SGEN · Comparison Ledger
No. 01
SGEN vs WordPress
A faster WordPress alternative. Zero plugins.
WordPress runs your site on a plugin stack: a builder plugin, a security plugin, a forms plugin, a caching plugin, an SEO plugin, each on its own update cycle. SGEN ships 23 native modules across 7 categories, the entire plugin category built into the platform, with server-side rendering from the first request. What follows is the ledger, capability by capability.
"91% of WordPress vulnerabilities were in plugins." Patchstack, State of WordPress Security 2026 report.
91%
of 2025 WordPress vulnerabilities were in plugins · Patchstack
23
native SGEN modules, every plan, one login
0 plugins
to license, patch, or trust on SGEN
No. 02
Why operators are switching
Operators and agencies are leaving the WordPress plugin stack for SGEN: no plugin overhead, no update anxiety, one platform to maintain.
23
native modules, every plan
7
module categories, one login
0 plugins
nothing to license or patch
No. 03
The pain
Three problems WordPress operators stop blaming on themselves.
You did not misconfigure anything. The friction is structural: it comes from running a site on a stack of independently versioned plugins.
Tax 01
Update anxiety
Every plugin and the WordPress core update on their own schedule. One update can break the site, and the thing that breaks is almost always a plugin. SGEN's answer is Immutable Stability: native features replace the plugins that are the number one failure source, so there is no update roulette.
You get the time update anxiety used to cost back as working time. Push changes without the gamble that one plugin update takes the site down.
Tax 02
Bleeding traffic
A slow site loses visitors and Google rank. WordPress depends on caching plugins and configuration to get fast. SGEN delivers server-side rendering natively: finished content arrives instantly, to users and to Google. It is not a caching plugin. It is how the platform works.
You stop bleeding traffic and rank to a slow render. Speed is how the platform works, not a thing you buy, tune, and re-buy in caching plugins.
Tax 03
The plugin tax
Every capability is another plugin to license, maintain, and trust. And the plugin layer is where the security risk lives: year after year, the vast majority of WordPress vulnerabilities are in plugins, not core.
You stop needing the plugins. One platform to maintain, not a stack to manage, with no plugin tax and no suite tax.
No. 04
The plugin failure data
Year after year, the vulnerabilities live in the plugins, not core.
In 2024, 96% of WordPress vulnerabilities were in plugins. In 2025, that figure was 91%, still more than nine in ten, still in the plugin layer that every WordPress site depends on.
Source: the 96% figure is from the prior-year Patchstack report; the 91% figure is from Patchstack, State of WordPress Security 2026 report. Full 2025 data: 11,334 vulnerabilities, 91% in plugins, 9% in themes, 6 in core. SGEN ships security natively: WAF and security patching are in the Foundation Pack, free on every plan including the $0 Sandbox. The plugin layer that carries the risk is not the layer SGEN is built on.
No. 05
Feature by feature
Every row WordPress hands to a plugin, SGEN ships native.
■ Native, included
□ Add-on / dependent
× Separate vendor
| Capability | Column A WordPress + Elementor Self-hosted, plugin stack | Column B WP Engine Managed WordPress host | Column C SGEN One native platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| The difference Does the site run on a plugin stack? The layer that carries the update risk and the security risk. | Yes. Core, theme, and plugins, each versioned separately | Yes. Managed hosting, but the site is still WordPress plus plugins | No. 23 native modules replace the plugin layer entirely |
| Where the reported vulnerabilities live | 91% in plugins, 9% themes, 6 in core (Patchstack 2026) | Same plugin layer; managed host does not remove it | No plugin layer for them to be attributed to |
| Visual drag-and-drop builder | Elementor plugin (or Divi, Beaver Builder) | Bring your own builder plugin | SG Builder module |
| Instant-on rendering | Caching plugin and config dependent | Managed caching layer, still config dependent | Server-side, first request |
| HostingWordPress.org software is free; the host is a separate invoice | Separate vendor, separate invoice (commonly $3 to $35/mo) | Bundled with the plan | Foundation Pack, free on every plan |
| SSL + CDN | Host-dependent, often bundled by the host | Bundled with the plan | Foundation Pack, free |
| WAF + security patching | Plugin (Wordfence or Sucuri; paid tier for full WAF) | Managed platform security; plugin patching is still on you | Foundation Pack, free, no plugins to patch |
| Forms with bot protection | Plugin (WPForms or Gravity Forms) | Plugin, same as self-hosted | Forms module |
| On-page SEO + 301 redirects | Plugin (Yoast or Rank Math, plus Redirection) | Plugin, same as self-hosted | SEO Manager + Redirects modules |
| Attribution + phone-tap tracking | Third-party (CallRail, separate bill) | Third-party (CallRail, separate bill) | Attribution module, source on every lead |
| Popups + image optimization | Plugins (OptinMonster, Smush or ShortPixel) | Plugins, same as self-hosted | Popups + Image Optimization modules |
| Backups, multi-site + activity log | Plugins (UpdraftPlus) plus a separate WP install per site | Managed backups; multi-site via separate installs | Native backups, multi-site dashboard, audit-ready log |
| Update failure risk | Core, theme, and plugin stack, each can break the site | Managed core, but plugin updates are still yours to run | Immutable Stability, no plugin roulette |
| Pricing model | Hosting invoice plus each plugin license, assembled separately | Managed-host plan; plugin licenses still separate | From $39/mo, one platform, priced by site count |
The ledger reads the same way down every line: WordPress hands the capability to a plugin or a third party. WP Engine manages the host but the site still runs on that plugin stack. SGEN ships it native, one platform you maintain instead of a stack you manage.
