Framer or Webflow? Or custom code? With the abundance of features that website builders offer these days, you may be torn between these options – understandably so.
We at design agency Fivecube use both no-code/low-code website builders like Framer and Webflow and develop web apps from scratch. Here’s how each development method compares, based on our experience.
Webflow: Your Introduction
Pricing: Starts at $14/month; free plan available
With Webflow valuation reaching $4 billion, this solution is a true powerhouse in low-code/no-code web development. It combines a website builder, a composable CMS, and analytics and optimization tools all in a single platform. While it can be used without any coding experience, Webflow also provides extensive custom code capabilities to developers.
Key features:
Website drag-and-drop builder with advanced animations and interactions
Custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code support
Built-in content management system (CMS)
Built-in SEO, analytics, and A/B testing tools
Shared libraries for unifying design systems across web apps
Pre-built Webflow apps, with custom Webflow app support
DevLink for streamlining the design-to-development process
Framer: Your Introduction
Pricing: Starts at $5/month for personal use and $75/month for business use; free plan available
Framer’s capabilities are geared more towards designers instead of developers, and it’s best described as a Figma-like tool for building websites. That makes for a gentler learning curve, even though it comes at the cost of a more limited feature range compared to Webflow.
As for Framer’s capabilities, you get a visual builder, content management system, and solid real-time collaboration tools in a single package, along with analytics and SEO tools.
Key features:
Design canvas with a Figma-like experience for building websites
Layout templates and no-code animations
Built-in CMS and SEO tools, including automated SEO
Advanced analytics with out-of-the-box GDPR compliance
Real-time collaboration tools with role-based access
Staging domain support
Marketplace for third-party integrations and plugins
Webflow vs Framer: The Showdown
Framer vs Webflow: When to Choose Which?
In our experience, Framer works better for:
Marketing websites and landing pages with unique interactive features and visually rich design
Projects where real-time collaboration is crucial
Highly interactive, design-heavy website prototypes
Webflow, in turn, is more suitable for:
Content-driven websites that require granular SEO controls and advanced analytics
Web applications that require extensive custom code flexibility, especially for the backend
E-commerce websites (Framer doesn’t support e-commerce features out of the box)
What About Custom Code?
While website builders like Webflow and Framer can power a variety of projects, they do have their limitations. Those include:
Lack of full control over integrations and customizations
Difficulties in supporting sophisticated application logic
Potential performance and scalability issues
Potential vendor lock-in
In contrast, custom development gives you total control over the technology stack and functionality of your web app. For example, when you hire a SaaS web design agency, opting for custom development means its designers don’t have to account for the limitations of website builders.
All in all, custom development is usually suitable for:
SaaS products
Large, complex online stores with custom payment flows, auctions, subscriptions, etc.
Content-heavy websites with complex tagging, filtering, or dynamic page generation
Simple websites that you plan to scale into complex ones in the long run
Custom development can involve using cross-platform frontend technologies like React Native or complete tech stacks like the MERN stack.
Final Thoughts
Both Framer and Webflow are powerful website-building platforms, but they serve different purposes. Framer caters to projects that focus on creating unique designs and user experiences through motion and interactivity. Webflow, in turn, is geared towards building complex content-heavy websites that require extensive custom code support.
That said, some projects may simply be difficult or impossible to execute using low-code/no-code tools. If your project is one of them, we can help you turn your idea into a market-ready web app. Contact us to discuss how our experience can benefit you.
Apr 30, 2025
By
Yevheniy Kladov
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