Comparison · WordPress
TOWeb, the WordPress alternative for a website that needs very little maintenance
TOWeb is a Windows and Mac app that builds complete websites (brochure site, blog, online shop, bookings) with no plugins to install or update, and it works even offline. With WordPress, you put together a theme and plugins written by different developers, and keeping them compatible with each other, year after year, is your job. With TOWeb, everything comes from the same developer: nothing to install, nothing to make work together, and a new version upgrades your whole site in one go when you republish.
Updated 23 October 2026. This page compares TOWeb with WordPress.org, the open-source software you install on a web host, not with WordPress.com, the hosted service.
TOWeb or WordPress: the difference in one sentence
With WordPress, you put your site together yourself: the core, a theme, and often a dozen plugins written by different developers, each updated on its own schedule. With TOWeb, there is nothing to put together: everything comes from the same developer and was designed to work as a whole.
WordPress offers an almost unlimited choice of plugins, but it’s up to you to make them work together. TOWeb offers less choice, and a whole that holds together on its own. It all depends on how much time you’re willing to spend on the technical side of your website.
Can you edit a WordPress site offline?
Not really. The WordPress dashboard is a web page connected to your live site: every screen loads from the server, a poor connection slows everything down, right down to the smallest save, and without a network nothing happens. The WordPress mobile app lets you write a post offline, but pages, layout and plugins are managed online. To work on the whole site offline, you need to install a copy of WordPress on your computer and then sync it with the live site: it can be done, but it’s for experienced users.
TOWeb turns the problem around: the software and your website are on your computer. You write your pages and posts on the train, tweak a layout on a building site with no signal, see the result exactly as it will look online, and publish when you’re back online. Only publishing, and AI if you use an online service, need a connection; an AI installed on your computer works offline too.
Which is easier for building a website?
With WordPress, building a professional website means a series of technical choices: a compatible host, the installation, a theme, then a plugin for each need (page builder, forms, SEO, caching, security, backups, languages, online shop). Each plugin has its own settings and its own admin screen.
With TOWeb, you pick a style, write your pages in a visual editor, and everything a website needs is already there: forms, SEO, optimised images, a mobile-friendly site, multiple languages, a blog, an online shop and bookings. And you see your site exactly as it will look online, before you publish.
WordPress maintenance: what to expect year after year
A WordPress site is never finished. WordPress regularly releases updates, often security updates (minor ones install automatically), and the theme and every plugin have to keep up. That’s where WordPress starts costing you time:
- a plugin that is no longer maintained by its author may stop being compatible with new versions of WordPress or PHP;
- two plugins can conflict after an update, and the site shows an error or a blank page;
- according to Patchstack’s 2026 report, 91% of the vulnerabilities found in the WordPress ecosystem in 2025 were in plugins and 9% in themes; WordPress core itself had only six;
- the online admin area is a way in that has to be protected (passwords, accounts, login attempts).
With TOWeb, there are no plugins to keep an eye on, and just one online admin area, the one for shop orders, provided and updated by TOWeb. The rest of the published site is made of static pages, meaning pages that are already built, with no database. When a new version of TOWeb comes out, you republish, and your whole site benefits. The only features that run on the server (forms, online shop, bookings) are PHP scripts provided by TOWeb and updated along with it.
To find out what to check with your host: PHP security flaw: is your site ready for the move to PHP 8?
TOWeb and WordPress, side by side
| WordPress | TOWeb | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Open system: a core, a theme and plugins from different developers | Integrated system: all features designed and updated together |
| Building the site | In the browser, once WordPress is installed and configured | In an app on your computer |
| Working offline | No, except for a post written in the mobile app, or a local copy of WordPress to sync | Yes: building, editing and previewing; you publish when you decide |
| Maintenance | Core, theme and every plugin to update (automatically if enabled), with a risk of conflicts | No plugins: just republish to benefit from a new version |
| What is exposed online | Admin area, database, plugins | Static pages; PHP scripts for forms, the shop and bookings |
| Online shop | With the WooCommerce plugin, plus extra plugins for card payments, shipping carriers or PDF invoices | Built in: payments, shipping, taxes, invoices, stock (e-Commerce edition) |
| Multiple languages | With a plugin, often paid | Built in, with automatic translation (Premium edition and above) |
| Bookings | With a plugin | Built in (Premium edition and above) |
| Forum, community | With a forum plugin (bbPress, for example), to be maintained | A link to an existing community (Discord, Facebook group, dedicated forum) |
| Team editing | Accounts and roles for multiple authors | One person at a time, on their computer |
| Hosting (the service that keeps your website online) | Hosting with PHP and a MySQL database | Any standard hosting; PHP (offered by most hosts) only for forms, the online shop and bookings |
| Software cost | Free; premium themes and plugins often on annual licences | Free Standard edition; paid editions bought once |
Is WordPress really free? The cost of a website over several years
The WordPress software is free, but a professional website often relies on a premium theme and premium plugins, usually sold as annual licences: if you don’t renew, they keep working but no longer get updates. Add to that the time spent running those updates, or a contractor who does it for you.
TOWeb is a one-time purchase, with no subscription and no commission on your sales. Only hosting remains to be paid, just as with WordPress. Edition details: see pricing.
Do the maths over three to five years, the reasonable lifespan of a website: the software, the hosting, the theme and plugins renewed every year, the hours spent on updates, and the contractor who does them for you if you’d rather not.
Where does your website live, and how do you move it?
Either way, your website is yours. With WordPress, it lives with your host, in a database and files, and you move it by copying both or with a migration plugin. With TOWeb, it lives first on your computer, in a project you can back up, copy and publish to the host of your choice, then switch hosts without rebuilding anything.
When WordPress is still the better choice
WordPress is a better fit if
- several editors publish every day from a browser, with different roles;
- your project relies on custom development (an advanced members’ area, a course platform with student tracking, a marketplace);
- a technical team or a contractor maintains your website.
TOWeb is right for you if
- you build and run your website yourself;
- you want a brochure site, a blog, an online shop or bookings;
- you don’t want plugins to keep an eye on or risky updates;
- you want to pay for the software once and stay free to choose your host;
- you want to work on your website anywhere, even offline.
Moving from WordPress to TOWeb
- Pick one of TOWeb’s styles: your site instantly has a professional layout, on desktop and mobile alike.
- Bring your content over. On trial in every edition, an AI assistant connected to TOWeb can read your live WordPress site and rebuild its pages, posts and menu in TOWeb; you review and adjust, and putting the rebuilt site online comes with the Studio edition. Otherwise, you copy your text and bring your images over, page by page.
- Keep your domain name and your host: TOWeb publishes to any host, over FTP or SFTP.
- Keep your SEO: in each page’s settings, the “Former addresses of this page” field takes the address it had on WordPress. When you publish, TOWeb creates the permanent (301) redirect, in every edition. Posts and products have the same field.
FAQ: TOWeb or WordPress
Try TOWeb on your computer
The Standard edition is free, with no time limit: enough to rebuild your WordPress site at your own pace on your computer before you decide. It shows a “Made with TOWeb” notice, publishes a single site, and the online shop and bookings run in demo mode.
TOWeb has been developed for more than 20 years by Lauyan Software, a French company.
Other comparisons: Wix alternative · Shopify alternative · all alternatives. And to work offline: build a website offline.