WP2Static vs Simply Static vs a Managed Migration: How to Actually Leave WordPress (2026)
24 Jun, 2026 • 4 min read
If you’re done with WordPress, there are two very different paths that people constantly confuse — and picking the wrong one means you “go static” but never actually escape WordPress. Here’s the honest 2026 lay of the land.
Two models, often confused
- Static plugins (Simply Static, Staatic, the old WP2Static) put a static layer in front of WordPress. They generate a static copy of your site; visitors get fast HTML, but you keep running WordPress as your editor. You’ve added a publishing step, not removed WordPress.
- A managed / done-for-you migration (what Strattic used to be, and what ZeroPress is) converts your site and takes you off WordPress entirely. There’s no WordPress left to patch, host, or babysit.
Both deliver “a static site.” Only the second one actually ends the maintenance.
The plugins: Simply Static, Staatic, WP2Static
- Simply Static — the active leader in 2026 (40,000+ users), free with a Pro tier, easy to set up. A solid choice if you want to keep editing in WordPress and just serve a fast static front-end.
- Staatic — a newer, actively maintained alternative, often recommended as the replacement for people who used to be on Strattic.
- WP2Static — once the go-to open-source option, but effectively unmaintained in 2026 after being absorbed by Strattic/Elementor and left to stall. Building your stack on abandonware is a risk.
The catch with all of them: WordPress doesn’t go away. You still update core and plugins, still host the WordPress install (even if it’s now private), and still untangle the occasional plugin or build conflict. The static output is a front-end — not an exit.
The managed model: Strattic (RIP) and the gap it left
Strattic pioneered managed WordPress→static hosting — it took you off WordPress and ran everything for you. Then Elementor acquired it and shut the static hosting down on January 1, 2025, pushing customers onto standard (dynamic) hosting or out the door.
That left a real gap: plenty of people want off WordPress, done for them — without becoming the person who runs a static-export plugin every week. With Strattic gone, that category is mostly empty.
Where ZeroPress fits
ZeroPress is a done-for-you migration that takes you fully off WordPress — and, unlike Strattic, hands you the output as an asset you own: a Jekyll repo on your own GitHub that you host free on Cloudflare or GitHub Pages.
- vs a static plugin: there’s no WordPress left to maintain. You’re not exporting a snapshot from a live WP install — the WP install is gone.
- vs Strattic: you’re not renting a managed platform that can be sunset out from under you. It’s your repo, your hosting, your call. (More in our Strattic alternative breakdown.)
You still get visual, no-code editing through Sveltia CMS, and your rankings are preserved because permalinks carry over. (Here’s how the migration works.)
So which should you pick?
- Keep WordPress, just want it faster and safer → a static plugin like Simply Static or Staatic.
- Want off WordPress entirely, done for you, as an asset you own → a managed migration like ZeroPress.
- Wanted a managed platform that hosts it all for you → that category basically died with Strattic. The closest equivalent now is owning your static output and hosting it on a free CDN — which is exactly the model ZeroPress hands you.
Want the full cost-and-lock-in picture against the big WordPress hosts too? See our WordPress alternatives comparison.
Check your site first
Not every WordPress site can go static (heavy WooCommerce or membership sites need a database). The free migration checker tells you in seconds whether yours qualifies — no login required.