I tried WordPress, Framer, Carrd… then I threw them all away
When I started Fileo, I asked myself: What’s the fastest way to launch a landing page?
Framer? Nice, but a learning curve.
Webflow? Powerful, but too much overhead.
WordPress? Not my thing.
Unicorn Platform? Didn’t like the output.
Carrd? Felt too limited.
So I went another way: static.
Claude Code + a Git repo + Cloudflare Pages. First version was live in no time. Looked great, fast, easy to tweak. Much quicker than clicking things together in a UI.
Then I added a blog → migrated to Hugo (again with AI). Now I just drop Markdown files for posts.
Advantages:
• More control
• Super fast (no hidden JS bloat)
• SEO-friendly out of the box
Downsides:
• Non-tech folks can’t easily edit it (but with AI, even that gap is closing)
• AI is not magic — sometimes code needs debugging
• Fewer plug-and-play features compared to builders
But even those downsides get lighter with AI:
For example, I needed a waitlist form → just asked Claude to generate a Cloudflare Worker. Done in minutes.
👉 My thesis: As a solo founder, you don’t need a website builder. You’re more flexible (and probably faster) using AI + static sites.
Curious: how did you set up your first landing page?
I love how AI + static sites streamline the process, so much control with minimal overhead. Definitely a game-changer for solo founders
This resonates a lot. I also tried Carrd and WordPress but found them either too limited or too bloated. Static + AI is faster and cleaner, no doubt.
The only question I wrestle with is handover — if you ever bring in non-technical teammates, do you think this workflow will still be manageable for them?
Yeah, that's a very good question. I worked with bigger teams and there we switched to using a builder as we were more flexible to also leverage non-dev team members to edit the website.
And now there's AI … and to be honest, I can't really answer that question. I only see it gets easier also for non-dev team members to edit a static website. And I think it's an individual decision what will work.
Another thought: As it's way quicker to make changes with AI, maybe the task of editing a website can be assigned back to developers as they are not blocked for too long anymore.
Really resonated to me.Couple days ago I want to make a landing page so I investigated some tools like figma, Wix / Squarespace, WordPress. these tools are awesome for PM but as a programmer I think what if I made a landing page with AI?
Result blown my jaw It just token about 5 min shown me up a very tasted landing page. As you said AI is not magic I need to fix some bugs and do some debug.
absolutely. If you're working with a (big) team, the requirements may change. But you don't lose anything going this approach first. I think the most important thing is to get things started as quick as possible.
If it's already SEO-friendly and secure, I guess you do not need many of the plug-and-play features.
By the way, Fileo looks interesting and useful. I added it to my software curation and launch platform, Software on the Web. It goes live in about 14 hours. Hope that helps.
You're probably right. Only considering someone who has no idea of SEO, plugins in WordPress & co. give you guidance. On the other hand: just ask your AI to optimize it for SEO. The results will probably be at least as good.
Thanks for adding me on your launch platform. I feel honored. Will check it out again when I actually launch!
Totally feel you on that. I’ve run into the same chaos with invoices and file management — it’s such a tricky problem that eats time fast. That’s actually why I started building my own project around invoice analysis. Would you be open to a quick call?
I’d love to swap ideas and chat about project development — both mine and yours.
What is your project / app called? Do you plan to make it public or only for your own use?
Here is loom video link.
https://www.loom.com/share/2c1cb04af5394333b19b05f39c687d89?sid=de02af20-54f8-468d-9df5-5c2cc0f3b5ff
I am going to publish this app.
plz check this url: invoroa.com
great! awesome. preferred approach
Hmm
Not convinced? What's your take on that?
I think, due to SEO friendly and proper optiomization you dont need to throw them away.
well, I think with the help of AI it's pretty easy and quick to optimise SEO as well. But I'm not saying builders are bad, it's partly a matter of taste but also about speed and flexibility.