Published Date: February 20, 2025
Picking the right platform to build a website might be difficult, especially since so many amazing options are available. While WordPress powers over 43% of all websites, its popularity does not seem to fade anytime soon. Talking about its competitors, we see Wix as a comprehensive and powerful contender that is gradually becoming a new ‘cool’ thing in the world of website creation.
Wix or WordPress? The answer is simple: IT DEPENDS!
If you want to build a website quickly without any technical expertise, Wix is the most suitable, beginner-friendly website builder that can work for you. However, if you know how to create a website from the ground up using coding and want to take more control over your website, WordPress is hands-down the best option that allows you to create highly custom websites.
That’s not it!
There is so much more to talk about when comparing WordPress and Wix. Do you want to know which platform best suits your needs? Let’s get a quick dive in!
In the world of website creation, Wix and WordPress stand out with their distinctive features and functionalities.
Wix is a popular website builder loved by everyone for its user-friendly interface, which makes website creation a matter of a few clicks. WordPress.org, also known as WordPress, is a content management system that powers most websites today and requires technical knowledge to create more extensive websites with better functionalities. The technical approach behind both also sets them apart, as Wix is a hosted platform that comes with hosting and support in all its plans. However, WordPress is an open-ended platform, meaning you must find hosting for your website and resolve technical issues, if any.
Before delving into the in-depth comparison between Wix and WordPress, let’s find out who can benefit from both platforms.
Use Wix if:
Use WordPress if:
Let’s quickly learn the key differences between Wix and WordPress and determine which suits specific requirements.
| Features | Wix | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Website Builder | Content Management System |
| Hosting | Provided by Wix | Purchased separately |
| Customization | Limited customization options | Highly customizable |
| Features | Built-in | Extensive with plugins |
| User-friendliness | Very easy to use | Comes with a learning curve |
| Setup | Quick and easy | Takes time |
| Pricing | Free plan available; the paid plan starts from $17/month | Free but cost comes with premium themes, plugins, and hosting |
| Templates | 1000+ templates | 20,000+ templates |
| SEO capabilities | User-friendly, built-in SEO tools | Extensive with SEO plugins |
| Security | Robust built-in security | Good, depends upon the user’s maintenance |
| Customer support | Via phone, live chat, and emails | Via community forums |
| Plugins & Apps | More than 300 apps | More than 58,000 plugins |
As we have seen how WordPress and Wix stand up against each other, let’s compare both platforms in depth. If you are stumbling upon choosing one over the other, this comparison will help you understand which is better—Wix or WordPress.
You probably have seen Wix advertisement campaigns by your favorite A-list celebrities promoting the platform. The massive marketing budgets and campaigns have made Wix a popular name in the web world. People are drawn to its simplicity and ease of creating a website. Wix markets itself as the user-friendly website-building paltfrom with hosting and other exciting built-in features to enhance your website’s performance. If you are running a small business, a creative professional, or a store owner and want to build a website on your own, Wix has everything to cater to your needs. The drag-and-drop editor and pre-made templates make it simpler and quicker to build a website in a few clicks. but since it does not give you access to the code to change the theme design, developers won’t find this paltfrom satisfactory.
WordPress, on the other hand, is an open-source content management system that is a favorite tool in developers’ arsenals. People who know how to code, prefer to take complete control of their website designs without restricting themselves to theme design, and are comfortable managing technical aspects love WordPress. They can even dig deeper to create codes for their custom themes and features.
Verdict: While both platforms claim to be user-friendly, Wix is easy to use, especially for beginners, while WordPress comes with a learning curve and is mainly preferred by experienced programmers.
Setting up a website for your business or a landing page shouldn’t be overwhelming, especially when you want to publish it quickly.
Creative professionals and business owners often look for website building solutions that don’t consume much of their time in its setup, and that’s where they find Wix the most suitable. Wix helps you quickly build a functional website within an hour as you can utilize its drag-and-drop editor to customize your website quickly. Since you automatically acquire Wix hosting, no time is wasted looking for a hosting provider. Even if you make a mistake while setting up your website, you can restore the older versions via the site history tab.
Speaking of WordPress, setting it up is not as easy as Wix, as you have to download and install the CMS platform. Since several website hosts offer one-click installation for WP, you can save much time here. Next, you have to look for themes that contain all the elements you need to build a custom website and the plugins you need to enhance your website functionality.
