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Are you trying to decide between Wordpress and Wix to design your site? Although WP is, by far, the most popular CMS in the world (see WordPress’ stats), it’s not the only option you have.
You may have seen all the TV advertisements for Wix, this guide will give you a detailed breakdown of Wix vs Wordpress to help you decide which one is the best choice for you.
Each of the two offers low-cost, highly customizable website building. Each is super popular. (Note: two WordPress platforms exist.)
Table of Contents:
Wix vs. WordPress Review: Opening Summary 🔍
Let’s begin with facts, before we start our story...
WordPress powers over 60% of the internet - unsurprisingly. We recommend it as the high water-mark for businesses. Yet, Wix really is one of the best website builders out there, which is why it ranked closer than you might have guessed.
Two reasons to still go with Wix:
- ☑️ Simplicity
- ☑️ Price
Wix vs. WordPress: Pricing
Building a website for free is absolutely possible. The Wix vs WordPress review team wouldn’t recommend it though, even if you host it with a free web host – you’d still need to get a domain, which you can’t find for free with any service.
One of the major differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.ORG (which we’re reviewing) is that the .org site requires a third-party host. You could choose a free one or pay a regular expense for your web hosting, monthly. Both are among the best free website builders ever, depending on the creation routes you take.
SITEGROUND: Available Plans 
These hosts come officially recommended by WordPress:
- SiteGround
- DreamHost
- Bluehost
SiteGroundCompared to WordPress.com, being able to choose specific plans - from specific hosts - with WordPress.org, gives you an amazing degree of flexibility. You get to tailor precisely how you deliver information to your audience.
To give you an idea of how the prices compare with Wix, the Wix vs WordPress team decided to give you a rundown of the available plans that SiteGround offers, which is one of the recommended web hosts, and a top one at that.
With every SiteGround plan, you gain access to the SiteGround SSL (offered by Let’sEncrypt), as well as the SiteGround cPanel, which can help with configuration and management of your hosting package.
Web
Okay, we are looking at three tiers. As you would expect with any sales model, the more you pay, the greater the number of features that are accessible.
On every web hosting plan, get:
- updates to security
- the SiteGround cPanel tool
- unlimited bandwidth & emails
- performance upgrades
But the following add the most amount of differential value:
WooCom/WP 🛒
This is basically a replica of the web hosting plan, with the below additional features:
- ☑️ Get Automatic Migrations
- ☑️ Access the WP-CLI
- ☑️ Get Extra Specialist WP Security
- ☑️ Get Specialist WordPress Caching
- ☑️ Find Bonus WordPress Support
- ☑️ And more
Cloud ☁️
Let’s say that you’re getting a ton of users regularly. Well, you need to reliably keep up with the increased demand.
Even if you just want to deliver a good user experience to your visitors, hosting with cloud hosting gives you a higher level of resources - such as with dedicated hosting - but with the simplicity of shared hosting.
Cloud hosting offers great scalability. Immediately adjust the number of CPU cores. The same goes with your RAM. Do it with the click of a button, using the autoscale settings.
Every plan begins with 4 GB of RAM, two CPUs, and 50 GBs of SSD storage - at a cost of £53.34 per month.
Also included are dedicated assets:
- ☑️ SSH/SFTP
- ☑️ Dedicated IPs
- ☑️ Backups Every 24 Hours
- ☑️ A Private DNS Address
WIX: Available Plans 📅
Wix is slightly more complicated in how it organizes its plans, when compared to something like Squarespace.
Firstly you can choose between two categories: An ordinary website or a business & eCommerce website.
There is a free option with very big limitations, however the upgraded plans are suited for all needs.
The first category has four tiers, while the second has three. In some cases, there isn’t much difference between the plans (especially for Business & eCommerce - then again... the prices vary only a little too, in those cases).
Let's begin with the first category.
Website 🖥️
In each case, the next-up tier contains every feature from the one before, with expanded options:
Business & eCommerce 📲
For online shop we have only noted what has been added for that pricing level.
