Once maintenance is counted, which one costs less?
Four in ten websites worldwide run on WordPress. The track record is overwhelming. Even so, corporate sites have increasingly moved to Webflow in recent years, because more companies nowcompare on total cost and risk including maintenance, rather than on the monthly fee. This page organizes that comparison in a form you can take into an internal approval meeting.
The verdict in 30 seconds
When Webflow is the right fit
- You do not want to staff someone for maintenance and security
- Corporate, recruiting or owned-media sites are the focus
- You want page speed and design quality at the same time
- You want to revisit paying a WordPress maintenance fee every month
When WordPress is the right fit
- You need complex plugin-based features such as e-commerce or memberships
- Your team or your partners already know how to run WordPress
- A requirement such as an internal policy says you must manage the server yourself
- Your existing WordPress assets are large and there is little need to move
Item-by-item comparison table
The gap shows up while you run the site, not when you launch it. Read the table while picturing three years of operation.
| Item | Webflow | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery model | SaaS (hosting included) | OSS (you supply the server) |
| Security | Excellent — Handled by the platform. No plugin concept | Limited — Skip core, theme or plugin updates and vulnerabilities follow. A frequent attack target |
| Maintenance and updates | Excellent — Not needed (automatic) | Limited — Regular updates, compatibility checks and backups required (a monthly maintenance contract is the norm) |
| Page speed | Excellent — CDN delivery and a near-static setup as standard | Varies — Varies widely with the server, theme and plugins |
| Design freedom | Excellent — Near-code freedom, without writing code | Excellent — Anything is possible by modifying or building a theme (depends on the dev budget) |
| Extensibility (e-commerce, memberships) | Yes — Built-in features plus integrations. Not suited to large-scale e-commerce | Excellent — An overwhelming plugin ecosystem |
| CMS and publishing | Excellent — Structured CMS. Fast previews too | Excellent — Born as a blog, so publishing is its strength |
| Rough cost structure | $14–39/month (billed annually) + build cost. Almost no maintenance fee | Server at a few hundred to a few thousand yen/month + build cost +maintenance (typically ¥10,000–50,000/month) |
| Risk when the person in charge leaves | Low (everything lives in the cloud, so knowledge rarely gets siloed) | Somewhat high (customizations tend to become one person’s knowledge) |
The three-year total cost people overlook
The real cost of WordPress is maintenance
The server may be cheap, but a maintenance contract covering security updates, backups and bug fixes runs ¥10,000–50,000 a month. Over three years that is ¥360,000–1,800,000, often on a par with the build itself. Drop the contract and you carry the vulnerability risk in-house.
Webflow’s maintenance cost is close to zero
Updates, security and backups are the platform’s job. The monthly fee may look higher, but with no maintenance contract the total often comes out lower — that is the real reason replatforming is on the rise. We do offer aSite Care Plan (from ¥15,000/month), but it is not life-support maintenance — it is a channel for requesting updates and improvements, and joining is optional. Your site keeps running safely without it.
You can migrate without losing your SEO standing
Export the articles as CSV and bring them into Webflow CMS. Keep the URL structure, set 301 redirects on any URL that changes, and your search standing carries over. Webharu hasmigrated a WordPress site of over 100 articles to Webflow.
Where Webharu stands, and our honest recommendation.
Webharu specializes in Webflow. Being honest on that basis:if a full e-commerce site or a complex membership system is the main goal, WordPress (or a dedicated SaaS) is the better fit. On the other hand, for a corporate site, a recruiting site or an owned-media property where you want to run a fast, beautiful site with no maintenance worries, we recommend Webflow. For the comparison with STUDIO, seeWebflow vs STUDIO; Webflow itself is explained inWhat is Webflow?— have a look.
Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest difference between Webflow and WordPress?
The biggest difference is the delivery model. Webflow is a SaaS that bundles hosting, security and backups; WordPress is open-source software you run on a server you provide yourself. WordPress can be extended in any direction with plugins, but updates and vulnerability response become the client’s responsibility. Webflow needs almost no maintenance, in exchange for building within what the platform provides.
Can I migrate from WordPress to Webflow?
Yes. Article data can be exported as CSV and imported into Webflow CMS. Webharu has migrated a WordPress site of more than 100 articles to Webflow. Keep the URL structure and set 301 redirects where they are needed, and you can move without losing your SEO standing.
Is it time to revisit what you pay for maintenance?
Send us the URL of your current site and we will assess the migration.
We will not push a migration that does not make sense.