What on EARTH should I build my website on? Webflow, Drupal, WordPress, or Squarespace

Hi, my name is Melanie, and I’ve been building websites for over two decades. I’ve worked across many platforms, including web and app builds, JavaScript frameworks, and mobile applications. However, in this article, I’m focusing on Drupal, WordPress, and no-code builder sites like Webflow, Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix. Here’s my take on the advantages and disadvantages of each platform, and why you might choose one over the other.

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Webflow

I recently built a client website using Webflow. We chose it primarily for its low hosting costs and the fact that it handles all security updates, saving the client from paying for ongoing maintenance or a managed hosting package — which can get costly when factoring in my time for updates, testing, and troubleshooting. On platforms like WordPress or Drupal, security updates for core, plugins, or modules can quickly become both time-consuming and expensive.

I had hoped Webflow would be a quick drag-and-drop solution. While it was faster than building in Drupal, it wasn’t as fast as I initially expected. In hindsight, for low-budget clients with minimal complexity, Squarespace might have been a quicker option, though it comes with limitations in customization and advanced functionality. Webflow offers highly customizable flexibility, but it can still be fiddly and time-consuming.

One challenge is style management. Because Webflow is a no-code platform, styles are applied directly to elements rather than a centralized stylesheet. Maintaining clean, consistent styling can be tricky — it’s easy to accidentally create duplicate or redundant styles, forget which style is applied where, and spend extra time tracking down issues.

Advantages:

• Cost-effective hosting with minimal ongoing maintenance
• User-friendly for clients to manage content
• Visual interface allows full design control

Disadvantages:

• Clients have full design control, which can lead to unintended design changes
• Initial build can take longer due to custom layouts and interactions
• Style management can be messy and time-consuming compared to coding CSS directly

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Drupal

Drupal is by far my favorite platform. It requires a skilled developer — beyond basic front-end or builder-site knowledge — but gives you full control to maintain clean, beautiful code while locking in the site’s look and feel consistently. At the same time, it allows clients flexibility to manage content within defined boundaries.

The main challenge with Drupal is security updates and ongoing managed hosting. While it generally requires fewer updates than WordPress, it still demands more technical knowledge. Best practice is to work on a development environment when performing updates, especially for complex sites, rather than updating directly on a live site. This ensures updates are tested before being pushed to production, reducing the risk of downtime or conflicts.

Drupal also shines with Views, allowing you to create custom lists, tables, grids, and filtered content displays without coding — a level of flexibility WordPress doesn’t offer natively.

Advantages:

• Clean, maintainable code that is efficient and scalable
• Ideal for complex, custom solutions
• Powerful content listing and display capabilities (Views)

Disadvantages:

• Higher ongoing costs and complexity
• Not as easy for clients to update content without developer assistance

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WordPress (vanilla)

WordPress comes second to Drupal, though it’s not my preferred platform.

It allows you to create custom content types and structured sections, but unlike Drupal’s built-in paragraph blocks, you often need plugins or custom code, which can be frustrating and adds extra maintenance.

Another downside is that WordPress may not be ideal for clients on a low budget, due to hosting costs, plugin requirements, and the time needed for ongoing maintenance and updates — unless using WordPress.com, which handles security updates. Even then, plugin updates still require manual attention, meaning my time is needed each month or as updates arise.

Additionally, WordPress does not have a built-in “Views” system like Drupal. In Drupal, Views lets you create custom lists, tables, grids, and filtered content displays without coding. WordPress requires plugins or custom queries to achieve similar functionality, adding extra complexity and maintenance.

Advantages:

• Flexible and familiar platform
• Built-in blog and content management functionality
• Large community and support ecosystem

Disadvantages:

• Requires plugins or custom code for structured content
• Not ideal for clients on a low budget
• No native Views system — requires plugins or custom code

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WordPress with Beaver Builder (no-code builder plugin)

Beaver Builder (or a similar page-builder plugin) gives WordPress builder-site capabilities like Webflow or Squarespace, but with the flexibility of the WordPress engine. This allows more customization and control over layouts compared to a typical template site.

However, similar to Webflow, styles aren’t locked down. Once the site is handed over to a client, it can get messy if they start editing content sections — often unintentionally altering styles. Clients frequently want the ability to add content and sections without affecting the design, but that rarely happens without issues.

This can be frustrating, especially when combined with higher managed hosting costs needed to maintain and update WordPress plugins. At that point, you might as well go with Webflow — you get full control over styles with a no-code platform, without the extra cost and maintenance of WordPress hosting and plugins, as Webflow manages security and backend updates automatically.

Advantages:

• Drag-and-drop page building for clients
• Flexible layouts beyond default WordPress themes

Disadvantages:

• Styles aren’t locked, leading to potential design inconsistencies
• Higher ongoing maintenance and hosting costs
• Can create messy code if not managed carefully

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Squarespace

Having built out quick Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix sites, these platforms are great for low-budget clients who don’t require complexity and want low ongoing costs.

However, Squarespace has limitations. You can customize sections and design elements, but this can easily lead to messy, inconsistent styles, especially if the client is adding sections themselves. Even if it works initially, over time the beautiful design you started with can degrade into a cluttered, inconsistent mess.

If you stick strictly to the theme’s built-in features and styles, you’re limited in flexibility, which can feel restrictive. However, it also makes it less likely to mess up the styles and helps maintain consistency.

Another downside is that marketing features like SEO and tracking pixels can be buggy or inconsistent, potentially interfering with campaigns — though some of these issues may have improved in recent updates.

Advantages:

• Fast and cost-effective for simple sites
• Built-in hosting and security management
• Easy for clients to manage content

Disadvantages:

• Customization can lead to inconsistent design
• Limited flexibility if sticking to theme constraints
• Marketing and SEO features may be unreliable

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Conclusion

Each platform has its own strengths and trade-offs:

• Webflow: Highly customizable, no-code, low maintenance, but style management can be fiddly.
• Drupal: Clean, maintainable code, powerful content management, ideal for complex projects.
• WordPress (vanilla): Flexible but requires plugins and ongoing maintenance; less native structure than Drupal.
• WordPress with Beaver Builder: Adds drag-and-drop flexibility but introduces style and maintenance challenges.
• Squarespace: Quick, low-cost solution for simple sites, but limited flexibility and potential design inconsistencies.

Ultimately, the best choice depends on the client’s needs, budget, and desired level of control.