WordPress vs Astro for Businesses in Mallorca: Which One?

WordPress or Astro: a clear answer for local businesses

WordPress is the most widely used CMS in the world. Astro is the framework built to do everything WordPress can't do well.

Both can build websites. But for a local business in Mallorca — restaurant, studio, professional, clinic — the choice matters more than you might think.

What is each one?

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that has been active since 2003. It runs on themes and plugins. An estimated 43% of all websites in the world use WordPress.

Astro is a web development framework launched in 2021, designed to generate static HTML without unnecessary JavaScript. Companies like Google, Netlify and The Guardian use it.

Comparison across 7 areas

1. Speed and Core Web Vitals

WordPress: typical Lighthouse scores: 40-75 on mobile. Improves with cache plugins, but rarely reaches 90+.

Astro: typical scores: 95-100. Zero JavaScript by default. HTML arrives ready at the browser.

This matters because Google has used Core Web Vitals as a ranking signal since 2021. A slow website in Mallorca loses positions to competitors with faster sites.

2. Security

WordPress: the most attacked CMS in the world. Outdated plugins are the main entry point. 90% of WordPress hacks happen through vulnerable plugins.

Astro: generates static HTML served from Cloudflare. No exposed database, no administration panel accessible from outside, no plugins to patch.

3. Maintenance

WordPress: needs frequent updates (WordPress core, theme, plugins). Each update can break something. If you don't update, you accumulate security debt.

Astro: the code doesn't change until you decide to change it. No plugins to update. No surprises.

4. Technical SEO

WordPress: SEO possible with plugins like Yoast or RankMath, but baseline performance is mediocre. Generated code includes a lot of unnecessary weight.

Astro: schema markup, hreflang, canonical tags and sitemap are part of the development process, not plugins. Baseline performance is already optimal.

5. Content editing

WordPress: very intuitive visual administration panel. Anyone can edit text and images without touching code.

Astro + Sanity CMS: equally intuitive administration panel (Sanity Studio), with the advantage of a modern CMS designed for editorial workflows.

In both cases, the client can edit without code. The difference is in the quality of the panel and how content is structured.

6. Long-term cost

WordPress: shared hosting: 5-15€/month. Quality managed hosting: 30-100€/month. Premium theme: 50-200€. Premium plugins: 50-500€/year. Maintenance: 50-200€/month.

Astro + Cloudflare Workers: free or very cheap Cloudflare plan (Workers Free: 0€/month for moderate traffic). No paid plugins. No expensive hosting.

Over 3 years, a WordPress website with adequate maintenance costs between 2,000€ and 5,000€ more than an Astro website.

7. Technical flexibility

WordPress: limited by what plugins allow. Complex customisations require PHP and knowledge of the WordPress core.

Astro: modern JavaScript and TypeScript. Integrations with any API. No limits imposed by the CMS.

When does WordPress make sense?

WordPress is still valid when:

• You already have a working WordPress website and the team knows it
• You need very specific functionality that only exists as a plugin (complex membership management, e-commerce with WooCommerce)
• The client has an in-house technical team familiar with PHP

When does Astro make sense?

Astro is the right choice when:

• SEO and speed are a priority (they always are for local businesses)
• You want a website that doesn't need constant maintenance
• Hosting budget must be minimal
• Security matters

The direct conclusion

For a local business in Mallorca that wants to appear on Google and not waste time on maintenance: Astro wins in almost every category that matters.

WordPress is a useful tool with 20 years of history. Astro is the tool designed for what businesses need today.

At NELWEB we use Astro for all our projects. If you have doubts about which technology fits your business better, get in touch.