Software Alternatives & Startups

Eleventy VS WordPress

Compare Eleventy VS WordPress and see what are their differences

Eleventy logo Eleventy

Simpler static site generator.

WordPress logo 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.
  • Eleventy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-01
  • WordPress Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09

Eleventy features and specs

  • Simple and Lightweight
    Eleventy is known for its simplicity and minimal configuration requirements, making it easy for developers to get started without needing to understand complex frameworks.
  • Flexibility
    Eleventy allows developers to choose their own templating languages and workflows, offering flexibility in how content is structured and rendered.
  • Fast Build Times
    Eleventy is optimized for speed, providing fast build times which are beneficial for development and deploying static sites quickly.
  • No JavaScript Frameworks
    Eleventy does not require any specific JavaScript frameworks, which allows it to remain lightweight and gives developers the freedom to incorporate any library or framework of their choice.
  • Community Support
    Despite being a relatively new tool, Eleventy has a growing community and plenty of resources available for developers, from plugins to quick-start themes.

Possible disadvantages of Eleventy

  • Limited Built-in Features
    Eleventy’s simplicity means it lacks some built-in features available in other static site generators, which may require additional configuration or third-party tools.
  • Learning Curve for Complex Projects
    While easy to start, larger or more complex projects might require developers to have a deeper understanding of custom configurations, possibly resulting in a steeper learning curve.
  • No Native CMS
    Eleventy doesn’t come with a built-in content management system, so developers need to integrate with third-party services for dynamic content management.
  • Lack of Official GUI
    There is no official graphical user interface to manage or preview content, which might be a drawback for users who prefer visual editing environments.
  • Frequent Updates
    As an actively developed tool, Eleventy undergoes frequent updates, which can sometimes introduce breaking changes or necessitate regular maintenance to keep projects compatible.

WordPress features and specs

  • User-Friendly
    WordPress is very intuitive and easy to use, which makes it accessible to users with minimal technical expertise.
  • Customization
    It offers a vast array of themes and plugins, allowing users to customize their websites extensively without any coding knowledge.
  • SEO-Friendly
    WordPress has numerous SEO features and plugins that can help websites rank higher in search engine results pages.
  • Community Support
    There is a large and active WordPress community that provides extensive documentation, forums, and third-party resources.
  • Scalability
    WordPress can grow with your business, as it supports both small blogs and large corporate websites.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source platform, WordPress is free to use, and users can modify the source code to suit their needs.
  • Large Ecosystem
    WordPress offers one of the largest ecosystems of developers, themes, and plugins, providing a lot of options for site building.

Possible disadvantages of WordPress

  • Security Vulnerabilities
    WordPress is a popular target for hackers, which makes it susceptible to security issues if not properly maintained.
  • Maintenance
    Regular updates to the core software, themes, and plugins are necessary to keep the site secure and functioning correctly.
  • Performance
    Websites with many plugins or poorly optimized themes can suffer from slow loading times, impacting user experience.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic use is straightforward, leveraging WordPress's full capabilities can require more advanced knowledge and learning.
  • Potential for Plugin Conflicts
    Installing multiple plugins from different developers can sometimes cause conflicts, leading to site instability or performance problems.
  • Customization Complexity
    Extensive customization may require coding knowledge in languages like PHP, HTML, and CSS, which can be a barrier for beginners.
  • Hosting Dependency
    Users need to purchase their own hosting services and manage that aspect, which may be complicated for non-technical users.

Analysis of Eleventy

Overall verdict

  • Eleventy is an excellent choice for developers looking for a lightweight, customizable static site generator. It is particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized projects where performance and simplicity are key priorities.

Why this product is good

  • Eleventy, or 11ty, is a highly flexible static site generator that enables developers to create fast and efficient websites with minimal configuration. It is known for its simplicity, supporting a wide range of templating languages, including Markdown, Liquid, Nunjucks, and more. Eleventy also emphasizes a 'zero build step' approach, providing a clean and straightforward development experience without additional frameworks or complex dependencies.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a no-frills static site generator.
  • Projects requiring support for multiple templating languages.
  • Sites where performance and speed are critical.
  • Bloggers and content creators who prefer writing in Markdown.
  • Developers who appreciate a minimalistic and flexible toolchain.

Eleventy videos

Meet Eleventy

More videos:

  • Review - Eleventy: Key Features and Getting Started
  • Review - Eleventy | Fall Winter 2021 2022 Women's Fashion Show Review | Milan fashion week 2021

WordPress videos

Users, beware.. avoid WordPress!* | WordPress Review

More videos:

  • Review - Wix vs Wordpress: Which platform is best in 2019?
  • Review - Wordpress.com Review: Good For Users Familiar with Wordpress

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Eleventy and WordPress)
Blogging
8 8%
92% 92
CMS
3 3%
97% 97
Static Site Generators
100 100%
0% 0
Website Builder
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Eleventy Reviews

20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
For those seeking simplicity, Eleventy and Spatie provide straightforward solutions for creating static sites. Eleventy is highly flexible and doesn’t lock you into a specific framework, while Spatie offers a collection of Laravel packages to extend functionality.
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
The popularity of Eleventy is difficult to measure on the web, since by design, it is transparent and unobtrusive, leaving no signature in the sites it generates. However, anecdotally (and observed within the Netlify build infrastructure) we are seeing Eleventy gain momentum particularly among parts of the web development community interested in performance and retaining...
Source: www.netlify.com

WordPress Reviews

  1. Old legend

    There are many new platforms for creating websites nowadays. But I still use WP and it works well. A lot of plugins and templates. Easy to find a developer to customise theme. No monthly fees. So, I like it.


