Why businesses choose WordPress
- No license fee. The software is free and open source.
- Huge choice of add-ons. Thousands of themes and plugins add features.
- Easy to hire for. Many developers and agencies know it.
- Editing built in. Staff update pages and posts in the browser.
- User roles. Editors, authors and contributors get different permissions.
W3Techs counts WordPress on about 40% of all websites, more than any other system.
The tradeoffs
| Issue | Why it happens | How to manage it |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Heavy themes and many plugins load extra code | A lean theme and few, well-chosen plugins |
| Security | Popular software attracts attacks, often through old plugins | Updates, backups and fewer plugins |
| Maintenance | Core, theme and plugins all need updates | A maintenance plan or managed hosting |
| Layout drift | Page builders let anyone break the design | Locked templates with editable fields |
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
WordPress.org gives you the free software to run on your own hosting, with full control. WordPress.com is a hosted service with plans that limit plugins on cheaper tiers. Most business sites use the self-hosted version.
When we recommend it
WordPress fits when your team already knows it, you need a specific plugin or you plan to publish heavily. We also build custom sites with modern frameworks and a CMS like Keystatic or Sanity. Those are faster and need less upkeep, so they are our default. We choose with you based on how your team works.
Good example. A real estate team runs WordPress with a lean custom theme, five vetted plugins and weekly updates. It loads fast and stays secure.
Bad example. A clinic runs a multipurpose theme with 40 plugins, half of them unused and out of date.
Our WordPress development service starts at $4,500.