Webflow Enterprise vs. Webflow Self-serve: Which Is Right for Your Organization?

Your website often serves as customers’ first point of contact with your business. In a study by Stanford, 75% of customers said they judge a brand's credibility based on the design of its website. That’s why selecting the right platform to build and manage your website is crucial.

One option you might consider is Webflow, a leading web design and development platform. Webflow offers two main options: Webflow Enterprise and Webflow Self-serve. Let’s examine the differences between the two to see which one best fits your needs.

What Is Webflow?

Running an enterprise website is often a highly developer-dependent process. For many companies, the slightest change requires a lengthy process of approvals and back-and-forth between multiple teams. The larger the website is, the more people are involved and the more time and resources are required for maintenance and alterations.

Webflow is shifting this dynamic. With an array of low-code and no-code features, Webflow simplifies the development process dramatically, giving marketing teams the ability to quickly make website changes and publish new content.

Webflow offers a user-friendly, visual interface that overlays the code and allows for site design in a drag-and-drop environment. In many cases, this negates the need to write code to change your business website. This not only makes the workflow more efficient but also democratizes the website-building process. Webflow puts websites into the hands of marketing teams as well as developers.

What is the cost of Webflow?

Webflow's offerings span two primary tiers, each designed to cater to varying needs. Webflow Enterprise is a bespoke plan that bundles workspace seats and website hosting into a single package, and is aimed at larger organizations. Enterprise offers an advanced feature set and extensive customization capabilities. It excels in features such as scalability, security, dedicated support, and collaboration.

Webflow Self-serve refers to the à la carte combination of self-serve Workspace plans (Starter, Core, and Pro) and website hosting plans (Starter, Basic, CMS, and Business) — suitable for small to medium-sized businesses. This suite of plans provides a cost-effective route for businesses to design, develop, and host their websites. Self-serve offers a range of capabilities in proportion to the pricing tiers.

Just as a reminder, Webflow self-serve workspace plans are separate from website hosting plans. The workspace plans are related to collaboration features in Webflow, whereas the site plans are related to the hosting and features of individual websites created in Webflow. The details of both site plans and workspace plans should be considered together based on your specific needs for website creation and team collaboration.

Webflow Self-serve and Enterprise Pricing: A Comprehensive Overview

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Cost is a major factor to consider when choosing a platform plan.

Webflow Self-serve presents a tiered pricing structure, and the entry-level tier is free. Higher-priced tiers offer increasing capabilities, resources, and hosting plans that extend up to $39 per month for business-level hosting. This tiered system caters well to smaller businesses or organizations with simpler needs, allowing them to only pay for what they need.

The current prices for each Webflow Self-serve plan are as follows:

Self-serve Workspace plans

• Starter (Free): This plan is for those getting started and learning Webflow. It includes a maximum of 1 seat, 2 unhosted sites, and allows for 2 Agency or Freelancer Guests.
• Core ($19/mo per seat, billed yearly): This plan is for small teams and those who want more control over their code. It includes a maximum of 3 seats, 10 unhosted sites, custom code, code export, billing permissions, and allows for 2 Agency or Freelancer Guests.
• Growth ($49/mo per seat, billed yearly): This plan is for growing teams who want unlimited unhosted sites and advanced permissions. It includes a maximum of 9 seats, unlimited unhosted sites, custom code, code export, billing permissions, 2 Agency or Freelancer Guests, and publishing permissions.

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Self-serve hosting plans

• Starter Plan: Free
• Basic Plan: $14/month
• CMS Plan: $23/month
• Business: $39/month

Conversely, Webflow Enterprise pricing adopts a custom model, contingent on an organization’s specific requirements. This can include traffic volume, number of collaborators, and unique features or integrations. This approach may afford larger businesses or those with highly specific needs a more tailored solution.

What's Included in Webflow's Self-Serve Hosting Plans?

The self-serve hosting plans, namely Basic, CMS, Business, and Ecommerce (Standard, Plus, and Advanced), target small to medium-sized businesses and individual users. Let's break down what these plans offer:

• Basic: Perfect for simple sites that don't need a CMS. You get hosting, custom domain support, and 500 form submissions/month.
• CMS: For content-driven sites that require a CMS. Features include 2,000 CMS items, 1,000 form submissions/month, and site search capability.
• Business: For high-traffic sites. Features expand to 10,000 CMS items, unlimited form submissions, and advanced site search.
• Ecommerce (Standard, Plus, and Advanced): For businesses selling online. These plans come with everything in the Business plan, plus ecommerce capabilities. They differ in the number of yearly sales volume they support and the features they offer.

What's Included in Webflow's Enterprise Plans?

Webflow’s Enterprise plans are tailor-made, custom solutions for larger organizations. They include everything in the self-serve plans, along with additional features:

• SLA Uptime Guarantee: Webflow guarantees that your site will be up and running 99.99% of the time.
• Priority Support: Faster response times and priority routing to senior support staff.
• Custom Traffic Capacity: Able to handle traffic spikes and high volume with ease.
• Enhanced Security: Additional security measures to protect your site and data.
• Training and Onboarding: Personalized training for your team on how to use Webflow.
• Dedicated Account Manager: A direct point of contact at Webflow who understands your specific needs.

