I saw this study recently and the numbers really caught my attention. Almost 9 out of 10 businesses said they were satisfied after switching from WordPress to other platforms.
Some of their complaints make sense to me. Like how you need so many plugins just to get basic functionality working. And don’t get me started on the costs. Free plugins used to be enough for most things, but now it feels like you need premium versions for everything.
The e-commerce side is especially brutal. Want decent WooCommerce functionality? You’re looking at spending hundreds or even thousands annually on various extensions. No wonder people just go straight to Shopify instead. The problem is once they leave, they don’t come back.
Anyone else seeing this trend? What’s your experience been like?
totally agree, WordPress has turned into a hassle. i remember when it was easy to use but now it feels overloaded. haven’t tried Webflow yet but I’ve heard great things. glad your client is happy with the switch!
Switched from WordPress to Ghost 18 months ago - wish I’d done it earlier. WordPress turned into a bloated mess where we spent more time fighting the CMS than writing. The editor constantly broke our formatting, and theme updates always screwed something up. The final straw? Got hacked through an outdated plugin. We thought we were keeping everything updated, but there were just too many moving pieces to track. Ghost handles the technical stuff automatically, so our writers actually write instead of figuring out why the page builder crashed again. Performance is way better too - page loads dropped big time without all those plugin scripts. WordPress has its place, but it’s gotten way too complicated for most business sites.
Been through this exact situation last year. We clung to WordPress way too long because everyone kept saying things would improve - they didn’t. The wake-up call? We calculated our real WordPress costs. Premium plugins, security services, constant dev fixes, and beefy hosting to handle the bloat - we were spending almost as much as enterprise solutions. Speed testing really opened my eyes. Our WordPress site crawled at 4-5 seconds even after optimization. Competitors on modern platforms? Consistently under 2 seconds. That performance gap kills conversions and search rankings. Migration was easier than expected though. Most platforms have WordPress import tools that do the heavy lifting. We switched to headless CMS and never looked back. No plugin conflicts, predictable costs, and our content team actually creates content instead of fixing broken layouts.
I’ve run a web dev agency for almost 10 years, and yeah, people are definitely moving away from WordPress. It used to be what everyone wanted, but now clients are looking elsewhere because it’s just too much work to maintain. The constant plugin updates and security headaches eat up way more time than they should. Lately I’ve had several client sites break after updates - that hardly ever happened before. What really gets clients is when they add up all their plugin costs and realize they could’ve gotten a custom build or managed service for the same money. WordPress still works for some projects, but it’s clearly not the default choice anymore.
Had this exact problem at my last company. WordPress became a massive time sink.
What killed me wasn’t the plugin costs or maintenance headaches everyone mentions. It was watching my team do the same tasks over and over. Updating content across multiple sites, syncing product data, managing user permissions - all manual.
The breaking point came during a product launch. We had to update pricing on our main site, push notifications to customers, sync inventory data, and trigger email campaigns. With WordPress, this meant logging into 5 different systems and hoping nothing broke.
That’s when I realized the real solution isn’t switching to another CMS. It’s eliminating the repetitive work entirely.
Now everything runs on autopilot. Content updates flow everywhere automatically. Customer data syncs across platforms. Even complex stuff like conditional email sequences based on user behavior - all automated.
Most businesses think they need to choose between WordPress complexity or expensive custom solutions. You can automate away the entire problem and make any platform work seamlessly together.
The productivity gains are insane once you stop doing everything manually.
The Problem: The original poster expresses frustration with WordPress feeling outdated and clunky, particularly the Gutenberg editor, which they find confusing for both themselves and their clients. They feel the platform has become overloaded with features and plugins, leading to performance issues and a generally negative user experience.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause): WordPress, while initially simple and accessible, has evolved into a complex system striving to cater to a broad range of users from bloggers to large enterprises. This has led to a bloated core, a reliance on numerous plugins for even basic functionality, and a user interface that some find increasingly difficult to navigate. The Gutenberg editor, intended to modernize the content creation process, has introduced a new learning curve and, for some, hasn’t fully resolved the usability challenges of the classic editor. The combination of these factors contributes to the perception of WordPress as outdated and cumbersome, particularly when compared to more streamlined platforms.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
Plugin Overload: Too many plugins can significantly slow down a WordPress site and create conflicts. Regularly review and uninstall plugins no longer needed.
Theme Conflicts: Outdated or poorly coded themes can interfere with the Gutenberg editor and cause unexpected behavior. Consider switching to a lightweight, well-maintained theme.
Performance Bottlenecks: A slow server or inefficient database queries can impact the Gutenberg editor’s responsiveness. Investigate server performance and database optimization techniques.
Lack of Training: The Gutenberg editor has a learning curve. Invest in training for yourself and your clients to improve proficiency and reduce frustration. Consider using resources like the official WordPress documentation or online tutorials.
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!
This is exactly why I ditched WordPress for teams years ago. Sure, plugins and costs suck, but the real killer is all the manual babysitting.
I had one team burning 2-3 hours weekly just on WordPress maintenance - updates, backups, security patches, plugin conflicts. That’s 150+ hours yearly of pure overhead.
Everything changed when we automated the whole web workflow. Need a new site or want to update content across platforms? It all runs automatically. No more plugin roulette or surprise breaking changes.
Content management became ridiculously smooth. Set up automated workflows that push content everywhere it needs to go - main site, social media, email lists. No more copying and pasting between dashboards.
For e-commerce, you can automate inventory sync, order processing, customer notifications - all of it. Way more reliable than crossing your fingers that WooCommerce extensions won’t break each other.
Most companies don’t know they can automate away this entire headache. They think it’s either WordPress maintenance hell or expensive custom development. There’s a third option that beats both.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause): WordPress, while initially simple and accessible, has evolved into a complex system striving to cater to a broad range of users from bloggers to large enterprises. This has led to a bloated core, a reliance on numerous plugins for even basic functionality, and a user interface that some find increasingly difficult to navigate. The Gutenberg editor, intended to modernize the content creation process, has introduced a new learning curve and, for some, hasn’t fully resolved the usability challenges of the classic editor. The combination of these factors contributes to the perception of WordPress as outdated and cumbersome, particularly when compared to more streamlined platforms.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!