b10cks vs. Wordpress
WordPress was built for a world where the CMS and the frontend were the same thing. Headless WordPress is possible – but it's a workaround, not an architecture. b10cks was designed API-first, for teams who want a content platform that actually fits a modern frontend stack.
The Short Version
WordPress has an extraordinary track record. Its reach is unmatched, its community is the largest in CMS history, and for traditional websites it remains a pragmatic, battle-tested choice.
But "headless WordPress" is a patch on an architecture that wasn't designed for it. The REST API was retrofitted. WPGraphQL is a community plugin – not a core feature – with its own maintenance overhead. The Block Editor (Gutenberg) is tightly coupled to WordPress themes and doesn't work in a headless context. Localization requires WPML or Polylang, both paid plugins with their own quirks. Content workflows, version branching, and structured publishing don't exist without additional plugins that may or may not play nicely with each other.
b10cks was designed from day one as an API-first content platform. The API is the product. The editorial experience was built to serve that API. There's no theme system to fight against, no plugin ecosystem to manage around, and no "headless mode" to enable.
What Changes When You Go Headless
Before comparing b10cks and WordPress directly, it's worth being honest about what you lose when you use WordPress headlessly:
The visual editor breaks. Gutenberg is built to render blocks inside WordPress templates. When you go headless, the Block Editor becomes a rich text input that produces HTML you have to parse. Click-to-edit, live preview, and block composition no longer work the way editors expect.
Most plugins stop working. Plugins that depend on WordPress hooks, shortcodes, PHP rendering, or WooCommerce are not available in a headless context. You're left with a subset of the ecosystem.
Content preview requires custom implementation. WordPress's built-in preview opens a WordPress-rendered page. In a headless setup, wiring up preview to your actual Next.js or Nuxt frontend is a development task, not a toggle.
Performance isn't automatic. Headless is supposed to be faster – but studies suggest 35% of headless WordPress migrations result in worse performance than the original, typically due to over-fetching, client-side hydration decisions, and API request waterfalls.
The content model is thin. WordPress's native model is Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types. Structured, composable, nested content blocks require ACF (Advanced Custom Fields), a third-party plugin with its own licensing cost.
None of these are reasons to avoid headless – they're reasons to question whether WordPress is the right backend for a headless architecture.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | b10cks | WordPress (Self-hosted) | WordPress.com Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| API-first architecture | ✅ | ❌ (retrofitted) | ❌ (retrofitted) |
| REST API | ✅ Versioned, stable | ✅ (WP REST API) | ✅ |
| Visual Editor (headless preview) | ✅ All plans | ❌ (custom build required) | ❌ (custom build required) |
| Structured Block / Component Model | ✅ Native | 💰 ACF plugin (paid) | 💰 ACF plugin (paid) |
| Localization | ✅ All plans | 💰 WPML or Polylang (paid) | 💰 WPML or Polylang (paid) |
| Version History with Rollback | ✅ All plans | ⚠️ Post revisions only | ⚠️ Post revisions only |
| Content Branching / Staging | ✅ All plans | 💰 Plugin required | ✅ Staging (Business+) |
| Scheduled Publishing | ✅ All plans | ✅ | ✅ |
| Multiplayer Collaboration | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ |
| Threaded Comments (editorial) | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ |
| Custom Roles & Permissions | ✅ All plans | ✅ (limited) | ✅ (limited) |
| Built-in CDN | ✅ All plans | ❌ (separate service) | ✅ (Business+) |
| Built-in Image Processing | ✅ All plans | ⚠️ Basic only | ⚠️ Basic only |
| AI Credits | ✅ All plans | 💰 Plugin required | ⚠️ Limited |
| Open Source | ✅ AGPLv3 | ✅ GPL | ❌ (WordPress.com is SaaS) |
| Self-hosting | ✅ Always | ✅ Always | ❌ |
| TypeScript SDK | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Plugin security surface | None | ⚠️ Large | ⚠️ Large |
| Per-seat fees | ❌ Never | ❌ | ❌ |
Pricing Comparison
Self-hosted: WordPress core is free (GPL). Add up the real stack:
| Item | Typical Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Hosting (VPS, managed WP) | $100 – $2,000+/yr |
| ACF Pro (structured fields) | $149 – $249/yr |
| WPML (localization) | $99 – $199/yr |
| WP Engine / Kinsta / etc. | $300 – $3,000+/yr |
| Security plugin (Wordfence, Sucuri) | $99 – $500/yr |
| Developer time for plugin management | Variable |
A lean headless WordPress setup for a real product can easily run $500–$1,000/year before developer time – and that's without a staging environment, custom workflows, or any serious editorial tooling.
WordPress.com:
| Plan | Price | Plugins | Headless Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | ❌ | ❌ |
| Personal | $4/mo (annual) | ❌ | ❌ |
| Premium | $8/mo (annual) | ❌ | ❌ |
| Business | $25/mo (annual) | ✅ | ⚠️ Limited |
| Commerce | $45/mo (annual) | ✅ | ⚠️ Limited |
| Enterprise | $25,000+/yr | ✅ | ✅ |
WPGraphQL and ACF are installable from Business ($25/month) up. WordPress.com's headless story is limited even on Business – you're still working against a platform that wasn't designed for it.
| Plan | Price | Storage | Traffic | AI Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | 1 GB | 10 GB | $1 |
| Essential | €25/mo | 10 GB | 150 GB | $5 |
| Growth | €75/mo | 50 GB | 500 GB | $15 |
| Pro | €175/mo | 120 GB | 1.024 GB | $30 |
| Scale | €350/mo | 250 GB | 2.048 TB | $60 |
Every plan includes every feature. No plugin stack. No license renewals. No compatibility incidents at 2am.
WordPress is the right choice when:
Your frontend has moved on. Your CMS should too.