I'm Kind of Pissed Off by Framer

Let me begin by saying that I am new to Framer. I come from a multifaceted design background, starting in brand and graphic design and growing into my current role as a product designer. I understand code in theory and have used most website-building platforms over the years. From collaborating on a WordPress sites (first in 2015), to building in Squarespace during my agency days in 2016, working with Wix in 2018, shipping on Shopify for various clients and eventually landing on Webflow in 2020 onwards. 

So when I started hearing about Framer, the new cool kid on the block, it naturally piqued my interest. As someone who loves trying new products and is always looking for tools to help me work more efficiently, Framer seemed like it could be a good fit. My last site was on Webflow. While I loved Webflow's power, I often found it clunky. It forced me to think too much like a developer, which sometimes pulled me out of my creative flow.

In February 2025, I decided to take the leap and rebuild my website in Framer. I found a beautiful template and started building. There were a lot of things I liked, but as a noob, I struggled with some seemingly simple layout adjustments. Then, the real issue became clear for me: Framer only allows for two CMS collections on their Basic plan! I needed a third one for this blog.

So I clicked "Upgrade" …

And then saw the price: €40 + VAT per month, so roughly €48/month. That’s a 30% increase over what I was paying for Webflow, which gave me far more flexibility – including multiple CMS collections, staging environments and additional editors.

Since I was already deep into building my site, I felt stuck. I paid for the Pro plan, opting for the annual membership at around €440/year. And honestly? It left a sour taste.

I then did a bit of digging. On Reddit, I found a thread discussing Framer’s recent pricing changes. Turns out I wasn’t alone. Users were frustrated about:

• A hard limit of 100 redirect pages

• The cost of extra locales (seemingly $40 per language on their enterprise package, even when doing manual translations)

• Charges for additional editors

All of this from a platform that positions itself as modern and user-first. The vibe is clear: Framer might be sliding from cool indie tool into corporate pricing model land.

Meanwhile, Webflow hasn’t stood still. When I went back to my old Webflow project, I noticed a bunch of solid updates, including a beta AI website builder, better CMS handling, and fairer pricing:

• CMS Plan (€21/$23/month): 20 CMS collections, 2,000 CMS items, 3 editors

• Business Plan (€35/$39/month): 40 CMS collections, 10,000 items, 10 editors

• Localisation starting at $9/month

When adding up the numbers, Webflow wins on scalability, hands down.

Don’t get me wrong – I still think Framer is exciting. The UX is clean, the animations feel native, and the platform is clearly built by designers, for designers. But the pricing feels like a tax on growth. For a tool that should empower creatives, it feels like it punishes ambition.

But I am here now... And even with a bad taste in my mouth – learning Framer is, ultimately, part of my journey as a product designer. Exploring new tools, understanding where they shine (and fall short), gives me deeper insight into user experience. Now that I’m on the Pro plan, I get access to 10,000 pages and 10 CMS collections (quiet woohoo), So I might as well make the most of it. Maybe I’ll start that Beamish review blog after all. Or build out a few experimental pages. We’ll see.

I guess the silver lining is that my frustration may lead me to press publish that bit more often…