Wix vs WordPress – Which Platform is Better for Your Website?

When building your website, choosing the right platform is very important for your success. It impacts everything from design flexibility to long-term growth.

If you have been stuck deciding between Wix and WordPress, you are not the only person. More people are out there looking to see whether they should use Wix or WordPress.

Both are popular in the market, but they cater to different needs. But which one is better for you?

In this guide, we will discuss the key differences, similarities, features, and overall performance of Wix and WordPress to help you determine which is best for your website.

Let’s get into the article for a better overview.

Wix vs WordPress: An Overview

Wix and WordPress are both popular platforms in the web industry. If we take a look at the CMS platforms with their market share, they are both leading the industry. Let’s get into their overview:

Wix

Wix is a cloud-based website builder founded in 2006 that allows users to create professional-looking websites. It was designed with beginners in mind. Wix offers hosting, security, and updates to help you manage your website.

It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, predesigned templates, and built-in features for its users. If we talk about the market share, Wix acquired 3.9% of it.

WordPress

Meet WordPress, a powerful, open source content management system(CMS) that allows users to create and manage websites with complete control. It was originally launched in 2003 as a blogging platform. It has evolved into the World’s most popular website builder that powers 43% of all websites on the internet.

Unlike CMS platforms like Wix, it is self-hosted, which means you have to purchase web hosting and domain separately. This gives you unlimited customization options and the flexibility to build your website however you want.

Wix and WordPress – Differences and Similarities

Before delving into more insights, you need to know how each web builder performs in different categories. Here is a snapshot of Wix vs WordPress:

Differences	Similarities
Wix has fully integrated features for website building. But WordPress is self-hosted. You require a domain and hosting for setting up a website.	Wix and WordPress empower users to create stunning websites without coding knowledge.
WordPress is more flexible and customizable using plugins, themes, and coding. Meanwhile, Wix restricted their customization to the tools and apps available within their environment.	Both WordPress and Wix offer a vast collection of themes and templates to tailor your website.
Wix and WordPress have different ecommerce features. Wix has built-in ecommerce tools. On the other hand, WordPress requires EasyCommerce and similar plugins.	Wix and WordPress both platforms support ecommerce functionality with essential features.
WordPress is totally free with free and premium addons. But, Wix is a paid platform that includes everything.	Both platforms include either built-in SEO tools or plugins.
Wix offers 900 predesigned templates that can not be replaced without rebuilding your site. Meanwhile, WordPress provides free themes when building any website.	Wix provides direct customer support along with tutorials and forums. WordPress offers an extensive community forum filled with expert advice and solutions.
Wix offers subscription-based plans that include hosting, templates and features. WordPress is open-source and free, which requires payment for hosting, commercial plugins, and themes.	Both platforms utilize a drag and drop interface for an easy and user-friendly experience.

Wix vs WordPress: Comparison Table

Here’s a complete overview of the main difference between Wix vs WordPress:

Criteria	Wix	WordPress	Winner
Pricing & Costs	Offer free plans. Premium plans begin at $17/month.	Core software is free. Required WordPress hosting starts at $2.99/month.	WordPress
Features & Functionality	Includes built-in features such as ecommerce, blogging, and booking tools.	Extensive plugin library with thousands of third-party tools and integrations.	WordPress
Design & Customization	Available drag and drop editor for customization.	Multiple page builder, block editor, Theme editor, etc.	WordPress
Ease of Use	Easy to use interface, good for beginners.	Involves a lengthy setup process and requires some learning curve.	Wix
SEO & Marketing	Options to enhance SEO directly from the dashboard.	Offers numerous SEO plugins to enhance your site’s visibility.	WordPress
Scalability	Suitable for small to medium-sized websites but limited in advanced scaling options.	Highly scalable with powerful hosting options and enterprise level solutions.	WordPress
Customer Support	24/7 customer support via chat and phone.	Community-driven support, forums, and third-party support services.	Wix (for direct support)
Security	Built-in security features within the Wix platform.	Requires third-party plugin or hosting solutions.	Wix (for ease)
Flexibility	Limited to the features with the Wix platform.	Fully flexible with custom coding, integrations, and open source structure.	WordPress
Best For	Beginners, small businesses, portfolios, and quick website setups.	Bloggers, businesses, developers who need complete control over their website.	Depends on needs

Wix vs WordPress: A Complete Overview

Now that you have the complete overview of WordPress and Wix. And you understand the difference between Wix vs WordPress. In that point, we will explore these platforms’ unique features. So you can easily decide which platform suits you best.

1. Wix vs WordPress: Pricing & Cost

When you are thinking of building a website, you should prepare a plan so you can measure the cost. This will help in calculating your budget, and plan accordingly for your next step.

