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Next-Gen Web Builds

Astro Website Development for Australian Businesses

The web has evolved. Your site should too. For businesses that want blazing performance, zero plugin vulnerabilities, and Google-ready speed, we build with Astro. Same Shadowtek quality, next-gen stack.

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Our Evolution

We built our reputation on WordPress.
Then we went further.

Years of working deep inside WordPress revealed exactly what slows sites down — bloated plugins, PHP rendering on every request, shared hosting stacks, theme overhead shipped to every visitor whether they need it or not.

We didn't walk away from that knowledge. We used it. Astro eliminates the compromises we spent years working around. Our WordPress expertise is exactly why we know Astro is the better tool for most modern builds.

Why Astro

Performance isn't a feature.
It's the architecture.

Only ships what you need

Astro renders HTML at build time and ships zero JavaScript by default. No bloated bundles, no render-blocking scripts. Pages load instantly because there's nothing slowing them down.

No attack surface

Static files can't be exploited the way dynamic PHP sites can. No plugin vulnerabilities, no admin login endpoints to brute-force, no database to inject. Security baked in at the architecture level.

Google-ready from day one

Perfect Lighthouse scores aren't a goal you work toward — they're the starting point. Astro's architecture makes it structurally hard to build a slow site. Core Web Vitals come standard.

Served from everywhere

Deployed to Cloudflare's global edge network, not a single origin server. Your site loads fast for every visitor regardless of where they are — because it's already there waiting for them.

Security Architecture

Security isn't a plugin.
It's the architecture.

With WordPress, security is something you add. With Astro, most of those problems don't exist in the first place.

WordPress — security is additive

  • Firewall plugin
  • Malware scanner
  • Login protection plugin
  • Plugin update schedule
  • Database hardening
  • PHP runtime exposure
  • Admin endpoint to protect
  • Plugin ecosystem to monitor

Astro — security is structural

  • No PHP runtime to exploit
  • No admin endpoint to brute-force
  • No plugin ecosystem to compromise
  • No database to inject
  • No server-side code on the public site
  • Static files served from Cloudflare edge
  • WAF rules configured from day one
  • DDoS protection built into the infrastructure

We still put every Astro site behind Cloudflare WAF and configure DDoS rules from day one. Because even a static site deserves to be treated like infrastructure.

Infrastructure

Hosted where performance lives.

Every Astro build we ship is deployed to Cloudflare Pages — the same edge network powering some of the world's most visited sites. No shared hosting, no server to babysit.

300+

Edge locations worldwide

Git-based

Deploys — no FTP, no dashboard mistakes

Built-in

DDoS protection, always on

Two Ways to Build

The right approach for your project.

Every business is different. Here's how we approach both.

Pure Astro

Fully managed — no CMS needed

Most of our clients don't edit their own sites — we manage everything. For these projects, pure Astro is the right call. No CMS overhead, no moving parts, just a site that loads in milliseconds and stays that way.

  • Maximum performance
  • Zero plugin risk
  • Shadowtek-managed content
  • Cloudflare Pages hosting
Headless WordPress + Astro

Best of both worlds

Need your team to manage content? We keep WordPress as the backend your editors already know, and replace the slow PHP frontend with Astro. All the editorial familiarity, none of the frontend baggage.

  • WordPress admin for content editing
  • Astro frontend for performance
  • Decoupled architecture
  • Still hosted on Cloudflare

Investment

Transparent pricing.
No surprises.

Every project is scoped individually, but here's what to expect so you can plan with confidence.

Pure Astro

Agency-managed sites

Onepage / landing page from ~$800
Simple site (1–8 pages) ~$3,000–$5,000
Standard site (8–20 pages) ~$5,000–$7,000
Complex or animation-heavy ~$7,000–$11,000

Content managed by Shadowtek. No CMS, no plugins, no attack surface. Ideal for brochure sites, portfolios, and landing pages.

Headless WordPress + Astro

Content you control

Standard site + blog ~$5,000–$7,000
Larger site with migration ~$7,000–$10,000
Complex with multiple content types ~$11,000+

WordPress backend for blog and content editing. Astro frontend for speed and security. Best of both worlds.

Indicative only — not a formal quote. Actual price depends on full project scope. Basic SEO included in all builds.

After Launch

Your site stays fast, secure, and current.

Every Astro site we build includes ongoing hosting and management options. Pick the level that fits.

