WordPress still powers 43% of all websites. But among companies with more than 20 employees, law firms, architecture studios, premium restaurants — the story is different. Increasingly, when it's time to rebuild the site, WordPress isn't even on the table.
Here's why.
The security problem
WordPress is the most attacked CMS in the world. Not because it's inherently insecure, but because it's everywhere. Every plugin is a potential attack vector. In 2025, more than 4 million WordPress sites were compromised through plugin vulnerabilities.
Businesses with sensitive data — law firms, doctors, accountants — can't afford this risk. A Next.js site deployed on Vercel has no exposed database, no vulnerable admin panel, no plugins to update.
The hidden cost of maintenance
A WordPress site needs constant attention: core updates, theme updates, plugin updates. Every update can break something. Every incompatible plugin is an emergency.
Agencies managing WordPress sites for clients know this maintenance costs money: hours of work every month, often billed as "ordinary maintenance." With Next.js, there's nothing to update. The site just runs.
The developer experience
Young developers don't want to work in PHP and WordPress. Agencies struggle to find qualified WordPress developers who are also up to date with modern practices. React, Next.js and TypeScript are what junior and senior developers want to use in 2026.
This has a practical impact: an agency using Next.js can hire more easily, collaborate with the best freelancers, and move faster.
Performance as a standard
Google has used performance as a ranking factor since 2021. Core Web Vitals — LCP, CLS, INP — are metrics that WordPress sites struggle to meet with Elementor and heavy plugins.
A static Next.js site on Vercel reaches LCP < 1.5s and CLS < 0.01 almost automatically. For businesses investing in SEO, this difference translates into better rankings and more organic traffic.
What they're using instead
Businesses leaving WordPress don't all go to the same place:
- Next.js + headless CMS (Sanity, Contentful): for sites with frequent content updates - Static Next.js: for business sites with stable content - Astro: for content-heavy sites with extreme performance needs - Webflow: for businesses that want autonomy without developers
The constant is abandoning the monolithic PHP + database-per-request model.
What this means for you
If your WordPress site works, there's no rush to migrate. But if you're planning a redesign, if the site is slow, if maintenance is weighing on you — it's worth evaluating migration.
The cost of migrating a standard business site (6-8 pages) is €1.490. The cost of not doing it is continuing to pay for hosting, plugins and maintenance every year, with an increasingly slow site.
Evaluate migrating your site, or start with a free audit call.