Goodbye WordPress: Why I Finally Left for a Faster, Smarter Web

I finally took the leap. I'd been neglecting my VideoToBe.com landing page, distracted by fun projects like generating AI cat images. Recently, I rewrote the main landing pages and blog using Windsurf and Cursor. My experience with it is just amazing - I'm officially saying goodbye to WordPress.

Why I'm Moving On

My personal experience and observations in the developer community suggest a shift away from WordPress. I wanted to back it by some data, just to be sure.

It is challenging to find definitive trends for WordPress usage as they don't publish official installation or download statistics. I used StackOverflow new question counts as a substitute to see the trend analysis.

Stack Overflow Monthly Question Counts (2020-Present)

Want to see how this data was collected? Check out the SQL query and analysis scripts.

Notice the sharp decline in questions across all technologies starting from 2022? That's not a coincidence - it marks the beginning of the AI era. As developers increasingly turn to AI coding assistants for help, traditional Q&A platforms are seeing less engagement. WordPress's decline is equalliy steep.

There was that recent drama with WPEngine too. They weren't being good players in the ecosystem and probably deserved some of what came their way. As for Matt Mullenweg's approach — well, rational people don't do anything extraordinary. You need a touch of irrationality in leaders to make the impossible goal of building WordPress happen. So, I give him some leeway.

My WordPress Dilemma

My older sites are still on WordPress, and I face the same challenge many of you probably do. Whenever I propose migration, there's always a "more pressing need" to keep the existing site running. It never seems to be a good time or priority to migrate.

I've been stuck in this cycle for years - knowing I should move on but finding it easier to maintain the status quo. But watching WordPress struggle to evolve in the age of AI finally convinced me it was time for action.

Other considerations

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What I'm Doing Instead

I've embraced several alternatives that feel more aligned with modern web development:

  1. Vibe coding my landing pages - This approach gives me more control and creates faster, more responsive sites.

  2. Markdown everywhere! - I've fallen in love with the simplicity of Markdown. No more fighting with WordPress's block editor.

  3. Leveraging LLMs - I'm using AI tools for content generation and analytics, which WordPress simply wasn't designed to integrate with smoothly.

  4. Lots of in-house developed Python scripts - What would have required 10+ WordPress plugins, I can now achieve with custom Python scripts. This is possible because of vibe coding.

  5. Makes site-level changes easy - With my new setup, implementing site-wide changes is much simpler and more efficient.

The transition has been painless. My sites load faster, I spend less time on maintenance, and I feel reconnected with the actual code that powers my online presence.

WordPress served me well for many years, but sometimes you need to recognize when a relationship has run its course. For me, that time is now. Have you made the switch yet, or are you still holding on?