For all the years of using Rapidweaver I always find my self questioning what I should use to build a site when a client wants more than just a website with the basic needs. I know it is achievable with RW but the time involved outweighs the cost I can pass on. I still go to wordpress because cost and time to build outweighs the headache with RW. Believe me, I would rather use RW but I know further down the line on these sort of websites the cost to update certain stacks/themes and the problems caused by this is not at all cost/time effective as if I had just paid for maybe the XTheme for WP. Don’t get me wrong, I love RW and always use it for sites that need some CMS, eCommerce or blogs but to be honest there is still a lot of catching up to do if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands to build these into a site.
Thanks for your comment @SteveB.
I have used RW since V3, I’m not talking about design.
It’s just the hassle when you find out the stack in your library that you wanted to use is going to cost £x to update again. Plus the time spent checking out what developer has disappeared leaving no support or updates to a stack or a theme that has just been dropped from existence. At least with a theme like X for WP I know I can pay say $45 at the moment and will not have to pay a penny more to implement everything I need without surprises in a few months down the road.
Like I said I prefer using RW, but …!
Hey, Rusty,
I agree with everything Steve said. I just have to add that if you choose your developers carefully (themes and stacks, support), you could be very satisfied with RW environment as opposed to WP.
If you are concerned with your budget (who isn’t?), there are developers who provide a lot of free products and/or fully functional demos. You can use those demos to make sure that they are exactly what you need, before paying for them. You can build entire websites using just free stuff.
I would suggest first checking out products from Will Woodgate (ThemeFlood, Stacks4Stacks, SeyDesign, RWExtras) and Andrew Tavernor (Big White Duck). Among those two developers you will find dozens if not hundreds of free products (of course, donations are always in order). And both provide superior support.
Maybe you just don’t want to see it !
Haha … not yet, much too early.
Keep your blinkers on mate.
Not sure what you’re looking for with this post. If you want to promote WP, then I think you’ve come to the wrong place.
As a professional website developer (the post title suggests you’re charging for your services) then the price of your tools should not be a significant concern. If it is, then I recommend you take a look at your pricing model.
I’m not saying like some that RW is the best tool you can use for any site you build, it has useful features and is very expandable with the many add-ons available.
I can understand an end user building a single site, being overwhelmed by the expense of all the add-ons. The amount you can spend adds up quickly, that’s why for folks new to RW I always suggest that they go slow.
I’m new to RW and I really like the ease of use. But to some degree I agree with the OP. I’m trying to include a fairly simple function that would pass a database filter to populate a dynamic webpage via a link the user selects. I have been unable to find a stack that even comes close to what I need even though, in my opinion, it is not a complex function. I’ve had the same feature in a WP site but can’t seem to implement with RW. If I want to do this in RW it would require me to build over 500 pages instead of 1 that populates dynamically based upon the user selection.
Well you said you have never used WP, I’m not a fan boy of any tool.
I used to be with RW when I first started out too.
I’m not trying to promote anything. I just find it difficult sometimes to decide what platform to use when I have a more complex site to build. I like using RW that’s the problem.
How would you know the differences ?
Thanks for the info but I’m not new to RW … I have been using it since RW v3 so I’m bit of an old timer 
Unlike WP RapidWeaver isn’t database driven. Any database function is an add on. WP is ALL database, so you’re going to find a lot more dB functionality, both built in and with the vast number of 3rd party plugins.
There are something’s that RW doesn’t do as well.
Part of the website design and development is picking the right tool for your requirements. For what you require RW might not be the best tool.
The RW user base is tiny compared to WP, so developers have to provide solutions based on what they believe will sell to a much smaller group. I think that’s got a lot to do with the number of RW products that start up then go away.
Ok so I wanted to use…
Cart stack - no longer available upgrade - $39
Social Stack - looks like it’s no longer supported.
Then I would have to purchase a booking stack - $39
CMS - $99.95
Update RW in a few months and Foundation probably. $$
etc.
Again you’re a professional if those amounts are a business killer for you then take another look at your pricing model. These are tools of your trade, cost of doing business.
So $45 for the X theme is a no brainer really … thanks for helping me make up my mind.