I've delivered real, live, client-facing websites in both Framer and Webflow. Here's the honest comparison you need.

**The core difference in philosophy**

Webflow is a visual CMS and development platform. Framer is a design tool with a publish button. This difference is fundamental and determines which is right for your project.

**When to use Framer**

Framer shines for marketing sites and portfolios where the designer is in control. The component system is closer to Figma's mental model. Animations and interactions are genuinely excellent. The trade-off is the CMS is limited and the learning curve for complex layouts is steep.

**When to use Webflow**

Webflow is the clear winner for content-heavy sites, e-commerce, and projects where non-designers need to update content. The CMS is powerful. The hosting is robust. The ecosystem of templates and third-party integrations is vastly larger.

**Performance**

Honestly? Both are good now. Framer's export is clean. Webflow's is clean. Neither is as clean as hand-coded HTML, but both score well on Lighthouse.

**Pricing**

Framer is notably cheaper for simple sites. Webflow gets expensive fast for CMS and e-commerce features.

**My recommendation**

Portfolio or marketing site: Framer. Business website with content team: Webflow. E-commerce: Webflow (or Shopify). Anything requiring complex interactivity: Framer.

The best tool is the one you'll actually finish the project in.