We love React.

Let’s get that out of the way immediately. When we’re building complex web applications, dynamic dashboards, or AI-powered tools like our own internal projects, React is the first tool we reach for. It’s elegant, component-based, and when tuned correctly, it feels like magic. The ecosystem—Next.js, Vercel, Supabase—is arguably the most exciting place to be in development right now.

But there is a massive difference between “exciting to build” and “smart for your business.”

In the last few years, a dangerous trend has emerged. Agencies and developers, enamored with the “modern stack,” have started pushing full-blown React applications for everything. Simple marketing sites, local business portfolios, and standard blogs are being over-engineered into complex Single Page Applications (SPAs).

It’s like buying a Formula 1 car to pick up groceries. Sure, the engineering is breathtaking, and it looks incredible in the driveway. But you can’t fit any bags in it, the maintenance requires a specialized pit crew, and you stall out every time you hit a speed bump.

Here is why React is a beautiful alternative that you probably shouldn’t use for your marketing site.

The “Cool” Tax

React offers a developer experience that is hard to beat. Hot reloading, component isolation, and the sheer power of JavaScript allow for user interfaces that feel alive. But that power comes with a “Cool Tax” that many business owners don’t see until the invoice hits—or worse, until they try to make a simple edit.

1. The Agility Gap

In the WordPress world, if your marketing director wants to change a headline or swap an image, they log in, click “Edit,” and hit “Update.” Total time: 30 seconds.

In a “Headless” React architecture, that simple content change often triggers a Rube Goldberg machine of events. You update the Headless CMS, which triggers a webhook, which tells the hosting provider to rebuild the site, which might take 5 minutes to deploy. And if you want to change the layout? You can’t just drag-and-drop. You need a developer to “scaffold a new component,” test it, merge the branch, and push to production.

You have effectively replaced a 30-second task with a 3-day turnaround.

2. The SEO Tightrope

Google has gotten much better at reading JavaScript, but it’s still not perfect. With WordPress, the HTML is right there on the server. It’s robust, it’s readable, and search engines devour it instantly.

With React, you have to be intentional. You need to manage Server-Side Rendering (SSR) or Static Site Generation (SSG). You have to handle hydration states to ensure the page doesn’t “flicker” and hurt your Core Web Vitals. Can it be done? Absolutely. We do it all the time. But it requires a high level of expertise to get right. With WordPress, excellent SEO is the default; with React, it’s an engineering challenge.

3. The Dependency Treadmill

A standard WordPress site might rely on a few solid plugins. A modern React app relies on node_modules. If you’ve never looked inside that folder, don’t—it’s a black hole. You are often pulling in thousands of dependencies. Keeping that house of cards standing requires constant maintenance, security patching, and “dependency hell” debugging that provides zero visible value to your customers.

WordPress: The “Boring” Secret Weapon

While the dev twitter-sphere argues about the latest hydration technique in Next.js 15, smart businesses are quietly making millions on WordPress.

Why? Because friction kills momentum.

WordPress is the path of least resistance. It solves the hard problems—routing, image optimization, user management, content editing—out of the box. It allows you to leverage 20 years of open-source contributions. You aren’t building a navigation menu from scratch; you’re styling one that has been battle-tested on 40% of the web.

The Verdict: Site vs. App

This isn’t about one being “better” than the other. It’s about respecting the distinction between a Website and a Web Application.

Feature	The Case for React	The Case for WordPress
Interactivity	Unmatched. If you need real-time data, complex state (like a stock ticker), or app-like transitions.	Good Enough. Great for forms, sliders, and standard interactions, but clunky for “app-like” feels.
Development	Exciting but Complex. You build everything from scratch. Total control, but higher cost.	Fast & Efficient. You build on a foundation. You focus on customization, not plumbing.
Content Mgmt	Decoupled. Requires a separate “Headless CMS” (Sanity, Strapi, etc.).	Integrated. The editor is the site. What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG).
Maintenance	High. Requires a developer for almost all structural changes.	Low to Moderate. Non-technical users can manage day-to-day operations.
Best For	SaaS Products, Dashboards, Social Networks, Tools.	Marketing Sites, Blogs, E-Commerce, Portfolios, News.

Conclusion: Choose Business Value Over Hype

We love building in React. It pushes the boundaries of what the web can do. If you are building the next Airbnb, a customer portal, or an AI-powered analytics tool, let’s talk React. We’ll build you a Ferrari.

But if you need a high-performance marketing engine that ranks on Google, converts visitors, and allows your team to move fast without calling a developer for every typo fix?

Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Do it right, do it once. Choose the platform that gets out of your way and lets you get back to business.