For years, WordPress has been the go-to choice for everyone from bloggers to major brands. But the numbers don’t lie — and in 2025, those numbers aren’t looking good.

According to Search Engine Journal’s latest Core Web Vitals (CWV) CMS rankings:

Only 43.44% of WordPress sites had a good CWV score. That’s over 15 percentage points lower than fifth-ranked Drupal.
Translation: WordPress is dead last by a wide margin.

The 2025 CWV Rankings

2025 Core Web Vitals (CWV) CMS Rankings
Rank	Platform	% of Sites Passing CWV
1	Duda	83.63%
2	Shopify	75.22%
3	Wix	70.76%
4	Squarespace	67.66%
5	Drupal	59.07%
6	WordPress	43.44%
Source: Search Engine Journal, 2025 Core Web Vitals CMS Rankings

While competitors are improving site speed, stability, and responsiveness, WordPress is still relying on a patchwork of themes and plugins — many of which actively harm performance.

Why WordPress Is Falling Behind

Legacy Architecture – WordPress was built in a different era, when blogs and brochure sites ruled the web. That foundation now struggles with modern performance demands.
Plugin Dependency – Adding features often means installing more plugins, which stack up HTTP requests, increase JavaScript bloat, and slow down rendering.
Maintenance Overload – Keeping WordPress secure and fast requires constant updates, database cleanups, and performance tuning.
Editor & Workflow Friction – Even Gutenberg, WordPress’s “modern” editor, hasn’t delivered a smooth experience compared to the visual editing in platforms like Webflow.

Astro & Webflow: A Better Way Forward

Modern platforms have left WordPress in the dust when it comes to performance and workflow.

Astro (paired with a headless CMS like Storyblok or Contentful) delivers:

Lightning-fast sites by shipping minimal JavaScript.
Developer freedom with full control over components, routing, and integrations.
Future-proof architecture for scaling and adapting to new technologies.

Webflow offers:

True visual editing that matches the live site experience.
Optimized hosting with built-in performance tuning.
No plugin clutter — most features are native.

The result? Sites that meet or exceed CWV benchmarks without constant firefighting.

The Token “Fixes” for WordPress (And Why They’re Not Enough)

If you insist on sticking with WordPress, you’ll need to:

Use a performance-focused hosting provider.
Strip out heavy themes and replace them with custom lightweight builds.
Audit and replace bloated plugins.
Implement aggressive caching and a CDN.
Manually optimize Core Web Vitals with custom code.

But here’s the truth:
For most organizations, these “fixes” require developer hours, ongoing monitoring, and constant patching. And even after all that, your CWV score might still lag behind modern platforms that get it right out of the box.

When WordPress Still Makes Sense

We’ll be fair — WordPress still works for:

Small nonprofits that need a low-cost, entry-level website.
Tiny sites with only a handful of pages and no complex integrations.

But for serious businesses, content-heavy sites, or organizations that care about performance and scalability, WordPress is increasingly the wrong tool.

The Bottom Line

The market is moving toward lighter, faster, and more secure platforms. Astro and Webflow deliver this natively, while WordPress requires constant effort to keep up — and even then, it’s falling short.

If you’re planning your next website, it’s time to ask:

“Do I want to spend years patching an outdated system, or start with a platform that’s built for the modern web?”

WordPress FAQs

Why is WordPress falling behind other CMS platforms in performance?

WordPress’s architecture was built in a different era of the web, optimized for blogs and simple websites. Over time, its reliance on themes and plugins has introduced excessive code bloat, slow rendering, and security vulnerabilities. The 2025 Core Web Vitals CMS Rankings from Search Engine Journal show that only 43.44% of WordPress sites pass CWV standards — dead last among major CMS platforms, and more than 15 percentage points behind fifth-place Drupal. While other platforms like Astro, Webflow, and Duda are architected to minimize JavaScript and streamline delivery, WordPress still struggles with its legacy codebase and plugin-heavy ecosystem.

What are Core Web Vitals, and why do they matter for my site?

Core Web Vitals (CWV) are Google’s user experience metrics that measure load speed, interactivity, and visual stability. They directly influence search rankings and user satisfaction. A site that scores poorly on CWV may rank lower in Google search results and frustrate visitors with slow, jumpy, or unresponsive pages. While platforms like Astro and Webflow often pass CWV benchmarks by default thanks to their optimized architectures, WordPress typically requires extensive developer intervention to meet the same standards — if it can meet them at all.

Can’t WordPress performance be fixed with better hosting and optimization?

Yes, to an extent — but it’s not simple or cheap. Improving WordPress CWV often involves high-performance hosting, custom lightweight themes, extensive plugin audits, image and code optimization, caching layers, and CDN integration. Even with all these measures, performance gains are fragile: a single plugin update or theme change can reverse them. Modern platforms like Astro and Webflow achieve CWV-friendly performance out of the box, with no constant firefighting required.

How does Astro compare to WordPress for performance and scalability?

Astro is a modern JavaScript framework designed for lightning-fast static and hybrid websites. It ships almost no JavaScript by default, dramatically improving load times and CWV scores. Developers have complete control over the codebase, enabling scalable, future-proof architectures. Unlike WordPress, Astro doesn’t rely on third-party plugins for basic features — instead, it integrates directly with APIs, headless CMS platforms, and build tools, resulting in cleaner code and more reliable performance as your site grows.

How does Webflow offer a better editing experience than WordPress?

Webflow delivers true on-page visual editing, meaning what you see while editing is exactly what your visitors will see. There’s no disconnect between the backend editor and the live site, unlike WordPress, where theme previews, Gutenberg, or page builders often fail to match reality. Additionally, Webflow doesn’t require plugin management, so content teams can work without worrying about breaking functionality. Hosting is optimized by default, and performance scores typically exceed those of WordPress sites without additional work.

When is WordPress still the right choice?

WordPress can still be a good fit for small nonprofits, hobby sites, or simple blogs where budget is minimal, the feature set is basic, and the content changes infrequently. In these cases, using a lightweight theme and minimal plugins can keep performance manageable. However, for businesses with growth plans, content-heavy sites, or those who care deeply about search rankings and user experience, moving to Astro or Webflow is often a smarter investment.

What are the hidden costs of staying on WordPress?

Beyond hosting fees, the hidden costs include:

Ongoing maintenance hours for updates, security patches, and performance tuning.
Developer troubleshooting when plugin conflicts or theme updates break functionality.
SEO loss from failing CWV metrics.
Security incidents from outdated plugins or core vulnerabilities.
Over several years, these costs often exceed the investment in a modern, low-maintenance platform like Astro or Webflow.

How hard is it to migrate from WordPress to Astro or Webflow?

The difficulty depends on your current site’s complexity, but migrations are far more straightforward than many expect. Content can be exported from WordPress and imported into a headless CMS (for Astro) or directly into Webflow’s CMS. Media assets can be optimized and hosted on modern CDNs, and page designs are rebuilt to take full advantage of the new platform’s performance benefits. Agencies experienced in modern web architecture can complete migrations in a matter of weeks — and once you’re on a modern platform, you’re no longer stuck in the endless WordPress maintenance loop.