In this section, we will compare the costs of building your website on Wix vs WordPress.

Wix

Wix has a free plan which includes hosting, 500MB storage and basic customer support. If you want to test or create a simple demo site to showcase, then this plan is best.

However, if you plan to create your business with the free plan, then this wouldn’t be a good choice. Because the free plan forces you to display ads on every page. Also, you can not connect your custom domain using its free plan.

If you have budget, you can upgrade to their premium plan starting at $17/month. With this plan, you will get a Free domain for 1 year, 2 GB storage space, Multi-cloud hosting, Light marketing suite, 2 site collaborators. This will remove the Wix branding and you can promote your website easily.

Wix offers multiple variants of pricing plans. Their recommended pricing starts at $36/month, which includes a  Free domain for 1 year, 100 GB storage space, Multi-cloud hosting, Accept payments, Standard ecommerce, 10 site collaborators.

They also have an app market where free and premium apps are available with trials. The paid apps start at $0.49/month.

WordPress

WordPress is free to download. However, to start building your website you will require a hosting, a domain, and SSL. There are plenty of hosting providers available at a reasonable price.

For hosting, their plan costs vary for different hosting providers. But for reasonable, Hostinger provides managed hosting plans for WordPress. The price range is between $2.99-$9.99/month.

Their most popular business hosting, provides 200GB storage with unlimited storage, 100 sites, unlimited free SSL, and a free domain for $3.99/month.

Additional costs will come from premium themes and plugins. WordPress themes typically cost around $7-$200. The paid plugins cost from $5-$200. These commercial themes and plugins are optional because there are 13000 free themes and 59,000+ free plugins available in WordPress.

Opinion

Wix and WordPress are both popular. Here you can start your website for less than Wix’s starter plan. If you think about the flexibility and available free resources, WordPress provides a better value for your money than Wix.

2. Wix vs WordPress:  Features and Functionality

Now here we will explore the features and functionality available for Wix and WordPress. 

Wix

Wix makes website building easy with its drag-and-drop builder, allowing you to design visually using pre-made elements. You can choose from 800+ professionally designed templates to create a stunning site for your business.

This platform also takes care of hosting, security, and updates. So, you don’t have to worry about the technical side. Wix also offers apps for ecommerce, enterprise, SEO, and marketing. 

And if you want a quick start, their AI-powered Wix ADI can build a website for you in minutes based on your preferences.

WordPress

WordPress is an open source platform that will give you ful control over your website. Unlike Wix, it requires separate hosting and domain setup, but it provides unlimited customization and scalability.

You can add any functionality using its extensive plugin library of over 59,000+ plugins and 13000 themes. If you are looking to sell online, EasyCommerce makes it easy to build a fully functional ecommerce store. 

Also, this platform is SEO friendly by default and using tools like Yoast SEO, you can optimize your website even better.

Opinion

If we think about the flexibility WordPress comes in first. Wix also offers flexibility but not like WordPress. They have limitations in functionality, where WordPress has full control.

3. Wix vs WordPress: Website Design and Customization

The first impression visitors get from your site often comes from its design. Let’s compare Wix and WordPress to see how they stack up in terms of web design capabilities.

Wix

Using the Wix Editor you can easily customize your website with predesigned Wix templates. They offer different layouts to create a professional business site, a blog, or a personal project.

Each of these templates includes ready-made pages and sections, making it simple to add your web content. You can further enhance your site elements with social media buttons, videos, and lists for a more engaging experience for your site visitors.

For a quicker setup, Wix ADI ( Artificial Design Intelligence) can generate a design based on your answers to a few questions. You can then personalize it with your preferred color scheme and branding.

WordPress

In WordPress, it’s easy to find a design that fits your needs with its vast selection of over 13000 free themes. Their theme installation is quite simple, and you can customize it further using the built-in theme editor.

For even more flexibility, you can choose premium themes from the third-party marketplace. While free themes work well for many users, premium themes will provide added benefits like unique design elements and professional assistance.

Opinion

Unlike Wix, WordPress lets you switch themes at any time. However, once your Wix site is live, you can’t switch to a different template. If you want a new design later, you will need to create a completely new website from scratch.

4. Wix vs WordPress: Ease of use

For any beginners,  a user-friendly platform is a must. In this section, we will explore Wix and Wix for their ease of use.

Wix

Starting with Wix is quite simpler. You can start building your site by creating an account.

After you sign up, this builder will take you through their setup wizard. You have to answer some of the questions when creating your site. You have to provide what type of site you want to create.

You can access Wix settings through the Wix dashboard, where a checklist will guide you through the rest of the setup process.

