Simply Static has been the default answer to "how do I make my WordPress site static" for years — it crawls your site, rewrites URLs, and outputs a folder (or zip) of static files you can host anywhere. It's general-purpose by design: where you deploy those files is up to you. Pinery Static takes the opposite bet — it assumes you're deploying to Cloudflare Pages specifically, and builds the whole pipeline, including a one-click deploy and a Cloudflare Worker router, around that assumption.
| Simply Static | Pinery Static | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy target | Generic — you choose where to host the output (Simply Static Pro adds deployment connectors) | Cloudflare Pages specifically, one-click from wp-admin |
| Requires Node/CLI | No — runs inside WordPress | No — pure PHP, no wrangler or build server needed |
| Dynamic features on the static site | Not handled — comments/search/forms need a separate solution | Proxied back to WordPress automatically (comments, search, contact forms, WooCommerce prices — Pro) |
| Incremental re-export | Varies by version/settings | Yes — only changed pages re-export on each run |
| Domain migration | Manual — you handle DNS/redirects yourself | Bundled Cloudflare Worker router for same-domain migration (Pro) |
| Pricing | Free core plugin; Pro tier for extra features | Free core export & deploy; Pro for automation and live dynamic features |
What Simply Static does well
Its biggest strength is exactly its lack of opinion — if you're not deploying to Cloudflare Pages, or you want the flexibility to host the static output anywhere (S3, Netlify, your own server, GitHub Pages), Simply Static doesn't lock you into one target. That flexibility is a real advantage if Cloudflare specifically isn't your plan.
Where Pinery Static's narrower focus pays off
Because Pinery Static only targets one destination, it can do things a generic exporter can't easily promise: a genuinely one-click deploy with no separate hosting account setup, and — more importantly — a Cloudflare Worker that keeps dynamic features (comments, search, WooCommerce prices) working by quietly proxying those specific requests back to your live WordPress, while everything else is served static from the edge. Bolting that same behavior onto a generic exporter's output is possible, but it's DIY work Pinery Static ships out of the box.
Which should you choose?
- Simply Static — you want to host the static output somewhere other than Cloudflare Pages, or want maximum flexibility over the deploy target.
- Pinery Static — you're deploying to Cloudflare Pages and want dynamic features (comments, search, WooCommerce) to keep working without hand-rolling a proxy layer yourself.