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.