For years, WordPress has been the butt of jokes among developers. Mention it in a webdev forum and you’d often be met with eye rolls, horror stories, or a long list of “never agains.” But while the criticism wasn’t without merit, WordPress has quietly transformed in ways that are winning back even its harshest critics.
Let’s break down why developers hated WordPress back then and why things look different today.
The Old Pain Points
- Plugin Overload
In the past, even basic functionality required plugins. Need a custom post type? Plugin. A navigation menu? Plugin. Plugin to manage other plugins? You guessed it, plugin. This led to bloated, fragile sites where updating one piece could crash everything and as a result, developers learned to fear the “Update” button. - Bloated Themes
Many sites ran on clunky themes, often downloaded from marketplaces. These themes were stuffed with unnecessary features, poor code practices, and “designs” that aged badly. Performance suffered, and maintainability was a nightmare. - Security & Stability Nightmares
With so many outdated plugins and themes floating around, security was a constant headache. Hackers loved WordPress, not because its core was inherently broken, but because of the massive ecosystem of neglected add-ons. - Limited Editing Experience
Before the arrival of Gutenberg, the WordPress editor was painfully basic. For non-technical users, the only way to build flexible layouts was through page builders like Divi or Elementor. While powerful, these often left behind messy code and locked users into proprietary systems. - “Not a Real Framework” Stigma
Developers coming from modern MVC frameworks dismissed WordPress as a “toy CMS.” It didn’t fit neatly into the software patterns they loved, and working with its PHP-heavy structure felt archaic compared to newer stacks.
All this was back in the day…
What’s Changed Since
- Core Functionality Has Grown Up
WordPress core has expanded to cover features that once required plugins. Registering custom post types and taxonomies, managing menus, and building structured content are now straightforward in core. With cleaner starter themes and better PHP patterns, developers can cut down drastically on plugin dependency. - Gutenberg & Block Editing
The biggest game-changer has been Gutenberg. This block-based editor, powered by React, gives users a page-builder experience without relying on third-party tools. Developers can extend Gutenberg with custom blocks, creating flexible, user-friendly editing experiences that don’t wreck performance. - Headless WordPress & APIs
For developers who love modern JS frameworks (React, Vue, Next.js, Nuxt), WordPress now works beautifully as a headless CMS. The REST API—and plugins like WPGraphQL—make it possible to power fast, decoupled frontends while keeping WordPress as the familiar backend for clients. - Better Hosting & Infrastructure
Hosting companies that specialize in WordPress have made WordPress faster and more reliable. Emerging services like Atlas promise smoother headless deployments, bridging the gap between traditional LAMP hosting and modern JAMstack setups. - Mature Ecosystem & Documentation
WordPress’s developer ecosystem has matured. There’s more emphasis on coding standards, security best practices, and performance. Documentation and community support around React/Gutenberg are growing, making it easier to build with confidence.
The “hate” has slowed down greatly over the years but some of it still lingers…
The stigma hasn’t fully disappeared, many developers still picture the WordPress of 2012 when they hear the name. But the reality is that WordPress today is a far more capable, scalable, and developer-friendly platform than its reputation suggests.
For small businesses, marketers, and even large-scale projects, WordPress remains a powerhouse—powerful enough to run headless sites, flexible enough to support custom workflows, and simple enough for clients to manage with minimal training.
If you still think of WordPress as “that outdated blogging tool with too many plugins,” it might be time to give it another look.
What about you? Do you still see WordPress as outdated, or have you started to appreciate the improvements?