AllaIn short: What to look at when you choose a website platform (Webflow, WordPress, Framer, Shopify or custom code): a comparison by features, SEO, build speed and the cost of support. A short answer comes first, then a closer look at each platform against the same criteria.
Prices checked against the official pages on October 25, 2026.
Contents
Webflow vs WordPress vs Framer: Quick Answer
A one-off, eye-catching page with no edits
- What to choose
- Custom code. A page written in code, with no editor platform and no admin panel. A cinematic effect: animation and 3D without builder limits. But everything is built by hand, and only a specialist can edit such a page.
- Features
- Any logic for the task. A calculator, a customer account, integrations. All written from scratch.
- SEO
- SEO in code. Meta tags, sitemap and robots.txt are set in files. For search engines to see the content, you need Next.js with server-side rendering.
- Build speed
- The slowest. Every block is written by hand. AI speeds up the first draft, but a specialist checks the result.
A wow effect and an easy editor
- What to choose
- Choose between Webflow and Framer. For studios, startups, portfolios and good-looking landing pages this is usually the best option. Framer when animation and a small site matter most: it works out of the box with no code, and has built-in AI agents. The CMS is simpler, though: Pro allows up to 150 pages and 2,500 CMS items. Webflow when there is a lot of content: a CMS with up to 40 collections and 20,000 items, SEO settings in the editor, multilingual support.
- Features
- Pages, a blog, a CMS catalog and forms. Framer Pro includes 10 collections and 2,500 items (more for an extra fee), Webflow Premium 40 and 20,000. The feature set is limited by the platform itself and its extensions.
- SEO
- SEO in the editor. Webflow: meta tags, alt text, canonical, sitemap, 301 redirects. Framer: built-in SEO settings, redirects on the Pro plan.
- Build speed
- Fast. The layout is built in one visual editor. Framer is usually faster than WordPress: there is no theme, plugin or hosting to choose.
Frequent updates and growing features
- What to choose
- WordPress + Elementor: a full CMS with an open architecture. Thousands of plugins, a free engine, and you pay only for hosting. You can edit almost everything. Shopify: when the site exists to sell. A store builder with hosting included in the plan.
- Features
- WordPress: booking, a store, languages, memberships and mailings are added with plugins. The WordPress.org directory lists more than 76,000 free ones. Shopify: catalog, orders, payments and shipping in one account. The app store has more than 16,000 apps.
- SEO
- SEO through plugins. Rank Math or Yoast: meta tags, sitemap, redirects, schema markup. Shopify: product meta tags; URLs are partly fixed (/products/, /collections/).
- Build speed
- WordPress: slower, since you set up hosting, a theme, plugins and Elementor. Shopify: the store launches on a ready-made theme, and the design is refined afterwards.
Next, each platform in more detail: nuances, pros and cons.
Webflow: Pixel-Perfect Control Over Design
Good for: agencies, startups, portfolios and premium landing pages. Sites where design is part of the brand and the client does not plan to rework the structure alone.
Pros
- Pixel-perfect precision for layout and typography, including non-standard designs
- SEO settings in the editor: meta tags, alt text, canonical, sitemap, 301 redirects, URL structure, schema markup
- A CMS for a blog and a catalog: up to 40 collections and 20,000 items on Premium
- The client publishes new content without touching the design
- The site code can be exported (HTML, CSS, JS) with the Core Workspace plan from $19 a month; the CMS, forms and store do not come along in the export
Cons
- A separate paid plan for every site (hosting is included)
- The client edits only what the designer made editable
- New blocks and structure are the designer’s job
- Shopify is built for selling. A store on Webflow is possible (Ecommerce plans), but it has its own limits: on Standard, up to 500 products and 2,000 CMS items, with a 2% transaction fee
Site plan price. Platform and hosting, without the designer’s work or support. Shown per month, billed yearly. The client pays.
| Plan | Price per month | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $15 | A site without a CMS |
| Premium | $25 | A site with a CMS, blog and catalog |
| Standard (Ecommerce) | $29 | An online store: up to 500 products, 2% transaction fee |
| Plus (Ecommerce) | $74 | An online store: up to 5,000 products |
| Advanced (Ecommerce) | $212 | An online store: up to 15,000 products |
Content editing: client seats are free (on a free Workspace, one per paid site). An extra Limited seat costs $15 a month, a Full seat $39.
