Next.js template or WordPress theme: an honest comparison
By Core Concepts · · Buying guide
WordPress themes and Next.js templates solve the same problem in very different ways. Neither is better in general. Each is better for a particular kind of owner. This is the comparison we would want before choosing.
How they work
A WordPress theme is a skin for WordPress, which is a content management system. Your pages live in a database, and each visit asks the server to assemble the page.
A Next.js template is the website itself, as code. Most of ours build to plain static files: the pages are assembled once, in advance, and the host simply hands them over.
Editing content
WordPress wins if several non-technical people need to publish often. There is an admin screen, a visual editor and a login for each person.
With a Next.js template you edit a content file and rebuild. For a homepage that changes a few times a year, that takes a couple of minutes and there is no admin area to keep secure. For a newsroom, it would be the wrong tool.
Speed
Static pages have a head start because there is nothing to compute per visit and no plugins adding their own scripts. A well-built WordPress site can be fast too, but it takes caching, discipline and ongoing attention to keep it that way.
Hosting and running costs
WordPress needs a server with PHP and a database. A static Next.js site can be uploaded to almost any host, and services such as Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare Pages have free tiers for small sites (check each one's terms for commercial use). See how to launch a Next.js template for the steps.
Security and maintenance
A WordPress site has a login page, a database and plugins, all of which need updating. Plugins that are left out of date are a common way WordPress sites get compromised.
A static site has no login and no database, so there is very little to attack and very little to maintain. This is the least glamorous advantage and probably the most valuable.
Design and motion
Themes have to work with whatever content and plugins the owner adds, which pushes them towards safe layouts. A template that controls the whole page can do more: pinned scroll sequences, drawn-in-code visuals and interactions tuned to the content. Our Numa and Murmur templates have no photographs at all, because every visual is code.
Which should you choose?
- Choose WordPress if you publish frequently, need many editors, or rely on plugins such as bookings or memberships.
- Choose a Next.js template if you want a fast, distinctive site that rarely changes and costs almost nothing to run.
If you are leaning towards Next.js, our templates are built that way: see them all.