Choosing the right platform for business blogging is challenging, especially with options as different as Webflow and WordPress. While both tools can create attractive and functional blogs, they offer distinct approaches to achieving that goal. Do you prefer diving straight into creativity or following a structured path that might involve more technical details? This article will help you figure that out by comparing Webflow and WordPress for business blogging.
Consider using Feather's notion to blog to make this comparison more manageable. This intuitive solution helps you organize your notes and draft a blog post before publishing. It also allows you to test Webflow and WordPress, helping you choose the platform that best aligns with your needs and style.
Webflow vs. WordPress at a Glance
Webflow and WordPress each come with their unique features and capabilities. WordPress has been around for years and powers over 42% of all websites. It's flexible, especially if you have some coding experience. With WordPress, you can build almost any site, from blogs to e-commerce platforms. The trade-off is that you might spend more time maintaining it. You’ll have to:
Manage updates
Choose hosting
Install third-party plugins to add features
Webflow, on the other hand, is relatively new. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop interface allows you to create complex, visually stunning sites without writing a single line of code. Webflow combines design freedom with web development tools, making it a favorite for designers and startups. The platform also handles hosting, security, and performance optimization for you.
Webflow is an all-in-one platform, commonly referred to as SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), for creating and hosting websites. It’s a more user-friendly alternative to WordPress because setting up a website is swift and straightforward. Unlike WordPress, Webflow includes all the necessary features, so you don’t have to fret about finding a hosting service or adding extra plugins for things like:
SEO
Security
eCommerce
Webflow is a more modern platform for website development. Unlike WordPress, it’s a closed-source system, meaning the source code isn’t publicly available. Instead, access is granted through licensing, offered on a tiered subscription model.
Since its establishment in 2012, the platform has earned widespread acclaim for its:
Highly intuitive interface
Creative freedom
Design-first approach
This innovative methodology has streamlined the build and design, allowing users to craft high-performing websites quickly and without limitations. Among its diverse user base, Webflow is primarily embraced by:
Designers
Agencies
Enterprises
Webflow's Versatility and Code-Free Design
This highlights its broad appeal across different sectors. Webflow also offers a CMS option for blogging and content creation, similar to WordPress, although it’s not essential for basic websites. One of the significant advantages of Webflow is that you can visually design your site without needing to write a single line of code.
As a SaaS application, Webflow is mostly self-contained. You can add features to your site by embedding code, but the core Webflow platform is all you need to build your site or hire a Webflow agency to do that for you.
Hosting Options with Webflow
Once you finish building your site with Webflow, you can either…
Export the code of your finished site and host it on any hosting provider if you have a static site.
To use Webflow's CMS for dynamic content, you must pay Webflow to host the site.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is an intuitive CMS that simplifies website creation and management. Founded in 2003, it has become one of the most popular website platforms, powering over 43% of all websites. Users can install WordPress to create fully customizable websites and blogs.
With a highly adaptable interface, WordPress offers:
Extensive templates
SEO tools
eCommerce integrations
These features enable users to tailor their sites to their specific needs. The software has become a preferred choice for:
Bloggers
Businesses
Developers
Its popularity stems from its extensive features and strong community support. Users can generate income through various monetization methods, such as:
Advertising
Affiliate marketing
Selling products or services
WordPress also provides a collaborative space for users to share ideas and engage with their audience.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
WordPress.org, often called self-hosted WordPress, is the free, open-source WordPress software you can install on your web host to create a website that’s 100% your own. WordPress.com is a for-profit, paid service powered by the WordPress.org software. It’s simple to use, but you lose much of the flexibility of the self-hosted WordPress. Most of the time, when people say “WordPress,” they mean the self-hosted WordPress available at WordPress.org. If you want to own your website, self-hosted WordPress.org is almost always the best option.
Boost Your Content Strategy With Feather
Feather is a powerful tool that combines SEO-friendly blog publishing and email newsletter services, all through Notion, without any coding or design skills required. Feather allows companies to:
Publish blog content written on Notion directly to their Feather blog.
Set up a subfolder blog (e.g., domain.com/blog), which is better for SEO.
Manage CRM and website blog content through Notion, similar to HubSpot.
Customize blog designs with custom CSS.
Collect emails and more.
Easily collaborate with your team during the publishing process.
Send newsletters to email subscribers directly from Notion.
