Top 4 Webflow Competitors and Alternatives: Compare the Best CMS Options

Webflow is an accessible website builder with a wide range of design tools and integrations. But platforms like Squarespace and Wix also provide multiple templates, plugins, and tools for customization. 

Meanwhile, WordPress and Shopify offer extensive scalability and robust ecommerce capabilities.

So, to effectively weigh up these alternatives and choose the right solution, use this comparison of Webflow’s top competitors. In this guide, you’ll see:

• An instant overview of how each tool can help you 
• Differentiating factors for each Webflow alternative   
• A full pricing breakdown

You’ll also discover how Vendr can reduce your SaaS spend by getting you a better deal for the tools you need.

Ready to see how Vendr could save you time and money? Sign up for free.

Key considerations when choosing a CMS or website builder 

To simplify the selection of your CMS or website builder, focus on the following key features:

• Usability. Consider how much technical knowledge is required for each tool and the limitations of your current team. Do you have the in-house expertise for the level of coding required by each web builder/CMS?

• Flexibility. Assess how easy it is to customize the design and functionality of the site. What’s the availability and quality of themes, templates, and plugins?  

• Scalability. Look for a solution that will grow with your business. Will it manage increasing traffic and CMS items as you scale?

• Compatibility with other tools. Check for integrations that allow you to use the tools you need. Do you need specific ecommerce, accounting, or marketing integrations?

• Customer support. Consider how much support will be offered to your team, particularly during onboarding. What online resources and tutorials are there? 

• Security. Analyze security measures. Does it have robust authentication mechanisms and encryption?

• Price. Look for a solution that’s fairly priced and can support your business growth. We provide insights on this in our Buyer Guides. 

Who is Webflow best for? 

Webflow is a fast, user-friendly website builder and CMS. It’s closed-source, meaning it doesn’t provide access to its underlying source code to users or developers. It’s ideal for teams who want a no-code solution with advanced design tools and a drag-and-drop interface for easy customization. 

Though it isn't open-source, Webflow does support custom code. This means it’s also suitable if you have more complex needs that you want to manage with in-house technical expertise.

Webflow offers multiple pricing tiers with contracts varying depending on headcount, starting at $24,700 annually for approximately 200 users and going up to $80,100 for organizations with 1,000 plus users. 

For insider details on Webflow pricing and who each plan is best suited for, see our Webflow Buyer Guide. It includes information about each plan, insights from our community, and negotiation tips.

Top Webflow alternatives for 2024  

Here we explore four of the top alternatives to Webflow:

• WordPress
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Shopify

WordPress  

WordPress is an open-source website builder and CMS that comes with a wide variety of plugins, themes, and custom functionalities created by developers across the world.

Key features

• Thousands of templates and themes
• A plugin ecosystem to extend functionality (including SEO tools like Yoast and ecommerce tools like WooCommerce)
• The ability to handle a high number of CMS items with the more expensive hosting plans

Who is it for?

WordPress is great for startups and ecommerce businesses that need high levels of customization and flexibility.

WordPress pricing breakdown 

WordPress has six different plans that, paid annually, offer up to 64% off, and further discounts for 2-yearly and 3-yearly payments. Annually billed prices are given below, excluding taxes:

• Starter: $4/month
• Explorer: $8/month
• Creator: $25/month
• Entrepreneur: $45/month
• Cloud: $65/month
• Enterprise: starting at $25,000/year

To help you understand how these plans differentiate, Entrepreneur is aimed at digital commerce businesses, has a free domain for one year and a standard storage limit of 50GB, unlimited products, inventory management, and a 0% transaction fee for payments (though processing fees are added).

Compare this with Cloud, which, on top of everything in Entrepreneur and multiple other additional features, includes up to 225 GB SSD storage, 24/7 priority support, and malware detection and removal.

Unique selling point and considerations 

Despite its simplicity, WordPress allows you to build a content-rich website because of its hosting and premium plug-ins. You can negotiate favorable terms for these WordPress features with Vendr.   

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Wix  

Wix is a website builder and CMS with user-friendly editing and uploading tools that make it great for beginners.  

Key features

• Drag-and-drop editor
• An app market for integrations
• Mobile app from which you can manage your website

Who is it for?

