174 - WordPress Page Builders V SaaS Page Builders

Debate - WordPress Page Builders V SaaS Page Builders

Setting up the Debate

This is the WordPress.org page builders i.e. Beaver Builder, Elementor, Divi, Oxygen, Brizy etc, against Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Moonfruit etc. In this debate we're talking about building a standard brochure sites that may need a blog or a shopping cart. So it's not about building out a complex, bespoke site that has masses of unique features. It's about something that's simple and can be done with the native features in the Page Builders.

We are excluding more specialist SaaS products like WebFlow aimed at developers. We are excluding WordPress.com too as that's a whole other debate!

So, here in broad outline is the content of both sides of the debate...

WordPress - the benefits

• ownership - this is yours and you get to keep all-the-things
• can keep expanding as business needs dictate (may not always need a brochure site) easy to progressively enhance the design
• no chance of getting banned from the service and leaving with nothing
• full control over design (no fighting templates)
• SEO (handles images better - concatenated blog, better structure)
• more control over code output
• more control over speed
• community - find out from others how to achieve most things
• market recognition that comes with WordPress 
• option to take cost down to next to nothing (GPL, caching and cheap hosting)
• chance to learn more about open source code - not the propriety stuff SaaS has
• a plugin for everything
• multilingual options
• privacy

SaaS - the benefits

• easy get started - look great instantly
• one vendor removing the complexities you get with the various plugin developers changing the UI
• not having to join the WordPress community where they debate all sorts of nonsense
• clear pricing / lower costs / time saving
• lots of well tested templates
• Squarespace include Adobe fonts
• avoids the hosting going bad
• no security issues that you have to deal with
• no endless plugin updates
• no plugin conflicts - massive UI changes that you did not expect
• no speed and hosting issue to worry about (global CDN built in)
• can hand it over to the client or use it for a passive income
• no rip-off developers
• support is right where you need it
• easy ecommerce solutions
• AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) at least with Squarespace
• no email deliverability issues
• they are growing and getting better - open-source has loads of people pulling in different directions

Final thoughts

David:

I think some of the advantages of open-source has been eroded recently (Page Builders not adopting GPL or a least locking down parts).

Then there's the uncertainty over where Gutenburg is going and how Automattic can afford to take over what it becomes for their commercial gain… this all opens my mind to the possibility of SaaS. Also low budget sites are quick to do.

But still, I work on the premise that if I am asked to build a site for someone I am giving them something they fully own at the point of payment. I also think, when telling clients about the longer term pros and cons of building on a platform - WordPress is more likely to be trusted without me persuading and taking the responsibility.

Nathan:

I think that if I were a complete noob and needed a site, I would likely explore WordPress, but then I would hit all of the difficulties and problems that are usual when learning WordPress. At this point I would likely just pay the $19 pcm and go with Squarespace et al. because it's to easy to use!

BUT if I needed more complexity I’d go with WordPress.

I still think that most people imagine that the job of building a website is the role of a professional and they will defer to whatever you suggest, but that’s declining and the marketing of the SaaS players is going to diminish the role of WordPress over time. I don’t mean eradicate it, just consume some % of the market.

I would never (as of now) build a site with a SaaS as there’s less of a path to generate recurring revenue, and with WordPress there is, but this is all in my favour, not the clients!

Mentioned in this episode:

Elementor

Beaver Builder

Brizy

Divi

Oxygen