Semplice and Webflow are both used for professional website creation.The major difference, however, is in the initial applicability of platforms, their pricing, integrated functionality and ease of use.
Semplice – is a WordPress-based portfolio website builder that allows designing customer products to meet versatile user standards, requirements, taste and budget. No coding skills are needed to work with it – just follow the intuitive guidelines to get started with a quality portfolio, presentation or any other website that lets you showcase your works.
Webflow – is a comprehensive DIY website builder, which works equally great for designers and non-designers. It makes it possible to set up responsive web projects – up to web stores and landing pages – due to its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
Thus, Semplice works better for creatives, while Webflow is a better pick for web design pros willing to set up complex and feature-rich projects (including portfolios) with no deep programming proficiency. Which software, however, will be a better solution for this type of website? Which of them will come up to the needs and requirements of non-techies and why? Let’s review the major features of both systems in detail now.
Semplice vs Webflow: General Overview
Semplice initially stands out from the crowd due to its flexibility and ability to build unique designs that cannot be developed by other projects. This matters a lot, when it comes to portfolio projects. Powered by WordPress, the software provides direct access to the source code, advanced design customization tools and drag-and-drop functionality.
Semplice is a comparatively new website builder. It was founded in 2017 and then developed into quite a popular portfolio creation tool. According to recent stats, the system now powers over 30,448 portfolios and this number keeps growing steadily.
Although the website builder initially targets designers and does not require complex programming skills, it still triggers the need to dive deep into coding basics to get the most out of the software use. As a self-hosted platform, Semplice requires the need to choose hosting and domain name.
Webflow was initially developed with the needs of professional web developers in mind. It can be used to launch all kinds of websites for personal and professional use. Portfolios are not an exception. As a quite complicated software, Webflow can be compared to standard CMS mainly because of its integrated functionality. Thus, it takes effort and time to explore and master the system.
The foundation of the software dates back to 2012. As stated, the website builder has already been used to create 630,637 projects. Its intuitive interface and powerful visual editor allow creating professional-looking projects. Get ready, however, to invest your time and effort to learn programming basics and to use this knowledge while working on your Webflow project.
Semplice vs Webflow: Which One Is Easier to Use?
Semplice offers quite a simple web creation approach with no in-depth tech skills required. Beginners will easily get used to its intuitive dashboard and interface. At the same time, however, they will have to learn more about the process of hosting/domain nance choice and connection. Non-tchied may find this aspect a challenging one.
As a WordPress-based system, Semplice does not offer a collection of ready-made portfolio templates. There are multiple samples to choose for further editing and customization. This means that you can set up a completely unique portfolio from scratch here using the toolset available in stock.
To start working with Semplice, you will have to download it first and to pick a suitable pricing plan. Once installed on your device, the website builder will provide access to its handy visual editor and original source code that can be customized as required.
To control your project, you will be able to reach the dashboard. It is intuitive even for beginners. Along with web pages listed there, users are offered an opportunity to track the related details and to sort them out for easy and quick access. This makes the website creation process simple and convenient for everyone.
Webflow is not the easiest website builder available in the modern niche as users mostly face the need to learn coding details and complex customization solutions. This is what makes the software a suitable choice for professional web creators, who know exactly what result they expect to avail in the long run.
While using Webflow, you will get access to numerous design customization tools, advanced layouts and other nuances. You won’t just go without HTML basics here, if you intend to avail personalized portfolio design.
If you encounter system-related problems, just make use of available customer support options. Along with an extensive Knowledge Base, Webflow has a forum, a blog, individual support and expert assistance (including live chat and email).
Semplice vs Webflow: Design and Flexibility
Both website builders have the same purpose – website (portfolio) creation yet they still differ in their integrated functionality and design customization options. Likewise, their target audiences differ to some extent. Therefore, it makes sense to compare the major flexibility and design parameters of these platforms to have users make the unbiased choice.
eCommerce
Semplice doesn’t have an integrated eCommerce engine and it doesn’t offer eCommerce integration. Third-party WordPress plugins like WooCommerce are incompatible with it as well. Thus, it is impossible to launch a web store with the website builder to offer your portfolio works for sale. The only opportunity to start selling online here is to link to an external eCommerce website/web store. To add this link type, just access the Customize and then the Navigations section to add a new menu item (your web store link). It is also possible to add a button here that will redirect users to the external online store.
Webflow comes with quite a powerful eCommerce engine that makes it possible to launch professional web stores. Although, the software does not focus on the eCommerce niche, it still offers integration with advanced third-party services. These include Zapier, MailChimp, ShipStation, and QuickBooks.
As a result, users have an opportunity to set up, manage, customize and update product collections by simply adding the required amount of products along with their parameters, descriptions, tax/shipping details and other specifications.