WordPress vs. Proprietary Site Builders: What to Know Before Starting a Website Development Project
WordPress: WordPress.org (not to be confused with WordPress.com) is an open-source content management system (CMS). When you build a website on WordPress, you own the code, the design, and the data. This means you can fully customize your site, transfer it to any hosting provider, and have complete control over all aspects of the website. The site can be hosted on any...
Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
WordPress is a popular website-building platform, but if you’re looking for different features and security, check out these nine WordPress alternatives.
Source: webflow.com
19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
While WordPress is undeniably popular, it might not be the perfect fit for everyone. Here are the key differences between WordPress.com (hosted platform) and WordPress.org (self-hosted software) to help you understand more about WordPress and why you should look for an alternative website builder:
Source: www.pixpa.com
The 17 Best Wix Alternatives (2024) Who Else Can You Build Your Website With?
WordPress is the undisputed king of CMS or Content Management Systems. From blogs to online stores, there isn’t much you can’t do with this powerful website building solution. Keep in mind that WordPress comes in two versions: WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
Top 10 Web Content Management Systems
There is no doubt that when the conversation shifts to talking about the best CMS options WordPress is always going to be first. According to WordPress itself, nearly 35% of the entire web manages its content via its service, and that’s why it’s number 1 here. WordPress is open-source, which also makes it one of the best free CMS options as well. With a massive legion of...
Source: cloudzy.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WordPress seems to be a lot more popular than Eleventy. While we know about 786 links to WordPress, we've tracked only 40 mentions of Eleventy. 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.

Eleventy mentions (40)

  • Xanadu Was Waiting for Agents
    Interesting. This and the other posts I've seen about Delta seems to exist in that liminal space, were it's difficult to tell if the author has had a brilliant insight, that they struggle to convey to anyone who's not yet had the same insight; or if they've simply gone slightly mad. It's a similar sense I get with reading Nelson (after being able to think about his ideas for a while, I'm quite certain it was... - Source: Hacker News / 7 days ago
  • Introducing Ⓜ️ Meddler! A Medium Export Converter
    So, I created Ⓜ️ Meddler, a command-line tool and website that will take the .ZIP of your export that Medium gives you and turn it into clean, portable Markdown formats for Jekyll, Hugo, Eleventy, or Astro.js. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • ReallySimpleDocs: A minimal docs template built with Eleventy and Tailwind
    It's pretty much as advertised: a really simple documentation template built with 11ty [1] and Tailwind. I've been releasing a few projects in the past year: Basecoat [2], Pages CMS [3], and lately /dev/push [4]. Each one of them needed its own documentation. Sure, I could have used stuff like Mintlify or Docusaurus. But I really wanted something fast, modern, simple, and good-looking. And if possible: no React.... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • #5 - 'The Power of [Separation] Compels You!'
    Because I use 11ty as my static site generator (SSG) with Nunjucks for templating, using a data file that holds an array of all the credit objects seemed like the way to go. At build time, when the SSG creates the files to be rendered by the browser, a for-loop in the Nunjucks template for the page could simply iterate over the array, injecting the data into the HTML build artifact, allowing 11ty to then do all... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Making Eleventy Data Traceable with TSX and Zod
    Eleventy is a fast and versatile static site generator (SSG). Out of the box, it is most likely to appeal to developers used to earlier Python- or Ruby-based web frameworks and SSGs (e.g. Django, Flask, or Jekyll). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

WordPress mentions (786)

  • How to Find Companies Using WP Engine (API Guide 2026)
    $ curl -s "https://detectzestack.p.rapidapi.com/analyze?url=example.com" \ -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_KEY" \ -H "X-RapidAPI-Host: detectzestack.p.rapidapi.com" { "url": "https://example.com", "domain": "example.com", "technologies": [ { "name": "WP Engine", "categories": ["PaaS", "Hosting"], "confidence": 100, "description": "WP Engine is a website hosting provider.", "website": "https://wpengine.com", "icon":... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • What App Would Prevent a Website from Getting Hacked, and Why?
    Why is this effective? Traditional firewalls block known threats based on signatures, but hackers evolve quickly, using zero-day exploits that bypass these rules. CodeLock's AI model, continuously trained on evolving data, adapts to new patterns, reducing false positives while enhancing accuracy. In educational institutions, where sensitive student data is at stake, such proactive measures could prevent breaches... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Does it Make Sense to Run WordPress in Docker?
    I've had my ups and downs with WordPress, I'm not a hardcore fan to be honest, but you can't deny it's popularity. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Website Development for Small Businesses: Your Ultimate Guide
    First up, regular software updates are completely non-negotiable. If you're on a platform like WordPress, this means keeping the core software, your plugins, and your theme updated. These updates often contain critical security patches that protect your site from hackers. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Open Source: A Goldmine for Indie Hackers
    Open source software is built on the democratic idea that everyone should be able to inspect and contribute to the source code. Major projects like Linux, WordPress, and the Apache HTTP Server have shown how collaborative efforts can produce robust, scalable solutions. Indie hackers, often working with limited budgets, gain access to highly dependable tools such as Python and MySQL, which were originally developed... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Eleventy and WordPress, you can also consider the following products

Hugo - Hugo is a general-purpose website framework for generating static web pages.

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

Jekyll - Jekyll is a simple, blog aware, static site generator.

WordPress.com - Create a free website or build a blog with ease on WordPress.com. Dozens of free, customizable, mobile-ready designs and themes. Free hosting and support.

Next.js - A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps

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.