WordPress vs Wix Comparison 2024: Features, Price & More

Are you deciding between WordPress vs Wix to build a website?

Both WordPress and Wix offer user-friendly interfaces and a number of features to help you create a website without extensive coding knowledge.

However, there are significant differences between the two platforms that cater to different needs and preferences.

In this article, we’ll compare WordPress vs Wix with their features and help you decide which is better for you.

Wix vs WordPress: Overview

WordPress

WordPress is a content management system (CMS). Although it started as a blogging platform, it’s now used to create any type of website. Currently, it is used by over 43% of all websites on the internet.

One of the primary reasons people use WordPress is that it is an open-source platform. This means anyone may write, edit, and share WordPress software.

Note: We’ll compare Wix vs WordPress.org in this article, not WordPress.com, which is a hosted free blogging platform. See the difference between self-hosted WordPress.org vs WordPress.com sites.

Meanwhile, WordPress is a free and open-source platform. To use it, you need web hosting and a domain name. For web hosting, we recommended Bluehost, which is officially recommended by WordPress itself.

For more options, check out our handpicked list of the best cheap WordPress hosting.

Wix

Wix is a website builder platform and the best alternative to WordPress. It offers a drag-and-drop builder that lets you build your website without knowing any coding knowledge.

While WordPress is a self-hosted platform, wix is a hosted platform. This means that Wix hosts your website on their servers, so you don’t need to worry about managing your own hosting.

WordPress vs Wix Comparison

Now that you know the main difference between Wix and WordPress, let’s go a little more into their individual features. This allows you to choose which platform is best suited to your needs.

1. Ease of Use

Most beginners choose Wix or WordPress since they don’t want to hire a website designer. Both Wix and WordPress allow you to build websites without knowing how to code.

Let’s see which one is easier to use for beginners with no coding knowledge.

WordPress Ease of Use

WordPress comes with a powerful WordPress block editor which lets you edit your pages with a live preview.

This allows you to build visually stunning layouts by adding blocks. There are blocks for all common elements, such as text, headings, buttons, images, and more.

Additionally, WordPress also offers thousands of themes to use on your site. Each of them is also customizable using the live theme customizer or the full site editor.

For example, popular WordPress themes like Astra come with their own theme customizer.

Do you need even more code-free ways to visually edit your website? WordPress offers some of the most user-friendly drag-and-drop page builder plugins. These drag-and-drop editors provide you with even more options for creating professional-looking websites without having to write code.

You can, for example, use a page builder like Elementor or Divi that lets you build completely custom WordPress websites without writing any code.

Wix Ease of Use

Wix offers a powerful and simple-to-use tool for creating your own website. It has a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to select any element and start editing it in a WYSIWYG interface.

You can drag and drop components anywhere on your site, rearrange them, write content, and add media in a user-friendly environment. Many beginners would like this feature since it saves them from having to deal with coding.

Conclusion

Taking all of the above into consideration, we think Wix is better when it comes to ease of use between Wix and WordPress. Wix is easier to get up and running, even for a beginner with zero web development experience.

2. Design and Layout

The design and layout of your site play an important role in your success. Every website owner needs a web design that is not only visually appealing but also user-friendly and helps their business stand out.

Let’s compare which offers more design options for your site.

WordPress Design and Layout

WordPress has over 10,950 free themes for you to choose from. However, these themes come with limited support. You can also buy premium WordPress themes for third-party sites, which come with more features and premium support.

WordPress themes range from personal blogs to full-fledged eCommerce sites. Most themes have their own set of customization options. You may also use various styling plugins to further style or customize your WordPress themes.

Furthermore, you can also use a plugin like SeedProd, the best drag-and-drop website builder, to easily create custom WordPress themes with no coding required.

Most importantly, you can change your WordPress theme at any point and use another theme. This allows your website design to grow and expand alongside your business.

Wix Design and Layout

Like WordPress, Wix has over 800+ pre-made templates to choose from. All Wix designs are totally responsive and HTML5-based. You can further customize your site’s design, adjust the layout, and rearrange elements as you see fit with the built-in tools.

There are website templates for every type of site. These templates are divided into categories like business, eCommerce, blog, etc.

One downside of Wix templates is that it doesn’t allow you to switch to a different template once selected. If you want to use a different template in the future, you’ll have to start from scratch.

Conclusion

Compared to Wix, WordPress offers more themes and design layout options. Plus, you can easily switch between the themes and customize them without any restrictions.

3. Plugins and Apps

Plugins and apps are third-party extensions that can be used alongside your platform to bring new functionality.

Wix refers to them as apps, but the WordPress ecosystem refers to them as plugins.

Let’s look at the apps and plugins that are available on both platforms and what they can do.

WordPress Plugins

WordPress has over 60,600 free plugins available in the WordPress plugin directory alone. You can also buy premium plugins for third-party websites.

Whether you want to sell an online course, build a membership website, create a forum, or enable cookie consent on your site, there’s a plugin for that.