Who edits: you change texts, images and blog posts yourself in the visual editor. New blocks and structure stay with the designer.
Framer: Animations and Effects in a Visual Editor
A builder with built-in animations, effects and AI agents.
Good for: one-page sites, MVPs and launches where visual effect matters more than long-term structure.
Pros
- Built-in animations, effects (shaders, blur, 3D transforms) and interactions, no code
- A visual editor: texts and CMS entries change without a developer
- Fast build: a page is made in one editor, with no theme, plugins or hosting to choose. In our experience, faster than WordPress
- There is a free plan; a paid plan with a CMS starts at $10 a month (Webflow with a CMS starts at $25)
Cons
- Plan limits: Pro has 150 pages, 10 collections and 2,500 items. You can add more for an extra fee, up to 700 pages, 40 collections and 40,000 items
- Each extra editor costs extra ($20; a content editor $10)
- The CMS is simpler than Webflow’s: for a growing blog or a complex multi-page site, Webflow Premium fits better, as its item limit is higher
- Fewer plugins and integrations than WordPress (the WordPress.org directory lists more than 76,000 free plugins)
- New pages and structure are the designer’s job
Site plan price. Platform and hosting, without the designer’s work or support. Shown per month, billed yearly. The client pays.
| Plan | Price per month | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10 | 30 pages, 2 collections, 1,000 CMS items |
| Pro | $30 | 150 pages, 10 collections, 2,500 CMS items, redirects, staging |
| Extras on Pro | extra | 100 pages $20, 10 collections $40, 10,000 items $20 |
Editors: the account owner is included, an extra editor costs $20, a content editor $10. Viewers and commenters are free.
Who edits: you change texts and CMS entries yourself. Page structure and animations are better left to the designer. Framer can handle a blog of 20-30 posts (up to 1,000 items on Basic); a growing blog is better built on Webflow.
WordPress + Elementor: An Open Platform With Features Added by Plugins
Good for: sites with growing features: a blog, a store (WooCommerce), booking, memberships, multilingual support. Elementor adds a visual page editor on top of WordPress.
Pros
- Open source (GPLv2 license): the engine itself is free, and you pay for hosting and a domain
- Features are added by plugins: a store (WooCommerce), languages, booking
- SEO settings through plugins, for example Rank Math or Yoast
- Elementor has a free version; the paid one is needed for advanced features
Cons
- Needs care: updates to the engine, plugins and theme, and security, are the site owner’s job, and plugins can conflict
- Speed depends on the theme, plugins and hosting, and needs optimizing. This is part of SEO: Google’s ranking systems use Core Web Vitals
- A ready-made theme without refinement looks generic: a unique design is built for the task, as in Webflow and Framer
- Hosting is chosen and paid for separately
- Elementor Pro Essential does not include Popup Builder, custom code and CSS, store features or form submissions: those need a higher plan
Site plan price. The platform is free; you pay for hosting, a domain and, if needed, Elementor Pro. Monthly and yearly prices are shown separately. The client pays.
| Service | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | $2.49 a month with a 4-year prepayment, $10.99 on renewal | Hostinger Premium as an example |
| Elementor Pro Essential | $60 a year | One site |
| Domain | About $7-19 a year | Paid separately |
Who edits: you change texts, posts and products yourself: the admin is familiar to many, and WordPress runs 39.6% of all websites (W3Techs, October 2026). Big structural changes, updates and security usually need a developer.
Custom Code With AI: React/Next.js on Vercel
Good for: a one-off eye-catching launch page, a site with non-standard logic (a calculator, a customer account, integrations), and cases where you need full control of the code. Not for a site the client edits every week. AI tools (Claude Code, Replit and similar) speed up the build; the price of this route is that the site has no control panel.
