Web Page Load Speed Test: WordPress vs. HubSpot

As a HubSpot agency providing web services, we frequently work with clients who are interested in making the transition from Wordpress to HubSpot. In fact, I would say the majority of new HubSpot customers are previous Wordpress users.

Recently, as we discussed previous and current onboarding projects, we found it difficult to ignore one specific difference in the two platforms: speed.

In this article, I would like to share and discuss a few of the data points we have discovered while digging deeper in to the comparison of these two platforms. I will be using data points and examples from a recent onboarding project that included a complete rebuild of the client website on HubSpot, from Wordpress.

The Comparison

Before we go further, let’s have a look at some testing. Things to keep in mind:

  • The test were conducted using http://www.pingdom.com.
  • The Wordpress site is hosted on a GoDaddy server
  • Both site builds are using the exact same content

The Wordpress Site

wordpress site load speed

  • Performance Grade: B
  • Load Time: 3.28 Seconds
  • Page Size: 9.2 MB
  • Server Requests Made: 52

The HubSpot Site

hubspot site load speed

  • Performance Grade: A
  • Load Time: 1.30 Seconds
  • Page Size: 2.1 MB
  • Server Requests Made: 42

As you can see above, the HubSpot performance far exceeds that of Wordpress.

When I mentioned noticing a difference in speed, this of course refers to the overall page load times. However, I think it is important to understand what is causing this increase.

The Wordpress site is based heavily on the use of third party plugins, widgets, modules and scripts. While this can provide flexibility for content creators, the tradeoff is often poor performance. Each of these plugins have their own set of Javascript, PHP and CSS files. Each of these additional files or assets require additional server request, resulting in additional time needed for the browser to render the page. These plugins don’t always get along, either. It is not uncommon for a popular Wordpress plugin to be abandoned by it’s developer, or become several versions behind in compatibility to the current version of Wordpress. All of this results in less than optimal performsnce.

A great example of this is the image slider on this website’s homepage. On Wordpress, it uses the massively popular Revolution Slider. I have had my fair share of headaches due to this plugin, but that’s for another article. The plugin provides a somewhat user friendly UI for building sliders, however it comes with a huge resource price tag. This one plugin accounts for 90% of the load time on this page. Keep in mind the file size of the images used in the slider have already been reduced in Photoshop export to the tune of 60%.

The HubSpot site is built entirely within the platform. One CSS file. One Javascript file. HubSpot is built on the Bootstrap framework and comes mobile first out of the box. We do not need to rely on third-party plugins because they are provided for us. We don’t need to worry if our site will explode when the next version of the platform is released or updated. It just works.

I mentioned how a particular slider plugin was greatly reducing load times. We replicated the exact same feature and functionality with the standard HubSpot slider module. We used the same exact images used on the Wordpress side, and still managed to reduce resource usage from 90% to 60%.

Conclusion

Wordpress is a great CMS. There is no arguing over its flexibility or success. As time goes by, more and more plugins are being developed for Wordpress every day, which leads to ever more websites using several plugins to power their site. It is important to understand that this comes at the cost of performance.

Making the transition to HubSpot can be a big decision. Understanding the positive impact a streamlined CMS can have on your site performance can make that decision much easier.