Framer vs. Webflow: Which One is Better?

As most web designers have used WordPress since the mid-2010s, they have spent countless hours fixing spacing issues, reconciling bugs due to incompatible plugins, and troubleshooting server errors.

Due to this, we understand the pain points these website-building apps were supposed to solve. However, most of these apps are aimed at small businesses instead of designers.

Framer and Webflow are the exceptions – they are designed for professionals, not beginners. Even though that means they’re not as beginner-friendly as other alternatives, there’s no limit to what designers can do on both platforms.

In this article, we’ll go through the pros and cons of Framer and Webflow and decide which platform is right for you.

Framer vs Webflow – a quick comparison

Before we get into the detailed comparisons, here are the quick comparisons between the two platforms:

Framer and Webflow are both feature design and development tools.
Based on data from builtwith.com, over 720,000 websites are built with Webflow, while only 17,000 are built with Framer.
Webflow offers seven paid website plans (3 for e-commerce and four for general), while Framer provides 3 site plans.
Both Webflow and Framer provide a collaborative plan. However, Webflow’s plans are divided into packages specifically for agencies, freelancers, and in-house companies.
Framer has a community page and other on-site learning resources. Webflow offers Webflow Academy, Libraries, Marketplace, FOrum, Apps, and more that offer complete resource options.
Framer has AI integration and functionality, while Webflow has only announced the use of AI.

Feature	Framer	Webflow
Wide Selection of SEO Tools	Yes	Yes
Advanced Website Localization	Yes	Yes
Robust Template Library	Yes	Yes
Custom Code Features	Yes	Yes
Figma Plugin	Yes	Yes
Native App for Mac & Windows	Yes	No
Vast Design Canvas	Yes	No
Real-Time collaboration	Yes	No

Framer vs Webflow – the complete comparison

After looking at the quick comparison, you may think Webflow has a slight edge. That’s not the case, as we’ll be going through the detailed comparison below to help you decide.

Which one is easier?

Note that the term “easier to use” is relative. Neither Framer nor Webflow is easier to use than more consumer-oriented website builder platforms like Squarespace. Framer and Webflow are ideal for startups, agencies, SaaS businesses, and enterprises that are technically capable and have a team of designers. Neither app is for beginners looking to build their first website, as the focus is more on design horsepower and customization instead of ease of use.

Therefore, Framer takes the spot for being easier to use, especially if you’re familiar with design tools like Figma. It’s a more intuitive platform with fewer settings that crowd the interface and a simple onboarding that gets you into an impressive option of templates.

On the other hand, Webflow requires a lot more digging to make tweaks, and the platform’s UI is more crowded. However, the steeper learning curve rewards you with more advanced capabilities. Webflow’s outstanding customizability and flexibility make it well-suited for developers, enterprises, and more complex use cases.

Who is Webflow for?

Marketing teams and content creators: Webflow’s CMS features allow marketing teams to take control of a website entirely to ease up all website marketing strategies. The platform’s user-friendly interface allows non-technical users to manage content without hassle.
SaaS companies: Webflow provides the perfect balance for SaaS businesses that require both high-performing and visually appealing websites. The platform’s design flexibility and extensive backend capabilities make it the perfect choice for dynamic, scalable projects.
Designers looking for more: Even though Webflow is known for its complex design features, it boasts more than just design. Its animations, interactions, and integrated development environment make it ideal for building engaging and well-performing web experiences.

Who is Framer for?

Small teams or individual designers: Framer is an ideal platform for small teams and designers looking to craft high-fidelity prototypes and visually appealing websites. The platform focuses on design and interactions for projects that emphasize aesthetics.
Growing businesses: For growing businesses looking to create beautifully designed websites and establish a strong online presence, Framer provides the necessary tools to build stunning websites with unique interactions.
UX/UI designers: Framer works well for creating detailed prototypes, and user flows, making it an excellent platform for UX/UI designers who focus on perfecting a site’s user experience before moving to development.

Webflow works best for complex design; Framer has more astonishing animations and components

Both Framer and Webflow offer everything you’d expect from a sophisticated website-building app. These platforms provide a drag-and-drop feature and pre-built templates with reusable design elements.

Webflow offers a more extensive customization option with complex layouts. Clicking on any item opens up an impressive choice of settings, such as choosing a heading that lets you tweak the spacing, adjust multiple positioning and backgrounds, and add effects like box shadows and cursor changes.

Meanwhile, Framer is more suitable for creating interactive prototypes, landing pages with animations, and minimum viable products (MVPs). Framer lets you import your Figma designs and convert them into dynamic websites while preserving multiple layers and elements.

Both Framer and Webflow are known for their slick animations. Tweaking a few things on either platform lets you discover effects that a decade ago were only available during serious custom programming. Even though both platforms provide polished visual effects, Framer has a more impressive components library that lets designers copy pre-built interactive elements.

Both platforms make you scale your website easier

Framer and Webflow are ideal for scaling your website. Each provides a robust content management system (CMS). No one wants to manage hundreds and even thousands of pages manually; this is where a CMS comes in, as each page begins as a data entry that is later dynamically displayed using a template.

Even though both apps have similar content management, Webflow has the edge due to the extensive CMS field types. These allow you to add a more diverse set of information for every entry. Webflow also enables you to build up to 40 CMS collections in various categories, including job listings, blog posts, projects, or case studies.

Despite the differences, Framer’s user interface provides a much smoother CMS experience and feels less intimidating to use than Webflow’s.

Available SEO tools

Webflow is an excellent tool for SEO as it lets you make a redirect, set global canonicals, and even automatically create a sitemap.

Let’s say you want to manually add code for the schema markup, page canonicalization, and more. You can do it easily by choosing the landing page on your Webflow website that you want to implement and adding the custom code in the head section. In addition, Webflow writes clean code to ensure users and search engines will like your website.

On the other hand, Framer focuses on analytics. The platform has built-in GDPR-compliant analysis that relies on GA4. This shows that it has a slight edge over Webflow. Besides that, Framer offers similar options to Webflow in terms of SEO, as you can add canonicals, redirections, metadata, and more.

Remember that both builders won’t give you a 100% SEO-optimized website if you don’t incorporate basic SEO principles during the design process. Applying different SEO and content strategies after launching your website is crucial. Therefore, ensure to optimize your technical SEO regardless of the builder you choose.

Which is more affordable?

When it comes to pricing, Framer is more affordable than Webflow. If you need to create a simple landing page, you’ll only need to pay $10/month for an entry-level mini plan. You can upgrade to Framer’s $20/month Basic plan or $ 40/month Pro plan for more pages, CMS collections, and monthly visitors.

Webflow’s more affordable plan starts at $18/month. There’s a $29/month CMS plan that unlocks the entire CMS functionality, and the $49/month Business plan offers 300 pages with 10,000 CMS items.

Both apps provide some generous free plans that allow you to test out their features, but you must upgrade to a paid plan to remove branding and publish them to a custom domain.

Framer vs Webflow – Which is right for you?

It’s a daunting task to highlight the differences between Framer and Webflow. But in the end, they are pretty similar, and you can’t go wrong with either of them. If you’re still unsure which to choose, here are our final thoughts.

Go for Framer if you want an easy-to-use platform with exceptional design outputs. The app provides stunning templates, animations, and pre-built components that let you create designs that appear on par with some high-end tech and SaaS websites.

If you want to create custom designs for bigger sites, choose Webflow. The app offers pixel-perfect design control, enterprise-level scaling features, and over 150 integrations. Webflow is a solid Shopify alternative and is an excellent option if you’re looking to export your website code.