WordPress allows you to do almost anything you want. There are several plugins, both free and premium, that you may use to create the website of your dreams.

Check out our handpicked list of essential WordPress plugins for more recommendations.

Wix App Market

Wix has an App Market with over 300 popular web apps that you can add to your website. For example, there are apps for online forms, marketing analytics, and payment gateways.

Some of these applications were created by Wix and will simply connect with your site, allowing you to manage events or create online courses.

Further, Wix App Market also offers several third-party apps as well. Although they are not native to Wix, they are simple to install by selecting Add to Site.

Conclusion

WordPress is far better when it comes to adding more additional features to your site. Even though Wix’s app library is growing, it is still limited compared to the huge choice available to WordPress users.

4. eCommerce

Making money by selling things on the internet is many people’s dream.

Let’s see how WordPress vs Wix compares in terms of eCommerce features.

WordPress eCommerce

WordPress makes it very easy to set up your online store using WooCommerce, the world’s most popular eCommerce platform.

WooCommerce offers built-in support for popular payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, direct bank transfers, and more.

In addition, there are no additional transaction fees. You only need to pay your payment processor fees, which you must pay with any platform.

There are several other eCommerce plugins available for WordPress that you may use to sell physical or digital products, services, subscriptions, and more.

Lastly, you can use many WooCommerce extensions to enhance its functionality further.

Wix eCommerce

Wix offers eCommerce as part of their subscription plans. This means that users of the free Wix plan cannot run their online store on Wix without upgrading to a premium plan.

Wix Stores allows you to take payments using their own native payment system or through third-party apps that are connected to different payment gateways like PayPal, Authorize.net, and others.

If you opt to use Wix Payments, you will be charged 2.9% of the transaction amount plus 0.30 USD for the US region. As you sell more products, this processing cost adds up.

Conclusion

Due to Wix’s costly eCommerce plans and transaction fees, we think WordPress is the better option for your online store. WooCommerce offers more flexibility and extended features for free.

5. Blogging

If you’re thinking about starting a blog, you may be wondering which platform to use.

Let’s compare Wix vs WordPress in terms of blogging features.

Blogging With WordPress

WordPress is the best blogging platform out there. Today, it powers more than 43% of all websites.

It offers all the blogging features you’ll need for your blog. These include approving comments, deleting spam, and leaving replies.

Further, it also comes with a powerful Gutenberg block editor, which allows you to build stunning layouts for your blog post.

Lastly, you can extend your blog with WordPress blog plugins and add any feature that you can think of.

Blogging With Wix

Wix makes it simple to add a blog section to your website. It has all of the essential blogging features that you’ll need. For example, categories and tags, images and videos, archives, etc.

However, Wix does not allow backdating or private posts. Plus, the native commenting system is also difficult to manage, and many users end up installing third-party solutions like Disqus.

Also, the blog post writing interface is not the same as the Wix website builder. Instead, it uses a plain text editor that offers limited formatting options.

Conclusion

WordPress is far superior to Wix as a blogging platform. Wix blogs are basic and missing some key features. If you want to start a blog, then Wix doesn’t even come close to WordPress.

6. SEO

SEO is a way of improving your visibility in search engine results pages. When you rank higher, you will drive more traffic to your website.

Let’s compare Wix vs WordPress SEO.

WordPress SEO

WordPress offers all of the basic SEO features you need for your site to optimize it for search engines.

You can choose an SEO-friendly theme, create SEO-friendly URLs, create categories and tags, enable breadcrumbs, etc.

Further, you can also install WordPress SEO plugins, which provide additional functionality to enhance your WordPress website’s SEO.

For example, if you install Yoast SEO, you can get an on-page analysis of each post and page on your site. Plus, it also helps you to add focus keywords, SEO titles, and meta descriptions. Then, it provides recommendations to help you in improving your SEO.

Wix SEO

Wix also offers several ways to improve your SEO. On your dashboard, you will see a section for SEO. Here, you have everything you need to start seeing on Google.

To help you get started, Wix can offer an SEO Setup Checklist. Once you add your site name and some basic keywords, it will guide you through some improvements you need to make.

Furthermore, you can edit the SEO settings for every page. This can include adding a title tag, a meta description, structured data markup, and other meta tags.

Here are some more SEO tools you can use in Wix:

• Sitemaps
• Robots.txt editor
• URL redirect manager
• Site verification

Conclusion

Although Wix offers many ways to optimize your site’s SEO, WordPress makes this easier. By simply adding an SEO plugin, you may have access to automatic checklists and manage your SEO while editing an article.

7. Security

When you start creating online content, you have to secure your site against hackers and malware. Finding a secure platform is crucial for keeping your data safe.

Let’s compare WordPress versus Wix in terms of website security and protection.

WordPress Security

With WordPress, the security measures are on your shoulders. Since you choose your own web host, it’s important to go with one that has superior security features.

