Nothing to maintain
A WordPress site is an application with a database, and it needs updates for as long as it's online. An Atelier201 site is files on Cloudflare's network. Nobody has to log in on a Sunday because a plugin broke something.
All comparisons
Atelier201 vs WordPress
As open as WordPress, with nothing to patch, update or back up. Your own AI does the work, and anyone can edit in a form.
Choose Atelier201 if
- Nobody on your team wants to run updates and backups.
- You want to own your code, without the server.
- Non-technical people keep the site current.
- Plugin conflicts have cost you a weekend.
- You want an AI agent to work on the site, safely, on a draft.
- You want a high Lighthouse score without tuning a theme.
Stay on WordPress if
- A plugin runs part of your business.
- You sell with WooCommerce.
- Complex interfaces don't scare you.
Atelier201 and WordPress, side by side
Based on each company's public pages and docs, November 2026. A check means it does the job, a dash that it does so partly or for an extra fee, and a cross that it doesn't, or that we couldn't find it.
| What you need | Atelier201 | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| You own the codeHand it to a developer or an agent, any day | A standard Astro project in its own Git repository | Yes, open source |
| Export the whole siteHost it anywhere, without asking | Code, content and media, on any plan, even a draft | Yes, on self-hosted WordPress |
| Complete CLIFrom an empty folder to a live site, in a terminal | Create, pull, push, preview, publish and roll back | WP-CLI, on your own server |
| MCP server and REST APIEverything the dashboard does, for agents and scripts | Included, on every plan | Plugins and third-party MCP servers |
| Your own Claude, ChatGPT or GeminiNo second AI bill | Your agent does the work. Its calls cost nothing here | Through plugins, or a developer's setup |
| Built-in AI assistantFor people without their own agent | 1,000 credits a month, 5,000 at sign-up | Depends on the plan or plugin you choose |
| CollaboratorsYour team, your clients, your freelancer | Unlimited, at no extra cost | Unlimited users on self-hosted WordPress |
| Edit without AI or codeA new price takes ten seconds | A form made from your content, or click the text on the preview | Block editor, depending on your theme |
| Review before anything goes livePeople and agents work on a draft | Nothing is live until you publish. Share a preview link first | Post drafts and previews. Plugin and theme changes reach the live site |
| Full version historyUndo anything, including an agent's work | Every change is a version. Roll back the live site in one click | Post revisions. Full backups from your host or a plugin |
| Free draft, no clockPay when the site goes live | Free for as long as you like, with preview links | Free software, then hosting from about $6 a month |
| Several languagesHreflang and sitemaps follow | Included, with no fee per language | Plugins, often paid |
| Lighthouse performance on mobileStatic Astro pages, with almost no script | 100 on the real sites we measured | 43 at the median |
| Ready for AI searchPages ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can read | Sitemap, llms.txt, JSON-LD and a Markdown copy of every page, by default | SEO plugins to install and configure |
| Built-in analyticsVisitors, pages, sources, AI referrals | Included, and sets no cookie | A plugin or Jetpack |
| Nothing to maintainNo server, plugin or database on the visitor's path | Static files on Cloudflare's network | Core, theme and plugin updates, backups and security are on you or your host |
| PluginsWhatever you need probably exists | Embeds, or code your agent writes | 60,000+ |
| Selling onlineA full store | Not offered yet | WooCommerce |
What a year costs
Atelier201
€90a year, or €9 a month
- Backups and updates
- Included: every version kept in Git
- Payment fees
- None, no payments
WordPress
$72-$200a year for hosting, a theme and a few plugins, before anyone maintains it
- Backups and updates
- Your host's, or a plugin
- Payment fees
- 8% on WordPress.com Personal, 0% on Commerce
WordPress.org is free software, so the cost depends on your choices. Our range starts at hosting from about $6 a month and adds a paid theme and a few paid plugins, which guides commonly put at $50 to $300 a year. Paying someone to maintain it costs more. WordPress.com prices are annual billing.
