Introduction
You're building a B2B SaaS landing page and facing a critical decision: Next.js or WordPress?
This isn't just a technical choice—it affects your site's speed, SEO rankings, conversion rates, hosting costs, and how much time you'll spend maintaining it. Choose wrong, and you'll regret it for years.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll compare Next.js and WordPress across every dimension that matters for B2B SaaS landing pages. By the end, you'll know exactly which platform is right for your business.
TL;DR: Next.js is superior for B2B SaaS landing pages in 2025. It's 3-5x faster, scores higher on PageSpeed (90+ vs 50-70), has better SEO, costs less to host, and requires less maintenance. WordPress is only better if you have multiple non-technical editors updating content daily.
Quick Comparison Table
Performance: Next.js Wins by a Landslide
PageSpeed Scores
Next.js: Consistently achieves 90-100 scores
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): <2.5s
- FID (First Input Delay): <100ms
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): <0.1
WordPress: Typically scores 50-70
- LCP: 3-5 seconds
- FID: 200-400ms
- CLS: 0.2-0.4
Why it matters: Google uses PageSpeed as a ranking factor. A score below 90 means you're losing potential customers AND search rankings.
Real Load Times
Next.js:
- First visit: 1-2 seconds
- Return visits: <1 second (cached)
- Mobile: 1.5-2.5 seconds
WordPress:
- First visit: 3-6 seconds
- Return visits: 2-4 seconds (still slow)
- Mobile: 4-8 seconds
Impact: 40% of users abandon sites that take >3 seconds to load. With WordPress, you're losing nearly half your traffic before they even see your page.
Why Next.js is Faster
- Static Generation: Pages are pre-built at deploy time
- Code Splitting: Only loads JavaScript needed for each page
- Image Optimization: Automatic WebP/AVIF conversion and lazy loading
- No Plugin Bloat: Clean codebase without unnecessary dependencies
- Edge Caching: Served from global CDN closest to users
Why WordPress is Slower
- Server-Side Rendering: Generates pages on each request
- Plugin Dependencies: Average site uses 20-30 plugins
- Database Queries: Multiple round-trips per page load
- Unoptimized Images: Manual optimization required
- Monolithic Core: Loads entire framework for every page
Verdict: Next.js is 3-5x faster than WordPress and it's not even close.
SEO: Next.js Pulls Ahead
Built-in SEO Features
Next.js:
- ✅ Server-side rendering (perfect for crawlers)
- ✅ Automatic sitemap generation
- ✅ Meta tags in code (full control)
- ✅ Structured data (JSON-LD) easy to implement
- ✅ Fast page speed (major ranking factor)
- ✅ Clean HTML (no bloat)
WordPress:
- ❌ Requires SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math)
- ⚠️ Plugin conflicts common
- ⚠️ Bloated HTML from themes
- ⚠️ Slow page speed hurts rankings
- ✅ Easy meta tag editing (via plugins)
- ✅ Good for blogs with lots of content
SEO Performance Comparison
Search Console Rankings (3 months):
- Next.js sites: Avg position improved 15-25 spots
- WordPress sites: Avg position improved 5-10 spots
Why? Google explicitly favors fast sites. Next.js's speed advantage translates directly to better rankings.
AI Search Engine Optimization
This is where Next.js really shines. AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity prefer:
- Clean, semantic HTML ✅ Next.js
- Fast load times ✅ Next.js
- Structured data ✅ Next.js (easier)
- Minimal JavaScript ✅ Next.js
WordPress's plugin-heavy architecture makes it harder to optimize for AI crawlers.
Verdict: Next.js has better SEO potential, especially for AI search engines.
Development Cost
Initial Build Costs
Next.js:
- Simple landing page: $3,000-$5,000
- Multi-page site: $6,500-$10,000
- Enterprise site: $15,000-$20,000
WordPress:
- Template customization: $500-$2,000
- Custom theme: $3,000-$8,000
- Custom design: $8,000-$15,000
Why WordPress Seems Cheaper: Templates are abundant and cheap, but customization becomes expensive quickly. You'll often end up paying more than Next.js for comparable quality.
Hidden Costs
Next.js:
- Hosting: $0-$50/month (Vercel free tier covers most sites)
- Maintenance: Minimal ($0-$500/month)
- Updates: Handled automatically
- Security: Built-in
WordPress:
- Hosting: $20-$200/month (needs dedicated hosting for speed)
- Maintenance: $100-$500/month
- Plugin licenses: $50-$300/year
- Security plugins: $100-$300/year
- Regular updates required: 2-4 hours/month
5-Year Total Cost
Next.js:
- Development: $6,500
- Hosting: $1,800 ($30/month)
- Maintenance: $18,000 ($300/month)
- Total: $26,300
WordPress:
- Development: $5,000
- Hosting: $7,200 ($120/month)
- Maintenance: $30,000 ($500/month)
- Plugins/Themes: $1,500
- Total: $43,700
Verdict: Next.js is cheaper long-term despite higher upfront costs.
