WordPress vs Webflow – Is it Really Better Than WordPress?

As an online course creator, it’s essential for you to have your own website regardless of whether or not you choose to host your online course on it or not. 

WordPress has been the leading web development platform to create websites for years now but recently, competitors such as Webflow have made huge waves. 

In this post, we’ll analyze both WordPress as well as Webflow, compare their strengths and weaknesses, and determine which one’s more suitable for online course creators.

Features	WordPress	Webflow
Pricing	5 stars	4 stars
User-Friendliness	4 stars	4 stars
Domain and Hosting Solutions	0 stars	4 and a half stars
SEO and e-Commerce Tools	4 stars	3 and a half stars
Customer Support	3 stars	4 stars

Now that you have a fundamental understanding of what both platforms have to offer, let’s look closer to determine which one’s best for you. 

WordPress Review – Flexible and User-Friendly

Chances are that you may already know about WordPress since it’s the most popular content management system and web development platform in the market. 

What we’ll talk about here is WordPress.org. This is not to be confused with WordPress.com. 

WordPress.org is the popular web development platform that you know about and that we’ll discuss.

WordPress.com is a hosting service created by WordPress co-founder, Matt Mullenweg.

An estimated 40% of the internet are websites that are powered by WordPress.org and for good reason: It’s extremely easy to use and you can utilize it to create all sorts of different websites such as blogs, forums, and online stores (including stores to sell online courses). 

Furthermore, due to WordPress’s popularity, the number of plugins available for it is countless. You can look into those plugins and find the most useful ones that can help you create your website. 

Chances are that if you run into trouble with a certain process or approach when building your WordPress site, there will most likely be a plugin that can help you out. 

WordPress plugins can be free plugins or premium plugins depending on the amount of value they offer to your WordPress site. 

Another reason why WordPress is so popular as a page builder is because it appeals to both expert web developers as well as complete novices. 

In-line HTML and custom CSS options are available for web designers who want more control but if you want a relatively straightforward experience, you can use its visual editor to create the layout of your site. 

WordPress themes are also available for you to choose from. Some of them are paid while others are free. 

Pros	Cons
• Elegant WordPress themes to choose from • In-line HTML and CSS editing features • Vast library of plugins • Extensive customization and control • Free	• Does not come with a hosting solution • Does not offer security or backup options

Benefits of WordPress

To start off, the first benefit of WordPress.org is the fact that it’s open-source and completely free. 

If you’re an online course creator on a tight budget, WordPress can be a great option for you to develop your online store or even just a blog where you talk about your relevant niche. You can then use this blog to redirect traffic towards wherever you’ve hosted your online course. 

When you’re a new online course creator and have not sold any courses yet, you want to keep your spending to a minimum and WordPress will definitely allow you to do that. 

There are a ton of WordPress themes for you to choose from and WordPress allows you to create completely customized websites with these themes as a starting point. 

While coding knowledge and web design expertise are definitely beneficial, they are not essential for you to be able to make an engaging WordPress website. 

Lastly, as we mentioned earlier, WordPress.org is one of the most popular website-building platforms in the market. Due to this, its library of plugins is the largest among its competitors. 

These plugins can really assist you to create your WordPress website and save you a lot of time. You won’t get the same versatility and functionality in terms of plugins with any other page builder. 

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy WordPress

Pricing

As we mentioned above, WordPress.org is a website builder that is open-source and completely free. 

You could get started with website building with WordPress right now if you wanted to without paying a dime. 

That being said, it’s important to note that WordPress.org does not offer web hosting services and they are essential for you to make your website available to others on the internet. 

Thus, while you may not pay for WordPress.org, you’ll still have to pay money to whatever web hosting service you choose. 

Furthermore, you may need some themes and/or plugins in the future which are paid. 

User-Friendliness

When it comes to balancing ease of use with a level of functionality, WordPress does it best. 

The WordPress dashboard is neatly organized and something that many of WordPress’s competitors do their best to emulate of how easy it is to use. 

It accommodates beginners and gives experts the freedom to do whatever they want at the same time. 

You can utilize plugins with easily customizable themes, in-line HTML editing, and custom CSS options to create your website exactly the way you want.

Domain and Hosting Solutions

It’s important to understand the fact that a page builder such as WordPress only allows you to create your website. 

However, in order to make that website available to everyone else on the internet, you need a web hosting service to host your website. 

Many website-building platforms provide you with a custom domain as well as a hosting solution as part of their package. 

However, WordPress.org is not one of them. 

Thus, this is an important aspect that you definitely will have to take into account. 

Once you’re done with your website, you need to look for a hosting provider that is affordable and also, fully compatible with your WordPress site. 

WordPress constantly updates its interface with new updates rolling out every few weeks. Sometimes, after these updates, your website can start to break down in unexpected ways because your web hosting service is not fully compatible with the new update. 

Thus, always opt for a hosting solution that is fully compatible with WordPress sites. 

SEO and e-Commerce Tools

We mentioned that as an online course creator, you should create your own website even if you plan on hosting your online course somewhere else such as on an online course platform. 

