WordPress alternatives for sites that are designed, not published
If your WordPress site is a few designed pages and no blog, you are running a CMS you do not use. Siter.io designs and hosts those pages, with nothing to update.
Siter.io compared with WordPress · every figure checked
The short answer.
For a portfolio, a studio site or a landing page, Siter.io does the job with no themes, plugins or updates, free at name.getsiter.com or on your own domain from $7/mo billed yearly. For a blog, a shop or a publication, WordPress is still the better tool.
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Switch if…
The site is a handful of designed pages, the blog has not had a post in a year, and keeping core, theme and plugins updated is a chore you would rather drop.
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Stay if…
Stay on WordPress if the site is a publication, if you need plugins for something no builder does, or if the site has to be owned outright on hosting you control.
Feature by feature.
Each WordPress cell says which WordPress it means. Where a page says nothing, the row is left out instead of guessed.
| Feature | Siter.io | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | A hosted website builder: the editor, hosting and SSL in one subscription | Free open-source software you host yourself (WordPress.org), or Automattic's hosted service (WordPress.com) |
| Free plan publishes a public site | Yes. 1 website at name.getsiter.com, with 3 pages, 1 form taking 10 submissions a month and the "Built with Siter.io" badge. No custom domain | On WordPress.com, yes: a yoursite.wordpress.com subdomain with 1 GB storage and WordPress.com ads. No custom domain, no plugins, no custom themes |
| Cheapest plan that publishes to your own domain | $7/mo billed yearly, $8 monthly | On WordPress.com, $4/mo billed yearly on Personal, $9 monthly. Self-hosted, whatever your host charges |
| How you design | On a free-form canvas, a separate layout per breakpoint, placed by hand | With a block theme in the Site Editor: headers, footers and templates edited visually, inside what the theme allows |
| Figma import | Yes. First-party plugin on every plan, one-way, no re-sync | None of its own; third-party plugins only |
| AI website builder | Yes, Siter AI: builds and edits pages from a description; credits per plan | Yes on WordPress.com, WordPress Agent, on paid plans |
| CMS, blog and posts | No | Yes. Posts, pages, categories, revisions and scheduled publishing are the product |
| Plugins | No plugin store. Head code and a Code element for embeds | Over 60,000 on every paid WordPress.com plan. Unrestricted when self-hosted |
| E-commerce | No. Listed as upcoming | WooCommerce on any paid WordPress.com plan, or as a plugin when self-hosted |
| Forms | Built in, with Form Entries, CSV export and Zapier | The Form block, with responses under Jetpack, Forms |
| Analytics | Cookieless Siter Analytics built in, plus Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel | WordPress.com stats: the last 7 days on Free, all-time traffic from Personal up |
| Who maintains it | Siter.io. Nothing to update | On WordPress.com, Automattic. Self-hosted, you: core, themes and plugins update on their own schedules |
| Server access | None: the hosting is Siter.io's | SFTP and SSH from WordPress.com Business, $25/mo billed yearly. Full access when self-hosted |
| Taking the site with you | HTML download on Pro only, one page at a time: a ZIP with the page's HTML and its images, CSS and JavaScript, not a full-site export | WordPress.com exports posts, pages and comments to move to a self-hosted install; Business and Commerce download a full backup |
| Hosting and SSL | Yes, included on every plan: HTTPS is automatic on name.getsiter.com and on a custom domain | On WordPress.com, included, with free SSL on every hosted domain. Self-hosted, your host's |
Siter.io and WordPress details checked on 2026-10-26 against wordpress.com, wordpress.org. Prices change; tell us if a cell is out of date.
What it costs to publish.
Per-month prices billed yearly. WordPress.com’s were read off its pricing page on 2026-10-26; self-hosted WordPress costs whatever your host charges.
Siter.io
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Free
Free
1 website on name.getsiter.com, 3 pages.
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Solo Entry plan
$7 /mo billed yearly · $8 monthly
1 published website, 10 pages, custom domain included.
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Plus
$12 /mo billed yearly · $14 monthly
3 published websites, 50 pages, custom domain included.
Full plan list on pricing. Checked 2026-10-08.
WordPress
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WordPress.org
Free
Free and open source, self-hosted. You supply hosting, a domain, PHP 8.3 or greater and MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.11 or greater. The bill is your host's, not WordPress's.
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WordPress.com Free
Free
A yoursite.wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB storage, unlimited pages and posts, the last 7 days of stats. No custom domain, no plugins, no custom themes, and WordPress.com ads are shown.
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WordPress.com Personal to Commerce Entry plan
$4 to $45 per month billed yearly · $9 to $70 monthly
Personal at $4 removes the ads and allows plugins and custom themes, with a domain free for the first year on yearly billing. Premium is $8, Business at $25 is the first tier with SFTP and SSH, and Commerce at $45 installs WooCommerce with its store extensions.
From WordPress’s own pricing page. Checked 2026-10-26.
Where WordPress wins.
If any one of these matters to you, stay on WordPress.
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The software is free and yours
WordPress.org is free, open source and self-hosted. Nothing else in this comparison lets you own the whole stack, and no vendor can wind it down. Siter.io is a hosted product.
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A publication-grade CMS
Posts, pages, categories, scheduled publishing, revisions and multiple authors, out of the box. Siter.io has no CMS or blog at all.
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Plugins for everything
WordPress.com lists over 60,000 plugins on every paid plan, from Personal up. If the site needs a thing no builder does, this is usually where it already exists.
