For most of the last decade, “marketing site” meant “WordPress” by default. That default is no longer obvious. For content-led sites where Core Web Vitals, SEO, and build-time control matter, modern static frameworks - Astro chief among them - have changed the trade-off. Here is when we recommend it.
What Astro actually is
Astro is a framework that ships static HTML by default and lets you sprinkle interactivity only where you actually need it. The result is a site that is fast because it is mostly not running any JavaScript, and that integrates cleanly with whatever content source you prefer - Markdown files in a repo, a headless CMS, or your existing WordPress as a content backend.
It is not a CMS. That is both the catch and the point.
Where it beats WordPress outright
Three places, consistently:
- Performance. A well-built Astro site is in the green on Core Web Vitals without any of the caching plugins, optimisation extensions, or hosting tricks a WordPress site needs. Faster sites convert better and rank better, and on Astro that is the starting point, not the goal.
- Security and maintenance. No PHP, no admin login on a public URL, no plugin update treadmill. The attack surface is dramatically smaller, and the maintenance bill follows.
- Developer experience. For teams that already write code, working in version control with previews per branch is a much better workflow than logging into wp-admin.
Where WordPress still wins
Astro is the wrong choice when content authors need to publish and edit through a familiar UI without involving a developer. WordPress’s editor, plugin ecosystem, and ubiquity are real advantages for sites where marketing owns the content end-to-end and engineering involvement should be minimal.
The honest version is: if your team is non-technical and ships several pages a week, stay on WordPress and invest in making it fast. If your team is technical or content-light, Astro is usually the better long-term call.
The hybrid we often recommend
For clients who want both - fast site, familiar editor - we use Astro for the frontend and WordPress (or another headless CMS) as the content backend. Authors keep wp-admin; visitors get a static, blazing-fast site. This pattern has matured significantly in the last year and is now our default for content-heavy marketing sites where the editorial team is non-technical.
Migration is not as scary as it looks
Most marketing sites are simpler than they feel. A WordPress site with twenty pages and a blog is usually a one-to-two-week migration to Astro, including content import, redirects, and SEO continuity. The hard part is not the build; it is making sure the URLs stay stable and the search rankings survive.
How we help
We build marketing sites on both stacks and we are honest about which fits each project. For WordPress sites that have outgrown their plugin stack and want the speed without losing the editor, the headless-WordPress-plus-Astro pattern is often the right next move. If you are weighing a rebuild and not sure which side of the line you are on, that is the conversation worth having before the redesign starts.
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