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Astro vs Framer
Astro vs Framer: code-first or design-first for your site?
Astro is an open-source framework developers build fast content sites with. Framer is a visual builder your team edits without code. Prices and facts as of 29 October 2026.
Updated October 2026 · Written by Shaheer Malik, who builds in Framer and in code
Quick answer
Astro is a free, open-source web framework for developers: you write the site in code and host it anywhere, often for nothing. Framer is a visual builder with hosting included, from $10 a month billed yearly, that non-developers can edit. Choose Astro when developers own the site; choose Framer when marketing does.
Astro and Framer can produce equally fast marketing sites, but they are built for different people. Astro is a framework: developers write pages in code, pull content from Markdown or a headless CMS, and deploy the built site to any host. Framer is a design tool that publishes: designers and marketers build and edit pages visually, and Framer hosts them.
Astro joined Cloudflare on 16 January 2026 and stays MIT-licensed and platform-agnostic; Astro 7.4 shipped on 15 October 2026. Framer's Basic plan was $10 a month and Pro $30, billed yearly, when I checked on 29 October 2026. I build in Framer and in code, so here is where each fits.
| Dimension |  Astro |  Framer |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Open-source web framework (MIT) | Visual website builder with hosting |
| Who builds and edits | Developers, in code | Designers and marketers, visually |
| Software cost | Free | Basic $10, Pro $30 a month billed yearly |
| Hosting | Any host; free plans exist, such as Cloudflare Pages | Included in the plan |
| Content | Markdown, MDX or any headless CMS | Built-in CMS; Pro holds 10 collections and 2,500 items |
| Redirects | Configured in code or at the host | Built into Pro, with wildcards |
| Motion and interactions | Whatever you code | Scroll and hover effects in the editor |
| Custom logic | Full control, server routes and any library | Code components and embeds |
| Day-to-day edits by non-developers | Needs a CMS set up for them | Built in, with content-only editor seats |
| Best for | Docs, content-heavy sites, teams with developers | Marketing sites a non-technical team runs |
Choose Astro if…
- Developers will build and maintain the site
- The content lives in Markdown, a repo or a headless CMS
- You want to host it anywhere, including free plans
- You need custom logic or integrations a builder cannot do
Choose Framer if…
- Marketing should change pages without a developer
- The design and motion matter as much as the content
- You want hosting, CMS and redirects in one bill
- Nobody on the team wants to own a codebase
The honest verdict
The deciding question is who edits the site next month. If it is a developer, Astro is fast, free and flexible, and its sites are as quick as anything a builder produces. If it is a marketer or a founder, Framer saves the developer time every change would cost, which is worth far more than its plan price.
For a site that has to become an application, with logins and data, neither is the end point; that belongs in a framework like Next.js. For a marketing site, I build in Framer when the team will edit it and in code when developers will.
Weighing Framer against a full framework instead? Framer vs Next.js covers sites that need logins and data.
Common questions
Astro vs Framer, answered
For developers, often yes: it is free, open source and runs anywhere. For a team that edits visually, Framer is better because nobody needs to touch code to change a page.
Yes. Astro is open source under the MIT license. You pay only for hosting, and some hosts, such as Cloudflare Pages, have free plans.
The Astro Technology Company joined Cloudflare on 16 January 2026. Both say Astro stays open source, MIT-licensed and platform-agnostic, with support for hosts other than Cloudflare.
Both can produce fast marketing pages. Astro ships very little JavaScript by default; Framer is fast out of the box for typical marketing sites. Content, images and third-party scripts usually matter more than the tool.
Yes, as a rebuild either way. Pages are rebuilt, content moves into the new CMS or Markdown, and every changed URL gets a permanent redirect.
Work with me
Want it built, not just compared?
Want a site your team edits without code? I design and build Framer sites for a fixed $1,999, live in 14 days.
- Fixed price from $700 — no hourly surprises
- Design, build and deploy handled end to end
- 75+ projects shipped · 4.93 avg rating
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