Why We Moved from WordPress to Jekyll
Three months after launching our WordPress blog, we realized we were spending more time on optimizations than actually writing. The blog itself started to feel like a side project we hadn’t signed up for. That’s when we asked ourselves the question most people face sooner or later: do we stick with WordPress, or switch to some alternative? WordPress has its strengths-it’s familiar, flexible, and has a plugin for almost everything. But for us, what really mattered was speed, simplicity, and the freedom to focus on content without the overhead.
That’s when Jekyll started to make sense.
The Case for Jekyll
Jekyll is a static site generator. In plain English, that means it turns your content (written in Markdown or HTML) into a bunch of fast, secure, and lightweight static files. No database, no complex backend, no endless plugin updates. Just your words, your design, and pure speed.
With WordPress, every page load involves the server calling a database, loading PHP scripts, and then building your page on the fly. That’s fine if you need advanced functionality, but for a simple blog, it’s overkill. Jekyll skips all that. Once your site is built, your readers are served straight HTML and CSS-making it lightning-fast.
And here’s the thing: when your site is fast and frictionless, you end up focusing on what matters-writing.
Simplicity vs. Maintenance
One of the biggest surprises with WordPress was how quickly maintenance took over. Updating plugins, worrying about security vulnerabilities, dealing with bloated themes-it’s a treadmill. If you don’t keep up, your site risks breaking or, worse, being hacked.
Jekyll, on the other hand, has almost nothing to maintain. You write your post, build the site, and deploy. That’s it. No plugin roulette. No constant patching. The simplicity is liberating.
Cost and Hosting
Another hidden cost of WordPress is hosting. You usually need a database, PHP support, and sometimes a managed hosting plan if you don’t want to babysit servers.
Jekyll flips the script. Because it’s just static files, you can host it almost anywhere-GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages-for free or close to free. No fancy setup. No monthly hosting bills creeping up. And yes, it scales effortlessly. Ten readers or ten thousand readers-it’s all the same for static files.
Who Should Stick With WordPress
Now, let’s be clear: WordPress isn’t bad. If you’re running a content-heavy site with tons of contributors, complex features, or e-commerce, WordPress might be the better choice. It has an ecosystem built for that. You don’t want to reinvent the wheel if your site needs things like advanced user management, plugins for SEO, or integrations with other tools.
But if you’re a writer, a small team, or a company blog that just wants a clean, fast, secure space to publish-Jekyll is hard to beat.
Our Experience After Switching
After moving to Jekyll, the difference was night and day. We stopped worrying about plugin updates, database issues, or random bugs. Publishing became as simple as writing Markdown and pushing to Git. The blog felt lighter, faster, and more under our control. Most importantly-we went back to focusing on writing, which was the whole point in the first place.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, choosing between Jekyll and WordPress isn’t about which is “better” in general-it’s about which is better for you. If you want power, flexibility, and don’t mind a little maintenance, WordPress will always be a solid choice. But if you value simplicity, speed, and minimal overhead, Jekyll offers a refreshing alternative.
Sometimes less really is more.