WordPress can do anything. Pagecord just does a blog.
If you want plugins, WooCommerce, complex themes, membership sites, or a whole CMS, WordPress is probably right. It earned its place because it can do almost anything.
Pagecord is for the smaller job: a personal blog, a homepage, RSS, email subscribers, and a custom domain — with nothing to maintain. It's deliberately less powerful, and that's exactly what makes it easier to keep writing.
Open source. Classic is free forever. Premium is $39/year.
Who this is for
People who want a durable personal site, not a weekend spent choosing themes, plugins, hosting, security settings, and backups.
Writers, makers, consultants, academics, and small teams who need a web home that can publish posts, pages, RSS, and email updates without becoming a project of its own.
Why people switch
WordPress starts simple, then slowly becomes a maintenance habit. There's always another plugin update, another theme to evaluate, another dashboard prompt, another thing that could break.
For a personal blog, all that power gets in the way. Pagecord clears it out so the gap between thought and published post stays short.
What is different
Pagecord isn't trying to be a CMS for every kind of website. It's a small publishing tool — posts, pages, email publishing, RSS, newsletters, custom domains, export, and enough design control to feel like yours.
The important things are built in. There's no admin to learn, because there's no admin.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Pagecord | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Free version | ✅ | ✅ |
| Rich text editor | ✅ | ✅ |
| Standalone pages | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom home pages | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tags | ✅ | ✅ |
| Multi-language support | ✅ | ✅ |
| RSS feeds | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom domains | ✅ | ✅ |
| Open source | ✅ | ✅ |
| Themes included | ✅ | ✅ (requires plugins) |
| Social links | ✅ | ✅ (requires plugins) |
| Email newsletters | ✅ Weekly digest or per-post delivery |
✅ (requires plugins) |
| Full site HTML export | ✅ | ❌ |
| Zero setup required | ✅ | ❌ |
| No maintenance or updates needed | ✅ | ❌ |
| Create blog posts by sending an email | ✅ | ❌ |
| Reply by email | ✅ | ❌ |
| Embeddable contact form | ✅ | ✅ (requires plugins) |
| API | ✅ | ✅ |
Real Pagecord sites
Richard Dallaway
richard.dallaway.com
A personal site with a custom domain, simple writing, and a clear archive.
Chad Moore
blog.chadmoore.net
A straightforward personal blog. Posts up front, not the platform.
Moonwriting
moonwriting.blog
A quiet writing site with custom styling and a clear personal voice.
What people say
“Pagecord has two big attractions. One is rediscovering blogging by email, but a bigger win is the source availability. It does what I need, very nicely.”
“Pagecord has everything I'm looking for. Open source, privacy-respecting, with many customization options. Pricing is competitive.”
Migration notes
What you can bring
- Posts and pages from a WordPress export
- Tags and categories as Pagecord tags
- Published dates, slugs, and most normal post content
- A custom domain once DNS is pointed at Pagecord
What does not carry over
- Themes, plugins, shortcodes, widgets, and page-builder layouts
- WooCommerce, memberships, forums, and anything CMS-shaped
- Custom fields and plugin-specific content models
Imports are not self-serve yet. If you have an existing site, email support and we will look at what is possible.