Factorio Forums

I feel like the steam workshop would be not only far more stable but also much better with search features as well as automatic install and uninstall of mods.

I was just wondering why they don'y use that instead?

Because it would exclude people who don't have the Steam version. I've seen it before with other games, where about half the mods just aren't available unless you're playing through Steam because some of the modders can't be bothered with setting up an alternate download method if workshop support is available.

Please do not.
I have constantly problems with the Workshop because of incompatibilities according to updates. Steam provides only the latest version of a mod. On mods.factorio you can download all versions since release.