WordPress vs. Webflow: The Big CMS Decision 2025
You're facing the most important technical decision for your website: Which content management system should you choose? WordPress, the proven market leader with 43% market share worldwide, or Webflow, the rising no-code champion?
The short answer: There's no clear winner – only the right choice for your project. In this detailed comparison, we analyze both platforms according to the criteria that really matter for Austrian businesses.
Quick Facts: WordPress vs. Webflow at a Glance
Ease of Use: WordPress – Medium (requires familiarization), Webflow – High (visual editor)
Design Flexibility: WordPress – Very high (themes + custom), Webflow – High (visual builder)
Performance: WordPress – Variable (plugin-dependent), Webflow – Very good (optimized hosting)
SEO Capabilities: WordPress – Excellent (Yoast, RankMath), Webflow – Very good (native tools)
Costs: WordPress – €0-500/year + hosting, Webflow – €170-470/year (incl. hosting)
Scalability: WordPress – Unlimited, Webflow – Limited with complexity
What is WordPress? The Established Giant
WordPress started in 2003 as a simple blogging platform and has evolved into the world's dominant CMS. According to current statistics, 810 million websites are based on WordPress – from small blogs to enterprise portals like BBC America and Sony Music.
WordPress Advantages
- Maximum Flexibility: Over 60,000 plugins for every conceivable function
- Code Ownership: Your website belongs to you, no vendor lock-in
- Huge Community: Millions of developers, tutorials, solutions for every problem
- E-Commerce Power: WooCommerce is the #1 shop solution with 28% market share
- Multilingual Expert: WPML, Polylang and other solutions for multilingual sites
- No Ongoing Platform Costs: Only pay for hosting, no monthly fees
WordPress Disadvantages
- Security Risk: Popularity makes it a target – regular updates mandatory
- Performance Variance: Wrong plugins can slow down the website
- Learning Curve: Gutenberg editor requires familiarization
- Maintenance Effort: Updates needed for core, themes, plugins
- Plugin Conflicts: Incompatibilities can occur
"WordPress is like a Swiss Army knife – incredibly versatile, but you need to know how to use it." — Matt Mullenweg, WordPress Co-founder
What is Webflow? The Design-First Challenger
Webflow was founded in 2013 and takes a radically different approach: uniting design and development in one visual interface. With over 3.5 million users and customers like Discord, Dell and Zendesk, Webflow has established itself as a serious alternative.
Webflow Advantages
- Visual Editor: WYSIWYG on steroids – design like Figma, live in the browser
- Excellent Performance: Hosted sites are fast and optimized
- Clean Code: Generates semantic HTML/CSS without bloat
- Integrated Hosting: CDN, SSL, backups – all in one
- Animation Tools: Complex interactions possible without code
- CMS Collections: Manage structured content elegantly
Webflow Disadvantages
- Vendor Lock-in: Code export possible but not practical
- Limited Functionality: No plugin ecosystem like WordPress
- Pricing Structure: Monthly costs can add up
- E-Commerce Limits: Maximum 3,000 products, fewer payment providers
- Learning Curve for Designers: CSS knowledge beneficial
- No Multilingual: Native multilinguality missing (workarounds needed)
The Big Comparison: Feature by Feature
1. Ease of Use & Content Editing
WordPress with Gutenberg: Block-based editor. Beginners need time to learn, but once understood, it's powerful. Content authors can work independently after brief training.
Webflow Editor: Visual editing directly on the page. Intuitive for designers, possibly too complex for pure content authors. The "Editor Mode" simplifies content changes.
Winner: Tie – depends on the team. Pure marketing teams: Webflow Editor. Diverse teams with external authors: WordPress.
2. Design & Customization Options
WordPress offers three paths to design:
- Ready-made themes (fast but generic)
- Page builders like Elementor (flexible but often slow)
- Custom development (maximum freedom, higher costs)
Webflow unites everything in one interface. Designers can work pixel-perfect without writing code. The web design experts at GoldenWing use both approaches – depending on project requirements.
Winner: Webflow for design-driven projects, WordPress for maximum flexibility with complex requirements.
3. Performance & Load Times
Load time affects not only user experience but also Google ranking (Core Web Vitals). Here we see a clear difference:
Webflow: Average load time 1-2 seconds. Hosting is optimized, code is lean.
