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Wix is widely accepted as one of the top website builders today, and WordPress is the biggest CMS in the world, used for approximately 30 percent of all websites on the internet. WordPress does have its own website builder (see our wordpress.com review for more information), but in this comparison, we’ll exclusively look at the WordPress CMS system, which is commonly referred to as WordPress or wordpress.org.
Can we make a good comparison between an extensive CMS such as WordPress vs a website builder such as Wix? It will not always be easy, because both systems don’t work in the same way. However, they do use many of the same, or at least similar, elements. And both systems are used to build complete websites, including design, content, and additional functionalities. Sufficient reason to see how these “leaders” in their respective fields relate to each other in a head-to-head comparison.
Read on to compare Wix and WordPress on their main product features, pricing, support, and more.
Templates
Wix
Wix offers an extensive template library, consisting of more than 600 unique and professional looking templates that are easy to customize. For convenience, the template designs have been divided into 16 main categories and more than 60 subcategories. Wix uses the following categorization to order its modern, beautifully designed templates:
| Business | Online Store | Photography | Video |
| Design | Restaurants & Food | Travel & Tourism | Events |
| Blogs & Forums | Health & Wellness | Fashion & Beauty | Community & Education |
| Landing Pages | Music | Portfolio & CV | Creative Arts |
Users who prefer to start from scratch can benefit from Wix’s blank template options. The blank templates offer a choice from several basic page setups including a completely blank canvas giving the user total design freedom.
WordPress
WordPress offers users thousands of themes to choose from. Choosing a theme doesn’t make the system rigid, because it is very easy to switch to another theme. Themes are designed according to WordPress standards, including structured PHP, valid HTML, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Users can choose from a library of many thousands of existing themes, but WordPress also allows users to upload their own theme, provided it meets the technical requirements.
Themes fall into two categories: free and premium. Free themes can be found and installed straight from WordPress’ theme directory, while premium themes are usually available for purchase from sites that specialize in custom WordPress themes, or from individual WordPress designers/ developers.
WordPress also categorizes its themes. Clicking the “Feature Filter” opens several options to make the total library of themes a bit more comfortable to browse:
| Blog | E-Commerce | Education |
| Entertainment | Food & Drink | Holiday |
| News | Photography | Portfolio |
Wix or WordPress?
Wix’s templates serve a clear purpose, which is to provide you with a fully functioning website from the get-go, with everything in place just as you saw it in the template preview. The only requirement is adding your own content. You can still customize almost everything on your site with Wix’s drag & drop editor and other available tools.
WordPress themes, the equivalent of Wix’s templates, run your WordPress site, but choosing a theme doesn’t launch a fully functioning version of your website – it takes a lot more work to prepare the site. In all fairness, it takes quite a bit of technical prowess to get your site ready for launch with WordPress.
Once you have decided on a Wix template, you cannot change templates. If you want a different look for your website, you have to start over with a different template, uploading your content from scratch. WordPress does allow you to change themes at any point in time, but it will likely require more work, additional .css customization, possibly adjusting more of the core .php files that dictate how the site looks and functions.
WordPress themes come with a set of page templates that dictate the way content pages look. Don’t confuse WordPress templates with Wix templates – they are not the same. WordPress templates are an element in a WordPress theme, and you can add more templates if you need your content to look more diverse throughout the site.
For the gigantic size and flexibility of its themes library, along with the immense opportunity for customization, WordPress takes this round. But it is fair to note that Wix could very well be the preferred solution for users with little-to-no development skills, looking to swiftly publish a site. In many cases, WordPress sites require professional web development, which obviously comes with a price tag.
Editor
Wix
Wix’s drag & drop editor has been the topic of much praise from both users and critics. Offering a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface- meaning you can view how your website will look as you edit it- the editor is very easy to work with, which is surprising considering the number of features it contains.
WordPress
If you want to make further changes or remove your latest edits, you have to go back to the editor and reverse the changes manually.
Some WordPress themes do offer a more visual interface for organizing on-page elements, like for example the Headway theme – but this does not necessarily mean that it is easy or easier to work with. WordPress is not a website builder and works in a different way altogether, more suitable for users with some web development or design skills.