For example, Hostinger’s WordPress plans include a web application firewall, free SSL certificates, and anti-DDoS security. This helps you in keeping your website secure.

Furthermore, to keep your WordPress site secure, you’ll need to do frequent updates. You’ll need to install the most recent software upgrades and keep track of new plugins and theme versions. Lastly, for more protection, you can install security plugins.

Wix Security

Wix is a hosted platform, so you won’t have to worry about security. In fact, it has fewer vulnerabilities since users cannot edit its core software.

Furthermore, Wix has built-in security protection. Its platform performs self-updates, ensuring that your website is not running on outdated software. There is also security monitoring, DDoS protection, and two-step verification.

Conclusion

Both WordPress and Wix are secure platforms. Wix offers security right out of the box. WordPress leaves site security on your shoulder. With the right security measures, WordPress can be secure like Wix.

8. Data Portability

Data portability means moving your content from one platform to another platform.

Let’s look at how Wix or WordPress helps you move your content.

Data Portability in WordPress

WordPress is better than Wix in terms of data portability. WordPress is an open-source platform, which means that you have more control over your data. You can export your WordPress data in XML format, which can then be imported into another WordPress installation or another content management system (CMS).

Data Portability in Wix

With Wix, you have less control over your data. Wix only allows you to export your blog posts in XML format. You cannot export your pages, images, videos, or other content.

Conclusion

WordPress is far ahead when it’s come to moving your data compared to Wix.

9. Pricing

The cost of website building is an important factor when selecting a site builder platform. The overall cost of setting up and maintaining your site will fully depend on your needs.

Let’s compare the pricing of Wix and WordPress to see which one gets you the best value.

WordPress Cost

WordPress is a free and open-source software. You typically need a web hosting plan and domain name to run your website.

There are many WordPress hosting providers available that you can choose from. See our list of the best cheap WordPress hosting.

However, we recommended Bluehost, which will cost $2.95/mo and include free domain and SSL.

If you think of using premium WordPress themes or plugins, the cost of your WordPress site will increase.

However, there are many free WordPress themes and plugins available that you can use to cut costs. Using a plugin, you may add any feature to your WordPress site without having to upgrade your hosting plan.

Lastly, WordPress has complete eCommerce features right out of the box. You can use the free WooCommerce plugin to create an online store for your website.

Read out: How Much Does WordPress Website Cost?

Wix Pricing

Wix offers a free website builder. It includes 500MB of storage, 500MB of bandwidth, and customer support in its free plan.

However, there are a few major downsides to it. Your website will have Wix ads on every page, and you cannot use a custom domain name for your site.

In addition, the basic plan does not include any of the essential add-ons, such as Google Analytics or eCommerce. You must upgrade to one of their premium plans to remove ads and get access to more features in their app market.

Each Wix premium plan has various storage and bandwidth limitations. You can pay monthly or annually.

If you want eCommerce and business features, you have to select the Business & eCommerce plans.

Conclusion

Wix is a good option for beginners because it offers a completely free plan. However, WordPress offers the best value for money. The software is free, and you easily find an affordable host for your site.

10. Customer Support

Customer support is another key thing to consider when comparing WordPress vs Wix. Although you may never need it, it is always beneficial to have a dedicated support team ready to answer any queries you may have.

WordPress Customer Support

With WordPress, you will be unable to contact a support team. However, there are forums and official documentation available.

Plus, if you encounter a complex problem, you may also contact your hosting provider.

Wix Customer Support

When it comes to customer support, Wix is one of the best platforms. Regardless of the plan you select, the Wix support team is available 24/7. You may use this service to troubleshoot problems and get quick solutions.

Further, you can use the Wix Help Center to find answers to your questions.

Conclusion

Since WordPress itself doesn’t provide customer support, Wix is a better option here.

Final Thought: WordPress vs Wix – Which is Better For You?

Ultimately, which is better, WordPress vs Wix entirely depends on your individual needs.

If you are looking for a powerful and flexible platform with a lot of customization options, then WordPress is the better choice.

However, if you are looking for an easy-to-use platform with a drag-and-drop interface, then Wix may be a better option.

Here are a few more things to consider when choosing between WordPress and Wix:

• Technical Skills: If you have no coding experience, then Wix may be a better option for you. WordPress is also not much complex but still requires some technical knowledge.
• Budget: Despite being a free platform, WordPress requires web hosting and a domain name. Wix offers both free and paid plans.
• Long-Term Goals: If you plan on growing your website over time, then WordPress is a better option. It is more scalable than the Wix site and allows you to add more features and capabilities as your needs grow.

Overall, the best way to decide which platform is better for you is to try both of them out and see which one you prefer.

We hope this article helped you decide which is better for your site, Wix or WordPress.

For more, check out these other WordPress comparisons:

• Weebly vs WordPress
• Blogger vs WordPress
• Wix vs Squarespace vs WordPress
• Shopify vs WordPress
• Drupal vs WordPress
• Squarespace vs WordPress

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