The Stack We Used to Build With
For most of Live Web Studios’ history, the answer to “how do we build this?” was WordPress. Pick a theme. Customize it, install a page builder like Divi, then bolt on plugins for forms, SEO, caching, security, backups. Done.
It works. We’ve built hundreds of sites that way. But over time, the weight adds up.
The Stack We Build With Now
Here’s what a new LWS site looks like under the hood in 2026:
Design phase: We use Google Stitch and Claude Design to turn reference sites and design direction into real layout decisions. Fast, iterative. No blank canvas every time.
Build phase: Claude Code and Cursor handle the actual build. Clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, written to your specs. Not assembled from a template library.
Content management: For clients who edit their own content, we set up Decap CMS. It’s a lightweight editor that lives in the browser. You log in, edit your text, hit save. No database. No WordPress admin, no plugin updates.
Forms: Formspree handles contact forms cleanly. No plugin, no backend code.
Hosting: Sites deploy through GitHub to Netlify. Every change is versioned and rollback is one click. Hosting runs on a global CDN, so your site loads fast whether the visitor’s in Newark or Nevada.
What You Don’t Have Anymore
You don’t have a database that can get corrupted. You don’t have 40 plugins that need updating. You don’t have a single server that goes down and takes your site with it.
What You Do Have
A fast, version-controlled site. It costs less to host, loads faster for visitors, and needs far less maintenance to keep running right.
Thinking about the move? Let’s talk. See our web design services →