No. 06
Cost contrast
SGEN from $39/mo. The Foundation Pack is free on every plan.
SGEN is priced by how many live sites you run, never by feature tier. The Foundation Pack, hosting, SSL, CDN, WAF, security patching, and the multi-site dashboard is free on every plan, even the free Sandbox.
| Plan | Live sites | AnnualPer month | Monthly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandbox | Unlimited staging | Free | Free | The whole platform, staging URL only, not public-live |
| Indie | 1 live site | $39 | $47 | All 23 modules + Foundation Pack |
| Most popularStudio | 3 live sites | $97 | $117 | All 23 modules + Foundation Pack |
| Scale | 10 live sites | $297 | $333 | All 23 modules + Foundation Pack |
| Enterprise | Unlimited live sites | $497 | $577 | The whole platform, published price, not a sales call |
WordPress.org software is free. The site is not: self-hosted hosting commonly runs $3 to $35 per month (host-dependent), and the plugin stack adds licenses on top, for example Elementor Pro from $59/year for one site (elementor.com), plus whatever you license for security, forms, SEO, backups, popups, and attribution. Your total is whatever your stack adds up to.
On SGEN the Foundation Pack is free and the plan price is the price. Every plan is the entire platform: all 23 modules and the full dashboard. The plans differ only by how many live sites you run. There are no Suites to add and no a la carte tiers.
No. 07
What native gets you
The lead's source travels with the lead.
On WordPress, attribution lives in a third-party tool with its own bill. In SGEN, every submission lands in a native inbox with its traffic source attached, no CallRail tax, no connector tier.
Native attribution. The source that drove the lead is recorded in the same platform you build in, on every submission.
Native security. WAF and patching ship in the free Foundation Pack, so the riskiest layer of the old stack is not your problem anymore.
Native SEO and redirects. Map every old URL to its new home so you keep your link equity through the rebuild.
No. 08
How to switch
Moving from WordPress to SGEN is a rebuild. Not an import.
We will not tell you it is a one-click import. It is a rebuild, and that is by design: you leave the WordPress substrate, the plugin stack, and the update anxiety behind, and start on a clean native architecture. SGEN templates start you fast, not blank.
Path 01
White-glove rebuild
We rebuild your site on SGEN for you. Contact sales for scope and pricing.
Contact SalesPath 02
DIY rebuild
You rebuild on SGEN with SG Builder and the template library. Start on the free Sandbox and move at your own pace. Every template is a finished starting point, not a blank canvas.
Try the Free SandboxFor the full rebuild guide and what each path looks like, see /migrate. The Redirects module maps every old URL to its new home, so you keep your link equity through the rebuild.
No. 09
Questions
Common questions about switching from WordPress
Will my content transfer from WordPress?
Moving to SGEN is a rebuild, not an import. SGEN does not run a WordPress importer. The rebuild path uses SG Builder and SGEN's native template library, which make the rebuild fast because every template is a finished starting point rather than a blank canvas. See /migrate for the full rebuild guide and the two paths (white-glove or DIY).
Do I lose my WordPress plugins?
You stop needing them. SGEN ships 23 native modules across 7 categories: the builder, security and WAF, forms, popups, on-page SEO, redirects, image optimization, backups, attribution, and more are built into the platform. In a typical WordPress stack, SGEN replaces the page builder, security plugins (Wordfence, Sucuri), form plugins (WPForms, Gravity Forms), popup plugins (OptinMonster), SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math), and attribution tools (CallRail) with native modules, no licenses to stack.
What about my SEO and 301 redirects?
SGEN's Redirects module is a native 301/302 redirect rule manager: you map every old URL to its new home so you keep your link equity through the rebuild. On-page SEO controls (titles, meta, schema) are native to every page via the SEO Manager module. Switching does not cost you your Google rankings: the rebuild keeps the equity you spent months earning.
Is SGEN actually faster than WordPress?
SGEN renders pages server-side: the server delivers finished HTML before it leaves the data center, so visitors and Google receive complete content on the first request. On WordPress, instant-on typically depends on caching plugins and configuration. Server-side rendering is native to SGEN, not an add-on.
How is SGEN more secure than WordPress?
The Patchstack State of WordPress Security 2026 report found 91% of 2025 WordPress vulnerabilities were in plugins, not core. SGEN ships security natively: the WAF and security patching are in the Foundation Pack, free on every plan, so the plugin layer that carries most of the risk is not the layer SGEN is built on. That is a structural posture, not a claim that any platform is unbreakable.
What does SGEN cost compared to a WordPress stack?
SGEN starts at $39/mo (billed annually; $47 monthly), and the Foundation Pack (hosting, SSL, CDN, WAF, security patching, multi-site dashboard) is free on every plan, even the free Sandbox. Every plan is the whole platform: you pay by how many live sites you run, not by feature tier. On WordPress, the software is free but hosting and plugin licenses are separate invoices, so your total depends on the stack you assemble.
Is SGEN HIPAA compliant, or SOC 2 / ISO certified?
SGEN is HIPAA compliant for healthcare: it runs on a single secure database with data protection and does not host your patients' records or PHI, so the PHI stays under the clinic's control. SOC 2 and ISO are in progress, with no certification badges to show yet. The supporting posture is native: audit-ready activity logging, a per-session consent log, and a WAF in the free Foundation Pack.
Build without plugins
Build on the platform, not the plugin pile.
WordPress runs on a plugin architecture, and that architecture is where the speed debt, the update roulette, and most of the security risk live. SGEN ships 23 native modules, server-side rendering, and a free Foundation Pack on every plan. One platform to maintain, not a stack to manage.
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