Webflow, Framer and Next.js are the three options we hear about most from startups planning a new website. All three can produce a great site. The right choice depends on your team, your product and where you will be in two years.
We build mostly in Next.js, so keep that bias in mind. We will still tell you when a no-code tool is the better choice.
The short version
- Framer is the fastest way for a designer to ship a good-looking marketing site.
- Webflow is a strong choice when a marketing team needs a visual CMS and many pages.
- Next.js is the best fit when the website needs custom features, deep integration with your product, or the highest level of performance and control.
Framer
Framer feels like a design tool that publishes websites. Designers can build pages with animations and responsive layouts without writing code.
Good for: launch pages, early-stage startups, teams with a designer and no front-end developer.
Watch out for: complex logic, custom integrations and large content structures. When you need something the tool does not support, you depend on embeds and workarounds.
Webflow
Webflow gives you a visual builder with more control over structure, plus a CMS that marketing teams like.
Good for: content-heavy marketing sites, teams that publish often, sites with many landing pages.
Watch out for: custom application logic, sharing components with your product, and plan limits as the site grows. Large sites can also get hard to keep consistent when many people edit them.
Not sure which stack fits your team?
Tell us about your site and your team. We will give you an honest recommendation, even if it is not Next.js.
Next.js
Next.js is a React framework. Your website is real code, in your own repository, hosted where you choose.
Good for:
- SaaS and AI companies whose product is already in React
- Websites that need custom features: calculators, product data, gated content, user accounts
- Teams that care about performance and technical SEO
- Advanced interactions and animations
- Sharing a design system between the website and the product
Watch out for: you need developers to build it, and you need a headless CMS so marketing can edit content without code. With a good setup, editors never touch the code.
Side-by-side
| Framer | Webflow | Next.js | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to first launch | Fastest | Fast | Medium |
| Design freedom | High | High | Unlimited |
| Custom features | Limited | Limited | Unlimited |
| Content editing | Built in | Strong built-in CMS | Headless CMS |
| Performance control | Platform-managed | Platform-managed | Full control |
| Code ownership | No | Export with limits | Yes, full |
| Best team fit | Designer-led | Marketing-led | Product and engineering-led |
When to move from Webflow or Framer to Next.js
Teams usually move when one of these happens:
- The website needs features the builder cannot support without many embeds.
- The product is in React, and the team wants one design system for both.
- Performance or SEO problems come from scripts and plugins they cannot control.
- The site has grown into something closer to a web app than a brochure.
If you move, plan the SEO migration carefully. Export every URL, set up 301 redirects, keep your titles and descriptions, and check Google Search Console after launch.
Our recommendation
If you are pre-launch and need a page this week, use Framer. If your marketing team will publish many pages and you do not need custom features, Webflow is a good fit. If your website is part of your product, or you want full control over design, speed and code, build it in Next.js.
We help teams migrate from Webflow to Next.js and redesign their websites without losing their SEO.
