A decade ago, the race for the easiest website builders was raging.

From Squarespace to Wix to WordPress (and now Webflow), the trend was clear: Make it easier for people who don’t know how to code to make a website.

While these tools helped millions of people get out there, they were never the best. How could they be?

The trade-off for their ease was bloated code bases, tons of plug-ins, and a hornets’ nest of issues thinly veiled by a deceptively simple user interface.

But the real pros?

They were using React, Next.js, and custom CMSs like Contentful, etc.

The real pros weren’t afraid to use an API or two and get their hands dirty.

My agency began as a WordPress development firm, in large part because 25 years ago, the first languages I learned were HTML, PHP, and JavaScript—the core frameworks for WordPress.

But I always admired the “real” apps that were lightning fast using more advanced tech stacks.

This envy is what led me to transition my company to these tech stacks a couple of years ago.

But what I didn’t know was that AI would make coding these “difficult” languages easier (and faster) for us than the alternatives.

I never dreamed that coding in the best tech stack would also be the easiest.

But today, thanks to AI, it’s actually much easier for me to prototype and execute a complicated idea in Next.js—with APIs everywhere—than it is to use a drag-and-drop builder like Webflow.

When the best solution is also the easiest? You know you are in an exciting time.