Lighthouse performance on mobile
Page weight
JavaScript
A Lighthouse score you don't have to tune
The median WordPress site scores 43 on mobile. A good host and a light theme do better, and they take work. An Atelier201 site is static from the start: the real ones we measured score 100, with 8 KB of JavaScript.
Where the numbers come from
Competitors: HTTP Archive medians, September 2026. Atelier201: three Lighthouse mobile runs on each of two real sites, November 5, 2026, with the heavier site's weight. On real visits, 48.3% of WordPress sites pass Core Web Vitals on mobile.
Three differences that matter
The same freedom to leave
WordPress set the standard for owning your site, and Atelier201 meets it: a normal Astro project in Git, which you can build and host anywhere, without a server of your own to run in the meantime.
Editing without learning the tool
People who don't build websites for a living can change a price in a form, click a text in the preview or ask an agent. The change is saved as a version, and nothing goes live until someone publishes.
What customers say about WordPress
Chosen by us from public reviews and Reddit. Every quote links to its source.
Incomprehensible interface. And I have a PhD
I did a similar migration for 5 marketing websites from WordPress/Elementor to Astro... One thing I really liked after migrating was how much simpler the stack became.
WP is very good and you can get a great custom website with it but I wanted something really easy to update and manage.
Moving from WordPress
WordPress exports your content, so this is the easiest move on the list. An agent turns it into pages and posts, and redirects cover old addresses.
What comes across
- Pages and posts, from the WordPress export or your public pages
- Media files
- Your domain, through DNS
- Old addresses, through redirects, up to 200 rules (one rule can cover a whole folder)
What doesn't
- Plugins and whatever they do
- WooCommerce
- Your theme's design, unless you ask an agent to stay close to it
- User accounts and comments
Read next
How fast are websites on each builder? The field data
Real Core Web Vitals, page weight and JavaScript for Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Framer, Lovable, Jimdo and more, from HTTP Archive, 2026.
Questions
How much does a WordPress site cost per year?
The software is free. Hosting starts at about $72 a year, and a paid theme and a few paid plugins for SEO, backups, security or forms usually bring it to around $200. Maintenance is extra, whether it's your own time or a service. Atelier201 costs €90 a year, with hosting, backups, analytics and updates included.
Is Atelier201 more secure than WordPress?
It has less to attack: static files, with no database, PHP or plugins on the path of a visitor. No site is immune, and a well-maintained WordPress site can be safe too. You just don't have that maintenance here.
Can I use plugins?
Not WordPress plugins. You can embed services such as a booking tool or a form, and an agent can write custom code in the project. If a plugin runs something essential, stay on WordPress.
Is WordPress slower than Atelier201?
The median WordPress site scores 43 for Lighthouse performance on mobile, and 48.3% pass Core Web Vitals on real visits. The real Atelier201 sites we measured score 100. A carefully tuned WordPress site can be fast too.
How do I migrate from WordPress to Astro?
WordPress exports your content, so it's the easiest move on our list. An agent turns the export into pages and posts in an Astro project, you bring your media across, and up to 200 redirect rules keep your old addresses and search positions working.
Can I host my Atelier201 site myself afterwards?
Yes. It's a normal Astro project. Run npm ci and npm run build, and put the output on any host.
Is Atelier201 a good WordPress alternative for SEO and AI search?
Every Atelier201 site is static HTML built with Astro, served from Cloudflare's network, with an XML sitemap, hreflang, JSON-LD structured data, llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every page. That makes it easy for Google, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and other answer engines to read and cite, which is what generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO) are about.
Can I build my website with Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini?
Yes. Connect your own AI agent, such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor or Codex, through the MCP server, the CLI or the REST API. It can create the site, edit pages and content, run a build and prepare publishing. Those calls cost nothing on Atelier201, so you don't pay for AI twice. People without an agent can use the built-in assistant.
Do I own my website and its code?
Yes. Each site is a standard Astro project in its own Git repository. You can pull it with the CLI or export code, content and media at any time, on any plan, then run npm ci and npm run build and host it anywhere. There is no vendor lock-in.
