| Editing content without a developer | Strong. The Editor lets your team change text and images in place, and CMS collections keep listings and posts structured. | Strong for posts and pages; layout edits usually need a page builder, and page builders are where sites get slow. | Strongest for one-person edits. Weakest once several people edit structured content. |
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| Design control | Full control of layout, breakpoints and interactions without writing code. | Depends entirely on the theme and builder. Custom design usually means custom development. | Template-bound. Fine until the brand needs something the template will not do. |
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| Speed and Core Web Vitals | Fast by default — managed hosting on a global CDN, no plugin stack to slow it down. | Can be very fast, but it is on you: hosting, caching, image handling and plugin discipline. | Adequate. Limited control over what actually loads. |
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| CMS depth | Collections, references and templates cover most marketing sites; very large or relational content models hit limits. | Deepest of the three. If the content model is genuinely complex, this is the honest answer. | Shallow. Fine for a blog, awkward for structured listings. |
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| SEO and AI search (AEO) | Clean markup, per-page metadata, redirects and custom structured data — everything an answer engine needs to quote you. | Excellent with the right plugins, and the plugins are one more thing to maintain and keep updated. | Workable for basics; less control over structured data and redirects. |
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| Cost of ownership | Predictable: roughly NZ$25–75 a month in hosting, no plugin licences, no security patching. | Lowest entry price, highest maintenance. Hosting, updates, backups and security are ongoing work. | Cheapest and simplest, as long as you never outgrow it. |
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| Best when | Marketing owns the site, design matters, and the team wants to publish without engineering tickets. | The content model is complex, or you need plugins and integrations that only exist in that ecosystem. | A small business needs a decent site this month and does not expect it to grow much. |
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