“Can my VA update the blog?”
That one sentence kills more dev dreams than a last-minute plugin update on launch day.
Let’s be honest: the tools we want to use as developers rarely match what the rest of the world actually wants. Or needs.
The Stack We Dream Of
We care about clean code, fast builds, and deploy pipelines that make us feel smart.
- Hugo with Tailwind
- Markdown content from a Git repo
- Hosted on Cloudflare or Netlify
- Maybe Ghost or Contentful for headless CMS if we’re feeling fancy
JAMstack. Static. Secure. Version-controlled. Minimalist.
All good things… to us.
But the Real World? It Runs on WordPress
Stats don’t lie. WordPress still powers over 43% of all websites as of 2025. And that number hasn’t dropped in any meaningful way — even with all our modern stacks and frameworks.
Why?
Because real-world site owners — clients, marketers, founders — want:
- A login screen
- A publish button
- A visual editor
- A way for their VA, Virtual Assistant, to update the About page
And you know what? They’re not wrong.
They don’t care if their site is static, dynamic, hybrid, or built with Go templates and Markdown. They care about whether they can use it without you.
So Why Are We Still Fighting This?
There’s a gap between what devs want and what the market actually rewards:
| Developers Want | Clients Want |
|---|---|
| Clean architecture | Click-and-edit workflows |
| Markdown content | WYSIWYG editors |
| Build pipelines | Drag-and-drop builders |
| Git versioning | Undo button |
| Static speed | Familiar UI |
Every time we push for Ghost, Hugo, or a headless + JAMstack setup, we end up fielding questions like:
“Can I edit this myself?”
“Why do I need to open GitHub to fix a typo?”
And frankly, those are fair questions.
Is the Gap Closing?
Maybe. Tools like:
- Webflow (visual builder with dev-friendly control)
- Ghost(Pro) (minimal CMS with optional headless mode)
- Builder.io (composable visual editor for structured content)
…are bridging the gap between dev-first and client-first thinking.
They let us keep some of our best practices while giving clients the UI they’re used to.
Not perfect — but progress.
Where I Stand
I run my site on Hugo. Custom theme — forked from PaperMod, tweaked into something I call PaperModest.
It’s fast. It’s mine. And I love it.
But I also get that if I handed it to a client, they’d look at the config.toml file and back away slowly.
So no — I’m not anti-WordPress. I’m just pro-context.
Sometimes the “best tool” isn’t the one you’d pick for yourself — it’s the one your audience (or client) can actually use.
So…
If you’re a dev frustrated that your beautifully-built JAMstack blog got ditched for Wix —
You’re not alone.
Just… maybe listen a bit more. Or better yet, build something they’ll want to use.
🎤 Curious what you use? WordPress, Hugo, Ghost, something weird? Ping me on Twitter or drop a note.