Wix vs WordPress: Which Platform is Best for Your Business in 2024?

Welcome to the Dynamic SEO breakdown on Wix vs WordPress. This article looks at everything you need to know to compare WordPress and Wix to determine which platform will best meet your business needs.

In today’s fast paced online world, you need a proper website to operate a relevant business. You have many different platform options for web design and development, but WordPress and Wix are among the most popular options.

Yes you still need a presence on social media in 2023, but in terms of conversion, there is no better platform than a well built website.

In this article we cover the differences in WordPress vs Wix when building your website in terms of viability, cost effectiveness, SEO and much more. So what are the differences between the two and which is right for you?

Pros and Cons of Wix

You likely can’t do a search, watch a Youtube video or browse a website these days without being bombarded by ads from Wix. They are literally everywhere you look in this day and age. So aside from them obviously having an astronomical ad budget, is Wix better than WordPress?

Well, the answer is, they are different. Is Wix good for blogging? Sure and it seems straightforward as a page builder. If you want a blogging website, just choose a template, follow a few steps and you’re off to the races.

Now, if you want to be driving organic traffic to your site, is Wix better than WordPress for SEO? Undoubtedly no. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that Wix has a ton of hidden fees pretty much everywhere you look. Need an SEO plugin? Yeah, that’s gonna cost you. So is Wix SEO friendly? Not really.

There are some free ones of course, but they are pretty much all upsells to versions that are paid if you want them to be realistically useful. Not to mention if you even want to have access to the baseline plugins for SEO it’s an additional $5 a month, every month.

Probably the best thing Wix has going for it is its attraction to beginners in the web world. You don’t have to have even a basic knowledge of HTML or CSS to build your website and get your web presence started. However the same can now be said of WordPress.

Be aware though, there are several pitfalls when using Wix. First of all, Wix is closed source and only offers a basic website builder entirely owned by the Wix company.

In comparison, WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS) and an extremely well designed one at that. Wix doesn’t like to share, WordPress couldn’t care less.

Another major issue in the “is Wix or WordPress better” debate is the reality of organic web traffic.

Unfortunately for Wix, WordPress owns the lion’s share in that regard and it’s not even close. In fact websites built on SquareSpace get twice the traffic of those built on Wix yet even it still trails WordPress by lightyears.

There are a litany of reasons for this at the end of the day. For one, Wix’s sitemap is auto-generated and is not possible to edit. Another major problem is the way they generate file names for your images. They are random and meaningless, which is terrible in the eyes of Google and makes it difficult for you and your customers to identify what the images are. 

Another problem lies in the hosting.

With Wix you have no hosting options – either use their proprietary hosting that you have no control over, or don’t use them at all. These three issues alone pose serious issues for technical SEO down the line.

So is Wix good for SEO?

In the eyes of just about any legitimate SEO professional the answer is no. However there is still one factor in SEO that is still effective on Wix – keyword research and quality content.

Content is king. So doing proper keyword research coupled with excellent, relevant content that reads well will still help you there the same as it will on any website. 

With all of that being said, is Wix good for small business? That really depends on your needs. On one hand, having a monthly plan that is inexpensive up front has its advantages, especially for small brick and mortar businesses that want to compete locally.

On the other hand, monthly plans and hidden fees everywhere add up and you may realize in the end it was better to build a website you own outright upfront. The minimum cost for a Wix site is $4.50 USD per month but this still means your website will be plastered with Wix branding.

The Breakdown:

Pros

• Good for non-tech people
• All in one package
• Stays updated automatically

Cons

• Hidden costs
• Uphill battle for SEO
• Required to make ongoing monthly or yearly payments
• No choice in hosting, it must be hosted with Wix

Pros and Cons of WordPress

Your first question in regards to WordPress should be, why have 43% of all the websites online chosen to use WordPress? The answer is, because it works. The amount of people using WordPress vs Wix (only 3.7% of all sites are Wix) is the first indicator that it’s probably the superior platform. The question is why? 

For one, WordPress has been around, and dominating for 20 years. Where Wix has been around for 17 years and has struggled to gain a fraction of the market share online.

What does that mean? Well, there are a lot more people out there that know how to use WordPress. This is good news when looking for a front end developer for your website. Google only predates WordPress by 5 years and that includes the start up phase.

It’s open source, so random developers have been able to keep it updated in real time to keep up with all of the changes in search engines on their own volition.

