WordPress, Next.js or Shopify: How to Choose the Technology for Your Website
There's no “best” technology. There's the one that fits your business, your team and your budget.
By the team at Diskette Studio · · 6 min read
We build sites with Next.js and stores with Shopify, so you might expect us to say everything else is wrong. It isn't true. Each platform solves a different problem. Here's our honest comparison.
WordPress
It's the most widely used content management system in the world. It has a huge ecosystem of themes and plugins, and it's easy for people writing content.
- Strengths: simple editing, plenty of developers, solutions for almost anything.
- Limits: performance depends on the number and quality of plugins; it demands constant security updates; template designs tend to look alike.
- A good fit if: your team will publish a lot of content and needs a familiar dashboard.
Next.js (React)
It's a framework for building custom sites and applications. The code is generated on the server or at build time, so pages reach the browser and search engines fully formed.
- Strengths: completely free design, very good performance, a smaller attack surface, ideal for portals, quote calculators and custom features.
- Limits: needs developers for structural changes; to edit content, it's best to add a separate content management system (CMS).
- A good fit if: you want a unique design, speed and custom features.
Shopify
It's a complete e-commerce platform: catalog, cart, payments, taxes, shipping and inventory come already solved.
- Strengths: get selling quickly, payments and security managed by the platform, apps for almost everything.
- Limits: you pay a subscription and fees depending on the plan, and deep customization has limits.
- A good fit if: your core business is selling products online.
What about Wix, Squarespace or Webflow?
They're valid options for launching quickly on a very tight budget. The trade-off is usually less control over the code, speed and future migration.
A quick decision guide
- You're going to sell products: Shopify.
- You need a large blog edited by a team: WordPress, or Next.js with a CMS.
- You want to stand out with your own design and maximum speed: Next.js.
- You need a quote calculator, customer area or special integrations: Next.js.
- Minimal budget and a simple site: a site builder, knowing its limits.
What matters more than the technology
Whatever you choose, make sure the domain and logins are in your name, that the site loads fast on an average phone and that every page has useful content. An excellent platform with poor content doesn't work.