Weighing Up WordPress, Magento or Something Else?
An honest look at what each platform is good and bad at, so you can pick the right one for your business. I work with all three, so I've no reason to push you towards any of them.
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If you're thinking about a new website or a move off your current one, the first question isn't which platform is best. It's which one is right for your business, your budget and the way you want to work.
I've spent 15+ years building on WordPress and Magento, and I built my own platform, HD CMS, on top of everything I learned. So I'll give you a straight comparison of all three, including where each one falls short. There's no single right answer, and I'm happy to help you whichever way you go.
WordPress
WordPress runs a huge share of the web, and for good reason. It's flexible, there are thousands of people who know it, and you can find a plugin for almost anything.
Good for: content-heavy sites and blogs, businesses that want a wide pool of developers to choose from, and projects where you need a specific feature that an existing plugin already handles well.
Watch out for: the plugins that make WordPress flexible are also the part that needs the most looking after. They need keeping up to date, they can clash with each other, and an unpatched one is the usual way a site gets hacked. Performance can suffer as you add more of them. None of that means WordPress is wrong for you, it just means it needs proper care.
If WordPress suits you, I'm happy to build on it, fix a site that's gone wrong, or look after one you already have. More on WordPress work.
Magento
Magento is a serious ecommerce platform. If you sell at real volume, with complex products, multiple stores or trade and retail pricing side by side, it can do things lighter tools can't.
Good for: larger or growing stores with complicated catalogues and order volumes, businesses that need fine control over pricing, stock and customer groups, and anyone who has already invested in a Magento setup that works.
Watch out for: it asks a lot in return. It needs proper hosting, it usually needs a developer for changes, and major upgrades are real projects rather than quick jobs. For a smaller store it can be more platform than you need, and the running costs reflect that.
I'm a certified Magento developer and a former Head of Development. If you're on Magento, I can keep it fast and stable, or tell you honestly when it's worth moving on. More on Magento work.
HD CMS
HD CMS is the platform I built and run for the sites I look after. It's aimed at small and medium businesses that want a fast, custom site without a lot of moving parts to maintain.
Good for: small and medium businesses that want a quick, custom site, owners who'd rather not think about plugins, updates or security, and anyone who wants to deal with one developer directly rather than an agency. Bookings and a simple shop are built in if you need them.
Watch out for: it's my own platform, so I'm the person who looks after it. That suits people who want a single point of contact, but it's a smaller pool than WordPress if you ever want to hand the work to someone else. It's also built for small and medium businesses, not large, complex catalogues, where Magento is the better fit. More on HD CMS.
So Which One Should You Pick?
A rough rule of thumb. If you sell at volume with a complicated catalogue, Magento earns its keep. If you want a flexible content site and a wide choice of developers, WordPress makes sense, and I can build or look after it for you. If you're a small or medium business that mainly wants a fast, custom site with as little to maintain as possible, HD CMS is usually the simplest answer.
The honest truth is the right choice depends on your business, not on which platform I'd prefer to sell. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll point you at the one that fits, even if that isn't mine.
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Not mockups. Not demos. Real businesses.
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Not Sure Which Way to Go?
Tell me what you're on now and what's frustrating you. Book a free surgery and I'll give you an honest view of whether to stay put, fix what you've got, or move, and which platform fits.