We usually choose WordPress for most business websites. However, HubSpot, Shopify, and newer tools like Astro can be better for certain needs. Here's how we pick the right platform for your business and project.
What you'll learn
- Why WordPress remains our preferred platform for most projects
- When HubSpot's integrated marketing tools justify the investment
- Shopify vs. WordPress for e-commerce businesses
- What Astro offers for performance-critical projects
- Why Wix and Squarespace limit growing businesses
- How we test new platforms before recommending them
- The questions that determine platform choice
Our approach
We aren't loyal to any one platform. WordPress works well for most businesses, so we often use it. But if HubSpot's marketing tools, Shopify's e-commerce features, or Astro's speed are a better fit, we'll recommend those. Your business needs always come first.
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Why WordPress remains our preferred platform
WordPress powers over 40% of the web for good reasons. It has matured into a robust, flexible platform that handles virtually any business website need.
Proven reliability and maturity
WordPress has been refined over two decades. The platform has encountered and solved most problems business websites face. This maturity means fewer surprises and more predictable outcomes. When we build on WordPress, we're building on a foundation tested by millions of sites.
Security is well handled. We know how to make WordPress run fast. Most features have tried-and-true solutions. This experience is more valuable than chasing the latest features.
Extensive plugin ecosystem
Need a contact form? E-commerce? Membership management? SEO tools? Analytics integration? Thousands of plugins exist, many excellent and well-maintained. This ecosystem offers proven solutions that save time and reduce development costs, making WordPress adaptable to various needs.
Plugins can sometimes slow down your site or cause security issues. But if you pick good ones, you get useful features for much less than building them from scratch. The WordPress plugin library is the result of years of developer work, and it's available to everyone.
Flexible without being overwhelming
WordPress works for both simple sites and complex ones. You can start small and add more features as your business grows. This flexibility is important if you want to avoid rebuilding your site later.
The platform accommodates different content types, user roles, custom functionality, and integrations. It's flexible enough to handle edge cases without being so complex that simple sites become difficult.
Strong developer and hosting ecosystem
It's easy to find WordPress developers, good hosting, and answers to your questions. With so many resources, you're not stuck relying on one expert or company.
When you need help, the community provides it. When you need to replace a developer or agency, WordPress knowledge is common. This practical benefit of ubiquity matters for long-term site ownership.
The "manage it yourself" reality: While non-developers can manage WordPress, most businesses still want professionals to handle updates. The real advantage is that you can make urgent changes without waiting for a developer. Having this option is more important than using it all the time.
When HubSpot makes more sense than WordPress
HubSpot CMS doesn't offer more website features than WordPress. But it's a great choice if you need strong marketing integration more than flexibility.
Integrated marketing automation
If you're using HubSpot as your CRM for email marketing, lead tracking, and marketing automation, putting your website on HubSpot creates one, seamless environment. Every form submission, page view, and content download connects directly to contact records and marketing workflows.
With this setup, you avoid the hassle of syncing data between WordPress and HubSpot. Your marketing team can see the full visitor journey in one place, without piecing together information from different systems.
Marketing team empowerment
HubSpot's editor is designed for marketers, not developers. Creating landing pages, running A/B tests, personalizing content for different visitors, and tracking conversion paths all happen in one interface designed for marketing workflows.
For marketing teams already living in HubSpot daily, managing the website in the same system makes more sense than learning WordPress separately.
The tradeoffs
HubSpot is much more expensive than WordPress hosting. You have less design freedom and are tied to HubSpot's system. Adding custom features is also harder than with WordPress plugins.
These tradeoffs make sense when marketing integration value exceeds the cost and flexibility limitations. For companies where HubSpot is already central to marketing operations, HubSpot CMS often fits better than WordPress.
When we recommend HubSpot: You're already using HubSpot for marketing automation and CRM. Your marketing team needs to create landing pages and personalized content independently. Marketing attribution and visitor tracking are priorities. The additional cost fits your budget. You value workflow integration over design flexibility.