Wix or WordPress?
Wix offers an intuitive website editor, with a varied set of tools to customize your website to your liking. Mastering the editor doesn’t require any technical knowledge, just a bit of an experimental spirit to try out the many different options available. For users looking for an easy-to-use, visual, WYSIWYG editor, Wix is definitely the standout choice.
If you do have the technical skills required to make changes to .css and .php files and are willing to invest the time needed to design and build a custom website, WordPress could be the right platform for you. It doesn’t offer a drag & drop editor, but customization options are endless, making WordPress the preferred CMS for most web developers.
eCommerce
Wix
Wix Stores is Wix’s solution for users who want to build an online store.
To build an online store with Wix, you start by selecting a template from the Online Store template category straight from the main menu. It’s already categorized into sensible sub-categories for convenience, so you can select the template most suitable for your store.
After you choose a template, Wix generates the basic version of your online store, which includes the necessary store elements, such as an overview page, a product page, a shopping cart and a thank you page. Other elements included in Wix’s online store templates, include:
- Beautiful Storefront
- Professional store manager
- Multiple Payment Methods
- Coupons and Discounts
- Product Galleries
- Worldwide Shipping & Tax
- Mobile optimized
- Secure Checkout
- 24/7 support
WordPress
To turn your WordPress site into an online store, you need a specific plugin. The preferred E-Commerce option for WordPress is the WooCommerce plugin, which has been installed on more than 4 million WordPress sites to date.
WooCommerce is a free eCommerce plugin designed to integrate seamlessly with WordPress, letting a user take complete control over their store, its design, the products, and other elements. WooCommerce offers great flexibility by providing access to hundreds of free as well as premium WordPress extensions, which explains why more online stores are built with WooCommerce than with any other eCommerce platform – about 30% of all online stores!
WooCommerce provides all the features you need for your store. It starts with a specific (free) WordPress theme (“Storefront”) that is available to any WooCommerce store. It is specifically designed to work with WooCommerce and prioritizes speed and uptime while eliminating theme and plugin conflicts during platform updates. You can customize the Storefront theme by using an additional child theme.
WooCommerce has all the elements you need to get your store up and running built in:
- Extensive shipping options (including dropshipping)
- A wide range of payment options
- Scalability options
- Security checks for bug discovering and fixing
- Controlled checkout process
- Default Currency option
- Geo-location Support
- Automatic Taxes
- Add/Manage Products
- Inventory Management
- Custom Tax Calculations
- Geo-location enabled taxes
- Discount Coupons and codes
- Product Reviews
- Owner Verification
- Reporting Dashboard
- CRM/Store Management
Wix or WordPress?
Both platforms offer users a rock solid eCommerce option. Wix’s eCommerce features can be easily integrated, making it simple to launch an online store in a matter of seconds.
WordPress offers users the incredibly popular WooCommerce plugin to create an eCommerce site. It takes a bit longer to set things up (and requires some technical know-how), but the amount of available features is impressive. Both platforms provide great options, so we’ll call this round a tie.
Customer Support
Wix
Wix clearly invests in providing high-quality customer support. The spot-on in-editor support is roughly divided into two sections:
- Editor Help Center: contains an extensive list of various support categories that cover the majority of potential problems users can encounter, a collection of to-the-point step-by-step videos that show how to use and customize certain product features for inclusion on your website.
- Wix Support Videos: covering such topics as how to connect a domain (pre-purchased or supplied as part of Wix’s premium plans) and how to set up and optimize SEO parameters.
Last but not least, Wix’s corporate website contains the Wix Support Center, in which you can find tons of articles covering the full range of aspects of Wix’s website builder. Not enough? Then contact Wix’s support team: by phone from Monday to Thursday (6:00 AM – 17:00 PM, PST), by email after you first submit a support ticket, or by live chat when the option is available.
WordPress
The WordPress.org website contains information about the WordPress platform. It is the official site for the platform, but it’s still more of a general support channel than a real helpdesk. Sites running on WordPress are hosted on the servers of a hosting company, and when you have problems with your WordPress site, the best option is to contact the support channels of your hosting company to see how they can help you.