Run your blog and newsletter with Feather today, create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes!
Webflow vs. WordPress: Detailed Side-By-Side Comparison
When comparing Webflow and WordPress, both platforms provide comprehensive features to help users build websites. However, their approach, functionality, and ease of use differ significantly, making one more suitable depending on your needs.
Features
WordPress and Webflow provide essential website-building features, though their offerings vary slightly. In WordPress, many functionalities require plugins, while Webflow offers a more all-in-one approach.
Pre-made Themes/Templates
Both platforms allow users to apply pre-made themes to their websites, though WordPress offers far more variety with over 5,300 free themes and 10,000+ premium themes. Webflow has fewer options, with 50 free and 1,400 premium templates, making WordPress a clear winner if you want variety in designs.
Visual, Drag-and-Drop Design
Webflow shines with its fully integrated visual builder, which allows detailed control of every aspect of your site without any extra tools. WordPress also offers this through plugins like Elementor. Still, it’s not native, meaning you must install and configure a plugin before using it. So, if you prefer a built-in solution, Webflow is more intuitive.
E-commerce
Webflow's platform includes native eCommerce functionality, whereas WordPress uses plugins like WooCommerce. WooCommerce is highly customizable and flexible, making WordPress a favorite for many eCommerce stores. However, Webflow’s native system might be more straightforward for smaller stores.
Ease of Use
Both WordPress and Webflow are relatively easy to use, but they cater to slightly different
users.
WordPress Ease of Use
WordPress is generally easier for beginners, especially those with no experience in HTML or CSS. You can start by:
Purchasing hosting
Installing WordPress
Using pre-made themes or plugins to customize your site
WordPress's Flexibility and Customization
Managing plugins, hosting, and security can become more involved as your site grows or becomes more complex. With WordPress, themes act like a website’s clothing. You can change the look without disrupting the underlying structure. To create content, WordPress uses the Gutenberg Editor, a block-based system that simplifies designing blog posts or pages. You can always install a page builder plugin if you need more control over the design.
Webflow Ease of Use
Webflow is more intuitive and friendly to people who want detailed design control, but it has a steeper learning curve. To get started, you create an account and answer a few questions. Webflow gives you a personalized onboarding experience. Once you're ready, you can start from scratch or use a template.
Webflow's Learning Curve and Design Control
Webflow’s drag-and-drop editor is powerful and gives you full control over styles and layout.
One thing to note is that Webflow expects you to understand basic web design concepts like containers and styling, so it’s more geared toward people willing to invest time learning the platform.
Themes and Templates
WordPress: The number of themes and templates available on WordPress far surpasses Webflow’s offerings. WordPress has over 5,300 free themes and 10,000+ premium themes, making it ideal for users who want flexibility in design without creating it from scratch.
Webflow: In contrast, Webflow has 50+ free templates and 1,400+ premium templates. While Webflow has fewer options, its designs are generally more modern, and customization with Webflow’s visual editor allows for detailed adjustments, even on pre-made templates.
Plugins and Extensions
WordPress: WordPress is known for its massive ecosystem of plugins. With over 59,000 free plugins and countless premium options, you can add almost any functionality imaginable to your site, from SEO optimization to eCommerce. These plugins are fully integrated into the WordPress platform, making them easier to use without additional coding or configuration.
Webflow: Webflow doesn’t offer plugins in the traditional sense. Instead, you can extend the platform by adding custom code snippets. While this offers flexibility, it’s not as user-friendly as WordPress’ plugin ecosystem. Adding features like live chat or membership capabilities in Webflow often requires external services and manual embedding of code, which can feel more like a workaround than a native solution.
Integrations With Third-Party Services
WordPress: WordPress excels in this area with its numerous integrations. For example, the HubSpot plugin lets you integrate your CRM and access key actions from WordPress. Automation tools like WP Webhooks allow for even more powerful integrations between WordPress and other software.
Webflow: WordPress is more seamless than webflow supports integrations. Most integrations require code embeds, meaning you often leave Webflow’s interface to configure settings on the third-party platform. This isn’t as efficient as WordPress’ plugin-based integrations.
E-commerce Functionality
WordPress: WooCommerce is the go-to plugin for WordPress eCommerce. It’s trendy and flexible, allowing you to create everything from simple stores to large-scale eCommerce websites with advanced features like subscriptions and memberships. The trade-off is that you need to install and manage WooCommerce and potentially other plugins to run an online store.