WordPress

In WordPress, you will get a similar experience with your hosting provider. Some of the hosting providers offer an auto installer of WordPress, like Hostinger.

After you log in to Hostinger hPanel dashboard and navigate to Website >> Auto Installer to install WordPress.

In WordPress admin dashboard, you will get all the built-in features to create pages and posts for your website. To create a layout, you have the drag and drop builder, both in the block editor and WordPress plugins.

Opinion

Wix stands out with its custom pre-designed sites. While CMS like WordPress is relatively beginner-friendly. Wix truly excels in terms of ease of use.

5. Wix vs WordPress: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Building your website’s online presence and increasing traffic relies heavily on SEO features. The choice of platform can greatly influence your site’s ranking in search engines. This section delves into the SEO strengths of both Wix and WordPress.

Wix

Wix includes built-in SEO tools such as custom meta tags, social sharing optimization, and robots.txt support. It also integrates with Google Analytics and Google My Business, making it a convenient option for businesses looking to improve local SEO.

The Marketing Home section provides a setup checklist to guide users through SEO basics. From here, you can start social media or email campaigns, link social accounts to Wix Inbox, and automate cart abandonment emails.

Wix also handles automatic sitemap updates, URL redirects, and image optimization, ensuring better site performance. While additional SEO tools are available in the Wix App Market, many are premium or have limited free plans.

WordPress 

WordPress offers greater SEO flexibility, allowing users to choose SEO-friendly themes, customize permalinks, use categories and tags, and enable breadcrumbs for better navigation.

For advanced optimization, WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO provide actionable insights and recommendations to improve search rankings. While Yoast SEO requires a more detailed setup than Wix’s built-in tools, it covers more aspects of SEO, and its premium version includes features like internal linking suggestions and Semrush integration for keyword research.

Hosting providers like Hostinger further enhance SEO with features like an in-house CDN, object cache, and LiteSpeed WordPress acceleration, all pre-configured in its Business and Cloud Startup plans for faster load times and improved search visibility.

Opinion

Although Wix offers useful built-in SEO tools and Google integration, WordPress provides a wider range of advanced SEO features. With powerful plugins like Yoast SEO and the added benefits from Hostinger, WordPress takes the lead in this round.

6. Wix vs WordPress: Third Party Extension

To fulfill its purpose, your website needs features that can handle essential tasks effectively. Let’s examine how each platform can enhance your website’s capabilities.

Wix App Market

Wix App Market offers over 300 apps to help scale your website, including tools for online forms, marketing analytics, and payment gateways. These apps are developed either by Wix or third-party creators, allowing users to enhance their site’s functionality with just a few clicks.

However, Wix sites rely entirely on these apps for added features, and support is mainly available for Wix’s native apps. If your website requires specific tools, it’s best to check compatibility in advance, as Wix may not support all third-party integrations.

WordPress Plugins

WordPress provides a much larger selection, with over 59,000 free plugins available in its official WordPress Plugins directory. As an open-source platform, it has a vast community of developers constantly creating and improving plugins for various functionalities.

While the variety is a major advantage, it’s important to choose plugins wisely. Look for positive user reviews, frequent updates, and a high number of active installations to ensure reliability and avoid potential conflicts.

Opinion

Both Wix and WordPress provide numerous options to enhance website functionality. However, the WordPress plugin directory offers a greater variety than the Wix App Market. With more options to manage and customize websites, WordPress takes the lead in this round.

7. Wix vs WordPress: Ecommerce

The platform you choose can greatly influence the success of your online business. In this section, we find the fundamentals of Wix vs WordPress, which one is the superior choice for ecommerce.

Wix Ecommerce

Wix makes it easy for users to add ecomerce features. You can add it during the setup through the editor. You can create a one-page online store within seconds, complete with essential features like product catalog, shopping cart, and contact form.

This platform allows you to sell both digital and physical products with a built-in inventory system. However, to launch your store and accept payments, you have to upgrade to their ecommerce supported plan. They offer Core, Business, or Business Elite that range from $27 to $159/month.

Like other ecommerce platforms, Wix charges a payment processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per order.

WordPress Ecommerce

Like Wix, WordPress doesn’t have built-in ecommerce features. But, you can easily add them using plugins.

EasyCommerce can be an option, offering multiple addons for showcasing products and processing with secure payments.

EasyCommerce is specially free because it’s free, highly customizable, and supports both physical and digital products. If you are looking for a hassle-free setup, you can install it with any hosting provider available in the market. Also, you can integrate popular EasyCommerce addons for free with your ecommerce website.

Opinion

Wix’s built-in features make it easier to create an ecommerce store than on WordPress. However, WordPress offers extensive ecommerce features through plugins, allowing you to pick what matches your needs and budget. Starting with a free plugin like EasyCommerce, you can scale up using its free addons as your business grows.

