Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ApostropheCMS VS Webflow

Compare ApostropheCMS VS Webflow and see what are their differences

ApostropheCMS logo ApostropheCMS

Apostrophe is a powerful website builder platform built on an enterprise open source CMS, offering in-context live editing, visual design tools, and multisite enablement in a full stack JS environment.

Webflow logo Webflow

Build dynamic, responsive websites in your browser. Launch with a click. Or export your squeaky-clean code to host wherever you'd like. Discover the professional website builder made for designers.
  • ApostropheCMS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2020-11-30

Apostrophe is a powerful website builder platform built on an enterprise open source CMS. Apostrophe offers in-context live editing and dynamic visual design tools with multisite enablement. At its core is an extensible and modular system in a full stack JS environment ready for traditional or headless deployment. At last, a balance between the developer and editor experience, where side projects thrive and businesses boom.

  • Webflow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-07-09

ApostropheCMS features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    ApostropheCMS offers an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it simple for non-technical users to manage and create content.
  • Flexible Content Management
    It provides powerful content management features, including custom content types, widgets, and reusable content pieces, allowing for greater flexibility in content creation.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, ApostropheCMS allows developers to customize and extend the platform according to their needs without any licensing fees.
  • Rich in Features
    Out-of-the-box features include SEO tools, image cropping, and dynamic page building, reducing the need for additional plugins or extensions.
  • Active Community
    A supportive and active user community contributes to continuous improvement and provides assistance through forums, documentation, and user guides.
  • Modular Architecture
    The modular architecture of ApostropheCMS enables developers to add or remove functionalities as needed, which enhances performance and scalability.

Possible disadvantages of ApostropheCMS

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, there is a moderate learning curve for developers unfamiliar with its unique architectural concepts and syntax.
  • Limited Plugins
    ApostropheCMS has fewer plugins and extensions compared to more established CMS platforms, which might limit the scope of out-of-the-box functionality.
  • Niche Market
    While popular in certain niches, ApostropheCMS lacks the widespread adoption of other CMS solutions like WordPress or Drupal, leading to fewer third-party resources.
  • Hosting Requirements
    The platform demands more specific hosting environments, which might require additional configurations or a more robust server setup, potentially increasing operational costs.
  • Developer-Dependent Customization
    Customization often requires significant developer intervention, making it less ideal for teams without in-house technical expertise.
  • Documentation Areas
    Although improving, the documentation is sometimes lacking in certain areas, which can make it harder for new users to find the information they need quickly.

Webflow features and specs

  • Design Flexibility
    Webflow provides an intuitive visual interface that allows designers to create highly customized and responsive websites without writing code.
  • Integrated CMS
    Webflow includes a built-in CMS that allows users to easily manage dynamic content, making it ideal for blogs, portfolios, and other content-rich sites.
  • SEO Capabilities
    Webflow offers robust SEO tools, including custom meta tags, alt text for images, and clean code output, which can help improve search engine rankings.
  • E-commerce Support
    Webflow provides comprehensive e-commerce features, including product management, checkout processes, and payment gateways, suitable for small to medium-sized online stores.
  • Hosting and Performance
    Webflow offers high-performance hosting with fast loading times, SSL, and global CDN, ensuring websites are secure and perform well.
  • No-Code Platform
    It empowers non-developers to build and maintain websites, breaking down barriers between design and development through its visual development platform.
  • Custom Interactions and Animations
    Webflow allows the creation of sophisticated animations and interactions directly in the designer, enhancing user experience and engagement.

Possible disadvantages of Webflow

  • Learning Curve
    Although it's a no-code platform, Webflow's extensive feature set can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring a significant amount of time to become proficient.
  • Cost
    Webflow's pricing can be relatively high compared to other website builders, especially for e-commerce plans and sites with large amounts of CMS items.
  • Limited Plugins
    Webflow has fewer third-party plugins and integrations compared to platforms like WordPress, which may be limiting for some users needing specific functionalities.
  • Custom Code Limitation
    While Webflow supports custom code, there are limitations on what can be achieved without full access to backend code, which may hinder more complex customizations.
  • E-commerce Scale
    While suitable for small to medium businesses, Webflow's e-commerce capabilities may not be sufficient for large-scale online stores with extensive requirements.
  • Export Restrictions
    Exported code from Webflow can be difficult to maintain if you choose to leave the platform, as the exported files may not easily integrate with other CMSs or platforms.

Analysis of Webflow

Overall verdict

  • Webflow is a strong platform for those who want to create visually appealing, responsive websites without delving deeply into coding. Its powerful features and intuitive design interface make it particularly appealing to designers who want more control over their creative process. However, it may have a learning curve for those new to web design or those accustomed to more code-heavy development environments.

Why this product is good

  • Webflow is considered a good choice for web design and development because it combines the convenience of a visual design tool with the power of a CMS and the flexibility of custom code. It allows designers to create responsive websites without the need for extensive coding knowledge, while also offering the ability to add custom interactions and animations. The platform provides a comprehensive range of hosting services, SSL, and backups, which simplifies site management. The ease of use, coupled with advanced customization options, makes it a preferred choice for many freelancers, agencies, and businesses.

