The Block Editor Revolution: From Productivity Tools to Simple Website Publishing

Block Editor Web Publishing

The Simplest and Most Cost-Effective Way to Publish Content Heavy Websites

I can still remember the first time I saw the Notion block editor. Instantly, I knew I would never willingly open a Word or Google Docs document again. It was just too easy to create clean, well-formatted, and visually appealing documents, with plenty of useful components like infoboxes, tables, and embedded media. However, while Notion revolutionized document creation for me, I could never quite embrace the idea of managing entire projects within a document. That’s why we gravitated toward ClickUp instead—it combined robust project management tools with an integrated block editor for documents.

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Fast forward to today, and block editors are everywhere. Modern productivity and knowledge apps like Coda, Notion, Obsidian, Slab, MS Loop, Anytype, and others have made them ubiquitous. The power and convenience of these tools have led to an unexpected trend: people want to use them to create websites. That’s where services like Super.so come in. Starting in 2020, Super.so allowed users to share their Notion documents as websites with custom domains, effectively turning shared pages into static website. Over time, they added features like custom code snippets, SEO options, and templates.

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The concept exploded, and competitors quickly emerged. At its core, this isn't a highly technical service. Most solutions operate by fetching content via reverse proxies or the Notion API and layering additional functionality on top. However, the simplicity of the concept belies its value. Despite the technical ease, these services aren’t cheap: the average cost to publish a single Notion document under a custom domain ranges from $8 to $25 per month additional to the costs for the tool itself. For many users, this streamlined experience is worth it—even Notion offers now its own domain connection service for $10 per document per month.

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Exploring the Problem

I learned all of this firsthand while trying to publish a media center and brand guidelines for one of our projects. As a Digital agency, we had the skills to build it from scratch, but we thought, "Why not leverage an optimized mini-page service specifically designed for this kind of content?" The reality? These services are either prohibitively expensive or frustratingly limited. On one hand, enterprise-level solutions come with features and pricing that don’t make sense for smaller use cases. On the other hand, affordable options offer templates that often look outdated and even if not—charging $20 a month for a single press kit feels disproportionate.

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As a web designer, I understand the development effort and infrastructure costs for services like these. While I acknowledge that niche tools need to charge more to sustain their business, I still found the pricing to be misaligned with the value delivered, particularly when serving low-traffic, static sites.

Coda.io: A Surprising Alternative

You’re probably wondering how this very website was created. If you’ve noticed that it was built using a block editor and is served under a custom subdomain, you might assume we’re using one of these publishing platforms. Here’s the twist: it didn’t cost us a penny extra. Enter Coda.io, another productivity and automation tool originally designed as a "spreadsheet on steroids." Recently, Coda introduced a feature that allows users to connect unlimited domains to unlimited documents under its Pro plan, priced at just $12 per month. Jackpot.

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This setup checks all the boxes for what you can dream of: fast, cost effective, and easy to use. Even non-technical users can create and update content-heavy sites effortlessly.

Why its not enough, anyway?

While we believe this approach works well for our small scale, it comes with caveats.

Unintended Use Case: Coda likely didn’t design its service with website publishing in mind. Their pricing model, which charges per document creator, inadvertently allows us to create unlimited client sites for just $24/month, even enabling clients to edit their sites themselves. This might raise sustainability questions for them if this use case grows.

Privacy Concerns: Most productivity tools originate in the U.S. and often do not prioritize privacy to the same extent as we do in Europe. Many of these tools rely on third-party scripts, are hosted in the U.S., and track extensive amounts of user data. Furthermore, they often lack essential privacy protections, such as cookie banners, script consent options, and other compliance measures required for safeguarding user data.

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What about other Platforms?

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Jimdo are designed for creating visually appealing, heavily branded websites. They cater to users looking for stylish designs and customizable features, but their complexity often becomes a hurdle. Non-technical users frequently struggle with these tools, accidentally breaking templates or misconfiguring settings, which results in frustration and suboptimal outcomes. Also none of them are really cheap for users that want to create multiple small sites.

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On the other end of the spectrum, DIY solutions like WordPress provide immense flexibility and affordability but demand significant technical expertise. Setting up, managing, and maintaining these site involves tasks like hosting configuration, plugin management, updates, and troubleshooting—challenges that casual users or small organizations may not have the capacity to handle. This is why many businesses and professionals either turn to web agencies for help, even for relatively simple websites, or rely on in-house teams to create and manage these things.

