Why I Recommend Craft CMS Over WordPress (And When I Don't)
I built WordPress sites for about 12 years before switching to Craft CMS. I'm not someone who jumped ship because of a blog post or a conference talk. I switched because I kept running into the same problems on WordPress projects, and those problems didn't exist in Craft.
But I'm not going to pretend Craft is the right answer for everything. It isn't. WordPress is still the better choice in certain situations, and I'll be upfront about when that's the case.
Where Craft Wins
Content Modeling That Makes Sense
This is the biggest one for me. In WordPress, structured content requires plugins. You need ACF or Meta Box for custom fields, Custom Post Type UI or code for custom post types, and then you're managing field groups that live partly in the database and partly in PHP. It works, but it's bolted together.
Craft has all of this built in. You go to the control panel, create a section, define entry types, drag fields into field layouts, and you're done. No plugins needed. The content model is a first-class citizen of the system, not an afterthought.
For sites with complex content structures (universities, publications, large corporate sites), this difference is enormous. I've inherited WordPress sites where the ACF field groups were so deeply nested and interconnected that nobody fully understood how they worked. That doesn't happen in Craft because the content model is visible, centralized, and explicit.
The Authoring Experience
Content editors who use both systems overwhelmingly prefer Craft's control panel. It's clean, fast, and doesn't feel like it's fighting you.
The Live Preview in Craft is genuinely useful. Editors see their changes in real time as they type, side by side with the editing interface. WordPress has a preview button, but it opens a new tab and requires a save. Gutenberg improved things on the editing side, but it's still not the same as seeing your actual front end update live.
Also, Craft's control panel doesn't nag you with upsells, plugin ads, or "Premium" badges. The admin dashboard in WordPress has become increasingly cluttered with marketing from plugins. Craft's CP is focused on the content.
Security
WordPress powers 40%+ of the web, which makes it the biggest target for attackers. Every WordPress site runs with a known set of login URLs, REST API endpoints, and common plugin vulnerabilities. Automated bots scan for these constantly.
Craft has a much smaller footprint. It doesn't broadcast what CMS it runs. The control panel URL is configurable. There's no massive plugin ecosystem with unvetted code running on thousands of sites. And because Craft uses Composer for dependency management, there's a clear supply chain for everything installed on the site.
I've never had a Craft site get hacked. I can't say the same for WordPress, and I took security seriously on those projects too.
Developer Experience
Craft is built for developers who want control. The template engine (Twig) keeps logic and presentation cleanly separated. The config system uses PHP files and environment variables, making it easy to have different settings per environment. Project Config means your site structure is version-controlled and deployable through Git.
WordPress's developer experience has improved over the years, but it still carries decades of backwards compatibility. Functions like the_post(), the global query object, the template hierarchy, the hook system with its inconsistent naming. It all works, but it's showing its age.
Multi-Site
Craft's multi-site feature handles multiple sites (including different languages) from a single installation cleanly. You can share content between sites, override specific fields per site, and manage everything from one control panel.
WordPress Multisite exists, but it's always felt like it was designed for networks of blogs (which it was, originally). Using it for multi-language sites or truly different sites under one installation is possible but awkward. Most agencies I know use WPML or Polylang for multi-language instead, which adds another plugin dependency.
Where WordPress Still Wins
I'd be dishonest if I didn't acknowledge the areas where WordPress is genuinely better. There are a few, and they matter.
Ecosystem Size
There's a WordPress plugin for everything. Need to connect to an obscure CRM? There's a plugin. Need a booking system for a nail salon? There's a plugin. Need to add a specific payment gateway from a country you've never heard of? Plugin.
Craft's plugin ecosystem is smaller. The quality is generally high (most Craft plugins are well-maintained and professionally built), but there are gaps. If a client needs a very specific integration and nobody's built a Craft plugin for it, you're writing custom code. That's fine if you're a developer, but it's a real consideration for projects with tight budgets.
Cost of Entry
WordPress is free. Craft has a licensing cost ($35/month for Solo, $119/month for Pro with GraphQL and user management). For a single small site, WordPress is cheaper to run. For agencies building many sites, the Craft licensing costs add up.
I'd argue that Craft pays for itself in reduced development time and fewer maintenance headaches, but that's hard to prove to a client comparing line items on a proposal.
Finding Developers
There are millions of WordPress developers. There are far fewer Craft developers. If a client needs to hire someone to maintain their site after I'm done, finding a WordPress developer is easier and usually cheaper than finding a Craft developer.
This is slowly changing as Craft grows, but it's still a real consideration, especially for organizations that want to manage their site in-house.
Blogging
If the project is literally a blog and nothing else, WordPress is still good at that. It was built for blogging. The writing experience in Gutenberg has gotten quite nice, the SEO plugins are mature, and the publishing workflow is polished.
You can absolutely build a blog with Craft (this blog runs on a Craft-style stack), but you'll be building more from scratch. There's no built-in commenting, no built-in RSS, and no out-of-the-box blog template. You get full control, but at the cost of more setup time.
My Decision Framework
When a client comes to me with a new project, here's roughly how I think about the CMS choice:
I recommend Craft when:
- The site has a complex or custom content model (not just posts and pages)
- The content team cares about the editing experience
- There's a developer or agency who will maintain it long-term
- Security matters (financial services, healthcare, government)
- The site needs multi-language or multi-site support
- The budget supports custom development (not just assembling plugins)
- The project is a custom build, not a theme-based site
I recommend WordPress when:
- The client needs to find their own developer later and hiring from a large pool matters
- The budget is very tight and the site needs to be built mostly from existing plugins and themes
- There's a specific WordPress plugin that's essential to the project and has no Craft equivalent
- The site is a simple blog or personal site without complex content modeling needs
- The client's team already knows WordPress and doesn't want to learn a new system
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most of the "WordPress vs. Craft" articles online are written by people who have a financial incentive to recommend one over the other. WordPress theme shops say WordPress. Craft agencies say Craft. I try to be more honest about it.
The truth is that most websites could be built well on either platform. The CMS is rarely the thing that makes or breaks a project. What matters more is the quality of the development, the content strategy, and the ongoing maintenance.
That said, when I have the choice and the project fits, I build with Craft. Not because it's trendy or because I can charge more, but because I genuinely believe it results in a better product for the client. The sites are cleaner, the code is more maintainable, the content editors are happier, and I spend less time fighting the CMS and more time building features.
After 27+ years of web development and building on both platforms extensively, that's the honest summary.
If you're trying to decide between Craft and WordPress for an upcoming project, I'm happy to give you a straight answer based on your specific needs. No sales pitch, just an informed opinion. Reach out anytime.