Why I Switched from WordPress to JamStack: A Journey to Faster, Leaner Websites
For years, WordPress has been the go-to solution for creating dynamic websites. As a developer who worked extensively with WordPress, I loved its flexibility, especially when creating custom themes and unique features tailored to client needs.
But over time, my approach to web development shifted. Here’s why I moved away from WordPress and embraced JamStack—a modern web development approach that has transformed the way I build websites.
WordPress: A Developer's Dream… at First
When I first started building websites with WordPress, it was an absolute game-changer. The combination of PHP, an open-source community, and an endless number of plugins meant I could quickly launch websites with all sorts of features. Premium themes were a fantastic shortcut in the early days. I could customize them, add functionality, and deliver websites that fit my clients' needs in no time.
But, as time went on, I began noticing a trend. Customizing these bulky premium themes took more time than expected. They came loaded with unnecessary features, and each tweak led to potential conflicts. What started as a "quick solution" often became a heavy, bloated project. To get around this, I switched to creating custom WordPress themes from scratch.
Custom WordPress Themes: A Step Up
Building custom themes in WordPress with Roots Sage felt like a breath of fresh air. Without the overhead of unnecessary features and extra plugins, I could streamline the code and drastically improve the website's performance. Sites loaded faster, SEO improved, and my clients were thrilled with the results.
The Plugin Overload: From 5 Plugins to 55
A year after delivering a beautifully optimized custom WordPress site, I would often check in with clients to see how their sites were performing. What I found was alarming. In many cases, the sites had gone from using 5 or 6 essential plugins to 50+!
The problem? SEO experts, marketing teams, and WordPress "gurus" had worked on the site and added plugin after plugin—thinking they were improving the site. Instead, these additions bloated the site, causing load times to skyrocket from 1 second to 6 seconds or more.
Security vulnerabilities also increased, with some plugins no longer being updated or incompatible with the latest WordPress version, leaving sites exposed to hackers.
The Hidden Costs of Maintaining WordPress Websites
At this point, I realized that maintaining WordPress websites was much more work than building them. Constant security updates, PHP upgrades, and plugin patches turned into a never-ending cycle of maintenance. In fact, I made more money from fixing and maintaining WordPress sites than creating them.
But the work wasn’t enjoyable. Fixing hacked sites, handling PHP errors, and trying to clean up the plugin overload mess turned into a frustrating experience. I even started turning down projects where clients came to me with 90+ plugins, asking why their sites were slow. The complexity of these "spaghetti" websites wasn’t worth the hassle.
Is WordPress Bad? Not at All, But It’s Not for Everyone
Despite these challenges, I still believe WordPress is a fantastic platform for many types of websites. It excels in situations where dynamic content and frequent updates are necessary. If you're working with a limited budget and prefer a DIY approach, WordPress is a great option, allowing you to leverage its user-friendly interface and extensive resources to create your own site.
However, if you plan to hire an agency to create a custom site, it's essential to ensure that WordPress is the right fit for your needs.
WordPress can be an excellent choice for blog-heavy sites or those requiring numerous built-in features. But it’s not the best solution for every project. If performance, security, and scalability are top priorities, WordPress can become a challenge, especially when overloaded with plugins. You need to ask yourself, Do I really need all these features? Do I prioritize "reads" over "writes"?
Read Over Write: The Static Content Advantage
In my experience, optimizing the "read" experience—how a site performs when serving content to users—is more important than the "write" experience (how easy it is to add new content). A page may be written once, but it will be read thousands of times. Why should every read request trigger server-side processing, database queries, and plugin executions?
The solution? Serve static content. By pre-rendering pages and eliminating the need for server-side rendering, you can dramatically improve page speed, reduce server load, and increase security.
PageSpeed scores of some popular WordPress websites:
Why I Switched to JamStack
After struggling with optimizing WordPress sites and constantly battling to achieve a 90+ score on Google PageSpeed Insights, I discovered JamStack. JamStack (short for JavaScript, APIs, and Markup) changed everything for me. With static site generators (SSGs) like Jekyll, Hugo, and more advanced frameworks like Gridsome and later SvelteKit, and Astro, I found a way to build blazing-fast websites that solved all the issues I faced with WordPress.
The Benefits of JamStack
Lightning-Fast Websites: JamStack sites often score 99+ on mobile page speed. This level of performance is near impossible to achieve with a traditional WordPress setup unless it's extremely lightweight.
More Secure: Without a database or server-side logic, JamStack sites are much more secure. There's no server-side processing for hackers to exploit.
Better SEO: Faster load times and cleaner code mean better search engine rankings. Google now prioritizes page speed, making JamStack sites ideal for SEO.
Fewer Maintenance Headaches: JamStack sites don’t need constant updates. There are no plugins to maintain, no databases to manage, and fewer moving parts to break.
JamStack Alternatives: Flexible CMS Options
Switching to JamStack doesn’t mean you lose the flexibility of a CMS. There are several headless CMS options that integrate seamlessly with static site generators:
DecapCMS (formerly Netlify CMS)
These CMS platforms allow you to manage content dynamically, but the actual website content is served statically—providing the best of both worlds.
Conclusion: WordPress vs JamStack—Which Is Right for You?
WordPress remains a powerful tool, but it’s not always the best choice, especially if your website's performance and security are paramount. If you’re looking for faster load times, a cleaner codebase, and a more secure site, JamStack may be the right solution.
The shift to JamStack has transformed the way I build websites. It offers all the advantages of modern web development without the headaches of maintaining a bloated, plugin-heavy WordPress site. If you're ready to make the switch or want to learn more, feel free to reach out!
Sites Migrated From WordPress to JAMstack
Roorda & Tabula Rasa: 2 Sites 1 Repo
