What Are The Advantages Of Using WordPress Over Nation Builder?

Analyzing NationBuilder against WordPress may sound like an apple-orange comparison, as each platform caters to different clients. 

NationBuilder functions primarily as a customer relationship management (CRM) system, whereas WordPress is a content management system (CMS). However, NationBuilder comes with a built-in CMS. 

The integration of a content management system implies that NationBuilder may perform several functions unique to true CMS services like WordPress. But how do these platforms stack up against each other? 

Read below for a side-by-side comparison between NationBuilder and WordPress and why the latter excels in nearly every aspect.

1. Ease of Use

Many NationBuilder reviews portray the website as considerably user-friendly. However, navigating the platform can prove intimidating for newbies. 

While you need not be tech-savvy to get the hang of NationBuilder, there’s a steep learning curve. The fact that this website was designed primarily to support political campaigns means it lacks critical CMS features like shopping carts. 

NationBuilder’s glaring limitations explain the recent wave of migrations from NationBuilder to WordPress by content creators. 

WordPress is easy to set up, and there’s no learning curve or coding knowledge required to master the platform. 

2. Themes

WordPress outranks NationBuilder in its sheer number of themes. 

Presently, the WordPress marketplace boasts over 13,000 free themes. If you factor in the premium options, that’s over 30,000 themes at your disposal. 

With a vast catalog of WordPress themes, you can quickly find something that aligns with your brand’s identity. You don’t have to waste more time creating your theme after a WordPress migration. 

WordPress is also alive to the fact that it caters to clients with varying levels of technical know-how. To that end, the website offers themes with different visual effects and functional capabilities. The Genesis theme is notably popular with new users due to its universal appearance and SEO-friendliness.

In comparison, NationBuilder only has eight public themes. They include Verve, CityZen, Headliner, Presence, Collective, Publish, Aware, and Victory Again.

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3. Plugins

Plugins complement themes and optimize their functionality. Therefore, you deserve a content management system that maintains an even higher number of plugins. 

WordPress excels NationBuilder when you consider its plugins’ number and brand-appropriateness. The website boasts over 60,000 free plugins and 5,200+ premium options, allowing you to optimize your themes as desired. 

Collectively, WordPress’ larger theme and plugin collection provide unparalleled flexibility for content creators. 

Meanwhile, NationBuilder only has a handful of plugins. The platform’s plugins are primarily designed to support political campaigns, making them less desirable when creating apolitical content types. 

4. SEO Performance

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical metric in gauging a CMS’ suitability. It measures how high your content will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). 

NationBuilder provides basic SEO functionalities. That’s understandable, considering the website targets a politically conscious demographic. 

The only saving grace is that NationBuilder teaches you how to ramp your SERP rankings. Even so, going through the volumes of SEO literature can be time-consuming. 

WordPress also maintains resources on how to rank higher on search engines. However, unlike NationBuilder, there are multiple internal SEO features to leverage. 

Nearly all WordPress themes are optimized for search engines. Besides, the website maintains several SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math SEO, and All in One SEO. 

WordPress also lets you create SEO-friendly URLs called permalinks. You can customize each permalink further by incorporating relevant keywords.

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5. Security

Hackers are becoming smarter and more aggressive by the day. As such, you want a CMS that goes above and beyond to safeguard your sensitive information. 

NationBuilder triggers multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all log-in attempts. However, when implementing powerful encryption, the website is no match for WordPress. 

WordPress encrypts all blog posts using JavaScript and PHP, making them unreadable by cybercriminals. The platform also implements firewalls and brute force fortresses strong enough to stop any ambitious hacker in their tracks. 

Moreover, WordPress users benefit from routine data backup and active background monitoring. Every threat is detected and proactively repulsed long before a breach can occur.

6. Cost

It’s impossible to unlock premium CMS features unless you can afford them. Fortunately, WordPress is considerably more affordable than NationBuilder. 

While both are freemium platforms, WordPress’ premium packages start from $4/month. That’s notably lower than NationBuilder, whose paid plans start from $34/month. 

Some content creators may argue that NationBuilder provides more features than WordPress at the lowest tier. However, WordPress only charges for hosting. Every other CMS feature on the platform – themes, plugins, SEO tools, etc. – is technically free. 

WordPress has four other membership plans, including the Enterprise package charged based on the provided features. The provision of a free trial lets you test-drive each plan before committing to it. 

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Final Thoughts

NationBuilder functions primarily as a customer relationship management system with an integrated content management feature, whereas WordPress is strictly a CMS platform. While both websites perform exceptionally well in their respective domains, WordPress excels NationBuilder in almost all their shared capabilities. 

WordPress users enjoy unhindered access to dozens of pre-built templates, which ease the set-up process. The website’s intuitive interface allows you to create and modify content with remarkable ease. 

Besides, WordPress excels NationBuilder in terms of the number of supported themes and plugins. Depending on your brand’s visual identity, you can choose from thousands of options. Integrating advanced security features and competitive pricing plans lends more credence to WordPress as the go-to CMS platform.