Business Basic 👔
- UNLIMITED Bandwidth
- 50GB Storage
- 5 Video Hours
- Google Analytics
- Site Booster App - £60 Value
- Visitor Analytics App - £60 Value
£13.66 /month
Business Unlimited 🏦
- Everything you get with Business Basic Plan, and:
- 35GB Storage
- 10 Video Hours
- Professional Logo - £50 Value
- Social Media Logo files
£20.09 /month
Business VIP 🧧
- Everything you get with Business Unlimited, and more:
- 50GB Storage
- Unlimited Video Hours
- Priority Response
- VIP Support
£28.12 /month
WordPress vs Wix Review Top Tip ⭐
Wix’s advertisements can be very annoying on the free plan.
It's a good idea to hop onto the first paid level, at least. Also, unless you are on an incredible budget, we don't particularly recommend its Free Plan in terms of performance. Those Free Plan issues are mostly due to the 500 MB limitation!
Overall, WordPress gives you the most flexibility - by a long mile. Wix doesn’t allow third-party hosting. Wix vs. WordPress pricing battle round goes to … WordPress! Before you sign up a domain with domain registrars for WP, let’s continue our investigation.
WordPress vs. Wix: SEO
Online Traffic
All right, so what the hell is going on here?
The amount of organic traffic possible from Wix - according to the statistics from ahrefs.com - imply that WordPress delivers at least 400 times better SEO results from organic traffic.
To understand what's going on here, we have to look at several SEO-influencing aspects of web hosting and CMS integrations.
We’ll have to spend a bit of time in this section - to grasp it.
SEO Implications
Search Engine Optimization is not something you want to skip over - if you intend to be visible to a significant audience. This science is a measure of how visible your content is online, particularly in relation to when specific keywords are entered into search engines.
You want a website builder that allows you to configure SEO relevant data pieces, such as:
- Focal keywords
- Meta descriptions
With the right SEO, you can bring in fresh new visitors, and clients. Everyone is competing for the first spot on search rankings. So, what could be the reasons why Wix seems to be struggling in this battle?
Wix Has Mobile Issues
Google is the most popular search engine on the face of the planet - as you probably already knew. So, much of your expected traffic will arrive from that source.
However, Google has started to place a huge amount of significance on the mobile-responsiveness of themes.
You might be saying to yourself that Wix does - indeed - have mobile responsive themes. They do... The problem is that they rely on Flash technologies, rather than HTML. The fastest and most mobile-responsive themes use HTML as the operating framework.
As a result, people may find Wix sites to be fiddly when accessed through phones.
Mobile-First Indexing
This is a double-whammy problem… As the amount of web browsing has skyrocketed up over the years... desktop-based browsing has also been on a steady decline.
Once upon a time, Google’s search algorithms - exclusively - ranked websites based on desktop-based loading speed.
Because, now, most of browsing is done via mobile sites, the fact that Wix has a suspect mobile user experience, plays really badly against them
In fact, things got so bad that Wix offered a public statement - against Google placing them lower in its search engine rankings. We won't get into the spiel that Wix went through, but it's safe to say that when you have to defend yourself in the races, you are probably behind.
Overall: Google does down-rank Wix websites. And that is clear, from the immensely-reduced amount of organic traffic potential, as compared to WordPress.
Wix vs. WordPress: eCommerce
Wix vs WordPress eCommerce
Wix offers some cool eCommerce features - like the Wix Logo Maker - but, once again, WordPress stats are overwhelming it, though not just in terms of features…
For eCommerce, these two things are critical:
- Speed
- Stability (including security)
WP Has An Unbeatable Infrastructure
Wix does not let you choose from the diverse range of resource-powers that are on the web hosts market. The Wix vs WordPress team thinks that - in this context - it is trying to do too many things: Designing and hosting. It can’t be the best at both.
WordPress focuses on designing. It does hosting on the side, and offers the chance to use better alternatives.
For example, the officially-recommended host - SiteGround - adds to the many plugins and configuration exercises you can perform, to substantially boost your WP page loading times and, thus, typical conversion rates.This is one reason why we recommend a great WordPress host that is well-integrated with WP.
Have a look at some bonus features SG offers:
- Hosted on WordPress-optimized architecture
- A special type of WordPress Cache is provided
- Extra WordPress security features
- WordPress related support
- WP-CLI
- Automated website transfers
Alternatively, if you'd like to choose a website builder/hosting platform dedicated solely to Ecommerce, you can check out our Shopify review.