WordPress has the advantage when it comes to plugins, themes, templates, features, flexibility and much more. When it comes to Wix vs. WordPress, it’s kind of like comparing Sunny D or Tampico to fresh pressed orange juice.

Of course they both have market share for good reason.

But if you are looking to scale your business into the future, you are likely better off using WordPress.

Web Design on WordPress vs Wix

Web design options are among biggest considerations when choosing your website platform.

WordPress themes number in the tens of thousands, with many of these entirely free to use. However, Wix only has a total of around 800 themes all up, so the choice is significantly limited in comparison.

Wix prides itself on the ease of use and not needing to know code to use it. However, you also don’t need to know how to code when using WordPress, thanks to its built-in WYSIWYG editor as well as the relatively new feature Gutenberg Blocks, which makes it easier than ever to create a website without writing a single line of code.

Complementing the in-built WordPress functionality are other page builder options such as Elementor, Beaver Builder, WPBakery and Divi, among others, that gives you a wide choice of options, both free and paid.

Here is a list of popular page builders for WordPress vs Wix:

WordPress

• Gutenberg Blocks by WordPress: You don’t actually need any other builder than what is provided by WordPress itself if you don’t want one. It’s completely free – yes 100% free – because it’s open source. Most WordPress themes are developed around Gutenberg Blocks, so why would you need anything else?  And if you are old-school and prefer the original WYSIWYG editor (which has both a visual editor & code editor), it’s simple to switch back using a free plugin.
• Elementor: Probably the most popular in today’s market, this page builder offers a fluid User Experience (UX) and can be both hand coded or offers a visual builder. The free version should do most users just fine, but you can pay yearly for Elementor Pro, which offers extra features.
• Divi: Likely the most well known and used page builder on the market pre-Elementor, Divi, from Elegant Themes, is an extremely powerful page builder. This is a paid page builder, but you can use it on unlimited websites and can always find a special price for a lifetime deal if you are looking – think Black Friday.
• WPBakery: This builder remains a mainstay in the WordPress landscape and that is likely due in part to the sheer amount of themes that are built around it. There are tons of great addons as well.
• Many more: There are so many WordPress page builders to choose from that we won’t list them here, but you can do a quick search and compare.

Wix

• Wix Editor: This editor is exclusive to Wix and has a basic WYSIWYG editor, but you can apparently switch to “Dev Mode” for some slightly advanced tweaking.
• There are no other options

So is WordPress better than Wix in terms of options for page builders? That is a resounding yes. Keep in mind that it doesn’t really matter if you like the Wix interface. But most people prefer to have a choice.

Also, something to keep in mind in regards to Wix vs WordPress for blogging. When your blog becomes successful, you will probably be hiring other people to both write blogs and manage the publishing.

With WordPress you will find a lot more quality talent out there who are familiar with the platform than you will with Wix.

The Breakdown:

Pros

• Countless theme options & plugins, many of which are free
• Easy to use interface with advanced functionality
• Choice of page builder options
• Open source
• Scalable
• Large user base to call on
• You get to choose your preferred hosting option

Cons

• Need experience to use advanced features
• Have to update WordPress Core, plugins and themes manually
• May need to read and understand documentation to install and use themes, since there are many different options from a variety of theme developers
• May need developer assistance for theme customization

Cost Comparison of Wix vs WordPress

Wix

Wix is definitely pay to play out of the gate unless you want a “www.[yourwebsite].wix.com” domain. There is a minimum monthly plan for $4.50 USD per month, but it is extremely limited and comes with the Wix branding. Here is a breakdown of the pricing structure and what each tier includes.

Connect Domain: $4.50/mth

• Domain registration (through Wix)
• 1GB bandwidth
• 500MB storage
• SSL certificate
• Fully branded by Wix
• 24/7 customer care

This is the baseline plan. If you are going to be doing anything with the site other than a simple landing page, 500mb of storage is not going to be enough. The Wix branding is also not a good look for your business. The other catch is there is not a free domain option, which is a hidden fee after purchase.

Combo: $8.50/mth

• Domain registration (through Wix)
• 2GB bandwidth
• 3GB storage
• SSL certificate
• No Wix branding
• 30 minutes of video
• 24/7 customer care

Why buy one when you can buy two for twice the price. The catch starts at this level with the “free domain” offer. Here the fine print is you have to pay for Wix for 1 year in advance, so be ready to fork out $102 (no discount) and not be able to change your mind.

