Friday Vs WordPress: Which Is Best In 2024?

Creating a stunning online presence has never been easier, with many excellent website builders to help you build and manage a platform.

Friday and WordPress offer powerful tools for building and editing content, with the latter’s beginner-friendly system offset by WordPress’s developer-first approach.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Friday and WordPress platforms to decide which best suits your professional needs.

Friday Vs. WordPress: Overview

Friday

With a strong focus on creating a streamlined web design and development workflow for beginners, Friday’s platform has been carefully honed.

It also offers an extensive selection of more in-depth tools for developers who want to get under the hood and tweak a site’s core code.

Available through a single subscription that covers every tool and feature, it’s a competitive entry into the website builder marketplace.

WordPress

WordPress began life primarily as a blogging platform and has since evolved to cover full website development with e-commerce functionality.

Once a free, open-source platform, today, it closely resembles contemporary website builders, offering a range of plans for users.

Known for its extensive selection of plugins, WordPress’s design and customization interface allows for complexity but at the cost of user-friendliness.

Quick Comparison: Friday Vs. WordPress

Editor

With a selection of core editing tools and features to customize a website, builder editors need to be streamlined and logical in their workflow.

Here’s what you can expect from Friday and WordPress when editing your content, adding pages, and altering page layouts.

Friday

Friday’s website editor system has been designed with all user abilities in mind, and it offers extensive tools for making page edits.

This straightforward integration of tools, using a simple drag-and-drop user interface, allows users to focus primarily on the creative aspects of website creation.

Friday’s core features are accessed through the side panel, which has been arranged to mimic a traditional, intuitive site development workflow.

You can access these essential features using Friday’s site editing tools:

• Complete page customization tools. Whether you’re adding a logo and banner across all pages or fine-tuning a specific page, Friday’s editor delivers comprehensive optimization options.
• Easy content creation with AI Assistant. Using Friday’s AI Assistant can be a valuable time-saver, adding temporary text for all content that can be edited afterward.
• Comprehensive asset management features. Images, videos, and other file types can all be managed individually or as collections using Friday’s Content Management System.
• In-depth developer mode. Web developers experienced in CSS and HTML can jump directly into a site’s code and tailor content to their liking.
• Flexible site navigation options. Editing a site through Friday can be improved with the various navigation styles to guarantee accurate display on smartphones, desktop computers, and tablets.

With the ability to apply site-wide themes, hundreds of font styles, and free images to include, Friday’s website editor offers exceptional versatility.

Explore Friday’s features.

WordPress

The WordPress website editor differs from the standard editing model typically used for most modern website-building platforms.

While new website builders tend to opt for the drag-and-drop structuring approach to page layouts, WordPress uses a block system.

They include the option to introduce elements such as menus, headers, and footers, with blocks tailored to each page’s user requirements.

The core editing tools you can access through WordPress include the following:

• Page and post settings. This section allows you to set feature images, include links and categories, and set the page’s status and visibility.
• Jetpack sidebar. If you’ve installed this add-on, it can be used to bring up the AI Assistant to help with proofreading and content optimization.
• Access to additional plugins. Plugins are essential for getting the most out of WordPress and are available through the core editing system.
• Styles and templates. The options for changing a site’s theme are all located via the editor’s primary sidebar and are ready for customization.

It’s a more traditional approach to website editing that can take some time to master, particularly when altering the layout through the block editing system.

Bottom line: Friday’s intuitive drag-and-drop user interface functions on the “what you see is what you get” model of website building.

This makes it a much swifter process than WordPress, particularly for those setting up a site with little experience with web development.

Learn more: Discover how to create a website design timeline.

Templates

Another core feature of most modern website builders is the use of templates, which allow for quick and easy site creation based on particular themes.

Let’s see how Friday and WordPress compare with their respective template selections designed for personal and business websites.

Friday

Friday’s core selection of templates continues to expand from the hundreds of templates currently available on the platform.

They cover everything from freelancer website templates to local businesses and templates dedicated to various hobbies.

They are split into intuitive categories that make browsing the templates easy and offer previews to view and the ability to apply to a personal site.

All templates have been filled out with the relevant pages based on the theme, saving time when editing and customizing for your business.

Let’s take a closer look at Friday’s key template categories for personal and business websites:

• Online stores. If you’re running an online store of any kind, Friday will have a website ready to go that includes full e-commerce functionality.
• Professional services. Digital marketing companies, business consulting firms, and real estate agencies are some of the professional industries included in Friday’s template selection.
• Portfolios and work resumes. Professional freelancers and contractors can enhance their client base by sharing their experience and skills, with dedicated templates available through Friday.
• Hobbies and interests. Whether you’re a local band looking to promote your new tour or selling arts and crafts, Friday’s templates will help you get started.

