prelo
Prelo vs WordPress

Prelo vs WordPress

The same client-friendly vocabulary — posts, pages, media, roles — with the build experience flipped from PHP and page builders to your own stack plus an AI agent.

TL;DR

WordPress remains right when the site leans on its plugin economy (WooCommerce especially) or a non-developer is doing the building. If you build with AI in a modern framework and hand the result to a client, Prelo is the version of that workflow that doesn’t end with you as the update department.

WordPress
Prelo
Setup
Hosting, theme, plugin stack
npx create-prelo
Building
Themes, PHP, page builders
Your framework + AI agent, via the content API
Client admin
wp-admin — familiar, cluttered
Studio — familiar, minimal
AI-friendliness
Agents fight PHP and click UIs
Agents write through a typed API
Maintenance
Weekly core + plugin updates
docker pull
Cost
Hosting + licenses
$0 · MIT
Pick WordPress when
The site needs WooCommerce or a specific plugin only WordPress has
A non-developer builds and owns the site end to end
The client’s team is deeply invested in wp-admin workflows
Pick Prelo when
You build with Claude Code or similar in Next.js/Astro/SvelteKit
Handover matters — the client should run it without you
You’re done with update-and-pray maintenance

Migrating

Export WXR from WordPress, hand it to your agent, and it recreates types, posts, pages and media through the content API. Redirects are core, so old URLs keep working. Most content sites move in an afternoon.

Frequently asked questions

Will my client accept something that isn’t WordPress?+

The studio deliberately keeps WordPress’s vocabulary and layout logic. In handovers so far, clients don’t ask what it is — they just start editing.

Can I keep the WordPress frontend theme?+

No — Prelo is headless, your frontend is code. That’s the point: the agent builds it in your stack.

More comparisons: WordPress alternative (overview) · Best headless CMS

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