TL;DR
- Use WordPress if you have a content team that needs to publish constantly, a budget for ongoing maintenance, and accept the security/performance trade-offs.
- Use Webflow if you're a small team, want a visual builder, can live with platform lock-in, and your traffic isn't yet at the scale where pricing tier surprises hurt.
- Use custom-coded (TypeScript + Next.js, hand-coded) if you care about Core Web Vitals, want platform independence, and are building a flagship site that needs to feel unmistakably yours.
That's the entire decision. Below is the why.
What each platform actually is
WordPress is open-source CMS software, free to download. To use it, you install it on a hosting provider, install a theme (free or paid), and install plugins to add features. WordPress powers about 40% of the web — mostly because it's free, mature, and has an enormous plugin ecosystem.
Webflow is a visual website builder with hosting included. You design in a Figma-like interface, Webflow generates the underlying HTML/CSS/JavaScript, and hosts it on their infrastructure. Plans start at $14/month and scale with traffic.
Custom-coded means writing the website in code (HTML, CSS, TypeScript, React) without a builder or CMS layer between you and the browser. It's how websites were built before WordPress and Webflow existed, and it's how the highest-end agency work is still built today.
Performance comparison
Page weight on a typical homepage:
- WordPress + Elementor / Divi: 800 KB–2 MB
- WordPress + custom theme: 300–600 KB
- Webflow (default settings): 200–500 KB
- Webflow (heavily optimized): 150–300 KB
- Custom-coded (modern stack): 80–250 KB
These aren't numbers we made up — open Chrome DevTools' Network tab on any site and you can verify them. Page weight directly affects Core Web Vitals (Google's confirmed ranking signal). Smaller is better.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) on a 4G mobile connection:
- WordPress + Elementor: 3.5s–6s typical
- WordPress + custom theme: 2.5s–4s
- Webflow: 2s–3.5s
- Custom-coded: 1s–2.5s
Google's "good" LCP threshold is 2.5s. Custom-coded sites consistently land green; everything else lands yellow or red without aggressive optimization.
Cost comparison
Initial build:
- WordPress + custom theme: $5,000–$25,000 CAD
- Webflow: $5,000–$25,000 CAD
- Custom-coded: $5,000–$50,000 CAD (depending on scope)
Ongoing monthly:
- WordPress: $30–$300/month hosting + $300–$1,500/month maintenance + plugin license fees
- Webflow: $14–$300/month per site, scales with traffic + monthly CMS items
- Custom-coded: $0–$50/month hosting (Vercel / Cloudflare free tier on most sites) + maintenance only when you need it
Over a 5-year ownership period, custom-coded usually has the lowest TCO because there's no platform pricing tier to escape from.
Design freedom
This is where Webflow and custom-coded both win against WordPress, but they differ from each other.
- WordPress + Elementor: medium-low freedom. Constrained by the theme's underlying structure. Custom layouts require theme modifications.
- WordPress + custom theme: high freedom, but at significant developer cost.
- Webflow: high freedom for static layouts. Lower freedom for complex interactive sequences, custom shaders, or 3D — Webflow's designer doesn't expose these.
- Custom-coded: total freedom. Anything possible in a browser is possible in custom code, including Three.js scenes, custom shaders, complex GSAP timelines, novel CMS integrations.
If your design ambition includes anything beyond standard web patterns, Webflow eventually hits a wall. Custom-coded doesn't.
Maintenance burden
WordPress requires ongoing maintenance to stay secure. Plugins update, sometimes break, sometimes have security vulnerabilities. WordPress core updates regularly. Themes need updates. A WordPress site that hasn't been touched in 6 months is usually broken or compromised.
Webflow requires almost zero technical maintenance. The platform handles updates, security, and infrastructure.
Custom-coded sites can sit untouched for years. They're static (or server-rendered without a CMS) — no plugin layer, no admin panel, no attack surface. Maintenance is required only when you want to update content or add features.
SEO comparison
All three can rank well if optimized properly. The differences are at the margin:
- WordPress: mature SEO ecosystem. Yoast, Rank Math, and other plugins handle most needs. Schema markup is straightforward via plugins.
- Webflow: built-in SEO controls are decent. Schema markup requires custom code blocks for anything beyond basic types. Performance often holds back rankings unless aggressively optimized.
- Custom-coded: total SEO freedom. Any structured data type, any internal linking pattern, any Core Web Vitals optimization. The performance advantage compounds — Google's ranking algorithm explicitly rewards faster sites.
When each one is the right call
WordPress is right when:
- You need a content team to publish dozens of articles per week
- You have an established WordPress maintenance budget
- You require a specific plugin (membership, LMS, complex e-commerce) that exists only on WordPress
- The brand isn't trying to lead with design
Webflow is right when:
- You're a small team and want non-developers to make minor updates
- The design is contemporary but doesn't push experimental territory
- Your traffic is moderate and Webflow's pricing tiers won't bite you
- You're OK with eventual platform migration friction if you outgrow it
Custom-coded is right when:
- Core Web Vitals matter to your ranking
- Your design pushes into custom interactions, motion, or 3D
- You want platform independence and full code ownership
- You're building a flagship site that needs to feel unmistakably your business
- You want the lowest possible long-term TCO
How to decide
Three questions:
- How important is performance? If Core Web Vitals matter (e-commerce, lead gen, content sites), custom-coded wins.
- How much will you publish? If content publishing is daily and varied, WordPress's CMS still beats anything else.
- How distinctive does the design need to be? If you want anything beyond standard web patterns, custom-coded or heavily-customized Webflow.
Most Alberta businesses we work with come to us after either Wix/Squarespace caps their design ambition, or WordPress maintenance costs eat their patience, or Webflow's pricing escalates as traffic grows. Custom-coded is the answer that doesn't surprise you in year three.