Over the past year, I’ve heard the same refrain from prospects and clients alike:

“We’re just going to build a site with AI.”

It’s a fair pivot. AI website builders are everywhere, promising fast, cheap, and effortless results. But here is the part I find fascinating:

Every single one of those projects is still unfinished.

Months later, those sites are still stuck behind a “Coming Soon” splash page. It’s not because these business owners aren’t smart or motivated. It’s because generating pages is not the same thing as building a business asset.

I’ve been designing for nearly 30 years—long before WordPress, long before drag-and-drop, and certainly long before LLMs. I’ve watched every “this will replace designers” wave come and go.

Here is the honest truth about the AI vs. WordPress debate, and why the “easy” route often leads to a dead end.

The Allure: What AI Builders Actually Do Well

AI builders aren’t “bad”; they are just misunderstood. They are high-speed drafting tools. They excel at:

• Rapid Mockups: Getting a visual “vibe” across in seconds.
• The “Blank Page” Problem: Giving you a layout so you aren’t starting from zero.
• One-Off Landing Pages: Simple, temporary sites with minimal stakes.

The verdict: AI is excellent at starting. It is notoriously bad at finishing.

Where the AI Promise Falls Apart

When the “magic” of the first prompt wears off, reality sets in. This is where most projects stall:

1. Content Without Soul

AI can write placeholder copy, but it can’t interview you. It doesn’t understand your unique differentiators or how to translate your 20 years of experience into user trust. Clients eventually realize: “This sounds fine… but it doesn’t sound like us.” #### 2. The Trap of Decision Fatigue

A designer doesn’t just “make a site”; they act as a filter. AI presents you with infinite, mediocre choices. Without a strategist to say “No, this is what matters to your audience,” business owners end up second-guessing every block until momentum dies.

2. SEO & Scalability are “Day 2” Problems

Most AI-first builders treat SEO as a checkbox. They don’t think in terms of site architecture, long-term content growth, or complex integrations. It’s a “black box”—fine for a demo, fatal for a business that needs to be found on Google.

3. The “Closed Garden” Risk

Many AI platforms are closed ecosystems. If they change their pricing, pivot their features, or go out of business, you can’t just “move” your site. You start over.

Understanding the Landscape: AI vs. No-Code

When we talk about this tech, it helps to know which “flavor” you’re looking at:

Why WordPress is Still the Grown-Up in the Room

WordPress isn’t flashy, but it’s proven. It remains the gold standard because it supports process, not just output.

• Ownership: You own the code, the database, and the hosting.
• SEO Depth: Total control over how Google sees your expertise.
• Future-Proofing: It scales from a one-page blog to a global enterprise site.
• The Ecosystem: If you need a specific business feature, someone has already built a professional-grade integration for it.

The Missing Piece: Strategy

After three decades in this industry, I’ve realized: Websites fail to launch because of a lack of clarity, not a lack of technology.

AI didn’t replace designers. It replaced:

• The blank Word doc.
• The generic wireframe.
• The first draft.

The “real work” still requires human judgment, experience, and accountability. That is why AI-built sites stay perpetually “almost done.” They have the skeleton, but no heart.

FAQ: AI Builders vs WordPress

Can AI replace WordPress?
No — and it’s not really trying to. AI builders generate layouts and starter content. WordPress is a full content management system designed for ownership, growth, integrations, SEO, and long-term use. They solve different problems.

Is AI bad for website projects?
Not at all. AI is excellent as a supporting tool — for drafts, structure, ideas, and speed. Projects struggle when AI is treated as the strategist, editor, and project manager all at once.

Why do so many AI-built sites never launch?
Because the hard part of a website isn’t generating pages — it’s making decisions, refining messaging, organizing content, and pushing the project across the finish line.

Final Thoughts

If you want a quick demo, use AI. If you want a real business website, you need structure, strategy, and stewardship.

Technology evolves, but the fundamentals of how humans trust and buy remain the same. If you’ve tried the AI route and found yourself stuck, you didn’t fail—you just discovered that great websites are built by thinking, not just prompting.

Ready to stop being “Coming Soon” and start being “Open for Business”? Reach out today and let’s build something that actually launches.