vs
Webflow vs Next.js
Webflow is a visual site builder with a hosted CMS. Next.js is a React framework your engineers use to code a site from scratch. Both can run a serious B2B marketing site. The choice is about who builds and changes it, and how close it sits to your product.
The short answer
Choose Webflow if the site is marketing and content, and a designer or Webflow developer should own it without taking engineering time. Choose Next.js if the site shares code or data with your product, needs custom logic, or must live in your codebase with your hosting and review rules. We design and build in Webflow, Framer and Next.js, so we’ll recommend the one that fits the team running the site. If your engineers would rather build it themselves, we can design the site in Figma for them.
At a glance
What it is
A hosted visual builder with a CMS.
An open-source React framework. You write the site in code.
Editing
A visual builder based on HTML and CSS concepts. Editors get a limited role for text, images and CMS items.
In code. Content editing needs a headless CMS, such as Sanity, Contentful or Payload, connected by your developers.
CMS
Built in, with collections that reference each other and plan limits.
Whatever your team connects. No built-in CMS.
Design control
High and precise. Every style maps to CSS, with interactions and custom code.
Anything your team can code.
Hosting
Hosted by Webflow. Some paid Workspace plans can export static code, without the CMS or forms.
Vercel, another platform or your own servers. Your team owns the setup.
Custom logic
Custom code, the CMS API and third-party tools.
Full. APIs, logged-in states, data from your product and pages generated from your database.
Who maintains it
A designer or Webflow developer, with marketers editing content.
Your engineers.
Typical fit
Content-heavy marketing sites and resource libraries.
Sites tied closely to the product, with engineering time set aside for them.
How to decide
Who builds and changes the site
Choose Webflow if
A designer or Webflow developer builds the templates and marketers publish content without engineering help.
Choose Next.js if
Engineers will own the site, and content changes go through a headless CMS they set up.
How close it sits to the product
Choose Webflow if
The site explains the product and sends people to sign up, with the app on its own subdomain.
Choose Next.js if
The site shares components, login state, pricing or live data with the product.
How much you publish
Choose Webflow if
You publish a lot of structured content and want it managed in a hosted CMS within its plan limits.
Choose Next.js if
You have very large or complex content, or you generate pages from your own database.
Whether you need a middle path
Choose Webflow if
You’d like most of the site visual and editable, with code where it counts. DevLink can sync Webflow components into React, and Webflow Cloud can host a Next.js app under the same domain as a Webflow site.
Choose Next.js if
The whole site needs to live in one codebase.
Security and hosting rules
Choose Webflow if
A hosted platform meets your company’s security requirements.
Choose Next.js if
You must host on your own infrastructure, or every change has to pass code review.
What it costs
Webflow
Webflow charges a site plan for each site and a Workspace plan for the people who build it. The build is a one-off cost. After launch, marketers edit content, and a Webflow developer handles new templates.
Next.js
Next.js is free and open source. You pay for hosting, any headless CMS and, mostly, engineering time to build the site and keep it running. New page types, forms and design changes need a developer.
Over a year, compare the engineering hours spent on marketing changes. For many teams, that number decides it.
How we help
We design in Figma and build in Webflow, Framer and Next.js, so we won’t push Webflow when a coded site is the better fit. If your engineers want to build it themselves, Website Design covers the structure and responsive design in Figma for your engineers to build. OpaqAI’s team built its site from our four-page design.
If Webflow fits, we design and build the site with a CMS your team can run. See Webflow websites.
Questions
Daniel G. Bright
Founder, BrightStudios
Still have a question?
Book a call with me to talk through your project and agree the next step.
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Webflow vs Shopify
A content-led site with a small store, or a commerce platform.
Talk it through
Tell us what the site needs to do and who will run it. We’ll recommend one platform and explain why.