That said, the information on the WordPress.org site is very useful and it definitely makes sense to check this source for possible solutions before you contact your hosting provider. That goes for the general support info, but also for the available forums where WordPress users can find answers to many of their problems.
Wix or WordPress?
WordPress’ support info is very extensive and serves as a great first line of defense. But for pressing matters, including potential server issues, WordPress users have to contact their hosting provider for direct help.
Wix controls its own customer service, offering a Help Center with useful information for people who want to solve problems by themselves, but also providing the option to contact customer support in various ways, although these contact options are only available to users who upgraded to a premium plan – users on a free account are left with the available documentation. Wix predictably wins the Customer Support battle.
SEO
| Feature | Wix | WordPress |
| Custom Domain | ✓ | ✓ |
| Seo-Friendly URLs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Manual Override for URLs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Canonical links | ✓ | ✓ |
| Breadcrumbs | Available with WixStores | ✓ |
| H1 Heading Tag | ✓ | ✓ |
| Subheader Control (H2, H3) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Meta Title Tags by URL | ✓ | ✓ |
| Meta Descriptions by URL | ✓ | ✓ |
| No Index, No Follow per URL | ✓ | ✓ |
| Image ALT Text | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrated Blogging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Blog Categories | ✓ | ✓ |
| Blog Tags | ✓ | ✓ |
| Blog Post Commenting | ✓ | ✓ |
| RSS Feeds | X | ✓ |
| Podcast Support and Embeds | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video Support and Embeds | ✓ | ✓ |
| Online Stores | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mailing Lists | ✓ | ✓ |
| Template Switching | X | ✓ |
| Custom CSS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile Responsive | ✓ | ✓ |
| XML Sitemap | ✓ | ✓ |
| Robot.txt files | ✓ | ✓ |
| 301 Redirects | ✓ | ✓ |
| CDN Option | ✓ | ✓ |
| SSL Certificates | ✓ | ✓ |
Wix or WordPress?
WordPress users can choose from a vast number of plugins to extend the capabilities of their WordPress site. While the standard WordPress setup comes with basic SEO settings, the best way to process your WordPress site’s SEO is by means of a plugin. A popular, top-rated SEO plugin for WordPress is Yoast, which offers an abundance of search engine optimization settings. The plugin comes with its own tutorials and customer support options.
Wix does SEO well, but doesn’t completely match the abundance of SEO options WordPress provides. The final score, based on 28 aspects, is 28-26 in WordPress’ favor.
WordPress wins on the SEO front.
Apps & Integrations
| Integration | Wix | Details | WordPress | Details |
| Google Analytics | Yes | Available on premium plans with own domain | Yes | Option is part of many plugins |
| Social Media Profile | Yes | Profile links, embedded social feeds on site | Yes | Many options for social media widgets |
| Social Media Share Buttons | Yes | Share, like and follow buttons | Yes | Sharing options for all social platforms |
| Mailbox | Yes | It is possible to purchase & integrate G Suite through Wix. Also supported: Yahoo! Small Business Email, GoDaddy Email. Office 365 not directly supported (but possible). | Yes | Usually the mail option comes with the hosting, but you can also find plugins for mailbox solutions for WordPress. |
| CRM | No/Yes | Accepting requests for HubSpot app 3rd party CRM apps available |
Yes | Onboard CRM options are available, but limited. Choose from many available plugins to extend CRM option in WordPress. |
| MailChimp | No | Wix offers its own email marketing platform | Yes | Mailchimp plugin for WordPress. |
| Chat | Yes | 3rd party chat apps available. Some only available on premium plan. | Yes | Abundant chat plugins available for WordPress, for example WP Live Chat, Pure Chat, Messenger Customer Chat. |
| Third Party Reviews | Yes | No Trustpilot integration, but in-editor testimonials element & 3rd Party review apps available | Yes | Many options available, including TrustPilot |
| Tracking Tools | Yes | (Crazy Egg, HotJar) | Yes | Many different tracking plugins for different purposes (eCommerce tracking, Google Analytics based tracking, affiliate tracking, eye-tracking, et cetera. |
| Music | Yes | SoundCloud, Spotify | Yes | SoundCloud, Spotify, Grooveshark, Bandcamp, various media players, et cetera. |
| Video | Yes | YouTube, Vimeo | Yes | YouTube, Vimeo, various video players and embedded video options |
| PayPal | Yes | Paypal Buy & Paypal Donate | Yes | Paypal Buy, Paypal Donate, and various other PayPal integration options |
Wix or WordPress?