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A shop when you need one
WooCommerce installs on any paid WordPress.com plan, and Commerce sets it up with store extensions. Siter.io has no e-commerce.
Why people leave.
Rarely the price. Usually the machinery a small site carries with it.
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Free is not the same as no bill
WordPress.org software costs nothing, but you supply hosting, a domain, PHP 8.3 or greater and a MySQL or MariaDB database, plus the updates and backups that come with running it. The honest comparison is against a hosting bill, not against zero.
Source: wordpress.org
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The hosted plan removes the plumbing
On WordPress.com, SFTP and SSH start at the Business tier, $25 a month billed yearly. Below that you have a hosted CMS rather than a server you control, which surprises people who chose WordPress specifically to control it.
Source: wordpress.com
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Design is a theme problem
Layout comes from a block theme and the Site Editor, so matching an approved design means finding a theme close enough or building one. WordPress lists no Figma import of its own, so a Figma file is a specification rather than a starting point.
Source: wordpress.com
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It is a system to maintain
Core, themes and plugins all update on their own schedules, and on a self-hosted install that maintenance is yours. For a six-page portfolio that is a great deal of machinery to keep running.
Source: wordpress.org
Other WordPress alternatives.
The right one depends on what the WordPress site actually does. Each link goes to a comparison with every figure dated.
The site is a blog or a publication
Webflow is the closest designed alternative with a real CMS, at the cost of a steeper editor. Webflow vs WordPress sets the two side by side.
The site is a small business with bookings or a shop
Squarespace and Wix bundle templates, a store and scheduling into one subscription. Read the Squarespace comparison or Wix vs Squarespace.
The site is a designer’s portfolio with motion
Framer is built around animation and has a CMS, priced per site. The Framer comparison says where it beats us.
The site is designed pages and nothing else
That is Siter.io: a canvas, one layout per screen size, a Figma import and Siter AI, with hosting included. The rest of this page is the honest version of that trade.
How switching goes.
There is no WordPress importer. A theme is code, not a design file, so the pages are rebuilt rather moved.
- List the pages that are really designed pages.
- Rebuild them on the canvas, or send the Figma frames.
- Set each breakpoint and the SEO fields.
- Point the domain at Siter.io and publish.
What does not come across
Posts, comments, plugins and their data stay behind: Siter.io has no blog to put them in. If the site has a working blog, that is the reason not to switch.
Keep your page addresses where you can, and set the SEO title and description on each page before you move the domain.
What you give up.
Siter.io is the smaller product, and the gaps are real.
- No CMS, blog or posts. Pages are designed, not generated from entries.
- No e-commerce. It is listed as upcoming, with no date.
- No plugin store. Head code for the whole website and for each page, plus a Code element for embeds on the canvas, and that is the extension point.
- No self-hosting. Siter.io is a hosted product. HTML download on Pro only, one page at a time: a ZIP with the page's HTML and its images, CSS and JavaScript, not a full-site export.
- A small free plan. Free publishes one website at name.getsiter.com with 3 pages, 1 form and our badge.
- Responsive is placed by hand. A separate layout for each breakpoint: Desktop 1200, Tablet 640 and Mobile 375 by default, plus any custom width you add.
- No real-time co-editing. Two people cannot work in one page at once.
In return: nothing to update, hosting and SSL, a free custom domain on paid plans, the Figma import on every plan, built-in forms and analytics, and Siter AI. AI credits come with every plan: 100 once on the Free plan (Lite and Basic only), then 600 a month on Solo, 800 on Plus and 2,000 on Pro, and unused plan credits stay usable one more month.
Frequently asked.
What are some alternatives to WordPress?
Webflow for a designed site with a CMS, Squarespace or Wix for a small business with a shop or bookings, Framer for a portfolio with motion, and Siter.io for designed pages with no blog. The section above sends each kind of site to its comparison.
What is the best WordPress alternative?
It depends on whether you use the CMS: if you publish posts every week, Webflow is the closest replacement. If the site is a few designed pages, a builder with nothing to maintain fits better, and that is what Siter.io is for.
Is WordPress free?
The software is: WordPress.org has no license to buy, but you supply the hosting, domain and database and carry the updates. WordPress.com’s free plan publishes to a wordpress.com subdomain with ads, and its paid plans start at $4 a month billed yearly.
Is there a free alternative to WordPress?
Yes, within limits: Siter.io’s Free plan publishes one website at name.getsiter.com with 3 pages and our badge, with nothing to install. A custom domain needs a paid plan, from $7/mo billed yearly.
Can I move my WordPress site to Siter.io?
Not automatically: there is no importer, because a WordPress theme is code rather than a design. You rebuild the pages on the canvas, send them from Figma if the design started there, or describe them to Siter AI.
Does Siter.io have a blog?
No. Siter.io has no CMS or blog, so a site that publishes posts should stay on WordPress or move to a builder with a CMS.
More honest comparisons
- Siter.io vs Lovable When what you built from a prompt turned out to be a website.
- Figma Sites vs Framer Per seat against per site, and a beta against a finished builder.
- Framer pricing, explained Every plan, dated, and what a portfolio actually costs per year.
- Framer vs Webflow Design-first speed against a real content system.
- Framer vs Figma Figma Sites, Framer, and what "real HTML" means.
- Webflow vs Squarespace Which one a designer should actually pick.
Also useful: Siter.io pricing in full and the Figma to HTML plugin.
Try it on the design
you already have.
Open the Figma plugin, send a frame across, or describe the page to Siter AI, and see what comes out.