What’s the right platform for your website?

People often ask me: “Martin, which platform should we build our new website on?”
And my classic answer is: “It depends.” Annoying, right? Well, I also have a quick answer: WordPress!

But today I want to dig a bit deeper into the options you have — and why this decision can become very expensive if you get it wrong.

So what are the options on the table?

First, there’s the old-school way: write HTML and CSS from scratch. Technically brilliant — you get a unique site, super fast, clean code, loved by search engines and users alike. But let’s be real: unless you’re a developer or have one on speed dial, this is like building a car from scratch. Sounds nice, but it’s slow, impractical, and every tiny update requires outside help.

So let’s move on to modern CMS platforms.

WIX is popular because it looks so easy at first. Drag, drop, done. And it works… until you want more. As I’ve seen with many clients, once you need advanced features or custom functionality, WIX quickly becomes a headache. Great if you only need a simple “business card” site. Not so great if you plan to grow.

Drupal is like a Swiss army knife — it can do everything and then some. No wonder it’s loved by government websites. But the “everything” is also the problem. For a simple company site, Drupal can be like driving a Ferrari just to ride around the block. Powerful, but unnecessarily complex and expensive to maintain.

WordPress is my old friend, and honestly, my favorite. It’s the most popular platform worldwide for a reason. Nearly every developer, designer, and business owner has touched it, which means you’ll always find affordable help. Even if your first “guy” runs off to Bali, you’ll find another in no time. Managing, updating, and developing on WordPress is rarely a dead end.

Webflow has become very trendy in recent years. It offers stunning, flexible design options. Personally, I like it and sometimes recommend it. But flexibility has a cost: if you’re new to it or don’t want to spend time learning, Webflow can feel overwhelming. Especially if you (or your staff) want to manage the site yourselves later.

A real story from my experience

A client once wanted to build an online store. I suggested WooCommerce because WordPress was already familiar to them. But they found a guy from India who built the store on Prestashop for super cheap. At first, it looked like a great deal. But soon the client realized they couldn’t manage or update it themselves. They became totally dependent on that one developer — who, of course, was “always busy.”

A few months later, they came back to me, frustrated. They had already spent money, and now rebuilding seemed even more expensive. “Why does fixing it cost more than the first build?” The answer was simple: you chose the wrong platform.

Platform choice isn’t just a technical decision. It affects your entire future — from daily management to development costs and scalability.

So how should you decide?

Always think about:

Is the platform easy and comfortable for you (and your team) to use?

Is it widely supported, so you’re never stuck with one developer?

Can it be scaled and developed further without crazy costs?

When in doubt, choose a platform that’s flexible and familiar to many people. Trust me — you’ll sleep much better at night.

Platform	Best for	Pros	Cons
HTML & CSS from scratch	Custom, ultra-fast, one-of-a-kind websites	Unique, lightweight, SEO-friendly	Hard to maintain, every change needs a developer
WIX	Small business “business card” websites	Easy drag & drop, quick setup, beginner-friendly	Limited flexibility, hard to scale, weak for custom features
Drupal	Government, large organizations, complex systems	Powerful, scalable, secure, lots of features	Complex, expensive, overkill for small sites
WordPress	Most businesses, blogs, and e-commerce (WooCommerce)	Flexible, huge community, endless plugins, easy to find help	Can get bloated with plugins, needs regular maintenance
Webflow	Design-driven companies, startups, agencies	Beautiful designs, no-code flexibility, modern UX	Learning curve, harder for non-tech staff to manage
Prestashop / Shopify	E-commerce websites	Shopify: super easy setup, all-in-one. Prestashop: more flexible, scalable	Shopify: ongoing fees, limited customization. Prestashop: harder to manage