But hey, at least you won’t have Wix branding all over your website right?

Unlimited: $12.50/mth

• Domain registration (through Wix)
• Unlimited bandwidth
• 10GB storage
• SSL certificate
• No Wix branding
• 1hr of video
• Site Booster (1 year free)
• Visitor Analytics (1 year free)
• 24/7 customer care

Like the tier before it, you are going to need to pony up for one year in advance to get the real benefits of this package. So set aside $150 USD before thinking about it.

With this tier you get access to their “Site Booster” app which claims to be your answer to SEO as well as “Visitor Analytics”. I will touch more on these in the SEO on WordPress vs Wix section later in the article.

VIP: $24.50/mth

• Domain registration (through Wix)
• Unlimited bandwidth
• 35GB storage
• SSL certificate
• No Wix branding
• 3hrs of video
• Site Booster (1 year free)
• Visitor Analytics (1 year free)
• Logo design
• Social media logo files
• 24/7 customer support

This is the top tier in the basic plans and like the others, to get the full benefits of the plan you will need to pay 1 year in advance, so $294 USD.

Your new bells and whistles are “Free Professional Logo Design” as well as social media logo files. 

So considering that there are hundreds of AI logo generators out there such as Brand Crowd that will generate you 1,000s of professional logo options with the click of a button in seconds, I don’t see the value add here. See below:

(created in one minute with the keyword web development)

There were 300 more versions to choose from with the click of a button. Some of them are paid, some free. But as you can see, it’s not hard to get great logos for cheap or free in today’s world – so that is not really a value add.

Regarding tracking website visits and other analytics, Wix’s inbuilt analytics is available to all users but it goes without saying that Google Analytics is far superior. Unfortunately, Google Analytics is only available to Wix users that upgrade their site to a Premium Plan.

WordPress

Price wise is WordPress better than Wix?

Yes, WordPress is open source, so it is completely free to use if you want to do it that way.

You can build your own website from scratch using the built-in Gutenberg Blocks, or choose from the many other free page builders out there. You just install WordPress first, then the theme you have chosen and you are off to the races.

So WordPress cost vs Wix is pretty simple. There is no cost to use WordPress unless you want there to be.

You will have to purchase your own domain name and website hosting, but you have the freedom to choose which domain registrar and website host you want, unlike Wix. Prices for both vary significantly so you can likely find a bargain, unlike the fixed price that you are looked into with Wix.

WordPress does have a similar setup to Wix available to you if you feel more comfortable with an all in one package. See below:

Personal: $4/mth

• Ad free/no branding
• Free domain for one year
• Extremely fast DNS with SSL
• Premium content gating
• Support via email
• Paid subscribers

Even at the lowest tier there are no ads with WordPress and the functionality is far superior to that of Wix.

Premium: $8/mth

• Everything in Personal +
• Live chat support
• Access to Premium themes
• Earn with WordAds
• Style customization
• 4K Videos with VideoPress
• Unlimited automatic shares in social media
• Site activity log

Here you will have access to a ton of premium themes that others will have to pay for (albeit one off) and get increased functionality. This plan will be enough for most businesses out there realistically. Again, you don’t need to do any of this and can just install WordPress on your own domain, but this will be great for beginners who don’t want the hassle.

Business: $25/mth

• Everything in previous tiers +
• Unlocks access to 50,000+ plugins, design templates, and integrations.
• Unrestricted bandwidth
• Global edge caching
• High-burst capacity
• Web application firewall (WAF)
• Global CDN with 28+ locations
• High-frequency CPUs
• Site replicated in real-time to a second data center.
• Isolated site infrastructure
• Automated malware scanning and one-click fixes.
• Real time DDoS attack monitoring and mitigation.
• Free staging site
• Automated WordPress updates
• Switch between 2, 20, or 200 sites. All from one place.
• Multi-redundancy, real-time backups of all your data.
• One-click restores
• Uptime monitor
• Surfacing your content is simple with built-in premium site search.
• Plugin auto-updates
• Tools for SEO

As you can see, there are a whole lot of bells and whistles on this tier, but they are all relevant. Pretty much everything a small to midsize business is included in this package.

So is Wix cheaper than WordPress?

