Webflow vs. WordPress – which CMS is better?

The Origins and Areas of Application of Both CMSs 

Both content management systems share one thing in common: they were developed to help users design their website projects in a “do-it-yourself” format — but with different levels of difficulty.

Webflow is known for its versatility, but it is particularly well-suited for custom web design projects and e-commerce stores, where the focus is on design freedom in layout creation without requiring advanced programming skills. This makes Webflow ideal for front-end-focused website projects.

WordPress, on the other hand, is perfect for users with little programming knowledge who want to venture into web design, thanks to its design templates, page builders, and wide range of plugins. However, it is equally attractive to more experienced users. One of WordPress’s advantages for both target groups is its intuitive interface, which enhances user-friendlines

 WordPress 

WordPress first saw the light of day in 2003. Initially conceived as software for weblogs, it has been continuously developed as open-source software. With great success: today, it is the most well-known CMS in the world.

What makes WordPress special is not only its website builder concept but also its extensive expandability through numerous free and paid plugins and themes. However, WordPress is not a closed system, and customizing template and design layouts often requires the help of developers, as 100% individualization is generally not possible.

 Webflow 

Webflow was founded in 2013 with the goal of bridging the gap between website builder software, traditional content management systems, and manual front-end web development. Since then, it has enabled all developers — not just front-end developers — to create professional websites without writing code. Basic knowledge of CSS and HTML is entirely sufficient for Webflow, which is why, in most cases, web designers can also act as developers.

Primarily, Webflow was designed for freelancers and agencies to create custom websites and online stores with robust hosting and a flexible CMS for their clients, allowing them to take over website maintenance themselves after project completion. Among the many CMS providers, this concept stands out — as confirmed by the more than 2 million Webflow users worldwide.

WordPress at a Glance 

If you’re considering working with WordPress, it’s worth clarifying one key distinction: there is a difference between the websites wordpress.org and wordpress.com. While wordpress.com only provides the open-source software, wordpress.org offers a fully hosted solution.

Overall, WordPress is a highly customizable and flexible platform that allows users to create a wide variety of websites. Thanks to its open-source design, entire website projects can be visually tailored and functionally expanded with its vast directories of plugins and themes.

In terms of popularity, WordPress scores points not only for its wide range of features and ease of installation but also for its huge community, which users can turn to at any time and which ensures that the open-source software is continuously developed. However, one downside to this popularity and high usage is that WordPress is often a target for hackers, meaning it must constantly contend with perceptions of instability and security concerns.

 Webflow at a Glance 

One slogan will always be associated with Webflow: it’s the software that lets you build websites without coding. Since the system automatically generates HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, it enables all users to design their web presence quickly and easily. Of course, as with any other CMS, prior web design knowledge is also an advantage when working with Webflow, as it offers more opportunities to create a truly unique website.

In addition to providing the foundation for your open-source project, Webflow also offers many integrations, easy centralization, and a classic editor for fast design.

However, as effortless as it may sound, the CMS isn’t always that simple: Webflow’s user interface is quite complex and therefore comes with a certain learning curve.

Key Differences in Comparison 

Now that you’re on familiar terms with both Webflow and WordPress, it’s time for the showdown in the CMS arena — the comparison of the key differences between the two systems. There’s a lot to examine, from design and code creation to CMS functionalities and costs. So, let’s dive in!

 User-Friendliness of WordPress 

Once you’ve worked with WordPress, you’ll likely agree with other users: WordPress’s user-friendliness is unbeatable. First and foremost, its “5-minute installation” is an impressive USP, guiding users through the entire setup process. Once the instance is up and running, users are greeted with a standardized, well-organized backend that’s easy to understand. If questions arise, the community offers countless tutorials and courses for both beginners and deep dives.

Another advantage of WordPress is its vast selection of plugins and themes: while themes support the quick design of a website, plugins can add new features with just a few clicks — without the need for any programming.

 User-Friendliness of Webflow 

For newcomers, getting started with Webflow is perfectly supported by the platform — namely through Webflow University, to which every user automatically gains access! In the University, you’ll find a variety of courses, bootcamps, and videos to help guide you through the process of building a website. Admittedly, Webflow University exists for a reason: unlike WordPress, Webflow’s dashboard is significantly more complex, which is why the recommended crash course is worth taking to familiarize yourself with all the key elements.

Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can look forward to a logical structure where design, content, and interactions are clearly separated, as well as a visual workflow: in Webflow, users see the website — and, more importantly, their changes — immediately and directly, without detours like the preview or code view in WordPress.

 Support and Community of WordPress 

As open-source software, WordPress does not have official support. However, this is not necessarily a drawback, as the platform offers a wealth of resources to rely on. The reason lies in its open-source nature: the entire WordPress code is publicly accessible, allowing it to be modified and customized at will.

Users also benefit from a strong community that provides comprehensive WordPress documentation. In addition, WordPress hosts a range of events where users can learn from one another.

 Support and Community of Webflow 

As mentioned earlier, Webflow invites its users to join Webflow University. In addition, the platform offers customer support that users can contact via email on weekdays. The community behind the system also hosts events and groups that users can join.