This is because the purpose of your website is to gather traffic and attract more customers to your brand. 

In order to do this effectively, you need a website that is search-engine-optimized. 

WordPress gives you extensive options and SEO settings for you to customize it as needed. You can use its editor to add schema, meta titles, meta descriptions, alt text, etc. 

Furthermore, you can also make use of third-party plugins such as Yoast and SEOPress to further improve your website’s chances to rank on search engines. 

As for e-Commerce options, WordPress can easily be used to make eCommerce websites. 

You can make a checkout page on your WordPress site with an online store for your online courses very easily with the help of relevant plugins such as WooCommerce and BigCommerce.

Customer Support

In terms of customer support, you can call them at 1-877 273-3049 to book a scheduled Quick Start Session. 

This is an option for one-on-one hands-on support over the phone. 

WordPress also provides a live chat support option that you can use for hands-on support if you don’t prefer to talk over the phone. 

Furthermore, since WordPress is the most popular website building platform in the market, there are tons of community forums and documentation available for it online. 

If you run into any kind of issue, chances are that if you search for it online, you may find a solution on a community board or something similar. 

What Do the Customers Think?

People love WordPress.org as a content management system due to how simple it is as well as due to the limitless functionality it can provide. 

Its versatility is something that people love whether you make an eCommerce site, a blog, an online store or anything else. 

Furthermore, the fact that it’s free and accessible to pretty much everyone is another factor that makes it extremely popular. 

Here are some of the reviews we came across: 

Best Affordable Page Builder

The best affordable page builder is WordPress.org because it’s completely free to use. You can check out free themes and plugins to create your website from scratch. Its editor is simple to use with limitless options for how you want your website to look and function. 

Webflow Review – Robust with Extensive Customization Options

Similar to WordPress, Webflow combines the functionality of a website builder with that of a Content Management System (CMS). 

One great thing about Webflow that makes it stand out from most competitors is the fact that it allows you to customize mobile versions of your website along with their desktop versions. 

This is more important than you think because as an online course creator, potential customers may view your website from their phones to figure out what you have to offer. 

Thus, the mobile version of your website can sometimes make a difference to convert a potential customer. 

The Webflow editor is extremely simple to use and allows you to create engaging websites without the need to have extensive coding knowledge or technical expertise. 

Many website builders that feature a responsive and visual editor tend to be restrictive when it comes to the type of website you can create. 

Typically, you can only stay within the bounds of the template you choose. 

Webflow is not one of those website builders as it allows you to customize the layout of your website in any way you want with options to add custom code and in-line HTML editing. 

Pros	Cons
• In-dep SEO settings • Visual Webflow designer for easy preview and website editing • Affordable monthly plans • Hosting solution is part of the package • Simple and neat user interface	• Slightly steeper learning curve relative to its competitors

Benefits of Webflow

While Webflow is not free like WordPress.org, it’s still fairly affordable at $12 per month. That’s their most basic plan and it has enough features for you to start off as an online course creator. 

Once the website starts to gain traction and you start to earn revenue, you can think of upgrading to the CMS plan which costs just $16 per month. 

Furthermore, the amount of value you get for this monthly fee is much higher than what you get as part of WordPress’s free package. 

For starters, Webflow provides you with a custom domain and its own hosting solution as part of all of its pricing plans. Thus, you won’t have to look for a third-party web hosting service that’s compatible with your Webflow site. 

Webflow’s CMS is also cleverly designed with functionality that really allows your imagination to run wild. 

The CMS features collections which are custom content types that you can create.

They can have any type of field you want such as: 

• Text
• Dates
• Images
• Videos

And much more.

Not only is Webflow’s editor easy to use but they also have a ton of resources for you to learn how to get the best out of it such as video tutorials, community forums, etc. 

Webflow’s eCommerce tools are also quite beneficial because they allow you to create products that are also special content types with specific fields needed for eCommerce. 

Once you’ve created your products (in your case, online courses), you can then add these products to whichever page of your Webflow website you want such as your landing page or checkout page. 

Webflow also has great templates for completely customizable checkout pages that you can checkout and alter according to your personal branding needs.

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Webflow

Pricing

As we mentioned above, Webflow’s most basic plan costs $12 per month and it’s adequate enough for you to create your first website as an online course creator. 

Once your website starts to gain traction and you start to get monthly visits above 25,000, you can switch to the CMS plan which costs $16 per month. If your website starts to get more than 25,000 monthly visits, chances are that you’ll bring in revenue with your online courses and you’ll be able to afford the CMS plan. 

While Webflow may not be free like WordPress, you have to consider two things: 

1. It’s still fairly affordable. 
2. It provides you with much more features than WordPress does. 

Some examples of these features are a domain hosting solution as well as SSL security. 

User-Friendliness

Webflow has tons of functionality related to web design, eCommerce, SEO, and CMS but all of this functionality does come at the cost of user-friendliness. 