Verdict: Wix quickly sets up and provides a smooth website creation experience. However, if you take the time to learn WordPress, you can customize a website from A to Z and make it accurately fit your needs.
Here comes the most commonly asked question: ‘ How much will it cost to build a website with Wix and WordPress?’ For many, cost matters a lot when it comes to choosing a website-building platform.
Wix offers a free plan that is a great way to test the paltfrom, but sticking to the free plan for longer can cause frustration as it comes with ads on your website and limited features and functionalities. Since Wix is a complete website-building tool, it has built-in features to power up your website. The paid plans start from $17/month to $159/month, and by upgrading to these plans, you can remove unwanted ads and get all the perks of the platform, such as additional storage, e-commerce support, free domain for a year, marketing tools, and more.
However, we don’t consider Wix a cost-effective solution in the long run, as its Business Elite Plan costs a whopping $159/month. This pricing plan is suitable if want to create a scalable e-commerce store. For that purpose, it is better to opt for a platform dedicated to e-commerce, like Shopify. Wix Light and Core plans sound intimidating for basic needs, but the Elite plan is quite a costly option and is only suitable if you are planning to create a very large corporate website.
Recommended read: Wix vs Shopify vs SquareSpace
Talking about how much WordPress costs, it is free to install, but the additional expenses come with web hosting, domain, paid themes, plugins, etc. You may choose a hosting provider that also covers up domain in its pricing plans. However, if you pay for the annual hosting subscription, you can create a WordPress site for free using free themes, plugins, and a WP block editor. But to grow your business, you must invest in premium WP tools.
With WordPress, you get what you pay for. While free themes and designs are available, you might have to purchase third-party themes for their appealing designs, fast loading, and enhanced security. A theme may cost around $20 to $100, billed once. While free plugins are available, purchasing a premium, third-party plugin may cost you from $20 to $200 per year.
Verdict: While Wix’s affordable pricing plans are suitable for small businesses, they do not offer value for money in the long run. With WordPress, your business gets more growth opportunities, and its flexible pricing gives you more control over your website pricing. You can purchase themes and plugins that fit your budget and work great for your website.
The first thing a visitor notices about a website is how it looks. Both Wix and WordPress offer professionally designed themes that make website creation smoother.
Wix offers over 900 free templates that are aesthetically pleasing, responsive, and quick to load. In the Wix pre-built templates repository, you can find a template for almost every niche. The templates are divided into different categories, including business, store, community, blog, and more. Whether you want to create a pet accessories store, a consultation website, a personal blog, or an events website, there is an option for you.
Moreover, with the Wix theme editor, you can easily customize the design, rearrange its elements and layout, and edit your website without writing code. You can also design your site with Wix ADI, which lets you build a website with the help of an AI website generator. The bot asks you a few questions based on your website requirements and once you submit all the answers, the Wix ADI will create a website right according to your answers.
One thing to understand here is that you cannot switch to another template once you pick one and start customizing it. You can modify it as you want but not change it. When picking a template, you should ensure it suits your needs. Furthermore, since there is no access to the backend code, the developers may not find Wix satisfying their needs as they cannot modify the code.
WordPress also gives you access to free templates, but compared to Wix templates, the WP ones are quite outdated. However, beautifully designed premium WP themes are available to help you create stunning websites for every industry. When downloading third-party themes, ensure they have secure coding and do not make your website vulnerable to malware and security threats.
WordPress gives you more freedom to customize every aspect of your website. You can add new features and plugins and even modify the code. Individuals who know HTML and CSS can modify the template and create a website exactly how they want. If the built-in Theme Editor in WordPress isn’t enough, you can enhance your site with third-party drag-and-drop builders or directly edit the theme’s source code, providing unmatched flexibility and control.
Verdict: Wix templates have more eye-catching designs and appeal than free WP templates. However, if you are willing to pay for premium WP themes and are comfortable crafting them through coding, WP themes can be game-changing. The design flexibility offered by WordPress is immense and lets you control almost every aspect of your website, while Wix customization abilities are quite limited compared to WP.
While both Wix and WordPress are designed to give users a smooth and user-friendly website-building experience, both platforms support plugins and apps that add better functionality to websites for a competitive edge.
