Within Groove Digital, we work with various CMS systems and page builders. The two most common are WordPress and Webflow. In this article we compare both systems and list the pros and cons for you.
WordPress is the most widely used content management system (CMS) worldwide. According to Envisage Digital, in 2021 over 37% of all websites on the internet will be powered by the WordPress CMS.
WordPress is an open-source platform, which means that everyone has access to the original source code of the platform and can modify it as desired. In order to use WordPress it is important to have a domain name and hosting on which the WordPress environment can be installed. We can arrange this hosting and WordPress installation for you!
Webflow is a SaaS (Software as a Service) application that manages the entire process from A to Z in-house. From buying a domain name to installing top performing hosting and from creating a custom website to managing the content; Webflow offers it all under one roof.
Both Webflow and WordPress offer basically everything you need to put a Web site live. However, it is true that for some features in WordPress, you have to depend on external plug-ins. You can very easily install a plug-in in WordPress. In Webflow, all the necessary features are built into the SaaS application.
The advantage of WordPress in this case is that with the help of plugins, you can actually do anything you can think of. Without coding, you can use plug-ins to add custom features to your website and make it work with a snap. The pitfall in this, however, is that overuse of plug-ins slows down the website.
Within Webflow, you have to make do with the functions that are built into the platform. There is flexibility with custom code, but if you can't code this is not an option. However, all functions built into Webflow are already very comprehensive.
In WordPress it is possible to build a website in many different ways. There are several plugins you can install that are known as 'page builders'. These tools allow you to use preset blocks and customise them with your own content.
The great thing about such page builders is that they are super intuitive because of the drag and drop system. There are many popular page builders in circulation within WordPress. The basic WordPress page builder is WP Gutenberg. Other popular plugins are WP Bakery Builder, Divi Builder and Elementor. We will take a closer look at the last one.
Elementor is the most popular page builder for WordPress at the moment. The tool has a free version that can be downloaded and installed by anyone. With the free version, you can already create a complete website as a starter, without experience as a designer and without knowing how to code.
When building a website with Elementor, you open the page builder, and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. You can select an element from the menu in the left sidebar and drag it onto the page. Then you can easily change the content you want to show by clicking the element and making changes.
At Groove Digital, we have the paid version of the plugin: Elementor Pro. With Elementor Pro, there are no limits to what you can create. With free extra elements offered by the pro package, nothing is too crazy. All Groove Digital customers who purchase hosting & support can use Elementor Pro for free.
Would you like to purchase Elementor Pro yourself? If so, the cost is $49 per year. Want to learn more about how to build a Web site with Elementor? Then check out the Elementor Academy for extensive instructional videos and explanations on how to use the plugin.
Webflow also has a visual page builder that works very intuitively. With Webflow's designer, you drag an element onto the page, just like with Elementor. Then you can adjust the element to the desired style.
Webflow has a very comprehensive education that they have made available to everyone for free. The Webflow University will teach you from A to Z how the platform works and help you build your Webflow website.
With both Elementor Pro and Webflow, you can make elements move and animate. In Elementor, you are stuck with a pre-set of interactions and animations. In Webflow, you have much more flexibility and can build custom animations and interactions the way you envision them. In that respect, Webflow really is a forerunner. The possibilities are endless withWebflow Interactions.
In both CMS systems it is possible to build in a webshop functionality. To build a webshop in WordPress, you will need to download and install the plugin 'WooCommerce' as an extension of your WordPress environment. With Webflow, the E-commerce functionality is already built into the SaaS application.
Setting up a webshop in Webflow is slightly more complicated than setting up a webshop in WordPress. However, once the webshop is up and running, the user-friendliness of Webflow makes it easier to manage orders and products than WooCommerce.
For both WordPress and Webflow, payments are handled by an external provider. In WordPress you can choose from various providers such as Mollie Payments, WooCommerce Payments, Braintree. In Webflow, payments are processed by Stripe.
No payment is required to use the open source platform of WordPress. However, to be able to put a website online you will first have to purchase your own hosting. The prices for this vary. You can find the prices of hosting of Groove Digital here.
In addition to hosting, you may need to purchase a custom theme and plugins to get the desired results. There are many free themes and plugins to download. However, for some custom functions, a paid variant is sometimes unavoidable.
The use of webflow is basically a bit more expensive than the use of WordPress. There are various pricing plans. Below is a list of the most important ones. All plans can be invoiced on a monthly or yearly basis. You receive a 20% discount on annual plans.
Site plans from Webflow
Site plans start at $0. Perfect for testing the platform. Do you want to go live with the website? Then you quickly get stuck with the free features. An upgrade to one of the other plans is then inevitable.
To run an e-commerce webshop on webflow, the above e-commerce plans are available.
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