The software also provides the ability to implement discounts and special offers, set up payment and shipping details as well as collect and save customers’ data for future marketing issues. If needed, users can apply parallax effects, add web store animations, integrate analytic and statistics tracking tools to monitor their web store’s performance.
Social media integrations are available here as well. Webflow users may connect their product catalogs to Instagram and Facebook to initiate impressive promotional campaigns. To give their eCommerce projects a high-end reputation and prevalence over competitors, users can create/customize marketing emails.
This takes a few steps only – just pick a template, customize the design and adjust branding parameters. It is also possible to specify the recipients to send web store news, events, updates and orders. This eventually makes it convenient for web store owners to target a specific audience.
Blogging
Semplice allows for blog creation and customization, but you shouldn’t expect that the website builder has much to offer in this respect. Its blogging tools are quite mediocre – you can set up a portfolio and connect a small blog to it just to initiate discussion with readers.
Blog connection is quite a straightforward process that can be completed with just a click. By the way, it’s up to you to decide whether to manage your blog in the WordPress control panel with all the content editing tools available by default or directly within the Semplice dashboard.
Webflow positions itself as an all-in-one CMS. This means that it comes with a powerful blogging platform that allows users to create professional blogs without deep coding skills required. If you have a certain web design background, you can use your expertise to enhance the blog functionality.
The website builder grants access to a broad range of blog templates, letting users browse the available samples and pick the one that best meets their requirements and niche specialization.
With Webflow, you can easily add and edit posts, schedule new publications, adjust SEO settings, integrate media files etc. This comprehensive toolset gives you the flexibility and functionality to create a high-quality blog that keeps your audience engaged and informed.
Speaking about blogging, Webflow has more to offer due to the availability of the integrated blogging platform. The software lets you choose a suitable blog template, customize and set it up with regard to your project needs. As opposed to it, Semplice has quite a limited selection of blogging tools.
Integrations and Special Features
Semplice is initially a portfolio website builder. As such, it grants access to multiple options needed to set up and manage different portfolio types. With its developed visual content editor, users can create feature-rich portfolios that can further be customized as required. This includes an opportunity to add new sections or edit existing ones, change fonts and background colors, add buttons, images and videos etc.
One of the Semplice most powerful points is its advanced customization features. They ensure unique and personalized design of portfolios created on the platform. This includes high-end typography tools for proper content formatting as well as the cover preset option, which makes it possible to create personalized covers from scratch. Semplice additionally offers a selection of portfolio grids (visual, text or split grids).
Apart from customization features, Semplice integrates with MailChimp to help subscribers grow their mailing lists. It also includes a Private Project feature to keep portfolios secure – it is up to you to make the project accessible to other users or not.
To make the platform user-friendly, Semplice provides integrated video tutorials. Users can access and browse them any time without leaving the built-in editor. These tutorials can be particularly helpful for first-timers who need guidance at any stage of the portfolio creation/customization process.
Webflow stands out from the crowd due to its powerful feature set. Actually, this is what makes the software similar to modern CMS. Along with advanced HTML/CSS editor, multiple blogging, and website promotion features, Webflow provides an opportunity of seamless integration with external programs. These include Zapier, After Effects, Lottie etc.
But that’s not it. The system unveils the advantage of creating and integrating Lightbox galleries, enabling users to showcase images/videos to make an impact on the target audience. This eventually helps increase customer engagement rate and improve the overall project recognition.
Webflow Memberships feature enables users to create personalized branded experiences for their community and customers without the need to leave the website builder. It is possible to offer premium content to members, granting them project access rights. If needed, you can start online courses or even a member portal here – this all depends on your portfolio specialization.
Design Customization and Template Editing
Semplice is a Word-Press powered portfolio builder. Thus, it does not have a separate collection of ready-made customizable templates in stock. To create a personalized portfolio, you will have to add new pages from scratch. Fortunately, the platform compensates for the lack of pre-designed themes, granting access to exceptional animations and visual effects.
With over 27 pre-built animations and the ability to create your own elements, you can add interactive and unique animated objects to your pages. Semplice also allows you to add gallery-making elements with additional opportunity to make them interactive. It is up to you to organize and structure full-screen image galleries, customizable pagination features along with SVG support to ensure smooth project display on various screen sizes and dimensions.
Semplice’s intuitive dashboard comes with easy-to-use template editing features. The system has a convenient drag-and-drop editor where users can select and integrate versatile portfolio elements, upload images and texts, create custom sections and personalized layouts. The availability of the preview feature makes it possible to check the portfolio design/functionality before publishing it. This is convenient as you can make edits on the stage of project creation without the need to re-publish it afterwards.
Webflow impresses its subscribers by the variety of features, including quite an extensive template choice. All in all, the software grants access to over 1000 professional themes. All of them stand out from the crowd due to responsive layouts, exceptional quality and advanced customizability.
