Open Source
We still believe in WordPress and PHP. We also believe the way sites get made has changed. So Seahawk now builds across the open-source web: WordPress, PHP, EmDash and Astro.
Our thesis
WordPress is not going anywhere.
It still runs more of the web than anything else, and it is the best editorial backend there is. We maintain thousands of WordPress sites and will keep doing it.
How sites get made has changed.
People now start in a chat window, not a theme directory. Simple sites want to be fast, static and nearly maintenance-free, and Astro is the best way we know to build them.
WordPress is moving there too.
Spacefast, a Seahawk partner, builds AI-made Astro sites on wp.cloud, Automattic’s WordPress infrastructure, for a real database, auth, uploads, email and spam protection behind modern sites.
So we serve every use case.
WordPress and PHP where they are the right tools, EmDash and Astro where speed and simplicity win, and WordPress + Astro where you need both. One partner, whichever way your site goes.
Side‑by‑side comparison
Seven metricsBoth are leading choices, and we build and run both. Here is where each one shines.
| Metric | Your current stackWordPress + PHP | Your expansion stackAstro + EmDash |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural philosophy | All in one Content dashboard, code and database live together in one proven system, so editing, stores and memberships work out of the box. | The composable stack The frontend (Astro) is split from the backend (EmDash) for maximum flexibility. |
| Page speed and SEO impact | Fast with the right setup Pages are built on demand, and good hosting and caching make them fast. Its SEO tooling is the most mature on the web. | Instantaneous Pages are pre-built into flat HTML. They load instantly from global CDNs, maximizing SEO rankings. |
| Security and maintenance | Secure when maintained Its huge plugin ecosystem means updates matter. WP Maintain handles the weekly updates, monitoring and hotfixes, bringing the cost and the risk down. | Inherently secure Plugins run in isolated “sandboxes.” No live database is exposed to hackers, eliminating typical entry points. |
| AI capabilities | AI-ready WordPress’s Abilities API and MCP adapter, plus thousands of plugins, let AI agents read, write and manage content on the site. | AI-native Includes a built-in MCP server, allowing AI agents to securely log in, build layouts and publish content programmatically. |
| Hosting and infrastructure costs | Runs anywhere Every host supports it, at every price point. Busy sites need more server capacity, and managed WordPress hosting keeps that in check. | Near-zero scale cost Pre-rendered pages are highly efficient to serve, drastically lowering cloud and hosting bills. |
| Development velocity | The biggest talent pool Millions of developers, themes and plugins, with the block editor and modern PHP for custom work. | Modern and agile Developers can use any modern frontend framework (React, Vue, TypeScript) to build faster. |
| Best used for | Sites that change every day: publishers, stores, memberships, and teams that build visually with the block editor or page builders like Elementor. | High-performance marketing sites, global brand portfolios, and automated content engines managed by AI. |
The Astro practice
Start a projectEverything we’ve learned keeping WordPress sites healthy, now for Astro.
The same crew that maintains thousands of WordPress sites now builds, migrates and cares for Astro sites, for businesses, agencies, enterprises and the web hosts who serve them.
Fast, static marketing sites from a short intake: pages, blog, forms and SEO, with nothing to patch afterward.
Pages, posts, categories, media, menus and SEO fields come across; old URLs map to new with redirects, so search rankings survive the move.
EmDash is the TypeScript CMS for Astro, with sandboxed plugins and an admin your team and your AI agents can both use. We build on it, migrate WordPress sites to it and run it.
Custom plugins, integrations and PHP applications beyond WordPress, upgraded and kept on supported PHP versions.
WordPress stays the editorial backend your team knows; Astro serves the front end. Delivered through Seahawk VIP.
More →Monthly edits, monitoring and dependency updates, the same way WP Care looks after WordPress sites.
The EmDash and Astro panel and fleet modernization platform from Seahawk Infra, for hosts and agencies moving their fleets to modern stacks. Early access.
More →WordPress, Astro, or both?
Three questionsTell us about the site. We’ll tell you the stack.
A straight answer, and a team that can build any of the three.
Answer all three to see which stack fits.
Proof: this site
seahawk.sh moved from WordPress to Astro, and every old link still works.
Pages, posts and press releases came across from WordPress at their original URLs; category, author and feed archives redirect. The result is a static site with nothing to patch and a homepage under 10KB of compressed HTML.
It’s the same migration path we run for clients and for the hosts we power through Seahawk Infra.
Brands in the Astro practice
All brandsHII RegionFleet modernization platform for hosts.Infra
Seahawk Infra’s control panel for EmDash and Astro sites, built to help web hosts and agencies modernize their fleets. Built for web hosts & agencies.
AstroBeginnerAstro tutorials for beginners.Media
Seahawk Media’s free, beginner-friendly guides and tutorials for building your first site with Astro. Built for community & founders.
Seahawk VIPEnterprise agency for complex headless builds.Direct
Design, engineering, performance and ongoing support for WordPress VIP customers and high-scale digital teams, including headless WordPress with Astro and Next.js front ends. Built for enterprise & publishers.
Em WorkersEmDash sites on Cloudflare Workers.Direct
Fast, secure business websites built on EmDash and Astro and run on Cloudflare’s edge, from new builds and WordPress migrations to ongoing care. Built for small & medium businesses.
Moving to Astro, or keeping WordPress?
Either way, Seahawk has a crew for it. Tell us about the site and we’ll recommend the stack.