Missed Use Cases:

Despite the array of tools available, a significant number of potential websites fall into a blind spot: they don’t require heavy branding or extensive customization. Instead, they demand simplicity, reliability, and content-first design. Think of school websites with calendars, announcements, and downloadable forms; university department pages with faculty profiles and research publications; municipal government sites for public services, regulations, and community updates; local libraries sharing opening hours and reading programs; nonprofits hosting mission statements, resource guides, and volunteer opportunities; personal documentation hubs for CVs, portfolios, or hobby blogs; community club pages for sports leagues or hobby groups; public transparency pages with meeting minutes and agendas; small business knowledge bases for customer support or product documentation; press kits for startups; resource collections for curated tools or datasets; internal brand guidelines for corporate teams; static sites for events like festivals or conferences; online manuals or handbooks for niche audiences. These are just some of the countless examples that highlight the gap for a platform that prioritizes simplicity and content driven design.

Our Vision: Block Editor powered Web Publishing Platform

We aim to create a lean, no-frills publishing platform that simplifies the creation of content-heavy websites. Instead of cramming in endless features, we believe in perfecting the essentials—building reliable, high-quality tools that just work. Our approach focuses on:

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1. A Single Content Optimized Template

Device Optimization: Flawlessly adapts to all screen sizes, from smartphones and tablets to TVs and large desktop monitors.

Accessibility: Fully compliant with WCAG standards, audited and tested to ensure that all users, including those with disabilities, can access the site without barriers.

Performance: Ultra-fast load times with consistent 100% scores on Google PageSpeed Insights, delivering a seamless experience even on slower connections.

SEO and Discoverability: Structured with perfect metadata, schema support, and lightning-fast crawls for search engines.

No Friction: Minimal design elements to prevent users from breaking layouts—perfect for content-first websites where function matters more than flair.

Sustainability: Efficient, low-energy templates that consume minimal resources when loaded, contributing to greener web practices.

2. Privacy-First Infrastructure

European Hosting: All servers are based in Europe and owned by European companies, with no data access from outside the EU.

GDPR Compliance: Fully compliant with privacy regulations, without relying on invasive tracking or third-party data collection.

Zero Analytics Intrusion: Sites come with lightweight, privacy-safe analytics (if needed) or the ability to skip tracking entirely.

3. Affordable Pricing

Free Plan: Unlimited websites without custom domains, perfect for personal projects, small initiatives, or internal use.

Affordable Custom Domains: Starting at just €5 per month for a single site, making it accessible for individuals and small teams.

Bulk Discounts: Tailored pricing for agencies, schools, or organizations that manage multiple sites, ensuring scalability without excessive costs.

Traffic-Fair Model: No hidden fees for typical traffic patterns, with fair-use policies to prevent abuse while keeping it affordable.

4. Reliability and Simplicity

Ease of Use: Intuitive block editor and templates make creating or updating content simple, even for non-technical users.

Minimal Maintenance: Users don’t need to worry about updates, backups, or security patches—everything is handled automatically in the background.

Who We’re Not

We’re not building a flashy platform for marketing-heavy websites with intricate visuals or app-like functionalities. Our focus is not on e-commerce, advanced customizations, complex site structures like magazines, or dynamic databases. Instead, we’re all about simplicity and speed.

Our mission is to become the global go-to solution for content-heavy websites. By mastering the essentials, we’re creating a platform that anyone—regardless of technical expertise—can rely on to deliver seamless, efficient web experiences.

Next Steps

To bring this vision to life, we need to collaborate with key partners:

Infrastructure Partner: To ensure scalable, secure, and cost-effective hosting solutions.

Development Partner: To craft a purpose-built block editor optimized for publishing websites.

We’ll take care of marketing, design and product management. Together, with the right expertise, we can create a groundbreaking service that transforms the web publishing landscape.

Conclusion

The growing demand for content-heavy websites, accessible to everyone regardless of technical skill, highlights a significant gap in the market. Existing solutions are either too complex, overly expensive, or misaligned with the needs of users who prioritize simplicity, speed, and content-driven design.

Block editors, like those found in productivity tools, have already proven their value for creating clean, structured content with ease. By extending this capability to website publishing, we can offer a groundbreaking solution that combines intuitive design with robust privacy features and affordability.

Our vision is clear: to create a lean, no-frills platform that prioritizes functionality, accessibility, and reliability. From fast, universally optimized templates to a privacy-first infrastructure and cost-effective pricing, every element of this service is designed to meet the needs of individuals, small teams, and organizations worldwide. This is not just a tool for European users—it’s a solution that can redefine web publishing on a global scale.

By focusing on simplicity and perfecting the essentials, we can fill a critical gap in the landscape of website creation. Let’s work together to bring this idea to life and provide a truly universal solution for content-heavy websites that everyone can use with ease.