Webflow: Webflow's platform includes eCommerce functionality. While it’s more limited than WooCommerce's, Webflow’s eCommerce is tightly integrated with the platform, making it an excellent choice for more straightforward stores that need a user-friendly, all-in-one solution.
Customer Support
Because you're paying a monthly fee in Webflow, you'll benefit from:
Customer support
New feature development
Continuous product improvements
Customer Support and Community in Webflow vs. WordPress
If you're a Webflow customer, and there's something about the product slowing you down, you can ask them to do something about it. With WordPress, you're on your own.
Dedicated customer support is also a huge bonus if you don't have a team of in-house developers on call to help when something isn't working, or even if you do.
Self-Reliance with Abundant Resources
Because WordPress.org is an open-source platform, there's no customer support available. But it's been around for a long time, so there's a lot of free WP resources online (WPBeginner, for example). You should be able to find answers to any WordPress-related questions with a quick Google search. But that's much less helpful than a customer support team walking you through a solution.
Blogging
There's a reason so many blogs are hosted on WordPress: it's built for it. WordPress was launched in 2003 as a blog-publishing system, but it evolved to do much more.
As a blog writer and content manager, I find WordPress incredibly easy to work with. The Gutenberg editor allows you to build WordPress blog articles using blocks containing text and other media. It's straightforward and just makes sense. While Webflow has a CMS package, it pales compared to WordPress. The editor feels clunky and needs more of the advanced features you'll find in WordPress. For example, there's no comments section, and you can't add multiple tags to posts or categorize them like you can in WordPress. Until recently, text wrapping and word breaking weren't possible in Webflow's CMS either.
Security
Websites built with WordPress are not secure; they only require a simple password and username login. There’s no two-factor authentication. Instead, you rely on security plugins, such as Wordfence, to stop hackers from breaking in. Anyone who gets in can access your website’s back end via the front end, compromising the entire server (you could lose everything).
Webflow's Security and Backup Features
With Webflow, you have peace of mind that the back end can’t be accessed through the front end. You’d have to go through Webflow’s dashboard, which has an extra layer of security. Webflow has built-in backup features from when you started building your website. This means that if something were to happen, you could always return to previously stored data.
Providing even further security, every Webflow site comes with free SSL certification. It uses AWS hosting, which is constantly monitored to protect against:
Security threats
Cyberattacks
Simple traffic surges
Webflow tip: Have a page on your website that you don’t want anyone to access? You can enable Password Protection for your pages that contain sensitive data only sure eyes can see.
A look inside the studio:Every designer and developer with access to Webflow uses two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security to clients' Webflow accounts.
What Users Say
Users have mixed feelings about Webflow and WordPress, with opinions often hinging on:
Personal experience
Coding comfort
Pricing
Some WordPress veterans appreciate its open-source nature and vast plugin options but find the constant need for:
Updates
Maintenance
Security measures are a hassle
On the other hand, Webflow users enjoy the platform’s smooth, code-free design process, especially for front-end development. Its limited CMS features and higher pricing can be drawbacks for those managing larger sites or multiple clients.
The Apple vs. Android Debate
A common sentiment is that Webflow feels like the Apple of web builders—sleek, easy to use, but somewhat restricted in flexibility and customization without extra costs. WordPress, often likened to Android, offers more freedom but can become cumbersome with too many plugins or technical complexity.
Overall, Webflow shines for its design capabilities, while WordPress excels in customization and content-heavy projects. The choice comes down to how hands-on you want to be with coding and how much you're willing to spend for ease of use.
Webflow vs WordPress: Pricing Comparison
Comparing the pricing of Webflow vs WordPress is nearly impossible because they're packaged up so differently. WordPress is an open-source web platform, meaning it's technically free to use. But to use it, you need to cover a few costs:
Hosting
A domain name
Plugins
If you don't have a web developer to design and build your site from scratch, you'll also need to pay for a template (WordPress calls them themes).
Of course, dev time isn't free either. It depends on your needs, but the costs can creep up with a WordPress site if you want something more than essential. To sum up, the price of a WordPress website is dictated by:
The hosting provider you choose (usually $2-15/month).
The custom domain you choose (usually $10-30/year).
