Web designers and developers frequently repeat the same tasks, such as setting up hosting, creating a CSS style guide, implementing classes, and formatting HTML—essential steps needed before a site’s initial launch. It can get pretty monotonous, right?
Now, imagine a tool that handles all that while still allowing you to craft a fully custom website as though you were coding from scratch. That’s where Webflow comes in.
Webflow is a website builder that functions similarly to many others. It offers a visual canvas on which you can combine design elements to create a beautiful site without writing any code.
In this article, I will share a detailed Webflow review. I will help you know if it’s one of the best website builders for your business. Let’s get started.
Comparing Webflow to other website builders
Webflow is an excellent choice for web designers and developers who want to build sites their usual way—with far less hassle and much more automation.
Like many website builders, it offers a drag-and-drop editor and a variety of templates to help you get started. Still, its real strength lies in the unparalleled control it provides—possibly the most of any platform in its category.
From the first paid plan onward, Webflow users can access their site’s code directly, allowing for any custom edits they wish to make. Users can even export HTML and CSS files to share with developers or move to other workspaces on the platform.
However, if your website or business doesn’t require such a high level of control, some of the other top website builders on our list might be a better fit.
Squarespace is my top pick for building stunning, content-driven websites without needing any web development skills. Weebly is my best free choice, offering a solid website builder at no cost—all it requires is a small Weebly link at the bottom.
Wix is an excellent all-purpose website builder with features and themes requiring no coding or design experience. Start your seven-day free plan on Wix today. WordPress is the go-to platform for bloggers and content creators looking for a highly flexible website builder. It’s ideal for creating a website from the ground up.
Webflow Review: Key features
Webflow’s level of customization is truly remarkable, making it a powerful tool for experienced developers. It allows you to adjust the underlying code to fine-tune themes precisely as you envision, and you can seamlessly add animations and integrations. At the same time, Webflow manages both foundational and complex backend tasks.
However, some experience is beneficial to fully leverage Webflow’s capabilities, as beginners may find the learning curve steep when challenges arise. Still, for those wanting a website builder that offers complete control from the start, Webflow is tough to top.
1. Excellent visual editor
The intuitive Editor in Webflow review provides robust control over your site with various options, which can be excellent if you have prior experience in web design. For beginners, the range of features may feel overwhelming at first.
Still, Webflow University’s extensive video tutorials—conveniently available within the designer workspace—are a great resource for learning the interface.
Instead of complex dashboards or a cluttered back-end CMS, Webflow offers a streamlined, on-page editing experience. Editing directly on the page feels intuitive, with accessible panels to manage dynamic content, forms, page settings, and account details via the Editor toolbar.
The editor also simplifies SEO optimization, allowing you to configure meta descriptions, Open Graph settings, URLs, and more directly on the platform without needing additional plugins. This native search engine optimization functionality is especially convenient, as plugins can have limitations on other platforms.
Plus, you can invite collaborators, like teammates or clients, to work on the site, making it easy to manage site edits collectively.
2. Top-notch designer
The Webflow Designer lets you build and style your site’s structure, customize its look and feel, and incorporate content, animations, interactions, and custom code. This allows you to create a fully functional website, prototype, landing page, or presentation with clean, semantic, and web-ready code.
As a web-based app, the Designer makes it simple to work directly in your browser, letting you see real-time results. This setup also streamlines updates, improvements, and collaboration with teammates or clients.
You can access the Designer through the Dashboard, Project settings, or the Editor, and start building your site using features like:
3. Customizable templates
Webflow offers over 100 free and premium templates, all of which can be customized without any coding knowledge. These responsive templates suit personal and business websites, from simple one-page layouts to complex multi-page sites, making it easy to start your project.
In addition to the free templates, I found an extensive, ever-expanding selection of paid templates with impressive design work tailored for the Webflow platform. These premium options cover various categories, design styles, color schemes, and functionalities—worth exploring if design isn’t your strong suit and your budget allow.
Once you select a template, it’s added as a new project in your dashboard, with all its pages ready to customize. However, it’s important to note that Webflow templates are standalone; they won’t replace the design or layout of an existing site. I recommend previewing a template in the Designer before purchasing to ensure it meets your design requirements.
If you’re a freelancer, a designer, or enjoy creating templates, you can sell your designs in the Webflow Template marketplace.
4. Secure and scalable hosting
In addition to its intuitive no-code website builder, Webflow delivers fast, scalable, and secure hosting through its Tier 1 Content Delivery Network, powered by Fastly and Amazon CloudFront.
During testing, I found load times impressively fast. Webflow’s hosting service also includes features such as:
5. Security protocols
Webflow aligns its security program with industry standards such as ISO 27001 and CIS Critical Security Controls to enhance the security of its website builder.