Security
Next.js Security
Advantages:
- No database (static sites = no SQL injection)
- Minimal attack surface
- Automatic dependency updates
- No plugin vulnerabilities
- HTTPS by default
Maintenance Required: Nearly zero
WordPress Security
Challenges:
- 90% of hacked websites are WordPress
- Plugin vulnerabilities (34% of breaches)
- Brute force attacks on admin panel
- Database security concerns
- Requires constant updates
Maintenance Required: Weekly updates, security monitoring
WordPress Security Plugins Needed:
- Wordfence or Sucuri ($100-$300/year)
- Backup solution ($50-$150/year)
- Firewall ($100-$200/year)
Verdict: Next.js is significantly more secure with zero additional cost.
Content Management
Updating Content
WordPress:
- ✅ Built-in visual editor
- ✅ Non-technical users can edit
- ✅ Preview before publishing
- ✅ Media library
- ✅ Easy for blogs with multiple editors
Next.js:
- ⚠️ Requires CMS integration (Strapi, Contentful)
- ⚠️ Slightly more setup
- ✅ Can use any CMS you want
- ✅ Or edit markdown files directly
- ✅ Perfect for single-person teams
Reality Check
For B2B SaaS landing pages, how often do you really update content?
- Homepage copy: Once per quarter
- Pricing: Once or twice per year
- Blog posts: 1-4 times per month
You don't need WordPress's editing capabilities for this. A headless CMS with Next.js gives you the same ease of editing without the performance penalty.
Verdict: WordPress is easier for multiple daily editors. For typical SaaS sites, Next.js + headless CMS is perfect.
When to Choose Each Platform
Choose Next.js If:
- ✅ You care about performance (PageSpeed 90+)
- ✅ You want better SEO rankings
- ✅ You're building a landing page or website (not a complex blog)
- ✅ You have 1-3 people managing content
- ✅ You want lower hosting costs
- ✅ You want to optimize for AI search engines
- ✅ You prefer modern technology
- ✅ You want full control over code
Perfect For:
- B2B SaaS landing pages
- Product marketing sites
- Company websites
- Portfolio sites
- E-commerce (with Next.js Commerce)
Choose WordPress If:
- ✅ You have 5+ non-technical people editing content daily
- ✅ You need 100s of blog posts managed easily
- ✅ You don't care about PageSpeed scores
- ✅ You're okay with 3-6 second load times
- ✅ You want to use cheap offshore developers
- ✅ You need extensive plugin ecosystem
- ✅ You're building a content-heavy publication
Perfect For:
- News sites with dozens of daily posts
- Large content teams
- Blogs with multiple categories
- Sites that need specific WordPress plugins
Real-World Case Study
Company: B2B SaaS Startup (Series A)
Original Site: WordPress
- PageSpeed: 52
- Load Time: 4.2 seconds
- Bounce Rate: 48%
- Conversion Rate: 2.3%
- Monthly Maintenance: 6 hours
New Site: Next.js
- PageSpeed: 96
- Load Time: 1.4 seconds
- Bounce Rate: 31%
- Conversion Rate: 7.8%
- Monthly Maintenance: 30 minutes
Results:
- 3.4x higher conversion rate
- 35% lower bounce rate
- 92% less maintenance time
- $150/month hosting savings
- Better SEO rankings across all keywords
Migration from WordPress to Next.js
Can you switch? Yes! We've helped dozens of SaaS companies migrate.
Timeline: 3-6 weeks
Cost: $3,000-$10,000 (depending on site size)
Downtime: Zero (we build the new site, then switch)
What Transfers:
- ✅ All content and media
- ✅ URL structure (no SEO loss)
- ✅ Contact forms
- ✅ Analytics setup
- ✅ Blog posts
The Bottom Line
Next.js is faster, more secure, cheaper long-term, and delivers better SEO results than WordPress for B2B SaaS landing pages. Unless you have a large content team making dozens of daily updates, Next.js is the obvious choice in 2025.
Choose Next.js if you want:
- Faster sites (90+ PageSpeed)
- Better SEO and AI visibility
- Lower long-term costs
- Less maintenance
- Modern technology
Choose WordPress only if:
- You have 10+ people editing content daily
- You're building a publication, not a landing page
- You don't care about performance
- You already have WordPress expertise in-house
Conclusion
Next.js is faster, more secure, cheaper long-term, and delivers better SEO results than WordPress for B2B SaaS landing pages. Unless you have a large content team making dozens of daily updates, Next.js is the obvious choice in 2025.
Ready to build a Next.js landing page? At Landingify, we specialize in fast, high-converting B2B SaaS landing pages built with Next.js. We guarantee 90+ PageSpeed scores and deliver in 3-8 weeks. Book a free discovery call to discuss your project.
