of templates available. The great thing about WordPress is that it offers templates based on your industry to offer a baseline of the key functions and options you need. 

By far, WordPress has the most plentiful template options to help you get started with building your website. In contrast, WebFlow allows you to create a completely custom website without templates.

Because WordPress templates are open source, they are often not updated as coding practices change and website speed standards adapt. As such, your website performance could suffer because of your website template. Too much bulky code means slower load times and inefficiencies. 

Just be sure that the template you choose for your WordPress website is high-quality. And consider paying for a premium template to make sure you get a good website experience.

Which provides more value for money?

It’s challenging to contend with free, and WordPress offers an entirely free way to start a website. While you’ll still need to purchase a domain and website hosting, the CMS itself is entirely free and you’ll find a wealth of free templates and free plugins.

The catch with this free option is that it does not provide managed updates. So if you don’t know what you’re doing when it comes to keeping your WordPress software up to date, make sure you purchase premium managed WordPress hosting to prevent security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues with website upgrades. 

WebFlow offers an extremely limited free option. To get access to advanced features, you’ll need to pay. Plans start at $12 a month for a basic website or $29 a month for an e-commerce website. 

The benefit and value of paying for WebFlow is that it’s a managed experience, meaning you won’t end up with compatibility issues if you don’t know what you’re doing on the technical side of your website.

How is the overall eCommerce experience?

Both WordPress and WebFlow offer strong e-commerce experiences. WordPress is slightly better though because it doesn’t charge additional fees over the standard credit card expenses for payment processing.

With WordPress, you have a wide variety of payment gateways to choose from so that you can find the lowest fees and best compatibility for your online shop. In contrast, WebFlow restricts your payment gateway to Stripe and charges an additional 2% fee over Stripe’s standard process fees for all transactions on the platform. 

WordPress and WebFlow both make it easy for you to add products, images and details to set up your e-commerce experience. The biggest difference between the two is payment processing and fees. 

Which has better SEO?

WebFlow provides a more consistent SEO experience than WordPress does. That’s because to update things like page titles and meta descriptions within WordPress, you’ll need a plugin to power that capability. 

Delete the plugin and you might lose all your important page titles and meta descriptions. In WebFlow, these aspects of your website are all there natively, which means no need for an extra plugin and no risk of losing that data if you make changes to your plugins or face plugin compatibility issues.

Additionally, WordPress doesn’t have the best permalink structure by default. While you can go in and make changes to these default settings, you’ll need to know to do this from the start so that you don’t have redirect issues later on.

One more great aspect of WebFlow over WordPress when it comes to SEO is that it’s easy to get started with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. You don’t need to download or manage any plugins for this. All you need is your Google Analytics ID and you can get started tracking your website activity fast.

Which platform has better support?

The support options for WordPress and WebFlow are mostly online forums and videos. Because WordPress is so widely used, there’s a bit more information out there and more experts who are willing to weigh in on your questions and offer insights as best they can. 

WebFlow has a slight edge over WordPress when it comes to support though because WebFlow offers limited email support. Response times are somewhat long for customer support so be ready for that. You might still find that the online knowledge base and community support are more valuable than the email support for most aspects.

So while WordPress has more online resources and community answers, WebFlow has slightly better support thanks to being able to contact a representative.

Is blogging available?

Both WordPress and WebFlow support blogging capabilities. However, WordPress was founded as a blogging platform, which makes it superior for managing a blog. Plus, WordPress offers additional blog features that WebFlow does not. These features include the ability to manage:

• Tags
• Categories
• Widgets
• Plugins 
• Comments 
• Discussion boards

Managing a blog through WordPress is extremely straightforward and simple. New users will be able to add photos, information and post data with ease using WordPress. 

WebFlow does offer blog capabilities, but it has a bit more of a learning curve and is limited in the additional features available. 

Choosing Between WebFlow and WordPress

When paired with a managed hosting plan, WordPress is the better platform for beginners. WebFlow offers more flexibility in getting the look you want for your website without code, but it comes with a price tag and some learning curves in managing your website that WordPress does not have. 

No matter which website platform you end up going with, you’ll still be able to offer a great website experience for your customers and incredibly simple ongoing management through the platform’s CMS.