Wix vs. WordPress: Review of Features
WordPress vs. Wix: Hosting
This is a major difference between Wix and WordPress.org - among others.
Wordpress.org allows you to connect any third-party host to your WordPress CMS. Another way of saying this is that hosting is a completely separate matter to WP. You have a full and diverse market to choose from.
By contrast, Wix forces you to post on their servers. This has several possible implications:
Wix vs. WordPress: Security
Hosting on one set of servers makes the odds of you being targeted - by a cybercriminal - that much more likely. This is not to say that Wix servers are a risk... But that they are - probabilistically - a higher risk, than if you were to choose an option with many diverse locations.
Also, if you went for a hosting type that Wix does not specifically offer, you would further reduce the chances of being targeted by malware or hacks.
For example, dedicated hosting or cloud hosting have an extra layer of security around them. As compared to shared hosting types, you have a private or virtual network, to transfer your data across.
WordPress vs. Wix: Speed & Stability
Unlike Wix, you can speed up WordPress on your own and it's way more customizable in that way. However, because we’ll be talkin about speed in the section lower down, let's focus on stability, here.
There are several issues regarding Wix's stupidity that are to do with mobile-responsiveness and its use of Flash technologies. They are making a move to HTML, but until that point there is a question mark as to how reliable the average Wix website is.
Wix vs. WordPress: Design
This Animated Wix site does some amazing things. It's an animated portfolio featuring many different artists. At first appearances, you’d think it was on-level with WP. 
In fact, it has some beautiful design patterns. The creators of the site used Wix's infrastructure in its favour. The Wix vs. WordPress review team selected this example - out of all of the other possible ones - because we think it perfectly demonstrates the sort of thing that Wix is very good at.
If you are a small, personalized business or an artist of some sort, Wix can give you something fancible. Throw things at the design UI. Move things about. Still, it won’t be able to customize things to the degree that WordPress can.
It should also be noted that many of the tricks Wix uses are not necessarily optimal for SEO, nor for conversion purposes.
You won't be able to tell from the screenshot, but the intro page has a video running in the background. Animations are typically a burden on page loading times. And Wix, is especially known to suffer from slow times when it uses lots of animations.
To give you a contrast, the easiest way to demonstrate the range of beautiful customisation is that possible when the website WordPress platform, have a look at this list of big brands that use them:
- ☑️ PlayStation
- ☑️ Bloomberg
- ☑️ Star Wars
- ☑️ Disney
- ☑️ Facebook
- ☑️ BBC America
- ☑️ TechCrunch
- ☑️ The New Yorker
- ☑️ Variety
- ☑️ Sony music
- ☑️ Beyonce
- ☑️ Microsoft News Centre
- ☑️ The New York Times
- ☑️ Marks and Spencer for Business
- ☑️ The Rolling Stones
- ☑️ The Wall Street Journal Law Blog
WordPress vs. Wix: Speed
WP Is Like Water… Be Like Water
The answer to this question is a matter of your web host of choice. WP is the only one of the two that allows you to choose any host you want - to host the content that you have arranged on the WP CMS.
In other words, the massive probability is that you will find a better value-for-money, better-performing hosting option, as compared to Wix. This is because you would - otherwise - have to rely on Wix's hosting infrastructures. These are decent but certainly not the best out there on the market.
Website speed is critical for the success of your website, particularly for making conversions. With WordPress, everything is in your hands.
Simply search for the best hosting provider possible, optimize further - through codes, plugins, and so on. You'll be on your way to achieving a sub-1-second loading time, which is optimal for conversion purposes.
No contest.
Wix vs. WordPress: HTML vs. Flash
Wix websites are built on Flash technologies. They are trying to make a move to HTML5, because many phones do not like flash. There is also speculation that Google's SEO does not like Wix websites, for this reason. Wix has a lot lower organic traffic rates than WordPress does, as a consequence.
It is a known fact that Wix websites do not load as quickly as those built on HTML technologies, such as WordPress. Taking 10 seconds for your content to load is a great way to turn your audience off... But a fast user experience encourages them to return over and over again.
Here is a test example of one of the best WordPress hosts you could opt for - SiteGround. Pingdom was used to get an accurate result of page loading times:
As shown, the loading time with SiteGround was a bit over second, which places it in the top-tier category. If you went for a higher-tier than the basic level, you would get even better speeds.