Webflow’s UI and dashboard are not poorly designed by any means. However, in order to take advantage of everything it has to offer, you’ll definitely have to spend some time understanding how everything works. 

We definitely feel that Webflow is harder to get the hang of compared to other site-building platforms.

Domain and Hosting Solutions

Unlike WordPress, you get your own custom domain no matter which payment plan you go for on Webflow. 

Since Webflow provides its own hosting platform, you won’t have to worry about any compatibility or performance issues. 

Furthermore, you won’t have to pay a separate fee to a third-party web hosting service either. 

Webflow has 100+ data centers worldwide which ensures that your site’s speed and performance are optimal. 

Webflow also provides you with Web SSL security. This ensures that your website is safe from malicious attacks from hackers.

SEO and e-Commerce Tools

Webflow has built-in features that you can utilize to optimize your online course website for search engines. 

It’s very easy to edit the title, meta description as well as URLs for all the pages on your website with the website builder. 

Webflow also has options to edit what your content will look like when a page from your website is shared on social media. 

Furthermore, Webflow CMS provides you with the option to not include certain pages of your website from being indexed by search engines. This is very useful if you have a page that isn’t complete yet and you don’t want it to affect your ranking. 

To create an eCommerce site, Webflow has options to easily generate product listings simply by filling out forms. 

This makes it very easy for you to host your online courses on your Webflow website. 

Customer Support

Webflow has a number of different avenues that you can use to get your issues sorted. 

You can browse through their huge library of help articles and tutorials (known as Webflow University) to understand how to use Webflow to its potential. 

The articles cover a wide range of topics and also address some common issues that users may face. 

If you want hands-on support, then you can contact them via email. Email-based support is provided to Webflow users from Monday to Friday from 6 am to 6 pm. 

If your issue is fairly common, you can also contact their AI chatbot which might be able to help you out. 

What Do the Customers Think?

As expected, people love Webflow and how easy to use it is. 

Users especially how it accommodates both beginners as well as veterans through options to use the visual editor as well as options to add custom code for further flexibility. 

Another aspect of this is the completely customizable templates. Templates can be a great place to start but you can also customize them as much as you want to suit your personal brand’s aesthetic. 

Here are some of the reviews we found:

Best Customizable Website Builder

The best customizable website builder is Webflow thanks to its extensive flexibility and useful templates that can be used as starting points for your website. The editor is very intuitive to use and it has useful settings for SEO and eCommerce as well.

Webflow vs WordPress – Buyers’ Guide

When you have to choose a website builder to design your online course website, it can get pretty overwhelming simply due to the plethora of options available. 

There are a number of factors you must keep in mind to ensure you don’t run into any issues when you develop your website. 

These factors are: 

Pricing

As a new online course creator that has not sold any courses yet, you will most likely not have a lot of money to spend on a website builder’s subscription. 

We recommend that you opt for a website builder that is free. 

The problem with free website builders, however, is that they don’t provide hosting solutions with their packages. 

Hence, even though you save money with the website builder, you’ll still have to pay a separate fee to a third-party hosting service. It pretty much defeats the purpose. 

We recommend that if you have to go for a paid website builder, opt for a package that does not cost more than $15 per month. 

User-Friendliness

The great thing about website builders these days is you don’t need to have technical expertise in web design or coding knowledge to make elegant websites. 

In an age where visual editors can make web design extremely easy, do not opt for an overly technical website builder that operates almost exclusively in code. 

We recommend that you should only opt for a code-based website builder if you’re adept at it and are more comfortable in that environment. 

Otherwise, always opt for user-friendly and intuitive builders that you can instantly pick up and utilize. 

Domain and Hosting Solutions

As mentioned above, not all website builders come with a hosting package. 

It’s not always a bad idea to opt for the former because sometimes you want the other features within that website builder. However, this is definitely an important factor to keep in mind. 

SEO and e-Commerce Tools

You will build your online course website for two reasons in particular: 

1. To boost your discoverability and reach new audiences. 
2. To sell your online courses. 

In order to do both of these things, you’ll need SEO and eCommerce tools respectively.

Make sure that whatever website builder you choose has optimal SEO settings that allow you to edit certain aspects of your website such as title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs. 

Many builders provide you with analytics tools as well that you can utilize to gather information about visitor behaviors and traffic. 

In terms of eCommerce, it’s important to opt for a builder that allows you to add payment processors as well as easy ways to sell products on your website. 

Be sure to opt for one that allows you to easily create product listings and convenient ways for your website visitors to buy your products. 

Customer Support

It’s more important than you think for the website building platform you use to have good customer service. 

Hence, be sure to read reviews to ensure the platform you go for has a helpful customer support team. 

Webflow vs WordPress – Final Verdict

This brings us to the conclusion of our post for Webflow vs WordPress. 

In the end, we have to say that both builders have their fair share of strengths and weaknesses and it really depends on what you want.

WordPress has more plugins and flexibility when it comes to eCommerce but Webflow comes with its own hosting solutions. 

Which platform do you think is better? Let us know in the comments below.