Each template can be fully customized quickly and easily, and new elements can be introduced to a page as and when required.

Explore Friday’s templates. 

WordPress

WordPress includes a large selection of templates on its platform which it refers to as Themes, with thousands available for its customers.

Accessing these templates will depend on your subscription pricing plan. A limited selection is available on free plans, and the selection increases as you upgrade.

You can preview each theme to see how it might look when applied to your content, assessing the included pages and layout.

Here are some of the main categories of themes you can use with WordPress:

• Art and design. Artists and graphic designers have a wealth of themes catering to their content, with layouts prioritizing the presentation of high-quality images.
• Travel and lifestyle. If you’re running a hotel or sharing tips on the best vacation places, WordPress offers plenty of themes for your site.
• Authors and writers. WordPress began life primarily as a blogging platform, so, unsurprisingly, it hosts many themes designed for this content.
• Businesses and stores. WordPress users working with the WooCommerce platform can apply themes for their businesses and online stores.

WordPress themes are impressive and far-reaching, although the access limitations and additional fees can hike the cost of setting up a website.

Bottom line: Friday and WordPress are up-to-date on the latest website design trends, with templates catering to contemporary business needs.

The requirement for additional payments through WordPress to access specific templates makes Friday’s selection more cost-effective for businesses.

Customization

Once a template has been selected from a website builder, it must be fully customized to include branding assets and other appropriate content.

Friday and WordPress offer a selection of template customization tools, which we’ll look at in more detail.

Friday

Friday’s core template customization tools include everything you need to create award-winning websites that instantly engage visitors.

This includes dozens of site widgets that can help optimize content to deliver high retention rates and foster conversations with visitors.

Local businesses can add opening hours, booking forms, contact forms, and social media icons linking to Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Additional pages can be integrated into a template when required, and page layouts are also simple to alter according to visual assets.

Friday’s approach to delivering dynamic pages also enhances its customization potential, as there are many ready-to-use pages to choose from.

The net result is a customization process that allows for accelerated site-building by creating multiple pages from a single design.

Learn more: Exploring the best personal websites.

WordPress

Customization options for themes in WordPress are built around its core block-based page editing system in conjunction with plugins.

The primary user interface is located in the sidebar, where templates can be edited using various parameters.

A dedicated Theme Customizer option allows you to tailor the site’s overall appearance, such as the home page and color schemes, according to your requirements.

The free plan allows you to accomplish the basic theme editing structure, although you’ll need to update your account to access all of its features.

Depending on the task, additional customization may also require the installation of new widgets, some of which will require extra payment.

Likewise, knowledge of HTML and CSS may be needed for some customization processes, something beginners should be mindful of.

Bottom line: WordPress and Friday both allow for extensive theme customization, altering elements to suit the project’s requirements.

Friday’s intuitive UI and its advanced tools for developers make it a more accessible and versatile option, particularly for personal and small business sites.

Marketing & SEO

Once a website is up and running, it needs to be optimized for search engines to ensure it reaches as many potential customers as possible.

Here’s what Friday and WordPress offer users for SEO that can improve their marketing initiatives.

Learn more: enhance your website with the best tools for freelancers. 

Friday

Friday adopts a fully integrated approach to search engine optimization that runs through a site’s core features.

SEO keyword optimization can be applied to the main site, blog content, and online store, ensuring consistent application.

Useful data analytics tools complement these SEO features and help improve traffic, retention, and engagement.

Additional AI-powered SEO features further enhance the utility of Friday’s website builder through metadata creation and image descriptions.

Friday’s builder also processes mobile-friendly optimization to ensure images are correctly displayed on different devices to Google’s standards.

WordPress

SEO and marketing cover many processes, from writing a brand manifesto to optimizing content for maximum online reach.

With WordPress, core SEO tools allow for tweaking descriptions and meta titles through the admin page to assist with content optimization.

However, accessing more extensive tools for SEO requires installing an appropriate plugin with several options for users to choose from.

While some of these are free, those that offer the most comprehensive solutions will require additional payment to add to a WordPress account.

Likewise, WordPress marketing tools such as Jetpack also require researching and installing a plugin to access, along with additional monthly fees.

Bottom line: Friday’s no-nonsense approach to SEO and marketing analytics starkly contrasts WordPress’s complex setup and additional costs.