A nice nuance is that the Webflow design collection is updated with new samples on a regular basis due to the effort of the software developers. Users may find a diversity of themes here, including free and premium ones. The number of free templates currently exceeds 45 samples. The cost of paid designs starts at $24 to reach $129 per item.
The highlight of the software is that it allows selecting various themes with regard to the page type. Thus, you may find templates for your portfolio homepage, contacts page, reviews and services sections etc. this allows making your project versatile and multifaceted.
To make the correct choice, take your time to use the Preview mode. It allows seeing the sample you are interested in with special attention to details. Need a unique design? Then make use of the opportunity to create your own theme, having selected the blank canvas right from the start.
Mind that the website builder has a special offer for users who cannot complete their projects independently and need professional assistance. The “Hire an Expert” option will certainly come in handy in this case. The best Webflow developers will approach your project individually to come up with the most impressive and personalized portfolio template solution.
Semplice vs Webflow: General Pricing Comparison
Semplice is not a subscription-based software. Instead, this is a downloadable version that provides lifetime ownership after the purchase. There are currently three packages to choose from:
- Single License ($119) for individual creatives – 1 license, content editor, gallery slider, Dribbble Module, custom fontsets, fully responsive projects, fullscreen cover, Code Module, Private Projects etc.;
- Studio License ($168) for small studios and agencies – design options with blocks, Gallery Grid, Before/After Module, Instagram module, MailChimp Module, advanced grids, more navigations etc.;
- Business License ($699) for commercial client websites – opportunity to run the system on 10 domains, 10 licenses for commercial use etc.
As seen from above, it is difficult to call Semplice an affordable portfolio builder. However, the system subscribers have an opportunity to select a suitable license available at fixed one-time pricing. There is no need to provide credit card info or make regular payments to get access to the software tools and features. You only need to get it once to keep using it for an unlimited period of time.
Webflow offers a more versatile pricing policy with more affordable packages. Users may choose from several groups of subscriptions. To be precise, the system follows the freemium price formation module. There is a completely free plan here (it suits better for platform exploration and web design practice) and two large groups of paid packages. Each of them include more detailed plans with diverse terms, tools and features. Here they go.
Site Plans – divided into General and eCommerce.
General plans work best for custom content-driven projects as well as for large high-traffic marketing websites:
- Starter ($0) – includes the system subdomain, 50 CMS items and 1GB of bandwidth;
- Basic ($14/mo billed yearly) – CDN included, 0 CMS items, 500 form submissions, custom domain connection, free SSL certificate, 50GB bandwidth;
- CMS ($23/mo billed yearly) – custom domain, 2000 CMS items, limited CMS API, 1000 form submissions, 3 content editors, site search, 200GB of bandwidth;
- Business ($39/mo billed yearly) – unlimited form submissions, full CMS API, advanced global CDN, 10 content editors, custom domain, 10000 CMS items, 400GB of bandwidth etc.;
- Enterprise (the cost is discussed individually) – custom domain name connection, 10000 CMS items, custom bandwidth, uptime SLAs etc.
eCommerce plans are perfect to power no-code eCommerce businesses:
- Standard ($29/mo billed yearly) – all features of the CMS plan plus custom checkout and shopping cart, 2% transaction fee, email customization, integrated CMS for blogs, 500 items, $50K annual sales volume etc;
- Plus ($74/mo billed yearly) – all features of the Business plan plus unbranded emails, 1000 items, $200K annual sales volume, 10 staff accounts, zero transaction fee etc.;
- Advanced ($212/mo billed yearly) – all Business plan features plus 15 staff accounts, 3000 items, unlimited annual sales volume and more.
All subscriptions are applicable as monthly offers for one website management. If you expect to launch and customize more projects, it makes sense to upgrade to Workspace plans. Find out more about them below.
Workspace Plans – divided into packages for in-house teams and for freelancers and agencies.
Plans for in-house teams make it possible to manage multiple websites and cooperate with team members:
- Starter ($0) – includes 1 seat and 2 unhosted websites etc.;
- Core ($19/mo billed yearly) – up to 3 seats, 10 unhosted sites, custom codes, billing permissions, code export etc.;
- Growth ($49/mo billed yearly) – up to 9 seats, unlimited number of unhosted sites, publishing permissions, custom code, code export etc.;
- Enterprise (the cost is discussed individually) – custom seat limits, unlimited unhosted sites, advanced permissions, custom code, code export, advanced security, performance and customer success etc.
Plans for freelancers & agencies let you unlock features developed specifically for team/client collaboration:
- Starter ($0) – includes 1 seat, 2 unhosted websites on webflow.io domains, 2 agency or freelancer guests etc.;
- Freelancer ($19/mo per seat, billed yearly) – up to 3 seats, 10 unhosted sites on webflow.io domains, full CMS access on unhosted sites, free guest access in client Workspaces etc.;
- Agency ($49/mo per seat, billed yearly) – up to 9 seats, unlimited number of unhosted sites on webflow.io domains, full CMS access on unhosted sites, free guest access in client Workspaces, opportunity to manage publishing permissions for your team.
