What are your most favourite WordPress alternatives?

[ggmopa]

I avoid WordPress. I have a couple of clients running small shops or portfolios online. It’s simple enough to manage just using Vue or even plain Typescript in some cases.

I got a bigger client recently though. Just been doing homework before I start building and testing the site. Thing is they are really apprehensive about building their new site in anything other than WordPress. I have them enough reason to avoid WP so they’re considering alternatives after much convincing, but i’m wondering if there’s really anything out there that is a comprehensive and affordable ecommerce CMS that isn’t WP, Shopify or Magento. I’m looking at MedusaJS but wondering what all else anyone else might recommend.

 

[polecat]

Drupal can be great for ecommerece I done a few times.

 

[Outlaw]

For the stuff I do be interested in, I should've started using Astro yonks ago... Aside from that, I'm all for crying over WP

 

[t2van]

I run prestashop.

It's fine. The text side of things for going in content first isn't the best mind. But it's slowly overcoming that.

I have been looking to swap platforms but I like what we have. I know the platform. Have our own build version and I own it, no monthly fee other than the server which is mine. Self hosted.

 

[UnusualSubstance]

I'm using the poor man's clickfunnels - Systeme.

Will eventually graduate and grab Clickfunnels.

For me right now it doesn't matter all that much since I'm in the audience building stage.

Although a nice simple landing page with an email option and name would be nice.

Might get one or two loyal fans to optin already who knows.

But honestly I am liking the free plan of Systeme so far.

Might stay with them tbh.

Time will tell.

 

[Dev]

I use WordPress mostly. Not because it's flawless - but because I've made peace with its chaos.

The only platform I use or recommend outside of WP is Shopify. Cleaner backend, smoother UX for clients, and way less maintenance. If the business doesn't need deep customizations or weird SEO gymnastics, just push them to Shopify and sleep better at night.

 

[GoldenGlovez]

Astro + Shopify API statically generated and hosted on Cloudflare Pages has been my go-to for clients that want and are willing to cover on-going development and management of an ecomm site. There are some starter templates out there but beyond simple boilerplate functionality there is some heavy upfront development work writing your own.

For most smaller clients (and as much as it pains me) I still just recommend Wordpress + WooCommerce. Short term it's faster to get up and running for them, and long term its easier to pass the whole project over to someone else to manage. As crappy as it is to have to setup/develop with, it's a far safer choice for your client should they need to find a different developer to handle it down the road as wordpress/woocommerce devs are a dime a dozen. There is a lot of work there stripping out all of the default WP garbage to get passing 100s on pagespeed, but it is doable with good caching and CDN configuration.

If the client is already apprehensive about going with something other than WP, I'd take heed and go with what they want... Pushing an alternative solution just to satisfy your own preferences will blow up in your face when dealing with them should the slightest thing go wrong (and often will).

 

[Miyamoto]

Drupal is where it is at.

 

[Zwielicht]

Thing is they are really apprehensive about building their new site in anything other than WordPress

Out of curiosity, did they say why they have so much of a preference for WordPress?

 

[ggmopa]

Out of curiosity, did they say why they have so much of a preference for WordPress?

Basically because they’re familiar with it - as a brand name and also through previous experience and exposure to it. There main question was ‘if I don’t like it, can I switch back to WordPress?’ I even went to the trouble to make a WO based replica prototype complete with moving parts to give them the peace of mind.

I’m not sure if it was all overkill on my part, especially not having used WP in a while but it was easy enough to put together and it’s my first major project so I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. I just get lots of advice my brother when I could since he’s more well versed and experienced with it the system. Luckily, they’re quite happy with the mockup i’v been hard at work at for the past few days using react

 

[Zwielicht]

Basically because they’re familiar with it - as a brand name and also through previous experience and exposure to it. There main question was ‘if I don’t like it, can I switch back to WordPress?’ I even went to the trouble to make a WO based replica prototype complete with moving parts to give them the peace of mind.

I’m not sure if it was all overkill on my part, especially not having used WP in a while but it was easy enough to put together and it’s my first major project so I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. I just get lots of advice my brother when I could since he’s more well versed and experienced with it the system. Luckily, they’re quite happy with the mockup i’v been hard at work at for the past few days using react

It's funny, because I wish I could get more clients who want WordPress right off the bat. The clients I get tend to not even know about WordPress as an option.

It's good to hear they're happy with the mockup you made for then.

 

[ggmopa]

It's funny, because I wish I could get more clients who want WordPress right off the bat. The clients I get tend to not even know about WordPress as an option.

It's good to hear they're happy with the mockup you made for then.

I guess to great extent it would depend on the types of clients you get. I don't do this full time, it's primarily to help me with research for something else i'm doing and make a little extra lunch money.

WP doesn't have a great reputation all in all to some aspiring entreprenuer and so on but this is a mom n pop type store that couldn't get even figure out their Wix site properly. I guess they just wanted something familiar rather than get overwhelmed

 

[Hi-tech]

One of my favourite WordPress alternatives is definitely Ghost.