Best ways to build
a website in 2025

By Max Ikaheimo

October 21st, 2025

I've been building websites professionally for over 10 years now. As a hobby, longer than that! When I was just a kid, I did basic HTML websites for random hobby sites for games I played and so on.

At one point, I started using a website builder, Freewebs. It was a free website hosting service and/or builder (it was many things). I thought it was actually quite good, given it was almost 20 years ago. Sadly, it was officially shut after some detours in 2021. But I digress. My point is, since then the way websites are built has changed a lot. And I'll give my take on it.

My favorite options for building websites (shortlist)

This is just a quick recap of my list, but you may browse further to check deeper insights. However, here are my quick bits!

Headless CMS and your own front-end: Best for websites with TOTAL control and scalability.
WordPress: Best for most websites.
Site builders like Wix, Framer, Webflow or Squarespace: Best for small budget websites done quick.
AI-website builders (are they a thing?): Best for quick prototyping and VERY low budgets.

How can you build a website?

Before I go deeper into the best ways to build a website, I want to explain how websites can be built nowadays. And surprise surprise, you can build websites in many ways. Here's my quick breakdown before we dive deeper:

Coding from scratch
Web framework (Next.js/Astro/Remix) + Headless CMS
Website platform (WordPress/Drupal) and coding a custom theme
No-code or AI website builder (Framer, Wix etc.) without any coding

I know I know, it's confusing. But don't worry. I'll explain each one in more detail below. Or you can skip to the best options if you already know what I'm rambling about.

Comparing the best ways to build a website

Approach	Pros	Cons
1) Coding from Scratch	- Full control over every aspect of the project - No dependency on frameworks or platforms - Extremely lightweight and performant - Ideal for total customization and learning	- Very time-consuming - Requires advanced development skills - No built-in tools or CMS - Hard to scale or hand off to others
2) Web Framework (Next.js/Astro/Remix) + Headless CMS	- Modern, flexible architecture (API-driven, component-based) - Excellent performance (SSR/SSG) - Clear separation of content and frontend - Scales well and integrates easily - Strong developer ecosystem	- Requires both frontend and backend knowledge - Complex setup and longer development time - DevOps and hosting management needed - Editors need training for headless CMS
3) Website Platform (WordPress) + Custom Theme	- Huge plugin ecosystem - Easy content management for non-technical users - Cost-effective and quick to launch - Supported by almost all hosting providers - Good for content-heavy or marketing sites	- Performance can degrade with many plugins - Higher security risks if not maintained - Limited scalability for advanced apps - Custom themes can become hard to maintain
4) No-code / AI Website Builder (Framer, Wix, etc.)	- Fastest setup and deployment - No coding skills needed - AI-assisted design and templates - Hosting and security handled automatically - Great for small sites or prototypes	- Very limited customization and flexibility - Locked into proprietary platforms - Not scalable for complex needs - Limited SEO and performance control - Hard to migrate away later
Bonus) Vibe coding	- Faster than full coding, but more flexible than no-code - Supports both visual building and manual code tweaks - Can integrate APIs and advanced logic - Lower barrier to entry for developers and designers	- Still requires some coding knowledge - Platforms can be limiting for very complex projects - Vendor lock-in possible - May not scale as efficiently as full custom frameworks

Approach1) Coding from Scratch

Pros- Full control over every aspect of the project - No dependency on frameworks or platforms - Extremely lightweight and performant - Ideal for total customization and learning

Cons- Very time-consuming - Requires advanced development skills - No built-in tools or CMS - Hard to scale or hand off to others

Approach2) Web Framework (Next.js/Astro/Remix) + Headless CMS

Pros- Modern, flexible architecture (API-driven, component-based) - Excellent performance (SSR/SSG) - Clear separation of content and frontend - Scales well and integrates easily - Strong developer ecosystem

Cons- Requires both frontend and backend knowledge - Complex setup and longer development time - DevOps and hosting management needed - Editors need training for headless CMS

Approach3) Website Platform (WordPress) + Custom Theme

Pros- Huge plugin ecosystem - Easy content management for non-technical users - Cost-effective and quick to launch - Supported by almost all hosting providers - Good for content-heavy or marketing sites

Cons- Performance can degrade with many plugins - Higher security risks if not maintained - Limited scalability for advanced apps - Custom themes can become hard to maintain

Approach4) No-code / AI Website Builder (Framer, Wix, etc.)

Pros- Fastest setup and deployment - No coding skills needed - AI-assisted design and templates - Hosting and security handled automatically - Great for small sites or prototypes

Cons- Very limited customization and flexibility - Locked into proprietary platforms - Not scalable for complex needs - Limited SEO and performance control - Hard to migrate away later

ApproachBonus) Vibe coding

Pros- Faster than full coding, but more flexible than no-code - Supports both visual building and manual code tweaks - Can integrate APIs and advanced logic - Lower barrier to entry for developers and designers

Cons- Still requires some coding knowledge - Platforms can be limiting for very complex projects - Vendor lock-in possible - May not scale as efficiently as full custom frameworks

Approaches to building websites, clarifications

1) Coding from scratch

This means manually writing all the code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) that forms the website structure, content, design, and functionality. It grants total creative control and performance optimization but requires deep technical skills AND it takes a lot of time, we don't need to reinvent the wheel here. It's typically not worth it in my opinion.

2) Web framework + Headless CMS

Web framework + Headless CMS is a modern approach that separates a website's content (Body) from its presentation (Head).

Headless CMS/Body: The "back-end" for content management. It has no built-in "Head" or front-end. It simply provides the structured content (text, images, data) via an API.
Web Framework/Head: The "front-end" (built using a framework like Next.js, React, Remix, Astro etc.). It's the "Head" of the website, displaying the content managed in the Headless CMS or "Body".

This architecture is the best for ABSOLUTE maximum control, performance, and scalability. This option is also my recommended approach for the aforementioned reasons. But, this is also the most expensive...

3) Website platform and coding a custom theme

This means that I can take an existing platform such as WordPress, configure it how I like, add plugins and use code my own theme. You can also use pre-existing themes and use WordPress like a website builder (with Elementor for example), but most often you need to code your own theme for any serious website projects.

4) No-code or AI website builder without any coding

This is Wix, Framer, Webflow, etc. Kinda like the Freewebs of 2025 I talked about previously. These are software that allow users to build websites without any code by using visual interfaces like drag-and-drop editors and templates (nowadays also with AI prompts, with varying results)... Usually, you can add code to tweak things but these things are not really designed for that in particular.

Bonus) Vibe coding platforms such as Vercel V0 or Lovable

Vibe coding platforms like Vercel V0 and Lovable let developers quickly build web apps and websites using prompting. These are good for prototyping, but you really have to be a developer to understand how to modify and edit beyond just vibing via the prompt. I would not use these options for anything serious, aside from prototyping...

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