[liampulles]

WordPress is not the blogging solution humanity deserves, but the one that was needed. Customising a base and installing plugins as opposed to devving a blogging platform allows a huge portion of people to create internet businesses who otherwise wouldn't. I get that there are supposed better solutions now, but this was not the case a few years ago. And there is a lot of WordPress content out there for novices to learn web dev.

My sister co-owns a very basic architecting firm, and they have figured out WordPress based on online materials to design a website that suits them pretty well. Maybe that is not the long term solution for them, but it is a very productive place to start for a small business.

[sureIy]

> better solutions now

What better solution for self-hosted websites that can be jump started by anyone and provide the kind of flexibility that WP provides?

[fastball]

It really depends on your needs. Are there many alternatives more flexible than WP? No. But that is begging the question. The vast majority of people don't need the kitchen sink that is WP, and would be better served by utilizing one of the many products and platforms that have cropped up to fill more specific niches since the inception of WP.

Just need a blog? Maybe want it to be a newsletter? Ghost, Medium, Substack, etc

Want an online store? Shopify, Checkout Page, etc

Need a sexy website that doesn't take coding? Squarespace, Framer, etc

You get the idea.

[sureIy]

Out of all your examples, only Ghost is self hosted. Not everyone wants to or is able to afford a $20/month provider, especially small businesses outside the US.

[fastball]

Given that your previous comment said "can be jump started by anyone", self-hosted is definitely not a reasonable requirement.

Self-hosted WP cannot be jump started by anyone, and in the limited cases it can (very, very limited WP), you're probably not spending much less than $20/m.