Wix offers an extensive set of integration options and the Wix App Market is filled to the brim with handy apps your website can benefit from using.
However, competing with WordPress is not an easy task. Since WordPress is an open source software, anyone with some development skills can build a WordPress plugin. That doesn’t make every WordPress plugin a hit by default, but with a total number of almost 55,000 plugins, your chances of finding what you’re looking for are pretty good.
Given the range and advanced capabilities of its plugins, WordPress beats Wix in the Apps & Integrations round.
Pricing & Plans
Wix Pricing & Plans
Prices for a Wix Website subscription vary from $11 to $29 per month, and for a Wix Business & eCommerce subscription from $20 to $35 per month. Take into consideration that these prices are valid when you pay annually – if you prefer to pay by the month prices are a bit higher.
The below images show the different Wix annual plans for both a website and an online store – prices are per month.
The apps available in the Wix App Market have to be purchased separately. Some apps can be downloaded and installed for free, some apps can be purchased, and some apps are free with a premium version available for purchase. Prices vary from app to app.
All Wix plans include a domain name (free for the first year), hosting and a 14-day money back guarantee. Payments can be me made using PayPal or any of the following credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover.
WordPress Pricing & Plans
WordPress is a free software. The only requirement to start building your WordPress site is a hosting contract. Many hosting providers offer special WordPress hosting options, which usually only cost a small fee per month. Besides hosting, you should also purchase a domain name, which usually (depending on the desired domain name extension) costs somewhere between $15 to $20 per year.
WordPress plugins are available for free download in many cases, but premium versions have to be purchased separately. For example, the Yoast SEO plugin we previously mentioned, can be downloaded for free – for most purposes, this free version does everything one needs from an SEO plugin. However, Yoast does offer premium versions of many of its available plugins, and provides additional expert support to premium users, which can be very helpful for some users.
Wix or WordPress?
Although WordPress is a free, open source, platform, you do need to arrange hosting and purchase a domain name before you can launch a WordPress site. Once you have a hosting provider, you need to set up WordPress so you can start building your site. Some providers may do this for you, in other cases you need to do it yourself or have someone with the proper knowledge help you. Also, keep in mind that setting up and customizing your WordPress site may not be a realistic option without hiring a developer or a WordPress expert to do the work for you – which will increase the cost of a WordPress website considerably, adding thousands of dollars to the total price. WordPress, unlike Wix, is not your typical DIY platform – it requires too much of a technical background to be considered one.
Wix plans are affordable when you look at everything you get in return. Hosting is included and if you need a domain name, you can arrange it through Wix and actually get the first year for free with any premium plan.
WordPress scores points for being a totally free platform, while Wix scores heavily for providing the topnotch convenience of a set of complete and affordable plans that contain all the options you need to build your website. This round ends undecided.
Bottom Line
Both Wix and WordPress have their advantages, and both show very little disadvantages. The sensible way to choose the right platform for you is to use your expertise as a guiding principle.
If you have the technical knowledge to build a fully functioning WordPress website or store without additional assistance from a developer or designer, you’d do well choosing WordPress, because frankly, its features are unmatched – even by Wix. However, if you prefer to use a DIY, drag & drop style approach to build a beautiful site in minimal time, Wix is the way to go.
Why Choose Wix?
- Good value for money.
- Great flexibility: 600+ professionally designed, easy-to-edit templates,
- Extensive, high-quality customer support.
- Impressive and growing number of useful features.
Why Choose WordPress?
- Free (does require separate hosting and domain name purchases)
- Thousands of free templates.
- More than 50K plugins to customize and extend your site’s features.