Pros
- No builder limits: any animation or logic can be written
- AI speeds up the rough build, and the designer refines the interface and animations
- The code is yours and moves to any host. When you export from Webflow, the CMS, forms and store do not come along
- Meta tags and sitemap are set up in code for the task
Cons
- No admin panel: any text or SEO edit goes through a developer
- Plain React renders in the browser: Google runs JavaScript, but until the scripts finish, the HTML has no content. Google itself recommends server-side rendering, which Next.js supports
- Meta tags, headings, sitemap and robots.txt are hard-coded: to change a title, you open a file
- A person reviews AI-written code: security, accessibility and speed stay with the developer
Site plan price. Hosting, without the developer’s work or support. Shown per month. The client pays.
| Service | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel Pro | $20 a month per developer seat | Includes $20 of usage credit; usage beyond that is billed |
| Vercel Hobby | Free | Personal, non-commercial projects only: a client’s site needs Pro |
| Domain | About $7-19 a year | Paid separately |
Who edits: only the developer. If the client wants to edit alone, an external CMS is connected: that is separate work.
Shopify: Built for Online Stores
Good for: cases where the main goal is selling products. In Webflow, Framer and WordPress a store is an add-on; in Shopify it is the foundation. For a landing page, a blog or a services site, choose from the other options.
Pros
- Catalog, orders, payments and shipping in one account
- Plans and payment fees are listed openly
Cons
- URLs are partly fixed (/products/, /collections/)
- Payment fee: 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic. With third-party payment providers Shopify also charges a transaction fee (2% on its pricing page; the rate depends on the plan). Higher plans have lower fees, but the plan itself costs more
Site plan price. Platform and store hosting, without design or support. Shown per month, billed yearly (monthly billing costs more). The client pays. US prices.
| Plan | Price per month | Card payments |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $29 ($39 billed monthly) | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Grow | $89 | 2.7% + 30¢ |
| Advanced | $359 | 2.5% + 30¢ |
Who edits: you manage products, prices, orders and promotions. The designer sets up the theme and integrations.
Platform and Hosting Fees per Year: Webflow, Framer, WordPress and Shopify
This is the fee for the platform and hosting (a subscription the client pays). Webflow, Framer and Shopify include hosting in the plan; with WordPress it is a separate line; with custom code, the Vercel subscription is the hosting. A designer’s or developer’s work, site support and a domain are not included.
| Platform | Plans and prices |
|---|---|
| Framer | Basic $10/mo, $120/yr. 30 pages, 2 CMS collections, 1,000 items. Pro $30/mo, $360/yr. 150 pages, 10 collections, 2,500 items, redirects, staging. |
| Webflow | Basic $15/mo, $180/yr. A site without a CMS, 300 pages. Premium $25/mo, $300/yr. CMS: 40 collections, 20,000 items. |
| WordPress | Hosting $11/mo, $132/yr. Hostinger Premium at the renewal price ($10.99); the promo price is $2.49 with a 48-month prepayment. Elementor Pro Essential $5/mo, $60/yr. A visual editor, 1 site. Total $16/mo, $192/yr. Hosting at the renewal price plus Elementor. |
| Custom code | Vercel Pro $20/mo, $240/yr. A commercial site, $20 per developer seat. |
| Shopify | Basic $29/mo, $348/yr. A store and payments. $39 billed monthly. |
Prices as of October 25, 2026, billed yearly. A domain (about $7-19 a year: Namecheap charges new customers from $6.48 in the first year and about $18.48 on renewal) and payment fees are not included. WordPress hosting is shown at the renewal price: the promo price applies only to the first term.
On price the gap is small. Framer is slightly cheaper at the start, but once you need a CMS the prices get closer: Pro $30 against Webflow Premium $25. Beyond that, the difference is in CMS limits: Framer Pro includes 2,500 items (up to 40,000 for an extra $20 per 10,000), Webflow Premium includes 20,000. Extra editors cost $20 on Framer (a content editor $10) and $15 for a Limited seat on Webflow. WordPress can be the cheapest at the start (promo hosting is $2.49 a month), but it adds the care of updates and security that Webflow and Framer take on themselves.
