· AstroJS / WordPress
Why I Dumped WordPress for Astro: The Modern Way to Build a Resume and Portfolio Website
WordPress powers a massive portion of the web, but for a personal resume, portfolio, or landing page, it has become an over-engineered relic.
When it is time to build a personal resume or portfolio website, the default advice for over a decade has been to just spin up a WordPress site. But when I recently decided to refresh my own professional corner of the internet, I chose a completely different path. I built my resume website using Astro, a modern web framework designed for speed.
If you are tired of wrestling with clunky visual editors, paying monthly hosting fees for a basic profile page, or watching your personal site take five seconds to load over mobile data, it is time to look beyond WordPress. Here is exactly why I chose Astro for my resume website, and why you should consider it for your next portfolio, blog, or fast-landing page.
The Problem with the WordPress Paradigm
WordPress powers a massive portion of the web, but for a personal resume, portfolio, or landing page, it has become an over-engineered relic.
The Gutenberg and Page-Builder Bloat
The primary catalyst for my departure from WordPress was the content editing experience. The native Gutenberg block editor was built to compete with modern page builders, but it often feels clunky, heavy, and restrictive. If you want to break outside of its rigid structure, you are forced to install massive page builders like Elementor. These visual editors inject endless layers of nested code (<div> tags), heavily weighing down your pages before you even add your first line of text.
The Maintenance and Security Tax
WordPress requires a database, a server running PHP, and an army of plugins to do basic things like SEO optimizations, contact forms, and caching. Every plugin you add is another security vulnerability to patch and another point of failure. Bloated WordPress ecosystems can lead to sluggish administrative dashboards and agonizingly slow initial server response times. A resume site should be a “set-it-and-forget-it” project, not a software stack that requires weekly security updates.
Why Astro is Built for Portfolios and Blogs
Astro turns the traditional website architecture upside down by delivering zero client-side JavaScript by default. It uses an innovative architecture called “Server Islands,” meaning it renders your HTML on the server (or during a build step) and ships pure, lightweight code to the user’s browser.
1. Blazing Fast Performance (The SEO Edge)
Because Astro strips away all unnecessary code, your site loads instantly. For a freelance portfolio or a marketing landing page, speed directly impacts conversion rates. Search engines prioritize fast-loading, accessible pages. While optimizing a WordPress site to achieve a perfect 100/100 score on Google PageSpeed Insights requires complex caching setups and premium plugins, Astro gives you those speeds right out of the box.
2. Content-First Approach via Markdown
A resume is fundamentally a document. Astro treats content as a first-class citizen. Instead of formatting your job history inside a database using a clunky visual editor, you can write your content in clean, human-readable Markdown or MDX files. Moving a blog or portfolio to Astro and Markdown unlocks the ability to edit content offline in tools like Obsidian and manage the entire history of your site using Git version control.
3. Ultimate UI Flexibility
Unlike traditional static site generators that force you into a specific ecosystem, Astro is UI-agnostic. You can build your site using standard HTML and CSS, or pull in your favorite frontend components like React, Vue, Svelte, or SolidJS. If your resume website only needs a single interactive element—like a dynamic contact form or a filterable portfolio gallery—Astro will only load the JavaScript required for that specific “island” of interactivity, leaving the rest of the page lightweight and static.
Direct Comparison: Astro vs. WordPress
| Feature | Astro | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Jamstack / Static Site / Server Islands | Monolithic (PHP & MySQL Database) |
| Default Speed | Ultra-fast (Zero JS by default) | Variable (Often requires heavy optimization) |
| Content Editing | Markdown, MDX, or Headless CMS | Gutenberg Block Editor / Page Builders |
| Maintenance | None (Static files cannot be hacked easily) | High (Frequent core, theme, and plugin updates) |
| Hosting Cost | 100% Free for standard portfolios | Monthly fees for hosting and databases |
How to Spin Up an Astro Site for Free
One of the biggest perks of switching away from WordPress is eliminating your hosting bill. Because Astro compiles your website down to static HTML, CSS, and asset files, it does not require a costly database server. You can host your entire site on global Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) completely free of charge.
To get started, you simply open your terminal and run the launch command:
npm create astro@latestAstro provides an official installation wizard that lets you choose clean starter templates or pre-designed themes tailored for resumes and portfolios.
Top Free Hosting Platforms for Astro
Once your site is built and pushed to a Git repository (like GitHub), you can connect it to several premier hosting platforms that offer generous, permanent free tiers for static websites:
- Vercel: Exceptional integration for modern frontend frameworks. Vercel detects Astro automatically, deploys your site globally in seconds, and provides automated preview deployments for every change you make.
- Netlify: A pioneer in modern web hosting. Netlify offers built-in form handling, serverless functions, and split testing alongside an incredibly intuitive free tier perfect for personal sites.
- GitHub Pages: If you already manage your code on GitHub, you can use GitHub Actions to build and deploy your Astro portfolio directly to their hosting network for free.
- Cloudflare Pages: Known for its uncompromised global speed, Cloudflare provides unlimited bandwidth on its free tier, making it an incredible choice for fast-loading landing pages and high-traffic blogs.
The Verdict
WordPress remains an excellent tool for massive, multi-author news sites or e-commerce storefronts managed by completely non-technical teams. However, if you are a developer, designer, or digital professional looking to display your work, Astro is the superior choice. It rescues you from the clunkiness of the Gutenberg editor, slashes your loading speeds, and saves you money on hosting. Give it a try for your next project, and you likely won’t ever look back.