Whether you're happy with a preset theme ($0-$200) or need to splash out on a designer
What your plugin needs are (many are free, but premium plugins range from $40-200)
Webflow Pricing: The Basics
Webflow isn't free either, to be clear, but everything you need to pay for is included in a monthly package. The cost of a Webflow site will depend on the level of tiered package you go for, but you'll know upfront exactly how much it will put you back.
Billing is split into two categories:
Site plan
Workspace
You need both to run your website, but a free workspace should be sufficient for running a single site. Paid workspace plans are just for situations where you work on multiple website projects simultaneously with others.
Pricing Plans for Webflow and WordPress
Workspace plans are also billed per seat, so they can be costly. A Webflow site plan includes everything you need to build and host your website. Plans range from:
$14/month (Basic package, billed annually)
$39/month (Business package, billed annually)
Higher if you need a custom, enterprise-level package
Cost Comparisons and User Feedback
If you're building an eCommerce website, this range goes up from:
$29 (Standard package, billed annually)
$212 (Advanced package, billed annually)
Although you pay for a monthly package with Webflow, users still complain about the costs being too high compared to what they pay for WordPress.
Is Webflow Better Than WordPress? Choosing Between Webflow and WordPress
Webflow and WordPress both have advantages and drawbacks. Webflow is better for nonexpert website builders who want all their website management software in one place. Although WordPress is highly customizable through many plug-ins you can add, you must ensure you’re keeping track of these accounts with regular updates.
Features and Templates: The Battle of Customization
WordPress has more historical information online through forums because it’s been around longer. There are also tons of templates and themes to access for your design. Nevertheless, Webflow gives you more design freedom with its no-code design interface.
Which One Should You Use? It Depends on Your Business Needs
When making a final decision, it depends on what you need from your website. You should use Webflow if you want to set up an essential website for your business and have custom designs that reflect your business’s brand vision.
Meanwhile, you should use WordPress to launch a large volume of e-commerce products quickly. Either way, Webflow and WordPress are great options for building a dynamic website for your business.
Is Webflow Faster Than Elementor?
Webflow and Elementor are powerful and versatile tools for creating websites without coding. However, their strengths and weaknesses may suit different users and projects. Here are some of the main reasons why you might choose one over the other:
Choose Webflow if you:
Want a one-stop solution that provides everything you need to design, build, host, and manage your website.
Want more control and flexibility over your website's design and functionality.
Want to create dynamic websites with CMS and ecommerce features without plugins.
Want to benefit from clean, lightweight code that improves your website's performance and SEO.
Don't mind learning a new platform and paying a monthly fee per site.
Choose Elementor if you:
Want an easy-to-use tool that works with any WordPress theme.
Want to leverage the power and popularity of WordPress and its plugins.
Want to create dynamic websites with CMS and ecommerce features using plugins.
Don't mind dealing with potential bugs and glitches caused by updates or conflicts.
Don't mind paying an annual fee per site.
A Comparison of Features
Webflow has a slight advantage over Elementor because it offers a more intuitive user interface and customization options. With Webflow, you can easily create complex layouts and animations without knowing how to code, while Elementor can be limited in design flexibility. Webflow offers powerful eCommerce functionality and integrates seamlessly with other tools, making it a more comprehensive solution for building and managing websites.
Feather's Notion-Based Blogging and Newsletter Solution
If you're seeking more design flexibility and a powerful CMS to run your blog, newsletter, and other aspects of your business, consider Feather's notion to blog and newsletter concept. With Feather, you can use Notion as your CMS while having your blog published on Feather. By running your entire business on Notion, you can enhance productivity and not have to switch between tools to run your blog or newsletter. You can have the whole Hubspot experience with Notion and Feather.
Go From Notion to Blog With Ease Today With Feather
Feather is an SEO-friendly blog and email newsletter service that helps businesses publish content to their blogs and newsletters quickly and easily. With Feather, you can write blog posts in Notion (a digital workspace that allows for easy collaboration) before automatically publishing them to your Feather blog. This eliminates the stressful back-and-forth of getting content approved by the team before it goes live.
Feather also allows you to set up a subfolder blog (domain.com/blog instead of blog.domain.com), which is better for SEO. Feather gives companies the HubSpot experience by letting them manage blogs and email newsletters within Notion.
We even offer options to:
Change design with custom CSS
Collect emails and many more
If you want to run your blog and newsletter with Feather today, create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes!