Why we don't use WordPress for business websites
By Bunyamin Kidir , founder of Leadyard Published Last updated
The short answer
We build without WordPress because modern business websites no longer need it, and it brings real costs. Plugins add security risks, slow pages down and often need paid licences, and the whole site needs regular updates. Custom-built sites using modern frameworks are faster, have far less to attack and cost less to run.
What WordPress is, and why it became so popular
WordPress started as blogging software and grew into the most widely used website platform in the world. It is free, there are thousands of ready-made themes, and almost any feature can be added with a plugin. For years it was the obvious choice for a business website, and plenty of good websites still run on it.
But the web has changed. Customers now judge a business on a phone, often on a patchy mobile signal. Google measures how fast and stable pages are. Automated bots scan the web around the clock looking for sites to break into. Against that background, the way WordPress works has real downsides for a modern business website.
The problems with WordPress for modern business websites
Plugins do most of the work, and every one is a risk
A WordPress site gets most of its features from plugins: contact forms, page builders, galleries, SEO tools, security, caching and backups. A typical business site can easily run a dozen or more, each written by a different developer.
Every plugin is extra code running on your site. Plugins can clash with each other, slow pages down, or stop being maintained when the developer moves on. Security researchers who track WordPress problems consistently report that most of the vulnerabilities they find are in plugins and themes, not in WordPress itself.
There is more to attack
A WordPress site runs PHP code on a server, stores its content in a database and has a login page at a predictable address. That combination is exactly what automated attacks look for. Bots try common passwords on the login page and look for sites running out-of-date plugins with known flaws.
None of this means a WordPress site will be hacked. It means the site has to be actively defended: kept up to date, protected by security plugins and backed up, every month, for as long as it is online.
Speed suffers
Many WordPress themes and page builders load large amounts of code on every page, whether that page needs it or not. Each plugin can add more. The usual fix is yet another plugin for caching and optimisation, which adds its own settings and its own things to go wrong.
Speed is not just about patience. A slow site loses visitors before they see your phone number, and Google uses page experience as part of how it ranks websites.
Updates never stop
WordPress itself, your theme and every plugin release updates regularly. Some fix security problems and need applying quickly. Others change how things work, and occasionally an update breaks a layout or a contact form until someone notices and fixes it. Someone has to own that job, and on many business sites, nobody does.
The costs creep up
The software is free, but many of the plugins and themes businesses rely on are sold as yearly licences: premium page builders, form plugins, SEO tools and security services. Add good WordPress hosting and someone’s time to manage updates, and the running cost is often higher than people expect.
Many sites end up looking the same
Popular themes are used by thousands of businesses. Customising them heavily is possible, but it usually means more plugins and more code, and the site can still feel like a template.
How we build websites instead
We custom-build every website with modern, industry-standard web frameworks such as Astro. The design is created for your business from a blank page, and the code only does what your site needs.
- Pages are built in advance. Instead of assembling each page from a database every time someone visits, the pages are prepared ahead of time and served from a global network, close to whoever is looking at them. That makes them load very quickly, even on a phone.
- There is far less to attack. There is no PHP, no database and no public admin login. The one part that runs on a server, your enquiry form, is a small, single-purpose function with spam protection.
- No plugin bills or plugin updates. Features are built into the site, so there are no licences to renew and no plugin updates to keep on top of.
- Hosting and care are simple. Our hosting and care plan covers hosting, SSL, backups, monitoring and small edits each month, for one fixed monthly price.
The trade-off: editing your website
The honest downside is that there is no WordPress-style dashboard for you to log in to. For most businesses that is a good trade: content changes a few times a year, and sending us the change is quicker than learning a dashboard. Small edits are included in our care plan.
If you need to publish content yourself every week, tell us at the start and we will talk through the best option for you.
Isn’t WordPress still better for blogs and content-heavy sites?
That used to be its strongest argument. It no longer holds.
- Blogs and articles. Modern frameworks handle articles natively: each post is a fast, prebuilt page with proper structure for Google and AI search, and there is no database to slow it down or attack.
- Content editing. If your team needs to publish content itself, a modern site can be connected to a dedicated content editor, without bringing WordPress’s plugins, database and login page along with it.
- Features that once needed a plugin. AI-assisted development tools mean features such as booking requests, calculators, filters or galleries can be built into a custom site quickly and affordably, with no plugin weight, licence fee or update to manage.
The main reason to stay on WordPress today is history rather than capability: a large existing site with a team already trained on it can sensibly decide the move is not worth it yet. For a new website, or a rebuild, the case for WordPress has largely gone. That is why we build without it.
Questions to ask any web designer
Whatever you choose, ask these before you sign anything:
- Who keeps the website updated and secure after launch, and what does that cost?
- Which paid plugins or licences does the site rely on, and who pays to renew them?
- How fast does the site load on a phone, and can you show me?
- Do I own the website and the domain, and can I move them if I leave?