WordPress alternative: 7 options and what WordPress costs
An alternative to WordPress is a website builder where hosting, updates and security come in one fixed price, so you don’t have to keep plugins up to date yourself. WordPress is free to download, but a website a freelancer builds and looks after costs DKK 4,500–15,500 a year to run, excluding VAT. For web shops and large websites, WordPress is still a good choice.
What are the best alternatives to WordPress?
The best alternatives to WordPress are Striive, Wix and one.com if you want to be rid of updates and plugins, WordPress.com if you want to keep WordPress without looking after a server, Webflow for design freedom and Simply.com for a Danish web host. Here are the seven with price, pros and cons.
Striive
That’s usDenmark- Best for
- Small Danish businesses that want a website without building it from scratch
- Price
- DKK 99 a month incl. VAT for the first 4 months, then DKK 249 a month incl. VAT
Pros
- AI builds the first version, also from your current website, and you edit it yourself afterwards
- Prices in kroner and hosting in the EU
- A cookie banner, contact form, blog and unlimited team members included
Cons
- Booking and online payments are planned, not ready yet
- No shop, courses or newsletters
Try Striive30-day guarantee.
Change your mind and get your subscription money back. Read about the guaranteeWix
Israel- Best for
- You need booking and payments today and want plenty of templates
- Price
- From USD 17 a month billed yearly, plus taxes. Booking and payments from Core at USD 29
Learn more: Wix alternativePros
- The editor is available in Danish
- Booking and payments on the website from Core
- A large range of templates and apps
Cons
- Prices in dollars plus taxes, and the offer only covers the first term
- The website can’t be pinned to servers in the EU
Squarespace
United States- Best for
- Design-minded businesses, portfolios and small shops
- Price
- USD 19 a month billed yearly or USD 25 billed monthly, plus taxes
Learn more: Squarespace alternativePros
- Polished templates
- A shop and paid content already on Basic
- A built-in cookie banner
Cons
- The editor isn’t available in Danish, only the text your visitors see
- A 2% fee on shop sales on Basic, and booking is a separate subscription
one.com
- Best for
- The lowest first-year price, with an AI builder in Danish
- Price
- DKK 948 the first year, then DKK 1,428 a year (Portfolio)
Learn more: one.com alternativePros
- Prices in kroner and servers in Europe
- The Aida AI builder and email on your domain
- Booking and a shop in the larger plans
Cons
- The price rises after the first year, from DKK 948 to DKK 1,428
- The Booking plan allows up to 25 bookings a month
WordPress.com
United States- Best for
- Blogs that want WordPress without their own web host
- Price
- Personal USD 4 a month billed yearly or USD 9 monthly
Pros
- WordPress without looking after a server and updates yourself
- A free domain for the first year on yearly billing
Cons
- Payments and plugins need the pricier plans
- Prices in dollars
Webflow
United States- Best for
- Designers and agencies building made-to-measure websites
- Price
- Basic USD 15 a month billed yearly or USD 25 monthly, plus taxes. A blog needs Premium at USD 25
Pros
- Full design freedom and a strong CMS
- A free Starter plan on a webflow.io address
Cons
- Technical to learn, and we found no Danish interface
- The website can’t be kept on servers in the EU
Simply.com
Denmark- Best for
- You want a Danish web host and to build in WordPress yourself
- Price
- Basic Suite USD 0.59 a month the first year, then USD 8.94, billed yearly
Pros
- A Danish company with servers in Denmark
- Booking through SimplyBook.me included with the hosting
Cons
- The site builder makes only one page on Basic
- The price rises steeply after the first year
Prices were read on the vendors’ own pages on 2026-09-23 and 2026-10-14 and may have changed. The four biggest builders side by side, with sources, are in our comparison.
What does WordPress really cost?
