Updated October 2026. Written by Power Platform MS. Product features and prices change, so check current details with each provider.
The short answer
For a portal where customers, suppliers or members sign in to submit requests and see their own records, and those records are already managed in Microsoft, Power Pages is usually the better fit because it reads and writes Dataverse directly with security built in. For a marketing website, a content-heavy public site or a portal whose data lives outside Microsoft, WordPress is usually cheaper and more flexible. Many organisations run both: WordPress for the public site and Power Pages behind the "sign in" link.
Side-by-side comparison
| Factor | Power Pages | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Secure portals over Dataverse data: requests, cases, applications, account self-service | Content websites, blogs and marketing sites, with portals via plugins |
| Where the data lives | Microsoft Dataverse in your tenant, shared with your internal Power Apps | Usually a MySQL database on your web host |
| Record-level security | Built in: table permissions and web roles | Depends on plugins and custom code |
| Sign-in options | Microsoft Entra External ID, other OpenID Connect providers, local accounts | WordPress accounts, plus plugins for social or enterprise sign-in |
| Hosting and patching | Hosted and patched by Microsoft | You or your host keep core, theme and plugins updated |
| Design freedom | Good, with templates, Bootstrap and custom code | Very high, with thousands of themes and a large developer pool |
| Licensing | Per site, by authenticated and anonymous users per month | Open source, you pay for hosting, themes, plugins and development |
What each platform is designed for
Power Pages is Microsoft's platform for external-facing business websites. Its strength is secure access to Dataverse, the same database your internal Power Apps use. A customer submits a request on the portal, staff work it in a model-driven app, and the customer sees the status update, all on one set of data with no sync between systems.
WordPress is the most widely used website platform. It is excellent for content: pages, news, blogs and marketing. With membership, form and custom post type plugins it can also run portals, and a skilled developer can build almost anything on it.
Security for external users
Portals hold personal data, so security design matters more than features. In Power Pages, table permissions decide which records each signed-in user can read, create, update or delete, for example "only cases linked to my account" or "only invoices for my company". Web roles group those permissions. Microsoft runs the hosting, applies platform patches and provides features such as a web application firewall option.
WordPress can be run very securely, but security depends on the host, the plugins chosen and disciplined updates. Most WordPress compromises come from outdated or poorly maintained plugins rather than WordPress core. For a portal that exposes customer records, you need a developer to design record-level access carefully and someone accountable for patching every month.
Integration with Microsoft and your internal processes
If the work behind the portal happens in Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 or Power Apps, Power Pages removes an integration layer. Forms write straight to Dataverse, Power Automate picks up new records for approvals and notifications, and Power BI reports run on the same data.
With WordPress, data captured on the portal has to be sent to your internal systems through a plugin, an API or Power Automate. That works, but it is another integration to build, secure and maintain, and data can drift between the two systems.
Design, content and performance
WordPress wins on design freedom, content editing and the size of its ecosystem. Marketing teams are often more comfortable editing WordPress than the Power Pages design studio. Power Pages can be styled well and extended with custom code, but it is a business application platform first, and very design-led public websites are usually better on WordPress or another content platform.
Which should you choose?
Choose Power Pages when
- Users sign in to see and update their own records
- The data is already in Dataverse, Dynamics 365 or Power Apps
- You want Microsoft to host and patch the platform
- Record-level security and audit matter more than design freedom
Choose WordPress when
- The site is mostly content and marketing
- Very high anonymous traffic would make per-user licensing expensive
- Your data and processes live outside Microsoft
- You need complete design control and a large developer pool
Cost considerations
The cost profiles are different, so compare total cost over three years rather than year one.
- Power Pages licences: billed per website by the number of authenticated users and anonymous users each month, through capacity subscriptions or pay-as-you-go. Costs rise with active users. Microsoft changes pricing, so check current Microsoft pricing for your expected numbers.
- WordPress running costs: the software is free, but you pay for hosting, premium plugins and themes, security monitoring and ongoing developer time for updates.
- Integration: Power Pages avoids a separate integration with Dataverse. A WordPress portal that must sync with Microsoft systems needs that integration built and maintained.
- Build: both need design, configuration and testing. A focused first portal of limited scope can often be built within our 2-Week Proof of Value from £4,950, with larger portals quoted at a fixed price after scoping.
Use the licensing calculator for a first view of Power Platform costs, or book a licensing review for a written answer with your numbers.
Moving a portal from WordPress to Power Pages
Moving an existing portal is a structured project rather than a lift and shift:
- Keep the public site where it is: in most cases WordPress stays as the marketing site and only the signed-in portal moves.
- Model the data in Dataverse: accounts, contacts, requests and documents become tables with relationships and table permissions.
- Migrate users carefully: passwords cannot be moved, so plan an invitation or account claim process and communicate it early. See data migration.
- Rebuild forms and pages: most portal pages map to Power Pages lists and forms, and custom logic moves to Power Automate or server-side code.
- Redirect old URLs: keep links working so customers and search engines find the new portal.
A good scoping call should be willing to tell you the other option is the better fit. If it is, you will hear that on the first call.