In the Wix App Market, there are more than 300 apps to extend your Wix website functionality. In terms of its app market, Wix has prioritized quality over quantity, as the apps in the Wix marketplace are tailored to the website’s needs and are safe to integrate. Several apps are built by third-party developers, while there are apps that Wix itself develops, so these apps are guaranteed to work with your Wix website.
Regarding the plugins supported by WordPress, there are more than 59,000 free plugins in the WordPress Plugin Repository, so you are guaranteed to find plugins for each of your specific needs. Whether you want to create a form or an online course, there is a plugin you can use for a particular purpose.
While most of WordPress’s plugins are free, some offer basic features for free but require payment to access their premium features. While the number of plugins supported by WordPress is more than the apps supported by Wix, some plugins are poorly coded, making your website vulnerable to outside attacks. Moreover, installing too many plugins can severely impact your website’s performance.
Verdict: WordPress has an edge over Wix as it offers a more expansive plugin library, but if you choose an outdated plugin, it may keep your website security at bay. On the other hand, the apps supported in the Wix App Market are verified and vetted by Wix, so you don’t have to worry about the safety of your website when downloading any of these apps.
To create an e-commerce store, you should choose a platform that supports e-commerce features. When choosing between Wix and WordPress to create an online store, you should look into their e-commerce capabilities.
Wix is hands down one of the best yet affordable website builders. It comes with sales features and helps you create a full-fledged online store. The three Wix paid plans offer some of the best e-commerce features suitable for small businesses and even allow them to sell digital goods. Some of the amazing e-commerce features supported by Wix include abandoned cart recovery, discount coupons at checkout, POS, social channel integration, online payments, easy-to-use checkout, and much more. Moreover, Wix also has a Wix Payments feature that allows you to accept payments securely with its native payment system, or you may use third-party apps to accept payments.
While Wix is ideal for small businesses, if you want to scale your business, there might be better builders to look upto than Wix. It is complicated to manage large product catalogs with Wix, and as you fill up your template with more content, the speed for the Wix site is likely to slow down, which can impact the shopping experience.
When creating and managing an online store with WordPress, you must install WooCommerce, a popular and dedicated e-commerce plugin that provides all the essential sales features. It lets you add features to your online store, such as products, a shopping cart, multi-currency selling, tax calculation, and more. WooCommerce supports payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and bank transfers, and fortunately, you don’t have to pay an additional transactional fee.
Whether you want to sell digital goods, online courses, or membership plans, there is every possibility with WordPress. For digital downloads like music, software, eBooks, etc WordPress plugin Easy Digital Download works best. You can customize your e-commerce store as much as you want with custom code and enhance the appeal of your online store.
Verdict: While creating an e-commerce store with WordPress requires more time and learning, it lets you customize every element of your site. Wix is a good option to consider if you want to build a basic e-commerce store, but if you want to create a full-featured e-commerce store, WordPress, with its WooCommerce plugin, stands out compared to Wix.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for every website to appear in Google searches and drive traffic. No matter how beautiful and functional your website is, it won’t appear in the search engine rankings if it is not well-optimized. Both Wix and WordPress know the undeniable importance of SEO, so both platforms offer SEO tools to help your site rank.
Wix has built-in SEO features, and even if you don’t have prior knowledge of SEO, Wix guides you throughout. Since Wix is also integrated with Semrush, you can get useful and detailed insights into your website SEO. Wix SEO Wizard provides an SEO setup checklist to help you optimize your website. Moreover, as you launch your Wix website, Wix sends it to Google to index it, which means there are much higher chances of it getting ranked. You can also access SEO tools in the Wix App Market for more advanced SEO features and to strengthen your SEO game.
Wix also gives you control over the URLs for your product pages and blog posts, which is a significant ranking factor. While things seem pretty decent with Wix regarding SEO, Wix websites are slower to load than websites built with other website builders like Kemo SaaS. This potential drawback can put your SEO at risk, as Google prioritizes websites that load faster.
On the other hand, WordPress is an SEO-friendly platform, meaning your WP website has a higher chance of showing up on search engines. WordPress lets you do basic SEO, such as adding meta descriptions, configuring URLs, adding image alt attributes, and correcting heading markup. But to get more out of the box, you need to put in extra effort with the help of plugins. WordPress supports SEO plugins and gives your site exceptional SEO capabilities. Yoast SEO is one of the popular SEO tools you can install on your WP site to optimize your content and see recommendations for improving your site’s SEO score. However, to access the premium features of Yoast, you have to upgrade to its premium version.