No, and for the same price you will get much more out of WordPress vs Wix – even if you choose one of their cookie cutter plans over building a site from scratch for free on the platform.

Remember that even with the paid WordPress plans, it’s still wide open for you and you are not limited to what is in the plan. If you want to install plugins, go ahead. Want to install a free or paid theme you found? Do it.

With Wix, that simply isn’t the case.

WordPress vs Wix Ease of Use

WIth pricing and popularity out of the way – What is the difference between Wix and WordPress in terms of ease of use? 

Page Builder

Well, for starters Wix only allows for its own integrated page builder, so if you don’t like… tough luck. If you do like it then great.

WordPress allows you to install whatever you want.

Don’t like the WordPress Gutenberg Blocks?

Install Elementor and choose one of the countless themes that support the Elementor page builder. Don’t like that either?

Try WPBakery, Divi or any other page builder out there until you get the right fit for you.

So in terms of page builders which is better WordPress or Wix? WordPress.

WordPress: 1 Wix: 0

Themes

Wix has around 900 themes from what they advertise. To be honest though, if you have seen one Wix theme, you’re realistically seen them all.

They are a one size fits all kind of website solution. So if you aren’t liking the ease of use in terms of themes, then you are up the creek unfortunately.

WordPress has so many theme options, thanks to its open source code, that it’s almost impossible not to stand out.

There are almost 12,000 themes listed on the Themeforest marketplace alone. Throw in other companies offering quality WordPress themes such as Astra, Elegant Themes, Themify and ​​CSSIgniter… the list is endless.

If you don’t like the theme, you can choose one from the opposite spectrum and try again. You can even hire someone to build you a custom theme if you don’t find what you are looking for in the veritable universe of available themes out there – both free and paid.

WordPress: 2 Wix: 0

Hosting

With Wix your only option is their hosting. So if you find it slow, overloaded or just not what you are looking for, deal with it.

With WordPress if you don’t like their hosting, you can move your hosting to anywhere you would like seamlessly with no issue at all. There are tons of great hosting providers out there, including us, that you can use with WordPress.

WordPress: 3 Wix: 0

SEO on WordPress vs Wix

It’s amazing that Wix SEO vs WordPress SEO questions still get asked. You have to give it to Wix for their marketing department and seemingly endless budget. But the reality is far different than the ads.

Search Engine Optimization is an extremely complex endeavor. No matter what you hear out there, the reality is there is no single plugin that is going to do it for you.

You need to have an SEO professional who knows the constant changing tides of Google’s algorithm. 

You will have a hard time finding an actual expert who is willing to work with your Wix website. Even if you do, the cost of paying for the required SEO plugins and other upgrades that Wix will hit you with will likely make it prohibitively expensive.

With WordPress you can throw a stone and find someone that has a basic understanding of SEO that will be able to help you. There are so many plugins available for free such as Yoast SEO, All In One SEO and Rank Math that you can install to help guide you on your SEO journey. Realistically, Google loves WordPress and that is not about to change.

So is WordPress or Wix better for SEO? WordPress takes the trophy home here.

WordPress: 4 Wix: 0

Additional Feature Comparison

WordPress vs Wix for blogging

They are both suitable for blogging, but you will find out why WordPress is better than Wix pretty quick when you do a side by side comparison in their paid format. So why WordPress over Wix? The features you get for the same price are unmistakably better with WordPress.

Does Wix support WordPress

No. Wix is a proprietary platform whereas WordPress is open source. This means it is difficult, if not impossible, to migrate your Wix site to WordPress or any other platform in the future if you outgrow Wix.

SEO Wix vs WordPress SEO

WordPress is the industry standard in terms of SEO capability. Wix has consistent paywalls for SEO functionality and is limited in its ability to be optimized for technical SEO, due to its closed-source proprietary platform that can’t be modified.

The Bottom Line

This pretty much sums up the argument over which is better, Wix or WordPress? 

Using WordPress is like having an entire workshop full of tools, whereas Wix is like having a Swiss Army Knife. Does it have a screwdriver? Yes. Is that screwdriver as useful as an entire drawer full of specialty screwdrivers for different applications? Undoubtedly no.

That being said, what is the point of having an entire workshop if all you know how to use – or want to use – is a Swiss Army Knife? I think you get the point.

Wix vs WordPress Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs)

___________________________________________________________________________