Note · 3 July 2026
[de] 17/26 Design
A website without WordPress. When it makes sense.
Most websites run on WordPress, out of habit. For many, a site without this system would be faster, more secure and cheaper to run. For some it wouldn't. An honest assessment.
What WordPress Does Well
Fairness first. WordPress opened up the web: millions of people were suddenly able to publish without being programmers. When ten people work in an editorial team at the same time, when a shop with a thousand products and inventory management is attached, then a large system has its place. I don’t reject WordPress. I simply ask a question that is rarely asked: Does your site really need all of that?
Where It Costs You Money and Peace of Mind
Most of the sites I see are shop windows. They show who works there, what it costs, how to get in touch. And for that they drag along a database, a login and a dozen plugins. Every plugin wants updates, every update can break something, and every forgotten vulnerability is an open door. Then there’s the load time: three to six seconds is normal for sites like these, and every second costs visitors and ranking on Google. All of this is paid for with maintenance contracts that only exist to keep things from falling apart.
A shop window doesn’t need an engine room.
The Alternative: Built Statically
I build websites with Claude Code, Astro and Cloudflare. Static means: the site sits on the web fully built, without a database, without a front-facing login, without plugins. The usual attack methods come to nothing because their entry points simply don’t exist. The sites typically load in under a second, worldwide. And maintenance? For that you get an AI file. You tell your own AI in plain words what should change, and it makes the change. How this way of working came about is described in the studio note on Vibe Coding.
When Switching Makes Sense
This way of building makes sense for almost everyone whose site presents and informs: freelancers, associations, small businesses, practices, offices, portfolios. In other words, for the vast majority. It is not the right path when many people need to work editorially at the same time, or when a complex shop is the heart of the site. And if that’s the case, I will tell you so, in the first conversation, before anything gets built.
How the Migration Works
A relaunch without WordPress is not a leap into the void. Content, images and texts move with you, old addresses are cleanly redirected so Google loses nothing, and in the end the new site belongs entirely to you: code, access, everything. My own site is built exactly this way. It is the first exhibit.
Few things, but precise. That applies to the technology beneath a website too.