Developer Framework or Visual Platform?
Short answer: Astro is an open-source framework developers use to build fast, content-driven sites in code; Framer is a visual platform where marketers design, edit and publish the site themselves. Choose Astro if engineers own the website, Framer if marketing should.
TL;DR: our take:
Cédric Moore
Managing Founder at Trueform
Framer
Framer combines a visual design canvas, CMS, localization, hosting and publishing in one platform. Pages are pre-rendered and served from a global CDN, and marketers create, edit and publish pages without a code change or deploy. It is the stronger fit when the website is a marketing channel that changes every week.
Want to see what a Framer build costs? Our published prices start at $25K, and a single page ships in our 5-day Landing Page Sprint.
Architecture
Visual builder, CMS and managed hosting together
Editing by marketers
Edit and publish directly on the canvas
Performance
Pre-rendered pages on a global CDN
CMS
Built-in visual CMS collections
Localization
Built in, with per-locale content
Build and upkeep
Managed platform; no deploys or updates to run
Best for
SaaS marketing sites that change often
What does Framer do differently from Astro?
Astro gives engineers control; Framer gives marketing ownership.
Is Framer more than a website builder?
Framer is a publishing system the whole team can run.
Design and publish in one place
Build reusable sections, CMS collections and campaign pages in the same tool that publishes them.
Keep the stack simple
Metadata, redirects, sitemaps, hosting and delivery are built in instead of configured across a framework, a CMS and a host.
Ship weekly, not per sprint
Teams launch pages and tests on their own schedule instead of booking developer time.
When to use which
Use Astro when:
Engineers own the website and want everything in code and Git.
You're building docs or a content-heavy site from Markdown or MDX.
You need custom rendering, integrations or app-like features in the same codebase.
You already run a headless CMS and a deployment pipeline you're happy with.
Use Framer when:
Marketing needs to launch and change pages without developers.
You want design, CMS, localization and hosting in one platform.
Your SaaS marketing site changes every week.
Motion and visual polish are part of your brand.
Coming from a different stack?
Compare Framer to:
Craft CMS
Short answer: choose Craft CMS when developers need a fully bespoke content model and own the templates; choose Framer when marketing should design, edit and publish pages without a release. Both can run a serious company site; the difference is who owns change.
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Sanity
Short answer: Sanity is the better fit when one content source has to feed several apps, sites and channels through APIs; Framer is the better fit when the website is the main channel and marketing should ship pages without a front-end release.
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OpenAI Codex
Short answer: OpenAI Codex helps developers write and change code; Framer is where a design and marketing team builds, edits and publishes the website itself. Use Codex for custom software, Framer for a marketing site the whole team keeps improving.
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Claude Code
Short answer: Claude Code helps developers explore, write and change code from the terminal; Framer is where designers and marketers build, edit and publish the website themselves. Use Claude Code for custom software, Framer for a marketing site your team keeps improving.
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Replit
Short answer: Replit is a browser-based workspace for building and deploying software; Framer is a visual platform for designing and publishing marketing websites. Pick Replit for an app or internal tool, Framer for a polished site your marketing team runs.
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Lovable
Short answer: Lovable turns prompts into app prototypes; Framer is built to design, publish and keep refining a company marketing website. Use Lovable to test a product idea, Framer for the site that sells it.
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Squarespace
Short answer: Squarespace is the quicker choice for a simple, template-based site with built-in commerce or bookings; Framer is the better choice for a distinctive B2B or SaaS marketing site that grows with CMS content, localization and testing.
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Wix
Short answer: Wix makes it easy to get a site online with templates and built-in business tools; Framer is the better choice for a distinctive B2B or SaaS marketing site your team keeps shaping, testing and localizing.
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Contentful
Short answer: Contentful is a headless CMS for composable, multi-channel content and needs a separate front end; Framer combines visual design, CMS and hosting for fast, search-ready marketing sites. Miro is moving its marketing site from a complex headless setup to Framer with us.
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WordPress
Short answer: WordPress is free, open-source software you host, update and extend with plugins; Framer is a visual platform with hosting, CDN and CMS built in. Choose WordPress for full server control or a plugin-heavy setup, Framer for a fast marketing site your team edits without maintenance.
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Webflow
Short answer: both are visual builders with a CMS and hosting. Framer works like a design tool, with localization, A/B testing and analytics built in; Webflow works like a visual developer environment with CSS-level control. Gather moved from Webflow to Framer with us in two months.
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