Twenty years building on WordPress. Then we rebuilt the whole workflow around static HTML and AI. Here’s the honest reason.
Let me be clear. WordPress is not bad. For 20 years it powered nearly every site we built. We didn’t leave because it failed. We left because something better came along for the right clients.
The WordPress Problem
WordPress powers roughly 43% of the web. That’s exactly why it’s the #1 target for hackers. And the plugin ecosystem? Quality control is basically nonexistent.
We managed 50+ client sites. Every single week brought something: a compromised site, a plugin conflict, a page builder breaking on update. The maintenance never stopped.
What We Moved To
Static HTML. Not a headless CMS. Not a JAMstack framework. Hand-coded HTML, CSS, and a little vanilla JavaScript when a page actually needs it.
Hosting moved to Netlify through GitHub. Deployments happen in seconds. No server, no PHP, no database to babysit.
Blog management runs on Decap CMS. It’s lightweight and file-based, with a clean editor at /admin/.
The Results
PageSpeed scores climbed from the 40s and 50s up to 95-99. Security incidents dropped to near zero. Maintenance costs fell off a cliff.
Who Should Switch
This is a great fit for brochure sites, law firms, contractors, medical practices, and service businesses. It’s the wrong call for large e-commerce, membership sites, or anything that genuinely needs a heavy CMS.
Not sure which side of that line you’re on? Let’s talk. I’ll tell you straight.