Which blogging platform to choose?Wordpress or NextJS

Is Wordpress better than Nextjs?

The thing is not necessarily a matter of one being "better" than the other, as they are designed for different purposes and can be used to achieve different goals.

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that is primarily used for creating and managing websites that primarily consist of static content such as text, images, and videos. It is known for its ease of use and wide range of plugins and themes that can be used to customize and extend its functionality. WordPress is particularly well-suited for creating blogs, news websites, and other types of websites that require frequent updates and the ability to easily add and manage content.

Next.js, on the other hand, is a framework for building server-rendered or statically exported React.js applications. It is designed to make it easy to build performant, scalable, and SEO-friendly web applications using React. Next.js is particularly well-suited for building complex web applications that require server-side rendering, automatic code splitting, and optimized performance.

In general, if you are looking to create a simple website with static content, WordPress might be a good choice. If you are building a more complex web application that requires advanced features like server-side rendering and optimized performance, Next.js might be a better fit. In the end, the best choice depends on the goals of the project.

Here is a comparison of WordPress and Next.js:

WordPress

Pros:

Easy to use: WordPress has a user-friendly interface and a large community of users, which means that there is a lot of documentation and support available. Wide range of plugins and themes: WordPress has a large ecosystem of plugins and themes that can be used to customize and extend the functionality of the website. This means that you can easily add features like contact forms, e-commerce functionality, and more without having to build them from scratch. Suitable for static content: WordPress is primarily designed for creating and managing websites that consist of static content such as text, images, and videos. This makes it a good choice for creating blogs, news websites, and other types of websites that require frequent updates.

Cons:

Limited flexibility: While WordPress is relatively easy to use, it can be difficult to customize beyond the options provided by plugins and themes. This means that if you want to build a more complex or customized website, you may need to do a lot of custom coding.
Security risks: Because WordPress is so widely used, it is a common target for hackers. This means that it is important to keep the WordPress installation and plugins up to date to minimize security risks.

NextJS

Pros:

Server-side rendering: Next.js is designed to make it easy to build server-rendered React applications. It's improving the performance and SEO of the web application, as the server can pre-render the content and send it to the client, rather than relying on the client to render the content.
Automatic code splitting: Next.js automatically splits the code into smaller chunks, which can improve the performance of the web application by loading only the code that is needed for the current page.
Optimized performance: Next.js is designed to be performant out of the box, with features like automatic optimization of images and automatic generation of service workers for offline support.

Cons:

Requires knowledge of React: In order to use Next.js, it needs to have a working knowledge of React. Meaning that it needs to be familiar with concepts like components, state, and props.
Not suitable for static content: While Next.js can be used to build static websites, it is primarily designed for building server-rendered or statically exported web applications. This means that it may not be the best choice for creating simple websites with static content.

Case Study

Here in my website, dailycode7.com I am using the nextjs blog starter template. I have been blogging with Wordpress since 2011 and I have no problem with it. But until there were too many things changed, one of them is Gutenberg editor. I found it a bit frustrating to use it in terms of navigating the editor and I prefer the classic editor to gutenberg. That's one of the thing. Now teh question is why have I switched from WordPress to Next.js to blog?

In my opinion, some reasons not to use Wordpress even though there are workarounds that cost extra efforts Ok, now let’s talk about the cons of website using WordPress one by one:

Appearance: It is pretty much determined by many factors, including the theme chosen, the customization options selected, the content and media added to the site, and the design of the site layout of the organization. All those things can be done easily. Besides, It comes with a large selection of customizable themes that can be used to change the appearance of a site. These themes often include pre-designed templates and layouts that can be modified to fit the needs of the site. Users can also play around the appearance of the site using CSS and other design tools to further tailor the look and feel of the site to the liking. Also, the design elements of a WordPress site, the content and media added to the site can also impact its appearance. For example, adding high-quality images and videos can help to make a site more visually appealing, while well-written and informative content can make a site more professional and credible. Overall, the appearance of a WordPress site is largely determined by the design choices made by the user and the content added to the site. With the right theme and customization options, it is possible to create a professional-looking and visually appealing site
Malware: Due to its open source nature, people all over the world can contribute to software improvements. Here is where the cyber criminals take advantage of the security gap. Since wordpress uses tons of plugins, hackers exploit the plugin vulnerabilities
Myriad of Plugins: When there is a need to extend the functionalities of the site, it can be done through plugins, and the that process going again and again until too many plugins which leads to the slower side.
Speed: As mentioned, several factors beside the hosting that can affect the website loaded significantly slower, they could be loading unoptimized images, heavy themes, loading not optimized plugins and not implementing best practice like caching
Limited functionality: It depends, if we are going to build a complex software based on wordpress it requires a lot of plugins. When the more plugins are installed, meaning that the more maintenance is required. Updates can cause any plugin to malfunction and cause the whole website cease to work and down completely. Also, there is possibility that plugin conflicts within themselves can render the WordPress backend unusable.
SEO problem: By its nature, it has not enough SEO features and had to have third party plugin such as YOAST insatlled which is in turn it will build up another plugin at the disposal.

It's time to switch to NextJS

There are a few potential reasons that might be considered switching from WordPress to Next.js for blogging:

Performance: Next.js is a JavaScript framework that is designed to help build fast, server side rendering (SSR) web applications. This can result in faster page load times especially for users with slower internet connections.
Ease of development: Next.js uses modern JavaScript and has a simple, intuitive API. This can make it easier for developers to build and maintain a blog compared to using WordPress, which can be more complex.
Scalability: Next.js is allowing to build serverless applicationi with scalability in mind to meet demand, which can make it a good choice for blogs that are expected to grow quickly or that need to handle a large number of users. Plus, it can be more cost-effective than running a traditional server, and it also makes it easier to handle traffic spikes.
Integration with other tools: Next.js can be easily integrated with other tools and technologies, such as APIs and database systems, which can make it a good choice for blogs that need to connect to other systems.
Security: WordPress is a popular target for hackers, and it can be challenging to keep a WordPress site secure. Next.js, on the other hand, allows you to build applications that are less vulnerable to common attacks.
Ecosystem: Next.js is built on top of React, which has a large and active developer community. This means that it is easy to find resources and support for building applications with Next.js.
SEO: Server-side rendering can be better for search engine optimization (SEO) because the content is generated on the server and is therefore more visible to search engines. This can be particularly beneficial for sites with a lot of dynamic content.

The several reasons above might make someone choose to switch from WordPress to Next.js

Conclusion

Overall, whether to switch or not from WordPress to Next.js, it is very much depending on the specific needs and goals. It's worth considering the pros and cons of both platforms to determine which one is the best fit for the needs. It is also worth noting that there are also some potential downsides to switching from WordPress to Next.js. For example, Next.js is a relatively new framework, so it may not have as many plugins and integrations as WordPress. Additionally, Next.js requires a deeper understanding of web development concepts, so it may not be as user-friendly as WordPress for non-technical users.