 Customization and Design in WordPress 

WordPress has always used a block editor for website design: each piece of content exists as its own block and can be edited individually. This modular system is simple and quick for any user to operate.

Visually, WordPress offers a wide variety of themes — pre-designed layouts — with both free and paid options available. It is highly flexible in design, as you can either edit a theme’s code directly or use WordPress’s integrated system to customize it.

Customization and Design in Webflow 

When it comes to design freedom, Webflow offers limitless possibilities for all types of requirements: custom layouts and animations can be tailored individually for every screen size. In addition, the CMS stands out with a range of pre-designed websites created by developers and optimized for both performance and aesthetics. These can also be edited as desired — with support from the visual editor, which allows users to define layouts, spacing, text, mobile layouts, and much more.

 SEO Features and E-Commerce Options in WordPress 

When it comes to SEO, WordPress is certainly reliable: the system comes with a selection of built-in SEO tools whose core code has been developed with high performance in mind. In addition, useful SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO can be added to help improve key metrics by, among other things, optimizing content for keywords and adding metadata for search engine bots.

With the right combination of themes, plugins, and settings, WordPress proves to be highly capable for both SEO and e-commerce: in addition to SEO plugins, you can create custom permalink structures and XML sitemaps, optimize loading times, and set up breadcrumbs as well as internal linking.

WordPress’s standard e-commerce plugin is WooCommerce. Once installed and activated, the plugin transforms your website into a complete online store: product management, payments, shipping options, filters, inventory management, and the integration of coupons and discounts are WooCommerce’s key features, providing the necessary functionality for e-commerce platforms.

 SEO Features and E-Commerce Options in Webflow 

Webflow also offers an all-in-one SEO solution, including a range of SEO tools for businesses. But that’s not all: Webflow takes additional measures, such as automatically generating sitemaps, ensuring clean and lean code to make it easier for website crawlers, and working with a lightweight structure to guarantee faster loading times.

It also provides essential SEO features such as title and meta descriptions, clean URL structures, alt text for images, canonical tags, 301 redirects, SSL encryption, responsive design, and Open Graph & social meta tags.

In terms of e-commerce, Webflow also delivers an integrated solution that works directly within the Designer — entirely visually and without plugins. Key functions such as product information management, shopping cart & checkout, payment method integration, automated tax calculation, and shipping management give businesses the ability to design their online store with every essential e-commerce feature.

 Code Quality in WordPress 

Admittedly, the code quality of WordPress can be something of a surprise — ranging from clean and professional to overloaded and error-prone. The WordPress core itself is built with stable code, maintained by its vast developer community, and written in PHP with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Regular updates ensure that the CMS remains up to date and that security vulnerabilities are addressed.

One factor that can undermine this professional code creation and maintenance is the variety of themes and plugins available for WordPress. While most developers follow WordPress’s established coding standards, there are also themes with outdated code and plugins with varying levels of code quality on the market. Therefore, it’s recommended to critically review the code of design templates and technical extensions before installing them.

Code Quality in Webflow 

In comparison, Webflow’s code quality is very high, as the CMS was specifically developed to combine visual design with clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The system uses clean HTML code, a modular class structure, avoids inline styles, and works with minimized code by automatically compressing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript during live operation. In addition, Webflow is designed with a mobile-first approach and delivers a responsive design by default. Since the system does not rely on plugins, there is also no code bloat from third-party providers.

Another advantage, especially for users without programming knowledge, is the cleanly integrated animation logic, which ensures interactions on the website such as scroll triggers, hover effects, and clicks. However, there is a limitation: in the Webflow user interface, you do not have direct access to JavaScript files.

 Security and Collaboration in WordPress 

Security is one of the weaknesses often attributed to WordPress over the years. It is true that the CMS is a popular target for hackers due to its high usage rate. However, WordPress is fundamentally a secure system, provided it is set up, managed, and maintained correctly.

WordPress itself supports this with several features, such as regular core updates, where the system quickly releases patches for security vulnerabilities. In addition, its integrated permissions management allows you to define roles such as administrator, editor, author, and more, ensuring comprehensive access control. WordPress also offers two-factor authentication and a wide range of security plugins: tools like Wordfence and iThemes Security protect logins, block IPs, and scan for malware.

When it comes to collaboration, WordPress practically serves up the most important features on a silver platter: projects can be edited in the backend by multiple users simultaneously, and editor access can be easily managed with plugins like Members or User Role Editor. Also useful is the multisite feature, which allows multiple websites to be managed within a single WordPress installation.

 Security and Collaboration in Webflow 

As a hosted SaaS system, Webflow ranks very high in terms of security. By centrally managing security-critical tasks, the software itself handles automatic updates, taking care of hosting, security patches, and system maintenance. Webflow also provides an SSL certificate automatically and free of charge. The combination of a global CDN infrastructure, two-factor authentication, and ISO 27001 & SOC 2 Type II certification makes this CMS an exceptionally stable system that meets high security and data protection standards.