For what our own work costs, use the price calculator.
Who Maintains the Site After Launch
The client makes most edits alone. For the rest you need a designer or a developer.
You can do it yourself
- Replace texts, prices, images
- Write a blog post (Webflow, Framer, WordPress)
- Add a product in Shopify
- Change a page title and description, if there is a field (Webflow, WordPress with Rank Math)
Better left to the designer
- A new type of page or block
- Changing the grid, structure or animations
- Updating WordPress, plugins and protection
- Setting up payments, CRM, mailings
- Speeding up the site, an SEO audit
- Any edit on custom code: there is no admin
Website Support by Subscription: Our Design and Development Service
This is not a platform fee. It pays for our work. If you do not want to look after the site yourself, you can order support from us by subscription: small edits, updates, backups, new blocks. One contact and a fixed monthly price.
| Package | What’s included | Price of our work per month |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Small text and image edits, up to 1-2 hours | $30-60 |
| Standard | Edits, updates, backups, monitoring, up to 3-4 hours | $90-120 |
| Extended | Everything in Standard, plus SEO and new blocks, up to 6-8 hours | $180-240 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Webflow vs Framer: which is better for a blog?
For a small blog, either works. Framer Basic has 2 CMS collections and 1,000 items, Pro has 10 collections and 2,500. Webflow Premium has 40 collections and 20,000 items. If the blog will grow, compare item limits: Framer lets you raise them for an extra fee, while Webflow's limit is higher in the plan itself.
How much does a Webflow site cost per year?
A Basic site plan costs $180 a year (no CMS) and a CMS plan (Premium) $300 (CMS, blog, catalog), billed yearly, with hosting included. Ecommerce plans start at $29 a month. A domain is paid separately, about $7-19 a year. The designer's work is not included.
Do I need a paid Workspace in Webflow?
No. A free Workspace can publish paid sites. Paid Workspace plans (Core $19 and Growth $49 a month, billed yearly) are for teams: Core adds code export, custom code and shared libraries, and Growth adds unlimited staging sites, site password protection and 301 redirects.
Can a client edit a Webflow site alone?
Yes, in the editor and only in the fields the designer opened in advance. A client seat is free: one per paid site (three on the Agency plan). An extra Limited seat costs $15 a month.
How much does a multilingual site cost?
Framer charges $20 per language, and the free plan includes one language to try. In Webflow, multilingual support is the Localize add-on, priced per locale (a language version of the site): Essential from $9 a month per locale (up to 3 locales) and Advanced from $29 a month per locale (up to 10). It is paid on top of the site plan.
Webflow vs WordPress vs Framer: which is better for SEO?
No platform guarantees rankings: they depend on content, structure and page speed. When you choose, check that you can set meta tags, headings, image alt text, canonical URLs, a sitemap and 301 redirects. Webflow offers these settings in the editor, Framer has built-in SEO settings and redirects on Pro, and WordPress usually adds them with a plugin such as Rank Math or Yoast.
What is the best Webflow alternative?
It depends on the site. Framer is the closest: a visual editor with built-in animations and a quicker start, but a simpler CMS. WordPress with Elementor suits a growing site that needs many plugins, and you take on updates and security. Shopify fits a site built to sell. Custom code gives the most freedom, but nobody can edit the site without a developer.
Can I build a site with AI instead of using a builder?
Yes, the code is written fast. But such a site has no control panel, so edits go through a developer. For SEO you need server-side rendering (Next.js supports it): Google runs JavaScript, but with a delay. Hosting on Vercel Pro costs $240 a year.
What should I choose for an online store?
If the main goal is selling, look at Shopify: a store is the core of the platform, and the Basic plan costs $29 a month billed yearly (US prices). Webflow and WordPress can run a store too, but as an add-on with its own limits.
Prices as of October 25, 2026. Sources: Webflow, Framer, Shopify, Elementor, Hostinger, Namecheap, Vercel, WordPress.org, W3Techs, Google Search Central.