What are the limitations of Webflow in terms of the number of pages and CMS fields, and what alternatives or workarounds can I use to overcome these limitations?

Webflow has several limitations related to pages, CMS items, and CMS fields that can impact large or complex websites. Here's how they work and what you can do to overcome them.

1. Page Limitations

• Static Pages: Each Webflow site has a limit of 100 static pages.
• CMS Collection Pages: These are dynamically generated and don’t count toward the static page limit. They're based on CMS Collections (e.g., Blog Posts, Products).
• Redirects and folders do not count toward the page limit.

Workarounds:

• Use Collection Pages to publish content dynamically within the CMS limits.
• Consolidate identical layout content types into a single template with conditional visibility.
• Host static or archived pages externally (e.g., using GitHub Pages or linking to another Webflow project).

2. CMS Item Limitations

• CMS Items: The cap depends on the hosting tier:
• CMS Site Plan: 2,000 items
• Business Site Plan: 10,000 items
• Enterprise Plan: Custom (above 10,000)

CMS items include any entries in a Collection (e.g., each blog post, product, team member).

Workarounds:

• Split your dataset across multiple Collections if applicable.
• Use Webflow API or third-party tools (like Airtable + Make/Zapier) to rotate or archive items.
• Use multiple Webflow sites and link them together when content needs exceed limits.

3. CMS Fields Limitations

• Per Collection Limit: Each CMS Collection supports up to 30 custom fields.
• Reference and Multi-reference fields count toward this limit and use more resources.

Workarounds:

• Avoid redundant fields by using Reference fields to connect Collections and access indirect data.
• Use Rich Text fields with consistent structures instead of several short text or image fields.
• For complex relationships, consider external CMS integrations through APIs or embedded widgets from Airtable or Firebase.

4. Other CMS & Performance Limits

• Reference Depth: Pages pulling content through Reference or Multi-reference fields have query depth limitations. Nested references may not render properly.
• Too many bound fields in Collection Lists or Templates can impact page load time and Editor performance.

Workarounds:

• Minimize unnecessary field connections in views unrelated to them.
• Lazy load media (use loading="lazy" for images and videos) and limit the number of Collection Lists on a page.
• Use pagination or filtering to limit CMS item display.

Summary

Webflow limits you to 100 static pages, 10,000 CMS items (on Business plan), and 30 fields per Collection. Use Collection Pages, references, multiple sites, and smart API integrations to scale beyond these limits while keeping performance optimized.