Therefore, WordPress proves to be superior to Wix for ecommerce.

8. Wix vs WordPress: Customer Support

When comparing WordPress vs Wix, customer service is another critical factor to consider. Access to a knowledgeable support team that can address your queries and help you troubleshoot issues is extremely convenient. Let’s find out which platform excels in this aspect.

Wix

Wix offers 24/7 customer support across all plans, ensuring users get quick solutions to any issues. If you prefer self-help, the Wix Help Center provides detailed tutorials covering everything from using the drag-and-drop builder to troubleshooting technical problems and improving site performance.

Additionally, the Wix Studio Community forum allows users to connect, browse popular topics, and seek advice from other Wix users.

WordPress

WordPress support mainly comes from documentation, tutorials, and community forums. Since it’s an open-source platform, official support isn’t available, but many premium themes and plugins include dedicated customer service.

For more complex issues, your hosting provider can assist. For instance, Hostinger offers 24/7 live chat support, helping users resolve WordPress-related problems, no matter their hosting plan.

Opinion

As WordPress does not provide direct customer support, users have to rely on their hosting provider’s support or community forums for help. Consequently, Wix wins this round.

9. Wix vs WordPress: Website Security

Protecting your website from cyber attacks and malware is crucial for maintaining data safety. Therefore, selecting a secure platform is essential to ensure a positive user experience and uphold your brand’s credibility. Let’s compare the site security and protection features of Wix and WordPress.

Wix

As a fully hosted platform, Wix handles all security measures, so users don’t need to install additional software. Since its core software is not editable, the risk of accidental vulnerabilities is minimized.

Wix includes built-in protection against cyber threats, with automatic updates, 24/7 monitoring, DDoS protection, and two-step verification for all users. These features ensure that your site remains secure without requiring manual intervention.

WordPress

WordPress regularly releases security patches to fix vulnerabilities, but users must install them to keep their sites protected. While this provides flexibility, it also requires proactive management to prevent cyber threats.

To enhance security, users can install WordPress security plugins like Wordfence Security or All-in-one Security, which offer features such as login limits and user activity tracking. Additionally, many web hosting providers include security measures to safeguard WordPress sites.

For instance, Hostinger’s managed WordPress hosting provides a web application firewall, unlimited SSL certificates, DDoS protection, auto-updates, and a vulnerability scanner, ensuring your site stays protected at all times.

Opinion

Wix ensures simple website security, but WordPress gives you the freedom to configure security measures based on your preferences. Therefore, this round is a draw between the two.

Wix vs WordPress: Final Words

At the end of the day, the best platform for your website depends on your goals, technical skills, and long-term vision.

Choose Wix if you want a simple, all-in-one solution with minimal setup, built-in hosting, and an intuitive drag-and-drop builder. It’s great for beginners, small businesses, and those who want to launch quickly without worrying about maintenance.

Choose WordPress if you need full control, scalability, and flexibility. It’s the ideal choice for businesses, bloggers, and developers who want a highly customizable website with advanced SEO and ecommerce capabilities.

If you’re starting with a basic site and prefer ease of use, Wix can be a great option. But if you’re planning to scale, customize, and optimize your site for the long term, WordPress offers a better return on investment.

No matter which platform you choose, the key is to focus on building a site that aligns with your business needs and growth strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. Is WordPress better than Wix?

It depends on your needs. WordPress offers more flexibility, customization, and control, making it ideal for growing businesses. Wix, on the other hand, is beginner-friendly with an easy drag-and-drop builder but has limitations in customization and scalability.

Q. Should I switch from Wix to WordPress?

If you need more control, advanced features, and better scalability, switching to WordPress is a great choice. WordPress allows you to customize your site freely, optimize for SEO, and expand as your business grows. However, if you prefer a simple, all-in-one solution, Wix may still be a good fit.

Q. Can I transfer my Wix site to WordPress?

Yes, but it requires a manual process since Wix does not offer a direct export option. You’ll need to migrate your content, redesign your site, and set up necessary plugins. There are tools and services available to help make the transition smoother.

Q. Is WordPress good for SEO?

Yes! WordPress is highly SEO-friendly, offering clean code, customizable URLs, and powerful plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math. It gives you full control over on-page SEO, helping your website rank higher on search engines.

Q. What is the main difference between Wix and WordPress?

The main difference between Wix and WordPress is that Wix is an all-in-one website builder with built-in hosting, security, and a drag-and-drop editor. On the other hand, WordPress is a self-hosted, open-source content management system (CMS) that provides full control over design, functionality, and SEO.