Shopify vs. WordPress for e-commerce
You can run an online store with WordPress and WooCommerce, but Shopify is made just for e-commerce. The best choice depends on how your business works.
When Shopify is the better choice
If e-commerce is your primary business, Shopify provides everything you need in one platform built specifically for online stores. Inventory management, payment processing, shipping integrations, order management, and customer accounts all work seamlessly out of the box.
Shopify's app store offers special e-commerce features like subscriptions, dropshipping, and B2B pricing, which WooCommerce doesn't handle as smoothly. For businesses focused only on e-commerce, Shopify makes things simpler.
Performance and security are Shopify's responsibility. You don't optimize servers or patch security vulnerabilities. You sell products while Shopify handles infrastructure.
When WordPress with WooCommerce makes sense
If your business combines significant content with e-commerce, WordPress excels. Publishing detailed product guides, running a content marketing blog, managing complex information architecture alongside a store all favor WordPress's content management strengths.
WordPress lets you customize your site's design and features more than Shopify does. If your brand needs a unique look or special functions, WordPress gives you more control.
For businesses where e-commerce is one feature among many, WordPress with WooCommerce often fits better than Shopify.
The decision framework: Pure e-commerce or e-commerce as primary business model: Shopify. Content-heavy business with e-commerce component: WordPress with WooCommerce. Need for extensive design customization: WordPress. Priority on simplicity and e-commerce-specific features: Shopify.
Modern frameworks like Astro: when performance justifies complexity
We test modern web frameworks on our own projects to understand when they offer genuine advantages over WordPress. Astro has emerged as particularly interesting for specific use cases.
What Astro does differently
Astro creates static HTML sites with very little JavaScript. Pages load almost instantly because there's no server or database work. This makes Astro much faster than WordPress, even when WordPress is highly optimized.
For marketing sites, documentation, or content that changes infrequently, this performance advantage matters. Google's Core Web Vitals favor fast sites. Users prefer instant page loads. Astro delivers both by default.
The significant tradeoff
Updating content usually needs a developer, since there's no visual editor or admin panel like WordPress. Changes often mean editing code and rebuilding the site. For businesses that publish a lot, this isn't practical.
But for sites where content changes are infrequent and planned (company websites, documentation, marketing pages), the performance benefit justifies the content management tradeoff.
What we're testing
We build our own test projects on Astro to understand capabilities, workflows, and where it excels versus WordPress. This hands-on testing lets us recommend Astro confidently when projects align with its strengths.
We do this testing on our own time, not yours. When we suggest Astro, it's because we know it solves certain problems better than WordPress—not because we want to try something new.
When we consider Astro: Performance is a primary requirement. Content updates are infrequent and can involve developers. Site is primarily marketing or documentation rather than dynamic content. Security requirements favor static sites over dynamic platforms. The client has technical resources for content management.
Platforms we generally don't recommend
Wix and Squarespace
Wix and Squarespace are fine for small businesses or personal sites. But as your business grows, they can hold you back. You're stuck in their system, with limited ways to add features, connect to other tools, or move your site.
What makes these platforms easy at first can become a problem later. If your business needs custom features, special integrations, or better performance, you'll soon run into their limits.
Drupal and Joomla
We'll use Drupal or Joomla if you already have them or need something specific they offer. But for new projects, WordPress gives you the same features, more developers to choose from, and easier management.
Drupal excels for complex, enterprise-scale applications with specific security or workflow requirements. But most businesses don't have those specific needs. WordPress serves most use cases better with less complexity.
How we decide which platform to recommend
Choosing a platform starts with your real needs, not just what the platform can do.
Questions we ask
What functionality do you need? Standard business features favor WordPress's plugin ecosystem. E-commerce as primary business suggests Shopify. Marketing automation integration points to HubSpot.
Who manages content and how often? Frequent updates by non-technical staff favor WordPress or HubSpot. Infrequent updates by technical teams open options like Astro.