The SEO premium plugins supported by WordPress offer a range of features, including an advanced XML sitemap, technical SEO improvements, and more. WordPress-created sites load faster, which is a notable ranking factor. WordPress also allows its users to customize URLs and make them search engine-friendly.
Verdict: While Wix does well in providing basic SEO features, especially to help beginners rank their sites, WordPress has an edge over Wix due to its vast SEO plugins that offer vast SEO capabilities.
When it comes to Wix vs. WordPress for blogging, the platform you choose depends upon the features and functionalities you want to add to your blog. Both Wix and WordPress cater to your blogging needs, but choosing one boils down to your design preferences and technical skills.
Wix has a very beginner-friendly approach to blogging, and new bloggers can quickly create blogs and blog posts without much technical effort. The Wix repository of templates has tons of templates designed specifically for blogging websites. Moreover, there are content management tools, social media integrations, and several other built-in features available that are sufficient for bloggers.
Wix also allows you to create categories and tags and gives you access to media to upload into your blog posts. There are pre-built blog post templates as well, where you can find an article outline and writing guide that you may use if you are going through writer’s block. In the Wix Blog dashboard, there are suggested apps that you may install to enhance your blog’s functionality.
While Wix’s blogging capabilities are nice, it comes with downsides, such as the inability to create private posts or backdate posts. Moreover, the comment functionality in Wix is slow, and most users have to install third-party apps to manage comments.
Talking about WordPress, it started as a blogging paltfrom that is now evolved into a full-fledged content management system. Since it was initially a core blogging platform, it is friendly for bloggers due to its standout features. It has an intuitive block editor that is far better than the Wix plain editor and helps you quickly create and publish blog posts. Moreover, this advanced editor also lets you integrate almost all apps in your blog. WordPress has a native commenting system that is easier to manage than Wix. The users can backdate their posts, archive them, or even create private posts.
Verdict: While Wix’s built-in blogging features are nice and friendly for beginners, WordPress’s blogging capabilities are unbeatable. WordPress gives you more control over creating visually appealing blogs in less time and helps you manage a large amount of blog content easily.
With the ongoing digital expansion, security has become the top concern for everyone online. Whether running an e-commerce store or a simple personal blog, you don’t want to risk your personal information or online transactions. So, whatever platform you build your website on should follow strict security measures and protect it from any vulnerabilities.
Wix is a comprehensive website builder and a hosted portal that maintains the best security standards throughout the platform, ensuring that the websites are protected. Wix websites follow the highest Payment Card Industry Data Standards to ensure that every transaction is carried out safely and has anti-fraud protection. Wix performs in-depth and regular monitoring on its paltfrom to detect any possible threat. The secure hosting, SSL certificates, and customer login areas make Wix a trustworthy platform. Wix developers and software engineers maintain security throughout the design and keep adding security features to reduce any chances of data vulnerabilities.
In contrast to Wix, WordPress is a self-hosted platform, and the user controls everything on it. If a poorly coded plugin is downloaded, it can cause a security threat, making your website vulnerable. You also have to be more considerate when choosing a hosting provider and need to choose a provider that offers SSL certificates. While the need to install third-party themes and plugins makes users concerned about their WordPress website security, the WordPress core software is designed to identify common security issues and ensure the maximum safety of the users.
Verdict: Wix’s comprehensive security features and fraud detection system make it a reliable and secure website builder that makes security a breeze.
If you are building a website and get stuck at a stage, the first thing you do is seek helpful resources to resolve the issue. When deciding between Wix and WordPress, consider the customer support that comes with both platforms.
Wix has dedicated customer support available 24/7, even on the free plans. You may contact the customer support team via live chat, email, or phone or fill out a contact form and highlight your issues. Not only does Wix have an exceptional, dedicated customer assistance team, but you can also get your hands on the vast resources available in the Wix Help Center, where you can find tutorials, videos, and articles for problem-solving. Wix’s ticketing system and callback service make it stand out. There is also an active community of Wix users where they share their experiences and find problem-solving solutions.