Scalability and Customization: Adapting to Your Needs

Both the Enterprise and Self-serve tiers afford a high degree of website customization. However, Webflow Enterprise offers enhanced customization options and scalability.

While the CMS and Business hosting plans include a Content Management System, they limit the number of CMS items to 2,000 and 10,000, respectively. The Enterprise tier allows for more than 10,000 CMS items, enabling large businesses to scale up when necessary. The Enterprise tier also allows for Custom API request rates instead of the 120 requests per minute in Self-serve plans.

This extended capability allows you to precisely tailor Webflow’s Content Management System to your business's needs. For businesses expecting to grow or handle a large volume of content or users, this scalability is invaluable.

Collaboration and Team Management: Facilitating Teamwork

Collaboration is a key aspect of modern website management, particularly for larger organizations and agencies. Here, too, Webflow shines. Webflow Self-serve workspace plans offer role-based billing and publishing control and a variety of tools designed to streamline the design and development process. Self-serve limits the total number of workspace collaborators to 10.

Webflow Enterprise allows a custom number of stakeholders in website management, each with access adjusted to their role, making it ideal for larger teams. Enterprise plans also include advanced collaboration features, such as page branching and merging.

Advanced Security and Compliance: Safeguarding Your Business

With the rising importance of cybersecurity and data privacy, advanced security and compliance features are becoming increasingly crucial in website development.

Webflow Enterprise stands out in this regard by offering advanced security protocols, regular audits, and the ability to meet specific compliance standards. This is particularly important for businesses operating in regulated industries or dealing with sensitive user information. In addition to the two-factor authentication and Basic DDoS protection offered by Weflow Self-serve, Webflow Enterprise offers the following advanced security features:

• Single sign-on
• Custom security headers
• Custom SSL certificates
• Private webflow.io staging

Dedicated Support and Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Assurance of Quality and Consistency

In the realm of website development and management, reliable support and service guarantees play pivotal roles. Webflow Self-serve offers a self-help model via its extensive online documentation and community forum. If customers have issues they cannot find answers to on the Webflow knowledge base they can contact customer service through email.

Webflow Enterprise provides customers with dedicated account management, prioritized support, and customized service level agreements (SLAs).

Enterprise clients receive tailored onboarding and training, along with priority email support, reducing time-to-resolution. The custom SLAs are an assurance of guaranteed uptime and swift issue resolution. This is indispensable for larger organizations in which every minute of downtime could translate to a significant financial impact.

Workflow Efficiency and Automation: Optimizing Operations

Webflow's integrations allow for the automation of repetitive tasks. For example, customers can integrate Webflow forms with Zapier to connect them to a variety of CRMs. Moreover, with enterprise-grade integrations, it's possible to directly integrate Webflow with other marketing platforms, such as HubSpot, enhancing productivity.

Enterprise Features and Integrations: Leveraging Advanced Capabilities

Webflow Enterprise offers an array of advanced features and integrations that specifically cater to the needs of larger organizations. Notable features include:

• The ability to manage multiple projects in a single place
• An advanced global Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster page load times
• Robust backup and versioning capabilities
• Custom integrations
• Enterprise-grade hosting with Amazon Web Services

Considerations for Small to Medium-sized Businesses: Evaluating Suitability

While we've covered the merits of Webflow Enterprise, it's important to note that Webflow Self-serve is in itself a robust and highly-capable solution, especially for small to medium-sized businesses.

With its tiered pricing and suite of features, Webflow Self-serve offers a cost-effective and intuitive solution for businesses that don't require advanced enterprise-grade capabilities. Its user-friendly interface and community-based support model make it an excellent choice for businesses with limited technical expertise or resources.

Making the Right Choice

When choosing between Webflow Enterprise and Webflow Self-serve, consider the following key factors:

• Size and complexity of your organization: Larger organizations with more complex needs may find the advanced features and customizations of Webflow Enterprise more beneficial. However, if your company is relatively small and does not need the custom features, Self-serve may be a better fit.
• Collaboration and team management needs: If you have a web editing team larger than 10, you may need Webflow Enterprise. Otherwise, Self-serve's editing and collaboration features may be enough.
• Security and compliance requirements: If your organization handles sensitive data or operates in regulated industries, the additional security protocols of Webflow Enterprise may be necessary.
• Budget: While Webflow Enterprise offers a tailored, scalable solution, it comes at a higher price point. Smaller organizations or those with simpler requirements may find the tiered pricing of Webflow Self-serve more suitable.
• Support needs: The level of support you require can also influence your decision. Webflow Enterprise provides dedicated, prioritized support, while Webflow Self-serve offers a self-help model. Self-serve customers still have access to customer service through email, but they will not get a dedicated account manager.

Both Webflow Enterprise and Webflow Self-serve offer powerful solutions for website development and management, but each plan caters to different needs. Use the factors we’ve outlined to help you make the right decision about which option is the best fit for your organization.

At Belt Creative, we're experts in Webflow migration, design, and development. Whichever Webflow plan you choose, we can help your organization harness its full potential. As certified Webflow Enterprise Partners, we’re ready to guide you throughout the entire process and ensure that your website meets and exceeds your expectations — regardless of the scale of your operations.