What systems need integration? If you're invested in HubSpot's marketing tools, HubSpot CMS makes integration seamless. If integration needs are diverse, WordPress's flexibility helps.
What are performance requirements? Standard business performance works fine with WordPress. Exceptional speed requirements suggest static site generation like Astro.
What's your budget? WordPress offers the most functionality per dollar. HubSpot costs significantly more but provides integrated marketing value. Shopify pricing makes sense for e-commerce volume.
WordPress fits most cases
After considering these questions, we find WordPress is the best fit for most business websites. It offers the right mix of flexibility, features, cost, and support for most needs.
But if your needs match better with HubSpot's marketing tools, Shopify's e-commerce strengths, or Astro's speed, we'll recommend those instead.
Why we test new platforms on our own time
Web development is always changing. New tools come out, and old ones get better. We keep up by learning and testing all the time.
We create test projects on platforms like Astro before we suggest them to clients. This way, we learn what works and what doesn't—without making you pay for our learning.
When we recommend a platform, it's because we've tested it, know its pros and cons, and believe it fits your needs—not just because it's new or interesting to us.
By testing new tools regularly, we stay up to date and make sure our advice is based on what's best for you, not just what we want to try.
Need help choosing the right platform?
We'll suggest WordPress if it's the best fit, HubSpot if you need marketing integration, Shopify for e-commerce, or Astro for top performance. The platform should always match your business—not our preferences.
Frequently asked questions
Why is WordPress still the most popular platform for business websites?
WordPress combines flexibility, proven reliability, and an extensive plugin ecosystem that solves common business needs. It has matured over 20+ years into a platform that handles everything from simple brochure sites to complex membership portals. The large developer community means solutions exist for most problems, and hosting providers optimize specifically for WordPress performance.
When does HubSpot make more sense than WordPress?
HubSpot makes sense when your marketing team needs integrated CRM, email automation, lead tracking, and website management in one system. If you're already using HubSpot for marketing automation, keeping your website on the same platform creates seamless data flow. The tradeoff is less design flexibility and higher cost compared to WordPress.
Should I use Shopify or WordPress with WooCommerce for e-commerce?
Shopify if e-commerce is your primary business and you want a platform built specifically for online stores. WordPress with WooCommerce if you need content-heavy features alongside e-commerce, want more design control, or already have a WordPress site. Shopify is simpler for pure e-commerce. WordPress is more flexible for content-commerce hybrids.
What is Astro and when would you recommend it?
Astro is a modern web framework that generates static HTML sites optimized for speed. We recommend it for marketing sites, documentation, or content that changes infrequently and needs exceptional performance. The tradeoff is that content updates typically require developer involvement rather than a visual editor. It excels when speed matters more than content management convenience.
Why don't you recommend Wix or Squarespace for business websites?
Wix and Squarespace are fine for very small businesses or personal projects. They become limiting as businesses grow and need custom functionality, integrations, or performance optimization. You're locked into their ecosystem with limited ability to extend functionality or migrate elsewhere. For growing businesses, the initial simplicity becomes a constraint.
How do you stay current with new web development platforms?
We test new platforms and frameworks on our own projects before recommending them to clients. This includes building test sites, exploring capabilities, and understanding tradeoffs. When a new platform offers genuine advantages for specific use cases, we can recommend it confidently. This ongoing testing keeps us informed without making clients pay for experimentation.
Can businesses really manage WordPress content themselves?
Technically yes, but in practice, most businesses don't. Even with WordPress's user-friendly editor, companies often prefer having professionals handle content updates to ensure consistency, quality, and proper optimization. The ability to make updates without developer involvement matters more for urgent changes than regular content management. It's about having the option when needed.
How do you decide which platform to recommend?
We start with your business needs: What functionality do you need? Who manages content? What integrations matter? What's your budget? What are your performance requirements? WordPress fits most cases because it balances flexibility, cost, and functionality well. But when specific needs align better with HubSpot's marketing integration, Shopify's e-commerce focus, or Astro's performance, we recommend those instead.
