Why I pick Next.js (and not WordPress)
For most clients who come to me, WordPress was the default. Here is why I traded it for Next.js and what that delivers in practice.
When a client comes to me with a website question, WordPress is usually the first thing they think of. Fair enough: WordPress runs over 40% of all websites worldwide. But for modern projects it is less and less often the right call. Here is why I pick Next.js and what that means concretely.
Speed: the gap is bigger than you think
An average WordPress site loads in 3 to 5 seconds. A Next.js site I build sits under a second by default. That sounds small, but to Google it is the difference between ranking at the top or not. And to a visitor on mobile, the difference between staying and leaving.
Maintenance: fewer moving parts
A WordPress site is a core, a theme and on average 15 to 25 plugins. Every update is a chance to break something. A Next.js site is one codebase that you maintain deliberately. No surprises on a Sunday morning because a plugin update broke a component somewhere else.
What you get instead
- Lighthouse scores of 95+ out of the box
- A CMS where you need one (Sanity, Payload or a light custom variant)
- Hosting on Vercel with automatic SSL and a global CDN
- A codebase that is still readable five years from now
When does WordPress still fit?
Honestly: for a simple blog with an active writer who wants to manage everything themselves, WordPress can work fine. For a company site with conversion goals, speed requirements and specific integrations? Modern frameworks win almost every time.