The platform also complies with CCPA and GDPR, partners with certified payment processors like Stripe, and includes built-in security features, such as:
Webflow employs encryption across its platform to safeguard communications between users, databases, backups, and personal or non-public data from unauthorized access.
Customer data, including names, usernames, email addresses, payment history, invoices, and more, is stored in the Webflow cloud. Users can request their data or ask for it to be deleted unless it’s under investigation or subject to a legal hold.
Webflow also partners with third-party service providers for payments, analytics, email, and hosting, all of which undergo extensive due diligence and testing to ensure data security. These providers can only access the minimum data necessary for processing tasks.
As part of its commitment to security, Webflow recently updated its TLS hosting configuration in August to support TLS 1.3, the latest and most secure browser encryption protocol.
6. Programming aspects
As noted, containers are the foundation of any Webflow site. Rather than managing them with code, Webflow allows you to work with them using a simple drag-and-drop approach.
At this stage, it becomes clear that Webflow is far more sophisticated than many competitors. Its interface, reminiscent of Adobe Photoshop, allows you to visually design on the front end while the platform translates your actions into backend code.
Unlike other website builders, Webflow maintains a closer connection to programming fundamentals.
Webflow’s learning curve is significantly steeper than that of platforms like Wix or Squarespace. It may feel challenging if you’re unfamiliar with web design basics like the box model, hierarchies, or floating elements.
The initial tutorial covers only the essentials, but “Webflow University” offers a robust selection of video courses to guide users through more advanced capabilities.
As a hybrid CMS and website builder, Webflow requires more adjustment than most platforms and isn’t mainly geared toward beginners. However, for those with web design knowledge or a willingness to learn, Webflow provides a powerful, flexible tool with fewer limitations than its competitors.
7. Webflow CMS
Webflow is not just a site builder; it’s also a comprehensive CMS, similar to Drupal or WordPress, the latter of which Webflow has positioned itself against by claiming greater versatility.
According to Webflow, its platform combines traditional content management with cutting-edge visualization tools, offering a unique advantage.
Within Webflow’s CMS, users can create “Collections” to organize different types of content. For instance, if you’re setting up a blog, you can add headings and permalinks and then populate them with content.
You can also set up an “Author Collection” for team members, complete with fields for photos, bios, and social media profiles. These collections can be interconnected, allowing you to display blog posts by each author easily.
8. Zapier integrations
Webflow doesn’t offer an app marketplace, but it supports thousands of third-party integrations. By blending web design and content management, Webflow offers a significantly more powerful site-building tool than most other platforms.
Aimed at users with some coding knowledge, it provides nearly unlimited features, enabling the creation of highly dynamic websites. This has advantages and drawbacks.
For instance, simpler site builders simplify certain tasks, like creating a multilingual site. To fully leverage Webflow’s capabilities, a good level of expertise is essential. If this is lacking, Webflow’s competitors may better meet your needs.
9. eCommerce and marketing
Webflow is also well-regarded for its robust e-commerce support. The Webdlow eCommerce plan automatically generates collections for products and categories when adding an online store.
A built-in tutorial guides users step-by-step through setting up a store, detailing the essential information and elements needed for a fully functional shop.
Adding new products is easy, with options to categorize them through the product menu in just a few clicks. You can specify fields like product images, sizes, taxes, and inventory, and Webflow supports physical and digital products and product variations.
Webflow provides extensive control for your eCommerce site like like products, categories, a customizable shopping cart, and checkout options—features that other platforms often offer only through multiple integrations.
While Webflow doesn’t revolutionize e-commerce, its integration of essential tools and customizable options makes it highly versatile compared to other website builders and more user-friendly than some content management systems.
Webflow offers discount options for marketing, though more advanced features like email marketing are not built-in. Exploring Webflow's range of third-party integrations is recommended for a more comprehensive solution.
Webflow pricing structure
Now, let's take a look at the Webflow's pricing structure. It's one of the most important aspects of my Webflow review, so make sure you pay close attention to this pricing table.
Webflow pricing structure
1. Free: $0
2. Basic: $14/month
3. CMS: $23/month
4. Business: $39/month
5. Enterprise: Contact sales
Webflow has a relatively cost-effective pricing structure. You don't need to worry about breaking your bank or facing any financial issues. However, remember that the pricing won't be the same for eCommerce stores.
Webflow has a different pricing structure for online stores, and those pricing plans are slightly more expensive than this one. But it's completely justified, given the features you get.
Ready to use Webflow?
With Webflow, breaking the code barrier doesn’t mean separating programming from website building. Instead, Webflow visualizes these processes and integrates them closely with the front end.
This approach allows users to build a website without formal programming or web design training, yet it’s not a simple drag-and-drop experience. For its intended audience, Webflow offers a powerful and refined hybrid solution combining the best coding and design.