WordPress costs DKK 4,500–15,500 a year excluding VAT when a freelancer looks after it, because the software is free but everything around it isn’t. Here are the items:
| Item | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | The system itself, open source | Free |
| Hosting | The server where the website lives | Every year; the intro price often rises at renewal |
| Domain | yourbusiness.dk | DKK 110–260 a year |
| Theme | The design | Free or a paid licence |
| Plugins | Forms, cookie banner, SEO, security, backups | Many are free; paid ones often have a yearly licence |
| Updates and backups | WordPress, theme and plugins must be kept up to date | Your time or a service agreement |
| Total, running per year | With a freelancer / an agency | DKK 4,500–15,500 / DKK 9,000–34,000 |
The running figures come from our website cost calculator and cover hosting, domain, licences and a service agreement, excluding VAT.
What does WordPress cost over three years compared with a website builder?
Over three years, a five-page website with a blog costs DKK 29,000–85,000 with a freelancer, DKK 70,000–212,000 with an agency and DKK 5,500–7,500 on Striive. The freelancer and agency figures are for a custom-built website, for example in WordPress.
| Freelancer | Web agency | Striive (you build it) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build | DKK 15,000–38,000 | DKK 43,000–110,000 | No build fee |
| Running per year, from year 2 | DKK 4,500–15,500 | DKK 9,000–34,000 | DKK 2,000–3,000 |
| First year in total | DKK 19,000–54,000 | DKK 52,000–144,000 | DKK 1,500–2,500 |
| Three years in total | DKK 29,000–85,000 | DKK 70,000–212,000 | DKK 5,500–7,500 |
All amounts exclude VAT and come from our website cost calculator, built on Danish hourly rates: about DKK 500–900 an hour for freelancers and DKK 900–1,400 for agencies. Running costs are hosting, a domain, licences and a service agreement. Striive is DKK 99 a month incl. VAT for the first 4 months, then DKK 249 a month incl. VAT, plus your domain.
When is WordPress the right choice?
WordPress is the right choice when you need more than a website builder can do:
- A web shop with many products, variants and shipping rules, for example with WooCommerce.
- A particular plugin you can’t do without: a membership system, a special integration or an advanced calendar.
- A large website with hundreds of articles and many kinds of content.
- Full control of the code and the server, and a developer who can look after it all.
If one of those is you, stay on WordPress, and make sure you have a service agreement that covers updates and backups.
When is a website builder better than WordPress?
A website builder is better when the website is 5–15 pages about your business, and nobody in the business wants to update plugins. The difference is mostly about who is responsible:
| WordPress | Striive | |
|---|---|---|
| Updates | You or your service agreement | Included in the price |
| Security and HTTPS | Plugins and the host’s setup | Built in, two-factor login and HTTPS on every page |
| Hosting | Separate hosting | Included in the price, in the EU |
| Editing it yourself | Depends on the theme and page builder | Visual editor and AI assistant |
| Extensions | Thousands of plugins | What Striive has built in |
| Web shop and booking | Yes, with plugins | Planned, not ready yet |
| Price | Varies with plugins and help | DKK 99 a month incl. VAT for the first 4 months, then DKK 249 a month incl. VAT |
If the login is the problem more than WordPress, read can’t update my website myself. More on hosting alone in web hosting.
How do you switch from WordPress?
You switch from WordPress by letting Striive rebuild the pages and moving the blog posts separately:
- Back up, and export your content under Tools → Export in WordPress, so you have all of it.
- Write down the addresses of your most important pages and posts, so you can give them the same addresses.
- Give Striive the website’s address with move your website. Texts, photos, colours, prices and opening hours come along.
- Blog posts don’t come along automatically. Copy the posts that still get visits into Striive’s blog by hand.
- Go through your plugins: forms become a contact form in Striive, and a booking plugin can be replaced by a link to a booking system until booking arrives in Striive.
- Connect the domain with two DNS records, and cancel the hosting once everything works.
Frequently asked questions
The software is free and open source. A WordPress website still needs hosting and a domain, and often paid plugins, a paid theme and help with updates.
Not in itself. The usual problem is plugins and themes that don’t get updated. When someone keeps it all up to date, WordPress is as safe as other systems.
Not today. Web shops don’t come along, and online payments are on the way in Striive, not ready. If you run an active shop, stay on WordPress for now, or move only the other pages.
Running it with a freelancer costs DKK 4,500–15,500 a year excluding VAT, including hosting, domain, licences and a service agreement. Work out your own figure in the website cost calculator.
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