The Best Webflow Alternatives for Web Design and Development

The popularity of site builders such as Webflow enables even non-technical people to create websites quickly. Templates and modules are made in relatively user-friendly browser-based environments on these platforms. Among the many Webflow alternatives available, Webflow may appear out of the ordinary and more complex than some competitors.

People choose Webflow because it simplifies the process of creating a website by integrating design and development at the same time. With Webflow, countless design possibilities have no limitations, but breaking the code barrier doesn't mean separating programming from site build. Instead, Webflow visualizes all these processes, integrating them tightly with the front end.

The service does not require you to be an expert in web design or programming to use it. However, you should expect it to be more challenging than dragging and dropping. Moreover, it can lead to severe shortcomings.

Although Webflow is a flexible and powerful platform that can create any website, there are a few reasons you may prefer to stick with a Webflow alternative.

Here are some of the most common Weblfow limitations:

Webflow's limitations can significantly complicate project workflows and lead to unexpected problems and costs.

It is encouraging to note that there are dozens of alternatives to Webflow on the market today. I have already created a list of the Top 10 Webflow Alternatives. Therefore, in this article, I will not repeat myself by presenting Webflow alternatives based on different feature criteria.

Many alternatives to Webflow offer a visual, drag-and-drop interface for creating and designing websites.

Site builders that use drag-and-drop technology make building a website easy and fast.

Drag-and-drop website builders' features are popular because they offer the following:

As a Weblfow alternative, Wix may be the most flexible and customizable drag-and-drop website builder with a rich-feature environment.

Instead of a drag-and-drop editor, most drag-and-drop website builders offer a section-based editor. Even though this may sound comforting, most builders allow you to insert different content and elements. The placement of these elements is not entirely under your control. Usually, sections are pre-built and cannot be changed.

Wix, with pixel-perfect features, offers enhanced flexibility, allowing you to precisely place content wherever you want. This gives you much design freedom and the ability to create unique and personalized websites.

Another feature that sets Wix apart from other drag-and-drop editors is Wix's Artificial Design Intelligence which enables a high level of customization.

ADI helps Wix locate relevant content information, and user needs to provide customized design solutions.

Webnode may be less flexible than Wix but still can offer some improved editing experience.

What makes this website builder even more intuitive is the direct editing experience, meaning users can edit content in-line rather than in a separate window.

But what makes Webnode an ideal drag-and-drop Webflom alternative is its ability to build multilingual websites.

From the Webnode guide, it can be concluded that adding content in several languages can be done with a few clicks and with the help of the copy-paste option. Webnode supports over 20 different languages.

Visual Composer is a free WordPress website builder similar to Weblfow but with more features and agility. It has all the WP functionalities out of the box since it's part of the WordPress ecosystem.

Visual Composer, unlike Webflow, lets you customize individual webpages with CSS, JS, and HTML, so it's suitable for non-technical users as well as experienced web designers. It also gives you the option to edit your website content on the go from your mobile device or tablet. Visual Composer is thus a solid alternative to your next Webflow project.

Before I list some suggestions, let me mention that most CMS solutions fall into this category when they are adequate alternatives (since CMS's core is creating web pages that look good on all devices.) Nevertheless, I decided to bring you less famous solutions in this segment.

Many alternatives are built with responsive design, which automatically adjusts to fit different screen sizes. Gator Website Builder has over 100 responsive templates for adaptive design.

Managing Gator is simple. It combines an intuitive drag-and-drop editor with a handful of ready-made templates to put your spin on. You need to choose a template, and you can design and build a website through a pure drag-and-drop editor.

The templates in Gator are organized and well divided into searchable categories and ready to be used. This way, content editing in Gator templates become more intuitive and easy to use.

Despite not being a website builder, Canva is an ideal Webflow alternative for responsive design, which makes the graphic design more straightforward and accessible for everyone.

Canva is a centralized place where users can choose between countless templates designed for multiple platforms.

Businesses can create professional posts, presentations, and flyers using templates and tools. Easily save and reuse too. Unlike Webflow, Canva slays integration which makes responsive designs more accessible.

Bootstrap Studio is a web design tool built for creating responsive websites using the Bootstrap framework.

Based on Sass, Bootstrap Studio uses pre-built components for creating and prototyping websites. Although it has very similar features to Webflow, the ability to create your own custom components enables it to create a more robust responsive design. This allows you to edit the code itself.

You will agree with me that this is an exceptional advantage, but with this tool, you may encounter some other problems. Bootstrap Builder limits a website's content to static content, meaning that content cannot be dynamically stored in a database. In other words, it does not support CMS.

Some Webflow alternatives allow users to export their designs as code, making it easier to integrate with other platforms or make customizations.

The Versoly component system makes it possible to combine and reuse components, unlike Webflow. Versoly is built on HTML and based on open-source best practices. Versoly comes with a code editor with editable HTML, meaning you can add tables and buttons without limitations.

I believe that you have wondered why Figma was not included in the category above because the responsive design and customizable templates are Figma's trademarks. What makes Figma even more remarkable is the ease of export.

Figma to HTML is a Figma plugin that helps convert your Figma design to code easily without losing the essence of your design or colors. You can integrate custom templates and responsive designs with a few simple clicks into any platform.

Some Weblfow alternatives offer integrations with popular tools and platforms, such as e-commerce platforms, analytics tools, and marketing automation software.

One of the biggest weaknesses of Webflow is integrations. Although Webflow has a well-built plugin ecosystem, Webflow's integrations end with plugins built for Webflow. Therefore, you will not be able to add any other tools to the platform, limiting your capabilities.

To avoid this limitation, you can switch back to WordPress or, even better, choose between headless CMS API solutions such as:

Some alternatives are more affordable than Webflow (in this case, free), making it more accessible to small businesses and individuals.

Creating a clean, essential website with GoDaddy is a smart alternative for anyone with a tight deadline. Its ADI feature, which builds your website based on a few answers, makes it pretty user-friendly.

What you get for free:

Businesses can create websites using Jimdo's drag-and-drop interface, adding images, logos, and text and modifying colors and layouts.

Jimdo can help you build simple and e-commerce websites despite having a limited selection of templates.

What you get for free:

Ucraft is a drag-and-drop image-driven website builder ideal for website owners wanting to focus on user experience. Ulcraft, with easy-to-use templates and simple customization tools, allows you to make professional websites.

What you get for free:

Cloud-based Webflow has numerous shortcomings:

Open-source Webflow alternatives are free to use, allowing users to have full control over their website and the code and neutralize all shortcomings mentioned above.

An open-source visual development tool that can build your front end visually and connect it with any custom back-end system. It is a hybrid no-code open-source solution that combines its advantages into one solution.

It allows designers to import their designs with visual development tools and then integrate them with any CMS, e-commerce platform, or any other platform. Webstudio is a visual development tool that embraces CSS by allowing users to build visually while the code is written.

Due to open-source, any component can be upgraded or changed without troubleshooting. It seems like an essential feature that Webflow cannot provide.

Silex is an online website builder created with designers in mind. It is an online platform that uses open-source features to create responsive websites suitable for any skill level. Silex allows you to drag and drop HTML elements to connect your sites, and you can view your changes immediately after publishing.

It is actually a basic WYSIWYG editor ideal for small and quick projects, but unlike Webflow, it is 100% open-source, online, and guess what? FREE.

Using headless CMS as an example, I will try to explain all the advantages when you decide to choose open-source headless BCMS as a Webflow alternative.