Choosing a CMS or platform for your website — without the guesswork

How to approach platform selection without wasting a budget

Most companies don't need "the best CMS" — they need a system their team can actually maintain, that loads fast enough for SEO, and that won't demand a developer for every text edit. Before comparing platforms, answer five questions: who will update the site day-to-day, do you need ecommerce now or later, how many languages must the site support, what monthly budget can you commit to maintenance, and how critical is page speed. Once you have those answers, the shortlist shrinks to two or three options. Below we break down the platforms we work with in Limassol, Nicosia and Paphos — honestly, including where each one becomes a bad choice.

Platform overview: strengths, limits, and who should avoid each

• WordPress — the most flexible general-purpose CMS. Huge plugin ecosystem, easy to find contractors, good for content-heavy sites and blogs. Not ideal when you need strict performance guarantees or a heavily customised store without ongoing optimisation work. Best for: marketing sites, corporate blogs, news-heavy projects. Avoid if: you want zero maintenance and no plugin updates.
• Tilda — visual builder with very low entry threshold. Great for landing pages, small promotional sites, event pages. Implementation from €290. Not suitable for complex catalogs, custom logic, or deep multilanguage structures. Best for: startups, one-page sites, quick launches. Avoid if: you plan to grow a large content site or store.
• Webflow — designer-friendly platform with clean output and strong visual control. Excellent for high-polish marketing sites and portfolios. Requires a person who understands layout logic; content editors often find it less intuitive than advertised. Best for: design-led brands, SaaS landing pages, portfolios. Avoid if: your team expects a simple WordPress-like editing experience.
• Shopify — the fastest way to launch a reliable online store. Hosted, secure, excellent checkout and app marketplace. Less flexible for unusual product logic or markets where payment and shipping integrations need custom work. Best for: retail brands, D2C, stores with standard catalog structure. Avoid if: you need deep customisation of the checkout or complex B2B pricing.
• Magento — powerful open-source ecommerce for serious catalogs and complex operations. Very high ceiling, equally high cost of ownership: hosting, developer time, upgrades. Implementation from €4990. Best for: established businesses with 1000+ SKUs and a development budget. Avoid if: you're a small team without technical resources.
• 1С-Битрикс — popular among Russian-speaking businesses in Cyprus. Strong CMS and ecommerce features, familiar interface for many managers. Licensing and quality hosting add cost; customisation requires specialists. Best for: companies migrating from CIS markets or needing Russian-language admin. Avoid if: you want a lightweight system and don't need its enterprise features.
• RecCMS — our own platform, developed and maintained by 62px. Its core advantage is combining website, CRM and ERP in one system, so catalog, orders, customers and content live together without fragile third-party bridges. Best for: businesses that want a site and operational back office in one place. Avoid if: you prefer a widely known open-source platform with a large external contractor pool.

If you're not sure which bucket you fall into, we run a free one-hour audit and map your requirements to the right platform — without pushing the most expensive option.

What budget should you plan for?

Platform costs in Cyprus vary more by ecosystem than by features alone. Realistic starting points for implementation:

• Tilda: €290-1500 — landing pages, small sites, quick launches
• WordPress: €990-4900 — corporate sites, blogs, medium content projects
• Webflow: €1500-6900 — design-led marketing sites and portfolios
• Shopify: €1900-7900 — standard ecommerce stores with existing theme customisation
• 1С-Битрикс: €2900-9900 — corporate portals and ecommerce for CIS-oriented businesses
• Magento: €4990-25000 — complex catalogs, B2B logic, custom integrations
• RecCMS: €4900-19900 — website plus CRM/ERP in one system, tailored to operational workflows

Implementation scope for any platform includes architecture review, setup, content migration, integrations, team training, and 30 days of post-launch support. We also offer a discount for clients who agree to let us publish a case study.

Total cost of ownership over three years

This is the part most platform comparisons skip. The initial build is only a fraction of what you'll spend. Over three years, you should account for:

• Licenses and subscriptions — Shopify from ~€27/month, Bitrix24 and 1С-Битрикс licensing tiers, Magento hosting and security patches, Webflow workspace plans. WordPress itself is free, but premium plugins add up.
• Hosting and infrastructure — managed WordPress hosting from €15-80/month, Magento often needs dedicated VPS or cloud setup from €50-250/month.
• Maintenance and updates — open-source platforms require regular updates, security monitoring, and occasional fixes. Budget from €150-600/month depending on complexity.
• Contractor dependency — some platforms allow in-house content edits with minimal training (Tilda, Shopify, Webflow to a degree). Others, like Magento or custom 1С-Битрикс setups, often mean every change goes through a developer.
• Integrations — payment gateways, ERP, CRM, delivery services. Costs vary widely, but each new integration adds build time and future maintenance.

Rough three-year ownership estimate for a small business site: €3000-8000 on WordPress or Tilda. A mid-size ecommerce project on Shopify or 1С-Битрикс: €12000-30000. Magento or RecCMS with deep operational integration: €25000-80000. The right choice isn't the cheapest platform — it's the one whose total cost matches how much revenue the site supports.

How long does implementation take?

Timelines depend on platform complexity, content readiness, and integration scope:

• 1-2 weeks — Tilda landing pages, simple WordPress sites
• 2-4 weeks — corporate WordPress or Webflow sites with basic integrations
• 3-6 weeks — Shopify stores with payment, shipping, and product migration
• 4-8 weeks — 1С-Битрикс projects with custom components and multilingual setup
• 6-12 weeks — Magento catalogs with ERP/WMS integration and custom logic
• 8-16 weeks — RecCMS implementations that merge website, CRM and ERP workflows

We fix deadlines in the contract. If we miss a deadline through our own fault, we compensate. Most projects ship on time or earlier.

What integrations matter for Cyprus businesses?

Standard integration set for platforms we implement:

• Payments — Stripe, JCC, Revolut Business, PayPal
• Delivery — Akis Express, ACS Cyprus, DHL, Cyprus Post, local courier APIs
• Messengers and chat — WhatsApp Business API, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, live chat widgets
• CRM and ERP — HubSpot, Bitrix24, 1C, Xero, QuickBooks, Odoo
• Analytics — Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, server-side tracking where needed
• Marketplaces — Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Bazaraki

If a ready connector doesn't exist, we build a custom one. The platform choice should never force you to abandon a tool your team already relies on.

Migrating from another CMS

Moving platforms is normal when a business outgrows its current setup. We handle migrations without losing content, URLs, or search visibility:

• Audit of existing structure, content types, redirects, and SEO history
• Field and content mapping between old and new platform
• Test migration to staging with integrity checks
• Production migration over a weekend to avoid downtime
• 301 redirects and search console updates to preserve rankings
• Team training on the new admin

Typical moves: Tilda → WordPress or Webflow, WordPress → Shopify for ecommerce, 1С-Битрикс → RecCMS when CRM and ERP need to live with the site, Magento → Shopify when maintenance costs outweigh flexibility.

Post-launch support

Every implementation includes 30 days of free support: questions, small fixes, content adjustments. After that, support packages start at €190/month, covering updates, minor changes, monitoring, and integration maintenance. Larger development tasks are scoped and billed separately. The goal is that your team can handle day-to-day edits — and has a reliable partner when they can't.