Delivering the full spectrum of information about a site’s keywords and marketing-based insights, it’s a fuss-free platform for effective optimization.

E-Commerce

One primary reason websites require strong SEO is to drive traffic to an online store and generate a consistent revenue stream.

Friday and WordPress’s e-commerce platforms are robust and powerful tools to help individuals and businesses increase their sales.

Friday

Choosing an excellent e-commerce business name is just the beginning of the journey of selling products through a website.

Friday’s e-commerce website builder has been designed to help users focus on these creative decisions while handling the more complex tasks.

It delivers an impressive inventory management system that uses various automation tools to streamline updates and processing.

This includes automating taxes and shipping to customers, making it an excellent platform for those who prefer a hands-off approach.

Like other processes in Friday’s website builder, the AI Assistant helps with product and category descriptions.

Let’s take a closer look at a few key e-commerce features included in Friday:

• Integrated SEO features. Optimizing a store for SEO is as vital as site-wide SEO, and Friday uses an AI-generated product schema to help with this process.
• Full email automation. Contacting customers about their orders and announcing new offers can all be done instantly through full email automation tools.
• Discounts, codes, and gift cards. Offering customers discounts and special offers can be streamlined with a selection of widgets tailored to these marketing initiatives.
• Delivery zone maps. Friday’s delivery zones feature helps local customers stay informed about where your business is located in their area.

The Friday e-commerce website builder covers all the bases with capabilities covering physical products and digital downloads.

Generate revenue with Friday’s e-commerce website builder.

WordPress

With e-commerce trends constantly changing, WordPress offers its customers a selection of tools to help manage inventories and payment processing.

Accessing these services requires the relevant subscription plan, with the WooCommerce platform integration needed to set up an online store.

The platform’s pricing varies considerably depending on the store’s requirements, starting at a few dollars per month and going as high as $5,000.

Once you’ve installed the WooCommerce plugin on a Business Plan site account, you can access these features:

• Secure payment processing. WooCommerce includes PayPal, Strips, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, and other customer payment options.
• Smartphone order management. Store order fulfillment, shipment tracking, tax calculations, and other functions can be processed using the store’s mobile app/
• Additional free and paid extensions. If you want to refine or enhance an online store through WooCommerce, you can add extensions for marketing integrations, point of sale, and other functions.
• Access to Google Shopping listings. Marketing your store through WooCommerce can be achieved on platforms like Google Shopping and integrated with Google Analytics data.

The availability of many e-commerce plugins allows users to fine-tune their e-commerce store on WordPress according to their specific requirements.

However, it does introduce a level of complexity that many might feel is overwhelming, particularly for smaller online stores.

Bottom line: WordPress has earned its reputation for delivering impressive online stores catering to all types of businesses.

Friday’s more straightforward approach to e-commerce will likely appeal to those looking for a streamlined solution for selling physical and digital products.

Blogging

Whether blogging as a side hustle or using it for SEO to increase sales, a versatile blogging platform is necessary.

Friday and WordPress both include powerful blog editors as part of their set of tools for composing and scheduling all types of content.

Friday

Friday’s blog website tools have the same core features as its principal user interface to ensure accessible content creation.

In addition to the core blog content system, it allows for quick formatting optimization and the inclusion of images and videos.

Articles can be quickly scheduled depending on the content marketing pipeline, with optimization for various device types.

There are also plenty of data points based on blog performance to help creators refine their content and write posts that deliver higher traffic yields.

Content creators can easily share their blog posts across their social media presence through automation tools included in the platform.

It’s a powerful blog editing platform with easy management tools, features for multiple contributors, and an overall innovative design.

Explore Friday’s blog website builder.

WordPress

WordPress has been a consistent presence in the blogosphere since the early days of the concept, with a firm position in the future of blogging.

Despite expanding its services to cover all types of websites, its blogging tools are its primary focus and most vital selling point.

WordPress’s blogging interface is robust and intuitive, with plenty of tools to help content creators optimize the presentation for their audience.

In addition to their dynamic presentation, WordPress blogs include extensive options for commenting, SEO, and various posting formats.

Numerous widgets can also be added to the WordPress blog section to alter the layout and introduce new features for readers.

These widgets can also be used to customize the blog post layout, for example, introducing new sidebars, footers, and headers.

While the degree of customization is impressive, WordPress’s blog does suffer from the same anachronistic interface style that detracts from its overall user experience.

Bottom line: There’s no denying WordPress’s powerful tools in its blogging platform, although it does require time and effort to wade through plugins and widgets to get the best results.

Friday’s blog integration and workflow can create high-quality content with smart and responsive design without requiring additional upgrades.

