Over the years I've delivered quite a few WordPress-based projects, and many many custom-coded ones (primarly with Nest, Next, TS, etc...).
Back then, the choice often felt obvious - for a smaller hit, standard e-commerce, WordPress was fast to set up, point-and-click friendly, and because it is open source, it can be extended almost endlessly. For many web projects it seemed like the most pragmatic option.
But something interesting has changed recently.
With the rise of AI-assisted coding, the dynamic has almost flipped.
Today, our fully custom code projects are often faster, simpler and more transparent to build. When the architecture is clean and purpose-built, development flows much more naturally. The code does exactly what the product needs, nothing more.
Meanwhile, WordPress projects increasingly feel heavier.
Yes, the initial setup is still quick. But over time the trade-offs become more visible. Because WordPress is a very general framework designed to fit thousands of use cases, it brings along many limitations and hidden layers. When something breaks, debugging can become surprisingly complex. Fixing a bug inside a chain of plugins and themes is rarely as straightforward as fixing your own code.
Custom code is lighter, easier to reason about, and for one specific purpose.
And with today’s AI-assisted development tools, writing and maintaining that code is no longer the slow path it once was.
Honestly, we am 100% sure our next web project will be built with custom code for sure, even if it is simple enough to be treated by WP.
What are your thoughts?
What is your AI workflow e.g. with Elementor?