Unlike Wix, WordPress does not have a dedicated customer support team, and users depend on the vast WordPress resources available online. There is a vast documentation known as WordPress Codex, where you can find tons of helpful material guiding users from basic setups to advanced customization. While no support is available for free WP users, those who choose premium plugins or themes get support from their providers. There is also a large community of WordPress users where they post queries and share different solutions.
Verdict: Due to dedicated customer support, unique call-back service, and additional resources, Wix is the best platform with robust customer support. With WordPress, dedicated support is provided by the creators of premium themes, and WordPress offers no call-back service. Wix has an edge over WordPress in terms of its active customer support.
We have summarized both platforms here so you can choose the right one for your needs and expertise.
WordPress
Wix
Keeping it simple, WordPress has an edge over Wix if you want to create a functional website that is completely under your control. While Wix is stacked with some cool built-in features, the power you can endorse on your WordPress website by installing plugins is way ahead of Wix. While Wix markets itself as a free platform, it is not entirely free, and you have to upgrade to its premium plans if you want to leverage the benefits of the platform.
On the other hand, with WordPress, you have to take care of its setup, and you can get the most out of it if you know HTML and CSS. Although it makes WordPress a bit complicated for beginners, its versatility and design flexibility are hard to beat in all major website-building aspects.
Wix is more suitable for creating smaller websites, but if you want to expand them, you need a more advanced, scalable platform like WordPress. With so many plugins available, you can build a powerful, highly customized, and conversion-focused website with WordPress and expand your business functionality.
Wix offers a free plan to build a functional website within a few steps. In this free plan, you can use the Wix templates or AI, customize the template using drag and drop, and publish it quickly. However, if you want to create a professional business website, we recommend upgrading to paid plans as the free plan comes at the cost of adverts on your website, negatively impacting the user experience. moreover, the free plan has a Wix subdomain that makes your website look unprofessional.
Wix is a beginner-friendly website-building platform with powerful features to help you create a professional website without requiring technical expertise. With Wix, you can design websites that look and work great across all devices.
Yes, Wix offers membership plugins, including Membership Works and Elfsight, allowing you to build a website without technical knowledge. Installing the plugin allows you to access multiple features, including membership add-ons, donations, member-only access to ads, and payment processing. You can even sell out product subscriptions with Wix Stores and ensure recurring payments.
WordPress is better than Wix because it offers better customization options and more design flexibility. It also has many plugins and improved blogging features, as it is an exceptional content management system. Moreover, WordPress is a better option for catering to your e-commerce needs because its integrated e-commerce plugin, WooCommerce, gives you better store functionality than Wix.
Yes, Wix is considered easier than WordPress as it is designed to be beginner-friendly, and its intuitive drag-and-drop editor has reduced the complexity of customizing the website. On the other hand, WordPress is a content management system that comes with a slight learning curve. You should have some coding knowledge to create a website In WordPress.
Yes, transferring a domain purchased from Wix to another host is possible. However, your website’s files, DNS settings, and domain contact information will be shifted to the new provider, and Wix will not assist you in managing your domain.
WordPress offers more storage than Wix. Wix storage depends on your chosen plan; for instance, the Wix Light plan provides 2 GB, while its Business Elite plan offers unlimited storage.
While Wix and WordPress offer SEO functionality, WordPress is better than Wix. WordPress SEO tools are advanced in analyzing your content in depth and providing recommendations on fixing issues. Wix also does a pretty good job handling on-page SEO and mobile optimization. It offers paid and free SEO apps in Wix App Makret that you may integrate into your website to improve your search engine performance.
Both Wix and WordPress are considered safe and secure website-building platforms. Wix offers robust built-in security features, including firewall protection, anti-fraud protection, daily malware scans, automatic updates, and more. With WordPress, you must put more effort into protecting your website’s security. It also offers built-in security features, but you have to install security plugins, and it is completely your responsibility to keep your plugins and them updated.
WordPress is considered more suitable for eCommerce than Wix as the WordPress e-commerce plugin; WooCommerce gives you the ease and flexibility to create a functional e-commerce store along with product listings, payment gateways, etc. On the other hand, Wix is limited in its e-commerce capabilities, and you must also purchase its paid plans to cover your needs covered by its e-commerce features. Moreover, Wix is not a suitable platform for businesses that want to expand their e-commerce stores.
WordPress was released on May 27, 2003, by English developer Mike Little and American developer Matt Mullenwerg.
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