Hosting & Security

Website hosting and security are constantly evolving, with the use of AI for cookies and other security protocols shaping how website builders function.

Let’s examine the domain hosting services and security systems users can expect when signing up for Friday and WordPress.

Friday

Websites created through Friday offer domain names and AWS web hosting as part of the subscription package.

Options for site configuration are extensive, with SSL security certification and full site backup in the event of an emergency.

Load times are enhanced through Global CDN hosting for all static files, while dynamic serving keeps the site’s performances as swift as possible.

Friday’s system also incorporates Google PageSpeed optimization and privacy integration that is compliant with GDPR.

It’s a robust and reliable hosting and security platform that meets all industry regulations without hidden costs.

WordPress

WordPress’s approach to domain names and web hosting is similar to that of other competitors in the website builder industry.

They offer a free domain for the first year of membership across each of their three subscription tiers, with variable rates for the following years.

For website hosting, WordPress provides its own managed hosting services for subscribers, through which they control backups, security, and other related services.

Security protocols covered in a WordPress subscription include data protection and encryption and daily site scans of plugins, themes, and uploads.

Accessing the full scan history, DDoS protection, and Akismet spam protection all require a Business Plan membership before activation.

Bottom line: Friday’s fully integrated approach to domain name registration, hosting, and security covers all the bases within the subscription price.

WordPress business plan subscribers are also well-served, but their lower tiers might feel short-changed regarding the platform’s security protocols.

Customer Support

With customer support evolving with AI and other technology, the quality of services is highly variable from one platform to the next.

Here’s how Friday and WordPress shape up when dealing with customer complaints promptly and satisfactorily.

Friday

Friday offers its users full access to its 24/7 customer support team via its help center, handling problems from its global user base.

Well reviewed across all major consumer-based feedback websites, its track record for managing issues is highly regarded.

Friday users can contact their team of technical support specialists directly via email, with rapid responses for all queries.

They also include a Knowledge Base section on their website, which provides extensive information on a broad selection of common queries.

WordPress

WordPress offers its customers a choice of support options depending on the subscription tier they’ve signed up for.

Those on the higher tier plans can get 24/7 priority support with direct access to a technician to assist with their problem via screen sharing.

The company website has support forums where users can interact with other WordPress users who can help with problem-solving.

It includes a dedicated section for account recovery and an extensive knowledge base of support documents and FAQs.

There’s also an AI Assistant available through the website’s Help Center, which can be used to speak to a virtual assistant in real time.

Bottom line: Both WordPress and Friday have taken a solid approach to customer support, with informative help centers and access to their team of technicians.

Consumer reviews rate each website builder highly in this regard, praising them for their swift responses and addressing account issues in a timely fashion.

Pricing

Many website builders include a range of subscription packages that cater to various user scenarios, with additional add-ons also available at extra cost.

Friday’s single subscription model contrasts this approach, so let’s see how it stacks up against WordPress’s overall pricing strategy.

Friday

The developers at Friday have opted to include all of the features and tools in a single subscription model catering to all types of sites.

Website domain hosting, security, blogging tools, and e-commerce functionality are all covered by the price, with no hidden extras or fees.

This makes it an excellent choice for anyone concerned about paying more for features and tools down the line.

Friday also offers a free 7-day trial to test all the core features before deciding whether to subscribe to their service.

WordPress

WordPress includes a selection of pricing plans for individual bloggers and businesses with variable features depending on the option.

In addition to the basic free plan, there’s a personal plan aimed toward small-scale content creators that includes one year’s free domain name.

The premium plan opens up access to design tools and the ability to earn money through WordAds, with more customization tools.

There’s also the top-tier business plan for the full suite of features and access to managed hosting from WordPress’s experts.

The latter plan includes tools such as SEO optimization and high-level security protocols and caps the storage at 500GB.

WordPress offers a dedicated commerce plan for online stores that replicates the business plan’s features with the WooCommerce tools.

Bottom line: WordPress offers a variety of pricing plans, which can be overwhelming, particularly when looking for specific features for your online presence.

In contrast, Friday’s straightforward pricing model ensures everything needed to build all types of websites is covered in a single subscription.

Friday’s simple pricing covers all features.

Bottom Line

WordPress’s traditional approach to website construction and extensive plugins may be versatile for experienced website developers, but it’s likely to be daunting for many people.

Friday’s straightforward and comprehensive suite of website-building tools offers a viable alternative for a headache-free workflow.

For anyone setting up a personal blog or running a small business, Friday’s advantages over WordPress make it the best choice.