WordPress powers 37.8% of the web. The ease of use, security, quick installation and numerous plugins make WordPress a top choice over any other website builder.
Yet, WordPress might not be a suitable interface for building all types of websites because:
- It is not an all-in-one solution.
- It is not optimized to create specialized websites.
- It is not the most user-friendly platform.
For this reason, developers and business owners need to know the best available alternatives to WordPress that help them effortlessly create a site offering a great user experience.
What to Look for in a WordPress Alternative?
WordPress may not be able to meet your needs, especially when your website requirements are industry-specific. Therefore, having an understanding of alternatives makes sense. But before you implement these alternatives, you need to be sure they provide the must-have features in a website builder. The following points are what you should consider before implementing a WordPress alternative:
Data resiliency and security
Websites that deal with online transactions are more vulnerable to malicious cyber thefts. Your choice of an alternative to WordPress must include security features as good as WordPress to protect your private information and safeguard your business details. The alternative must have features like malware scanning, firewalls, secure servers and SSL custom certificates.
Wide variety of templates
An appealing website always wins the user’s hearts. So, always check whether the interface you have selected has an adequate number of beautiful templates, just as WordPress does. If you get more variety, you will get better options to create that perfect layout for your website. Check whether the alternate provides template options that you can customize to your business requirements.
Reporting and analytics
Another factor you cannot afford to miss in your website builder is reporting and analytics. With analytics and reporting, you will have a clear picture of your visitors, unique or return visits, most-viewed pages and devices used to access your site, including your site’s reachability. Just like WordPress, your website builder must include free analytics reporting platforms that give you insights into your website’s performance.
Scalability
WordPress is not an all-in-one solution, and the website builder you choose as a WordPress alternative also may not be sufficient for your website. However, it must let you integrate other plugins and extensions for added functionality. Such integration will allow you to adapt it to your requirements and enhance its capabilities.
Good UI/UX
If you want your website to receive better customer feedback, a good UI/UX should be your utmost priority. A simple website builder that is easy to start with will save your customers precious hours, which they can use to increase your sales. Hence, choose the alternative with an effective UX/UI tool that will help in creating highly functional features and components.
Support
A sound support system is crucial, particularly if you are a beginner.
If you’re inclined to lean toward support with setting up your website, look for the alternative with great articles, videos, community base and web forums. If the alternative also provides human support, all the better. Check for support options like live chat, email or phone support.
The Best Alternatives for WordPress
Continue reading for a curated list of the top WordPress alternatives to jumpstart your search for a WordPress alternative.
Joomla
Joomla is an impressive and highly customizable content management system (CMS) very similar to WordPress, qualifying itself as a perfect WordPress alternative.
Pros: Joomla provides free plugins from its homepage to extend your capabilities. It also offers flexibility with creating several subpages for your website. Moreover, you can create a site for a global audience using Joomla’s multilingual platform. Joomla automatically optimizes URLs for SEO ranking.
Cons: Joomla, however, has an interface that is not easy for beginners. Running some plugins even requires you to have a strong knowledge of PHP scripting language.
Pricing: You can use Joomla to build a website for free.
Rating: 5 stars
Wix
Wix has been an established name in the website building market for over a decade. Why? Because of its user-friendly interface, which makes it an excellent alternative to WordPress.
Pros: Using Wix is incredibly easy. That is, probably, why it is more popular among beginners who want to set up and run their websites in no time. It also offers an extensive list of readily available apps that lets you extend your website capabilities. Though Wix is a paid website builder, its free plan offers most of the features needed to start a website, including SEO tools, blogs and social media integration. And, it lets you pick themes from an array of well-crafted templates.
Cons: On the downside, its free and basic plans show ads, which can be a real buzzkill for some visitors. And, if you want to customize the template heavily, you might find it hard to get what you want without employing an expert.
Pricing: Wix comes with 8 pricing plans ranging between $10 per month to $38 per month.
Rating: 5 stars
Squarespace
Squarespace is a complete website builder that doesn’t require any additional installation, which makes it a better WordPress alternative.
Pros: Unlike other website builders, Squarespace doesn’t ask you to sign up for hosting or domain purchase. And, its drag-and-drop components and user-friendly features can even get a beginner to start designing like a pro. It also comes with an array of website templates that incorporates a collection of best-in-class designs.
Cons: Squarespace can disappoint you with its mobile editor and misses support for its 3rd-party plugins and extensions. Plus, it is not 1 of the budget-friendly WordPress alternatives in the market.
Pricing: Squarespace plans start at $16 per month, which drops to $12 per month if you opt for its annual subscription.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Tumblr
Specially designed as a blogging platform, Tumblr has all the features to quickly publish your stories and content.
Pros: Tumblr features an extremely easy-to-use interface that saves you from spending several hours learning about its features. It lets you create attractive multimedia posts for your blog articles through a few clicks. It also supports social media integrations, allowing your readers to like and reply directly from their social media profiles.
Cons: A limited number of free templates would be 1 of the top negatives for Tumblr. It also requires you to pay for its premium themes. Moreover, people who want to customize their websites extensively can find themselves reaching the customization limit pretty soon.
Pricing: You can use Tumblr for free.
Rating: 5 stars
Shopify
Shopify is a global name for an e-commerce solution and a fantastic alternative to WordPress for those looking to implement e-commerce solutions.
Pros: Shopify focuses on building a perfect e-commerce site and offers plenty of space to showcase your products. It also supports multiple payment modes, including PayPal and bank cards. Shopify also provides a pool of beautiful themes you can choose from and extensively customize.
Cons: Shopify doesn’t provide extensions or plugins for search engine optimization (SEO) like WordPress. And, as it focuses solely on e-commerce sites, it might not be a great alternative if you are trying to create a non-commerce website.
Pricing: Its pricing is relatively straightforward and starts from $29 per month.
Rating: 5 stars
Choose a WordPress Alternative that Suits you
WordPress is the 1st choice for millions for creating a website, but, it may not necessarily be the best option available when creating industry-specific websites. Several WordPress alternatives fill the gap and let you create sites that meet your needs.
These alternatives are wisely designed to meet individual needs like blogging, e-commerce and portfolio showcasing while offering almost all the WordPress features. So, weigh your options and see whether the alternative truly fits your needs before implementing it to create your new website.