However, speaking of data protection — here lies a small drawback in an otherwise near-perfect concept: Webflow’s default hosting data standard is the United States. For a long time, it was considered an insecure third country in terms of GDPR compliance. While the U.S. has recently been upgraded by European authorities, this status could change just as quickly. According to Webflow, GDPR-compliant work is possible with a data processing agreement (DPA), but there is no EU-only hosting mode.

When it comes to collaboration, Webflow, like WordPress, can be used without concern: here too, a role and permission system can be defined, there is a Webflow Editor for content editors, multi-user access, and a commenting function for team members. However, these team features are only available in higher-tier plans, and even if you decide to incur this cost, simultaneous editing of the exact same element by two people is not possible.

 Performance and Maintenance Effort in WordPress 

Did someone say performance? WordPress certainly places great importance on it and comes with various features. Tools like WP Rocket and W3 Total Cache provide flexible caching, while CDN integration improves loading times. In terms of compression, WordPress focuses on offering optimized, lightweight themes and, with plugins like ShortPixel, ensures images are automatically compressed. Likewise, through minification and lazy loading, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can be automatically compressed, and images can be loaded with a delay.

However, when it comes to the number and selection of plugins, alarm bells should immediately ring for every user: using too many plugins or choosing a heavy theme can slow down loading times, as unnecessary JavaScript and CSS files in page builders like Elementor can bloat performance.

As mentioned earlier, security — and ultimately performance — depend on regular maintenance. This includes core, plugin, and theme updates, as well as creating and checking backups. Continuous security checks and database maintenance are also required. Another important aspect is spam management, where ideally, comments and other entries should be checked for spam daily.

Admittedly, handling all these to-dos requires a certain level of technical know-how or professional hosting. An alternative would be to enlist the help of agencies and/or WordPress experts.

Performance and Maintenance Effort in Webflow 

Does Webflow also offer a streamlined solution for performance? That question hardly needs to be asked — of course, it does. The CMS ensures top speed, most notably by automatically delivering all websites via Amazon Cloudfront, resulting in some of the fastest loading times worldwide. At the same time, Webflow natively works with lean, clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, avoiding unnecessary scripts and plugins.

Like WordPress, Webflow includes lazy loading and automatic image optimization. Where Webflow gains a clear advantage in performance is with its fast hosting stack: SSD hosting combined with TLS/SSL encryption and HTTP/2 support is not only modern but also highly performant.

And as if it couldn’t get any easier, Webflow takes the reins entirely when it comes to maintenance. The system handles everything for you: hosting and servers, updates and security, backups and restoration, as well as design or CMS adjustments are all included services — meaning you don’t need to acquire programming skills or hire agencies.

 Costs of WordPress 

Naturally, your budget is also a decisive factor when choosing the content management system for your website. WordPress is aware of this and has developed four or five different pricing plans to suit various needs.

 Costs of Webflow 

Due to the wide range of features Webflow offers, the system provides tiered pricing plans for the individual areas. This way, as a business, you ultimately pay only for the features you need and actually us

 Site Plans for Websites 

For website creation, Webflow has defined its site pricing plans in 5 editions, enabling businesses of virtually any size to launch their online presence — from sole proprietors or startups to large enterprises.

 E-Commerce Plans 

Do you want to use Webflow solely for designing your online store? Then the E-Commerce plans are exactly what you need.

Which CMS Is Suitable for What? 

Now for the ultimate question: what are Webflow and WordPress actually best suited for? It’s an important consideration, as we users often base our CMS choice on these indicators.

Are you planning large, complex websites and looking for flexibility and customization? Then your CMS is WordPress. It’s an excellent choice for blogs, magazines, and extensive content-driven sites, offering solutions for nearly every functionality through its vast selection of plugins. Not to mention its portfolio of themes and page builders, which allow you to create your own unique design. WordPress also scores additional points with its integrated WooCommerce plugin for online stores and its huge community.

Minimal maintenance, a fast, high-performance website, and visual web design without coding — for these requirements, Webflow is the right software, especially if you want ongoing security with little effort. And with its E-Commerce plans, beginners can easily and quickly design their first online store.

 Pros and Cons of WordPress 

It can’t be emphasized enough: the flexibility offered by the wide selection of themes and plugins makes WordPress truly appealing. Other advantages include the system’s scalability for large, complex websites and the ability to integrate third-party systems. The variety of SEO tools is also a strength of the CMS, enabling users to optimize their websites for better search engine placement.

However, to keep everything running smoothly, there’s a lot of work involved: the maintenance effort required for performance and the security risks posed by plugins and themes unfortunately remain WordPress’s major drawbacks. While the CMS is still suitable for beginners, checking off all the technical to-dos requires a bit more training and experience.

Pros and Cons of Webflow 

Clean coding, fast performance, integrated hosting with updates and security, and minimal maintenance — the advantages of Webflow sound like music to the ears of both beginners and experienced developers alike. These strengths are further enhanced by solid CMS and e-commerce features, as well as the option to collaborate as a team in the editor.

The only catch with this dream CMS: it does have drawbacks! First and foremost, there is no completely free option for custom domains, and the system’s expandability definitely has its limits. So, if you’re aiming for large or extremely complex websites, Webflow is simply not ideal — particularly due to its limited flexibility in backend customizations.