Pagesmith vs WordPress
WordPress powers 40% of the web. It also accounts for most of the hacked sites, slow pages, and plugin conflicts. Pagesmith builds everything WordPress can — blogs, apps, dynamic features — with modern architecture that stays fast and secure.
What starts as a simple install becomes an endless cycle of updates, patches, and performance fixes. The site you launched isn't the site you're maintaining.
WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates arrive weekly. Skip one, and you're vulnerable. Keep up, and you risk breaking something.
Every plugin adds JavaScript. Every feature adds database queries. Sites that launched fast become slow within months.
WordPress requires MySQL for everything — even static content. That means managed hosting, backups, optimization, and another thing that can fail at 2am.
WordPress is free to download. Everything else costs time and money.
Pagesmith uses modern web architecture: static pages where possible, server-rendered routes when needed, React components for interactivity, and SQLite for data. Same capabilities, better foundations.
| Aspect | WordPress | Pagesmith |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Monolithic PHP + MySQL Everything runs through PHP | Astro + React islands + SSR Static where possible, dynamic where needed |
| Security updates | Weekly Core + themes + plugins | None needed No attack surface |
| Database | Required (MySQL) Always needed, even for static content | Optional (SQLite) Only when you need dynamic features |
| Hosting complexity | High PHP, MySQL, caching layers | Minimal Any static host or CDN |
| Performance over time | Degrades Plugins add overhead | Constant Static = always fast |
| Typical Lighthouse score | 50-75 | 95-100 |
| Cost per site (hosting) | $10-100/month Managed hosting | $0-20/month Static hosting or free tier |
| Code ownership | Theme + plugin lock-in | Full export Standard Astro project |
Everything WordPress offers — blogs, apps, dynamic features — built on modern architecture with visual editing and zero maintenance.
Plugins solve problems WordPress creates. Need SEO? WordPress doesn't include it. Need security? WordPress is a target. Need performance? WordPress is slow. Pagesmith includes SEO defaults, has no attack surface, and is fast by architecture. Most plugin functionality is either built-in or unnecessary.
Pagesmith handles dynamic features the same way modern apps do: React components for interactivity, server-rendered pages for dynamic data, and SQLite for persistence. User dashboards, forms, data displays — describe what you need and the AI builds it with proper architecture.
Pagesmith includes a visual editor for text content and a dedicated article editor for blog posts, documentation, and other long-form content. Edit visually or describe changes in plain language — no wp-admin complexity, no plugin conflicts.
Yes. Describe your existing site or paste the URL, and Pagesmith will generate a new version with the same functionality on modern architecture. No plugin baggage, no performance debt.
If you need a complex e-commerce system or a site with 50 integrations, WordPress might still make sense. For most websites, it's overkill.
You've spent too many hours updating client sites, fixing plugin conflicts, and explaining why the site is slow again. You want to hand off clean code and move on.
You don't have time to become a WordPress admin. You need a site that works, ranks on Google, and doesn't require weekly babysitting.
Your WordPress site takes 4 seconds to load and your bounce rate shows it. You want pages that load instantly without hiring a performance consultant.
Premium plugins, managed hosting, security services — the 'free' CMS costs hundreds per month. You want to host a site for the price of a coffee.
Describe your site. Get static pages that load fast, rank well, and cost almost nothing to host. No plugins required.
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