Wix is most suited for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking for an intuitive solution with extra support and resources to help boost website performance. 

Wix pricing breakdown 

Wix has four plans, all with custom domains, no Wix branding, and 24/7 customer care:

• Light: $17/month
• Core: $29/month
• Business: $36/month
• Business Elite: $159/month

Note that Business includes 10 collaborators, 100GB in storage space, and standard marketing suite, analytics, and ecommerce.

Compare this with Elite, which includes priority support; 15 collaborators; unlimited storage; and advanced marketing suite (eg. more lead-capture forms), analytics (eg. custom reports), and ecommerce (eg. more automated sales tax transactions).

Unique selling point and considerations 

Wix is great if you’re looking to quickly get a website off the ground, but it doesn’t include advanced features like Webflow’s HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript controls. Also, it doesn’t accommodate plug-ins.

Squarespace  

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Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder and CMS platform that’s designed for user-friendliness and customizability. For a full comparison of Webflow vs. Squarespace, see our guide, which compares their suitability for beginners and design learning resources.

Key features

• Dozens of highly customizable templates
• Easy-to-use ecommerce features
• Great blog functionality and tools to help you rank in search engines  

Who is it for?

Squarespace is ideal for ecommerce teams who are more creative than technical. 

Squarespace pricing breakdown  

Squarespace has four plans with discounts offered for annual payments (monthly pricing is shown below, though note that there are additional fees for ecommerce features and transactions):

• Personal: $14/month with 28% off annually
• Business: $20/month with 30% off annually
• Commerce Basic: $22/month with 27% off annually
• Commerce Advanced: $39/month with 28% off annually

Both Commerce Basic and Advanced include mobile optimization, free invoicing, advanced analytics, and a secure checkout on your domain.

Meanwhile, Advanced also includes advanced shipping (eg. dynamic shipping rates and free shipping for orders over custom thresholds), advanced discounting, selling product subscriptions, and automated email reminders for abandoned carts.

Unique selling point and considerations 

All Squarespace members get access to a dedicated support team and an online learning community.  

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Shopify  

Shopify is a comprehensive ecommerce platform with a CMS and web builder built-in. To power sales through your site, Shopify provides custom storefronts, checkout solutions, and sales analytics.

Key features

• Product and inventory management 
• Integrations with payment services
• Shipping and fulfillment integration

Who is it for?

Shopify is tailored for brands with an online store looking for a centralized location to manage their business transactions.

Shopify pricing breakdown 

Shopify’s four plans all include the website builder and a 25% discount for yearly payments, which the pricing below doesn’t include:

• Basic: $19/month
• Shopify: $52/month
• Advanced: $399/month
• Plus: $2,300/month (on a three-year term, though one-year terms are available)

There are very significant leaps in pricing between each plan, so here’s an at-a-glance view of Shopify and Advanced to see some of the key features that account for those differences.

Both plans include: 

• Collaborator accounts for designers, developers, and marketers
• Unlimited products
• 24/7 support (though ‘enhanced chat’ vs. ‘live chat’ for Advanced)
• Multiple sales channels, eg. social media and online marketplaces
• A custom storefront
• Discount codes and gift cards
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Language translation

Advanced has:

• 15 vs. 5 additional staff accounts
• Increased checkout capacity (so more customers can simultaneously complete transactions)
• Lower transaction fees (0.6% vs. 1%)
• Optional additional markets (three regions are automatically included in both plans)
• Estimated duties and taxes at checkout to give customers more transparency

Unique selling point and considerations 

Shopify is a highly scalable solution for digital businesses, offering a balance of essential ecommerce features, professional reports, and international selling capabilities.

How Vendr can help you choose and save on your CMS  

Vendr brings fairness and transparency to the SaaS procurement process, so you can save money and adopt the tools you need faster. 

Leverage our pricing data, software network, and team of experts to get direct negotiation support and secure the best price. Alternatively, access the SKU pricing benchmarks in our Buyer’s Guides. 

By using Vendr to manage their software negotiations, automate notifications on renewals, and streamline purchase workflows, over a two-year period Deepgram saved $366K. 

As well as a 40% saving on a Postal purchase, Deepgram saved money on Zendesk, Salesforce, and Domo.

Read the case study.

Ready to see how Vendr could save you time and money? Sign up for free.

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