Recommended for

  • Designers looking to quickly prototype and develop websites.
  • Businesses seeking a platform that combines design flexibility with robust hosting features.
  • Agencies seeking a scalable solution for client projects.
  • Freelancers who want to offer end-to-end web design and hosting services.
  • Individuals or businesses looking for a CMS that supports custom integrations and interactions without extensive back-end development.

ApostropheCMS videos

Editing in-context

Webflow videos

Webflow Review: Excellent Custom Design Tool

More videos:

  • Review - Building a site in Webflow - First impressions review!
  • Review - Squarespace VS Webflow: Website Building Platform Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ApostropheCMS and Webflow)
CMS
9 9%
91% 91
Website Builder
0 0%
100% 100
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ApostropheCMS and Webflow

ApostropheCMS Reviews

We have no reviews of ApostropheCMS yet.
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Webflow Reviews

  1. Amazing

    Designing websites with Webflow has been an absolute delight. Its visual interface makes the design process intuitive and efficient. The drag-and-drop functionality for elements is a real time-saver, and the real-time preview allows for instant feedback. Customizing designs to be responsive for different devices is a breeze. Webflow's ability to handle complex animations without code is impressive. All in all, Webflow has made website creation a smooth and enjoyable process. Definitely a game-changer for web design!

    🏁 Competitors: Tilda

Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
Webflow’s visual, composable CMS is feature-complete right out of the box. With native integrations, optimization tools, and managed hosting, you can build, launch, and iterate your website at scale. Webflow also vets Apps built by our community, so you can trust apps that you install — with no need to update software or manage outdated plugins.
Source: webflow.com
19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Webflow offers more advanced design and animation capabilities than WordPress, allowing for custom-built websites without coding. Pixpa and Squarespace offer advanced portfolio management, e-commerce, and client gallery features tailored for creatives.
Source: www.pixpa.com
The 17 Best Wix Alternatives (2024) Who Else Can You Build Your Website With?
Webflow isn’t for everyone. It’s focused on designers and developers, so the user interface can be overwhelming to beginners. However, their designs are slick and they’re not afraid to show off their website builder: NASA uses it, and Webflow built their own website with the platform.
Top 10 Web Content Management Systems
Webflow is another unique CMS option based on the fact that it does not feature a single line of code anywhere for the user to bother with. Instead, it takes it upon itself to fully cover every single modification that a user may need as part of its preconfigured content management options. The UI is also designed with utility in mind. Whereas Wix also does not feature codes...
Source: cloudzy.com
Top No Code Website Builders in 2023
Webflow is an ideal option for designers and developers wanting to create custom websites with no code. Users can build a website while maintaining complete design control, leveraging advanced customization options, such as CSS and HTML editing.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Webflow seems to be a lot more popular than ApostropheCMS. While we know about 137 links to Webflow, we've tracked only 11 mentions of ApostropheCMS. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ApostropheCMS mentions (11)

  • Useful open source tools: the little things add up
    Over the years we've created lots of little open source modules that are useful on their own. Because they are not part of our core product, I don't often step back and look at them as a whole. Turns out, there's quite a collection. Tools for sanitizing HTML, tools for managing github organizations at scale, tools to improve performance, tools for localizing URLs, even a brand new tiny framework for microservices.... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How AI Is Transforming the CMS Industry
    Apostrophe's CTO, Tom Boutell, recently presented a talk at Philly Tech Week to share his experience using the OpenAI API to integrate AI into Apostrophe. If you are not familiar with this tool, Apostrophe is an open-source CMS built on modern technologies like Node.js and Vue.js that can operate as a traditional CMS, headless CMS, and website builder. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • ApostropheCMS Launches Document Versions Tool
    ApostropheCMS allows multiple content contributors and editors to work on documents across multiple sites. Keeping track of when changes were made to a document and who made those changes is critical. The enterprise edition of ApostropheCMS has an important new tool for managing the content pipeline. The Document Versions tool facilitates the use and management of multiple versions of a document (page). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • The Best 10+ Open Source Headless CMS 2022
    Get a flexible and robust open-source website builder – Apostrophe – suitable for SaaS companies, enterprises, higher education, digital agencies, and a lot more. It can enhance your digital experiences from the same dashboard and lets you customize a no-code website factory through a modern tech stack. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: What CMS are you using in 2022?
    As someone who dabbled in PHP but is mostly a self-taught JS hobbyist dev, I have been using and loving Directus (https://directus.io) since around the time they switched to Node. Development velocity is exceptional with new features released every couple of weeks and bugfixes/enhancements even more frequent, the community and core team is fantastic, and I like the fact that if I ever decide to switch to another... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
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Webflow mentions (137)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing ApostropheCMS and Webflow, you can also consider the following products

Sitecake - Drag and drop CMS for HTML websites. It's flat file CMS so it's pretty fast.

WiX - Create a free website with Wix.com. Customize with Wix' website builder, no coding skills needed. Choose a design, begin customizing and be online today

ClassicPress - The WordPress fork. No Gutenberg. Great future!

SquareSpace - Squarespace is the easiest way for anyone to create an exceptional website. Pages, galleries, blogs, e-commerce, domains, hosting, analytics, 24/7 support - all included.

TYPO3 - TYPO3.com - Infos, SLAs, Extended Support Versions and more

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.