WordPress: Highly dependent on setup. With good hosting and caching: 1-2 seconds. With poor setup and 30 plugins: 5+ seconds.
Winner: Webflow – consistently fast without optimization effort.
4. SEO Capabilities
For professional SEO, both platforms are well equipped:
WordPress + Yoast/RankMath: Detailed control over meta tags, XML sitemaps, schema markup, canonical URLs, redirects. The gold standard for SEO.
Webflow: Native SEO tools are solid: meta tags, alt texts, clean URLs, auto-generated sitemap. For advanced SEO you need custom code.
Winner: WordPress – more control and better tools for enterprise SEO.
5. E-Commerce
For online shops, the decision is often clear:
WooCommerce (WordPress): Unlimited products, dozens of payment providers, marketplace integration, complex product variants, subscriptions, digital products – everything possible.
Webflow E-Commerce: Elegant for small shops (up to 3,000 products), limited payment providers (Stripe, PayPal), no native subscriptions.
Winner: WordPress/WooCommerce – clear winner for serious e-commerce projects.
6. Cost Comparison
WordPress Cost Structure (per year):
- Domain: €10-30
- Hosting: €50-300 (shared to managed)
- Premium Theme: €0-60 (one-time)
- Premium Plugins: €0-500
- Total: €60-890/year
Webflow Cost Structure (per year):
- Domain: €10-30
- Basic Plan: €168/year ($14/month)
- CMS Plan: €276/year ($23/month)
- Business Plan: €468/year ($39/month)
- Total: €178-498/year (incl. hosting)
Surprise: With professional hosting and good plugins, WordPress is often more expensive than Webflow. The difference lies in development costs: WordPress customization costs more than Webflow adjustments.
When Should You Choose WordPress?
WordPress is the right choice when you:
- Plan an extensive online shop (>100 products)
- Need complex functions (booking system, membership area, LMS)
- Want full control over code and hosting
- Need multilingual websites with WPML or Polylang
- Have an existing WordPress team
- Want maximum independence from the provider
When Should You Choose Webflow?
Webflow is the right choice when you:
- Build design-driven marketing websites
- Need fast iteration and changes
- Want to implement complex animations without developers
- Have a small team without developers
- Want hosting and maintenance from one source
- Plan blogs or small e-commerce projects (up to 3,000 products)
The Third Option: Headless CMS
For companies with the highest requirements for performance and flexibility, there's a third option: Headless CMS like Payload, Strapi or Contentful, combined with modern frontends (Next.js, Nuxt).
At GoldenWing we use this approach for enterprise projects – like this website, which is based on Next.js 15 and Payload CMS.
Our Recommendation for Austrian Businesses
After hundreds of projects for SMEs in Austria, our advice is clear:
For most SMEs: WordPress with a professionally developed theme. It offers the best balance of flexibility, cost and extensibility.
For design-focused startups: Webflow, if marketing and fast iterations are the focus.
For enterprise and performance-critical projects: Headless CMS with Next.js – maximum performance and control.
Not sure what's right for you? We're happy to advise you in a free initial consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I migrate from WordPress to Webflow (or vice versa)?
Yes, but it's labor-intensive. Content can be exported, design must be recreated. Expect 50-80% of original development costs for a complete migration.
Is Webflow more secure than WordPress?
Webflow is less vulnerable because it offers less attack surface (no plugin system). WordPress can be just as secure with good maintenance but requires active management.
Which CMS is better for SEO: WordPress or Webflow?
Both can achieve excellent SEO results. WordPress offers more fine-tuning options, Webflow is solid "out of the box". For enterprise SEO, WordPress has the edge. More in our SEO Guide for Beginners.
Can I use Webflow without programming skills?
Yes, that's Webflow's main advantage. Basic CSS knowledge helps but isn't mandatory. The designer mode is more intuitive than any WordPress page builder.
What happens to my Webflow site if Webflow closes?
You can export your code (HTML/CSS/JS), but CMS functionality is lost. Headless CMS offers more security here.
Which CMS has better mobile optimization?
Webflow has responsive design built-in natively and makes it easier. Not all WordPress themes are responsive – quality varies greatly. With a good theme or custom development, WordPress is equal.
Is Webflow worth it for a simple blog?
For pure blogs, WordPress is still the better choice – more features (comments, RSS, newsletter), better SEO tools and no monthly costs. Webflow is worth it when design is the priority.
