Maintenance never ends
Plugin updates, PHP versions, and security patches take time every month, and something occasionally breaks.
Leaving WordPress? Here’s where to go.
If plugins, patches, and page builders are running the site instead of your team, it may be time to move. The right destination depends on who edits the site and how much content it carries.
Should you move off WordPress?
If the site is mainly marketing pages and your team wants to publish without a developer, move to Framer. If it is content-heavy, performance-critical, or deeply integrated, move to Astro with a visual CMS. If the same content feeds the website, a product, and other channels, move to a headless CMS such as Sanity or Contentful.
If WordPress is stable, your team is comfortable in it, and a developer keeps it maintained, staying is a reasonable choice. Migrate because the platform is holding you back, not because it is old.
Signs it’s time to leave WordPress.
Publishing needs a developer
Page builders and custom themes make simple changes risky, so marketing waits in a queue.
Performance has stalled
Caching plugins and image tools have been tried, and Core Web Vitals still won’t move.
The plugin stack is fragile
Critical features depend on plugins that conflict, go unmaintained, or change licensing.
Security is a recurring worry
The site is a target because it runs WordPress, and hardening it is a job of its own.
Where WordPress teams usually go.
Most WordPress sites land in one of three places. The deciding questions are who edits the site, how much content it has, and where that content needs to go.
| Option | Best for | Who edits content | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Framer | Marketing sites where the team wants to design and publish without a developer | Marketing, directly in a visual canvas | Not for application UI or content that feeds other channels |
| Astro with a visual CMS | Content-heavy or performance-critical sites with custom integrations | Marketing, in the CMS; developers own templates and components | New templates need a developer |
| Headless CMS (Sanity or Contentful) | Content reused across the website, product, and other channels | Editors, in structured content models | More architecture to plan before you build |
Option
Framer
- Best for
- Marketing sites where the team wants to design and publish without a developer
- Who edits content
- Marketing, directly in a visual canvas
- Watch out for
- Not for application UI or content that feeds other channels
Option
Astro with a visual CMS
- Best for
- Content-heavy or performance-critical sites with custom integrations
- Who edits content
- Marketing, in the CMS; developers own templates and components
- Watch out for
- New templates need a developer
Option
Headless CMS (Sanity or Contentful)
- Best for
- Content reused across the website, product, and other channels
- Who edits content
- Editors, in structured content models
- Watch out for
- More architecture to plan before you build
Pick a path.
WordPress → Framer
The best visual builder for marketing sites: a full CMS, fast pages, safe editing, and native AI workflows.
View migration pathWordPress → Astro
A fast, modern frontend with a visual CMS on top, for sites that have outgrown all-in-one platforms.
View migration pathWordPress → Headless CMS
Structured content in Sanity or Contentful, delivered to the site and anywhere else it needs to go.
View migration path
Stay on WordPress, or go?
Not every site needs to move. Here’s the honest version.
Leaving WordPress makes sense when
- Maintenance is taking real time every month
- Marketing can’t publish without developer help
- Performance work has stopped paying off
- You depend on plugins you don’t trust
- A redesign is coming anyway
Staying on WordPress is fine when
- The site is stable and rarely breaks
- Your editors are fluent in the admin
- You have a developer who maintains it well
- You rely on a WordPress-only plugin with no good replacement
- There’s no budget or appetite for a rebuild this year
What comes with you.
Posts, pages, custom post types, ACF fields, and media all move by script, and page-builder markup is rebuilt as clean components.
- Every page and CMS item, moved by script
- URLs, with a tested 301 redirect map
- Titles, descriptions, and structured data
- Forms, CRM, and marketing automation
- Analytics, tag manager, and consent setup
- Images and media, re-optimised
Leaving a different platform?
Leaving AEM
Is Adobe Experience Manager more platform than your site needs? Compare moving to a headless CMS with Astro, and see when staying on AEM makes sense.
Read the guideBolt to Production
Built a full-stack prototype in Bolt? Spot the signs it has outgrown the browser, see where Bolt builds should go next, and ship it without starting over.
Read the guideLeaving Contentful
Facing a Contentful price jump or hitting its limits? Compare moving to Sanity, Astro content collections, or Framer, and see when staying on Contentful makes sense.
Read the guide
Leaving WordPress: common questions.
Is it worth migrating off WordPress?
It is worth it when maintenance, publishing friction, or performance are costing you more than a rebuild would. If the site is stable and your team is productive in it, staying is often the better decision.
What is the best alternative to WordPress for a marketing site?
For most marketing sites, Framer: marketing can design and publish without a developer and there is almost nothing to maintain. For content-heavy or highly integrated sites, Astro with a visual CMS is usually the better fit.
Is Framer or Astro better for a WordPress replacement?
Framer suits marketing-led sites, including content-rich ones, where the team wants to publish without developers. Astro suits sites that need custom integrations, multi-channel content, or developers who want full control of the code.
Will we lose SEO if we leave WordPress?
Not if the migration is done properly. Every indexed URL is mapped to a 301 redirect, metadata is carried across, and Search Console is monitored after launch.
Can we keep our WordPress blog?
Yes. A phased approach can move the marketing pages first and keep the blog on WordPress, or on a subdomain, until it is migrated.
How long does a WordPress migration take?
A typical marketing site takes five to eight weeks including content migration. Larger sites, or a redesign in the same project, take longer, and we scope it after a discovery audit.