WordPress vs. Wix: Storage
WP is Limitless, Wix Depends On Plans
Remember that WordPress.org differs from WordPress.com. If you choose the first option, you will not be hosted by WP. Which means that you are free to select any host you choose (Wix does not allow this), which is why the answer to this question really depends.
As an example, for example with SiteGround, for £3.29/month you get 10GB space. Whereas for £4.40/month with Wix, you get only 3GB… Generally, you can probably find a much better deal with WP - in terms of storage.
Overall, we recommend - as a Wix rule of thumb - that you select a high-level plan, if you intend to have any significant amount of data and audience interaction on your Wix website. With premium tiers, you end up with much better service for decent prices.
For example, the Wix Unlimited Plan gives you an unlimited amount of websites for 120 squid yearly. Still, WP wins.
Wix vs. WordPress: FAQs
Whether you’ve wandered through this Ultimate Guide / WordPress vs Wix review, or you have taken a sneaky shortcut and skipped ahead to the juicy parts.
Either way - in this final stretch of the Wix vs. WordPress review guide - we’ve condensed lots of data down into lovely sound-bites. Here are the most common questions + our review team's conclusions.
Can You Switch From Wix to WordPress?
Plain and simply, Wix does not allow you to host with another provider. This includes migrating your content over to another platform or web host.
You will still fully own exclusive rights to the content, however your contractual obligations with Wix means that it is agreed they will solely manage all of your content on the Wix CMS.
They have no obligation to move across to another solution. In many ways, this is one of the dividing lines between an easy-to-use website builder and something as comprehensive as WordPress. WP does not force you to rely on its servers and server management. Whereas, Wix does.
With WordPress, you have massive flexibility in the provider that you choose. For example if you want to:
- upgrade to cloud hosting
- give your website a Sonic the Hedgehog boost in speed with dedicated hosting
The good news is that Wix has a good reputation with its page loading speeds. The bad news is that the game of page loading times massively influences conversion rates. So, settling with them may lose you invisible sales.
Is Wix Easier to Use Than WordPress?
Absolutely, in most cases.
Wix and Weebly are the simplest popular site builders.
See our SITE123 review for a possible third alternative.
Some people may find WordPress easy-to-use after a quick tutorial, and especially if they find a light theme. However, the intense level customizability means that there are many more options to play with.
Here is a quick and easy step-by-step guide on how to install WordPress.
This can appear daunting.
The biggest separator - in terms of ease of use - is that WordPress does not have a native drag-and-drop editor. Plus, the interface is a bit harder to get the hang of. The intuitive level is less than Wix’s, and you have to get used to where things are.
With Wix, it's similar to using a paintbrush. Everything is on-screen. You point and click, and drag things around as you see them.
Overall, WordPress requires a little bit more proactivity from the user. For example, out-of-date plugins often become abused by cybercriminals. These are one of the reasons why hundreds of thousands of websites get hacked at the same time – these are all using the same vulnerable plugin.
To get the most out of Wordpress, you must do some maintenance checks:
- update WP itself
- update themes
- manage plugins
- make sure your web host uses the latest PHP
If you fail to update any of these, you may open your site up to hackers, or other kinds of attackers.
Is Wix Better Than WordPress?
Puff-Puff…
The short answer is no.
It can hardly be argued that - in Wix vs. WordPress - WordPress is much better. This is particularly the case if you have an online business idea that needs finesse. Even for those looking for a blog, you will find that Wix doesn't have many crucial features, including the option to:
- backdate posts
- make private blog posts
- & to feature images
Wix's native text editor really is quite limited for formatting purposes. In contrast, WordPress began as a blogging tool. it wasn't until later down the line that it's turned into a fully-comprehensive website builder.
For this reason, WP lets you create beautiful layouts for your blog posts. With it is an immense directory of features & plugins that it would take another article to list them all. While Wix offers over 500 templates, WordPress has thousands - each with much less in the way of restrictions for customization purposes.
Wix vs. WordPress pricing? Wix may not even win there, as there are so many cheap hosts out there, that can connect to WP... Also see our Weebly review, if you’re set on using an intuitive site builder, however...
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