Platform arguments are usually about preference dressed as principle. The honest answer is that each option is genuinely better for some businesses and genuinely worse for others.
This guide sets out what each is actually good at and the questions that decide it — including the one nobody asks until it matters, which is how you leave.
- 1
Start from who maintains it
This decides more than any technical consideration. A non-technical owner updating content weekly needs something different from a business with an agency on retainer. Be honest about the skill and time genuinely available, not what you intend to learn.
- 2
Understand what WordPress is good and bad at
Enormous flexibility, a plugin for everything, easy to find help, and you own it outright. In return it needs real maintenance: core, theme and plugin updates, and security. Neglected WordPress sites are the most commonly compromised sites on the web. Good choice with a maintainer; poor choice without one.
- 3
Understand what Webflow is good and bad at
Excellent design control with hosting, security and updates handled, and a genuinely usable editor for non-technical staff. Costs more monthly, and complex application logic is not what it is for. Strong fit for a content and marketing site where design matters.
- 4
Understand what Shopify is good and bad at
If selling products is the primary purpose, it solves payments, tax, stock and fraud better than a general platform with a shop bolted on. Content and marketing pages are workable but not its strength. Monthly fee plus transaction costs.
- 5
Know when custom is genuinely justified
When the site must do something no platform does: unusual business logic, deep integration with your own systems, accounts and permissions, or scale that makes licence fees the larger cost. Custom means no licence ceiling and no plugin limits, and it means you own maintenance entirely.
- 6
Cost it over five years, not at launch
Add licences, hosting, plugins, maintenance and the redesign you will want in year three or four. A cheap build with expensive monthly costs frequently exceeds a more expensive build with low running costs. Compare the five-year figure, not the quote.
- 7
Ask how you get your content out
Before committing, establish how content and data are exported if you leave. Platforms with poor export are a lock-in you discover at the worst moment. This question is rarely asked and is one of the most useful.
A rough steer
Brochure or content site, non-technical team, design matters: Webflow. Content site needing many plugins and full ownership, with someone to maintain it: WordPress. Selling products as the main purpose: Shopify. Accounts, unusual rules or deep integration: custom.
What matters more than the platform
Structure, content and whether anyone maintains it. A well-structured WordPress site beats a neglected Webflow one and vice versa. Platform choice is a real decision and a smaller one than the arguments suggest.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, with maintenance. It powers a large share of the web and remains extremely capable. Without someone keeping it updated it becomes a liability rather than an asset.
Would rather we did it?
These guides are here so you can do it yourself. If you would rather hand it over, that is what we do.
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