WordPress or custom code for a client website: how do I decide?

Short answer: for content-led sites that non-developers will edit, WordPress (or another mature CMS) is usually the pragmatic choice. Build custom when the product has unusual logic that does not fit a CMS.

Reasons to choose WordPress

• Clients can edit content themselves, with a familiar admin.
• A huge ecosystem of themes and plugins covers forms, SEO, caching, e-commerce and multilingual sites.
• Hosting options are plentiful and cheap, and developers are easy to find.
• Faster delivery for typical brochure, blog and small shop sites.

Reasons to build custom

• Complex business rules, workflows or integrations at the core of the product.
• Strict performance, security or architecture requirements.
• An application (dashboards, accounts, bookings) rather than a content site.
• You want to avoid plugin dependency risk.

A middle path

Use WordPress as a headless content source and a custom front end, or use a full-stack framework with a CMS package or an admin panel for the structured parts.

Questions to ask the client

1. Who will edit content, and how often?
2. What integrations are needed now and in a year?
3. How much traffic and what uptime is expected?
4. What is the budget for build and for maintenance?
5. Do you need multilingual support, memberships or e-commerce?

If you choose WordPress, do it carefully

• Keep plugins to a minimum and choose maintained ones.
• Update core, themes and plugins regularly, and take backups.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication for admins.
• Add caching and image optimisation.
• Put custom code in a child theme or a small custom plugin, not in the parent theme.

Pitfalls

• Installing a plugin for every small feature.
• Skipping maintenance after launch.
• Over-engineering a brochure site.

Match the tool to the editing needs and the complexity of the actual requirements.