Semplice vs Webflow: Which One Is the Best for SEO?
Semplice offers baseline SEO settings. You won’t be able to deeply optimize your project here. To make your portfolio content accessible online and rank high in the search engine results, the software makes it possible to individually optimize web page descriptions and titles. Access the corresponding dashboard section to do that.
Webflow positions itself as a SEO-friendly website builder and this is really so. It lets you manually optimize your project and its separate pages for the search engines. You can set up titles, descriptions, keywords and ALT tags for images here. What;s important, the platform will automatically generate your website map. There is also API access here for web experts working on their individual projects. Connection to Google/Facebook services, user IP anonymization, CSS/HTML code integration are available here as well.
Key Differences Between Semplice and Webflow
| Semplice | Webflow | |
| Ease of Use: | Semplice is a portfolio website builder powered by WordPress. It requires download/installation. It is rather simple as it does not require programming proficiency. | Webflow is a cloud website builder that stands out from the crowd due to its powerful features. The advanced integrated toolset makes it similar to popular CMS. It takes time and knowledge to explore the software and to work with it. |
| Functionality: | The system provides a set of portfolio-related features that let you showcase works/services to advantage. It comes with a built-in blogging engine, advanced portfolio grids, image/content editing tools, Private Project feature, integrations etc. | The platform delivers powerful functionality by default. It is possible to deeply customize a project via code editing here. The website builder is also known for its integrations that allow setting up different types of simple and complex projects. These include portfolios, eCommerce websites, blogs, business projects, landing pages etc. |
| Design: | As a WP-powered system, Semplice doesn’t have ready-made portfolio themes. There is an opportunity to launch unique portfolios from scratch here. The software lets you design animations, using dozens of ready-made effects and animated elements available in stock. | Webflow offers over 1000 responsive pre-designed themes. They are completely customizable. The templates are free and paid. There is also a possibility to pick a blank design to customize it from scratch. |
| eCommerce: | Semplice doesn’t have a built-in eCommerce platform. It is impossible to set up a web store with it. | The website builder makes it possible to run web stores. It comes with a feature-laden eCommerce engine, which provides access to integrated features and tools. |
| Blogging: | The platform has a blogging engine, but its functionality is quite limited. Still, it is possible to set up and manage a blog here to enhance your portfolio popularity. | Webflow positions itself as a powerful blogging system. It comes with an integrated blogging platform. This allows setting up, customizing, editing and then promoting personal and business blogs. |
| Small Business: | Semplice is geared towards portfolio creation only and, thus, it can’t be used to launch business projects unless they imply the need for portfolio connection. | The system makes it possible to launch a small business project. Along with powerful customization options and professional business themes, there is a great opportunity to integrate stats tracking tools, third-party extensions and other features that guarantee high end result. |
| Pricing: | The website builder doesn’t offer paid plans. Instead, it has 3 types of packages to choose from. Their cost starts at $119. | Webflow has a free plan, which comes with limitations. There are also two groups of paid subscriptions with more detailed plans included. These are Site and Workspace packages. The cost of premium plans starts at $14/mo. |
| SEO: | Semplice comes with baseline SEO settings you can adjust as required to ensure worthy project promotion in the search engines. | Webflow unveils extensive SEO options. It is possible to set up major SEO settings here for separate web pages and for the entire website in general. The system provides API access and automated sitemap generation. |
| Customer Support: | Video tutorials, Help Center, FAQ, extensive social media community. | Webflow University, blog, video tutorials, email, extensive knowledge base, live chat, forum. |
Comparison Conclusion: Which One Is Better?
When it comes to portfolio website creation, the choice between Semplice and Webflow won’t be quite difficult. However, the final decision will still depend on such aspects as your goals, project expectations, complexity, integrated functionality, web design proficiency rate and budget.
Semplice – is a solely WordPress-based portfolio builder. The software required download and installation, which definitely implies extra time and knowledge. It offers access to multiple portfolio-related tools/features yet it frequently lacks flexibility to get the most out of your project.
Webflow – is a contemporary feature-laden DIY website builder, which may be quite complicated to master for beginners. It mostly targets web design pros, offering an advanced toolset by default. If you plan to set up a complex portfolio with a blog, web store and niche integrations, then Webflow might be a smart solution.
To sum it up, Webflow definitely overcomes Semplice in all the parameters but it has a notable highlight. Powered by WordPress, it allows for external integrations and personal domain/hosting choice. It also offers fixed pricing plans yet lacks functionality to some extent. So, it’s only up to you to decide what system exactly will comply with your needs most.