Starter

$40 /month
  • Cloudflare Pages hosting included
  • Cloudflare WAF, DNS & SSL management
  • Uptime & performance monitoring
  • Astro & dependency updates
  • Content changes at standard hourly rate

Best for set-and-forget sites with infrequent changes.

Recommended

Managed

$120 /month
  • Cloudflare Pages hosting included
  • Cloudflare WAF, DNS & SSL management
  • Uptime & performance monitoring
  • Astro & dependency updates
  • 30 mins content changes included/mo
  • Priority support

Best for active sites with regular content updates.

Just need hosting? Cloudflare Pages hosting available from $10/month without a plan.

Moving From WordPress

Migrating to Astro without losing what works.

Most of the businesses we move to Astro are already on WordPress. The worry is always the same: will we lose our Google rankings, and will content updates get harder? The answer to both is no. We preserve your existing URLs, migrate your content and structure, and set up redirects for anything that changes, so the switch is invisible to Google and to your visitors.

If your team needs to keep editing content, we build headless. WordPress stays as the backend your editors already know, and we replace the slow PHP frontend with Astro served from our WordPress and hosting stack. If your content is managed by us or your agency, we build pure Astro with no CMS at all, which means nothing to log into, update, or exploit.

Either way, the site ships behind Cloudflare with WAF rules and DDoS protection configured from day one. That same standard is available for sites we didn't build, through our Cloudflare Security service.

1

Scope & map

We audit your current site, map every URL, and agree the build path (pure Astro or headless) before any work starts.

2

Build & migrate

We build in Astro, migrate your content, and stage the site for you to review. Redirects are prepared for every changed URL.

3

Launch & manage

We deploy to Cloudflare Pages, cut over DNS with zero downtime, and keep the site fast and current on an ongoing plan.

FAQ

Astro Website Development FAQ

Common questions about Astro builds, pricing, migration, and content management.

How much does an Astro website cost in Australia?
Astro websites from Shadowtek start at around $800 for a onepage landing site, $3,000 to $5,000 for a simple 1 to 8 page site, and $5,000 to $7,000 for a standard 8 to 20 page site. Complex or animation-heavy builds run $7,000 to $11,000 or more. Headless WordPress plus Astro builds start around $5,000. Hosting on Cloudflare Pages is available from $10/month. Every quote is scoped to the actual project, and basic SEO is included in all builds.
What is Astro and why is it faster than WordPress?
Astro is a modern web framework that renders your pages to static HTML at build time and ships almost no JavaScript to the browser. A traditional WordPress site runs PHP and database queries on every request, then loads a theme and plugins on top. An Astro site is already built and served from Cloudflare's edge, so there is nothing to render on request. The result is near-instant load times, perfect Lighthouse scores as a starting point, and no plugin bloat slowing pages down.
Can I still edit my own content on an Astro site?
Yes, if you need to. For clients whose content is managed by us or their agency, we build in pure Astro with no CMS. For teams that want to manage their own content, we build headless: you keep the WordPress editor your team already knows for content, and we replace the slow PHP frontend with Astro. You get editorial control without the performance and security cost of a traditional WordPress frontend.
Can you migrate my existing WordPress site to Astro?
Yes. We migrate WordPress sites to Astro regularly. Content, structure, and existing URLs are preserved so your search rankings are protected, and we set up redirects for anything that changes. For content-heavy sites we can keep WordPress as a headless backend so nothing changes for your editors, or move to pure Astro if the site is managed for you. We scope the migration path as part of the quote.
Do you build Astro websites for businesses outside Queensland?
Yes. Shadowtek is Queensland-based but builds and manages Astro websites for businesses across Australia, delivered remotely. Because Astro sites deploy to Cloudflare's global edge network, your site loads fast for visitors wherever they are.
Is security really better on an Astro site?
Structurally, yes. An Astro site ships no PHP runtime, no admin login endpoint, no plugin ecosystem, and no database on the public site, so most of the attack surface a WordPress site has to defend simply does not exist. We still put every Astro site behind Cloudflare WAF and configure DDoS protection from day one, because even a static site deserves to be treated like infrastructure.

Ready to build differently?

Every site is different. Let's talk about what yours actually needs. No assumptions, no cookie-cutter solutions.

Perfect Lighthouse Scores
Zero Plugin Vulnerabilities
Hosted on Cloudflare's Edge