Wix vs WordPress
Wix scores 8,6/10, WordPress 7,9/10. Where each one wins, what they cost and who should pick which, side by side.
The short answer
Wix scores 8,6/10 and WordPress scores 7,9/10 on our rubric. Wix is the stronger all-round pick.
Wix leads on ease of use, design and support. WordPress leads on flexibility and value.
Wix starts at 17 US$/mo and has a free plan; WordPress starts at 0 US$/mo and has a free plan. WordPress is the cheaper way in.
Whose server, whose problem
This is less a comparison of features than of ownership. Wix is a hosted service: you never update software or manage a server, and in return the site lives on Wix for good, with no working export. WordPress is software you own. Your content moves between hosts in a standard format, and more than 60,000 plugins cover almost anything, but someone has to keep it updated and secure.
Price follows the same split. Wix Core is $29 a month with everything included. WordPress.com starts lower, at $5 a month on Personal after the first year, and self-hosted WordPress is free software on hosting you pay for. The honest comparison adds your time: a WordPress site left alone for a year collects problems, and a Wix site does not. Wix suits someone who wants to be online this week and never think about software. WordPress pays off when the site will grow for years or has to stay yours.
| Wix | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 8,6 | 7,9 |
| From | 17 US$ | 0 US$ |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Sells online | Yes | Yes |
| Code export | No | Yes |
| Ease of use | 9,2 | 5,6 |
| Design | 8,8 | 7,8 |
| Flexibility | 8,0 | 9,8 |
| Value | 8,4 | 9,2 |
| Support | 8,6 | 6,4 |
What Wix does well
- Largest template library of any builder
- Drag-anywhere editor is genuinely freeform
- App market covers almost every add-on
What WordPress does well
- Powers a large share of the web, so every problem has been solved by someone already
- Tens of thousands of themes and plugins
- You own the site outright and can move it to any host
Who each one is for
Wix. A small business or personal site where you want maximum control over appearance without writing code, and where the site is unlikely to be rebuilt elsewhere. The template library is the largest here, so there is usually a close-enough starting point for any sector.
WordPress. Content-heavy sites, anyone who wants to own the stack outright, and projects where a specific plugin solves a problem no hosted builder addresses. If the site will live for years and change often, the ownership pays for itself.
Pricing side by side
Wix
| Free | $0 | Wix subdomain and Wix branding, no custom domain |
|---|---|---|
| Light | $17/mo | 2 GB storage, 2 collaborators, cannot accept payments |
| Core | $29/mo | 50 GB, basic eCommerce and payments, 5 collaborators |
| Business | $39/mo | 100 GB, standard eCommerce, 10 collaborators |
| Business Elite | $159/mo | unlimited storage, advanced eCommerce, 100 collaborators |
WordPress
| WordPress.org | Free software | you pay for hosting, a domain and any premium plugins or themes |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress.com Personal | $4/mo first year, then $5 | billed yearly, 6 GB, no ads, plugins allowed |
| WordPress.com Premium | $8/mo first year, then $9 | 13 GB, all premium themes, payment buttons, video |
| WordPress.com Business | $25/mo first year, then $28 | 50 GB, SSH and Git deploys, real-time backups, priority support |
| WordPress.com Commerce | $45/mo first year, then $50 | WooCommerce store features on top of Business |
What a year costs
Wix
Wix quotes yearly prices, paid up front, and taxes come on top. Light is $17 a month, but it cannot take payments at all, so the cheapest plan that can sell anything is Core at $29. For most small businesses the choice comes down to Core or Business, which differ by $10 a month and mostly in how much eCommerce and marketing you get.
Plan price
WordPress
WordPress.com's headline prices are introductory. On yearly billing, Personal is $4 a month for the first year and renews at $5; Premium goes from $8 to $9, Business from $25 to $28 and Commerce from $45 to $50. Paying monthly is much more expensive, from $9 a month for Personal to $70 for Commerce, and two- and three-year terms are cheaper still. Budget on the renewal figure, not the first-year one.
Plan price after the first year
Who should skip each one
Wix
Anyone who expects to migrate later, or who needs a design system applied consistently across many pages. The freeform editor works against consistency at scale, and there is no export path.
WordPress
Someone who wants to be online this afternoon and never think about the site again. Every hosted builder here beats it on time-to-live and on not having to care about updates.
The bottom line
Wix
Wix is the safest general-purpose builder for someone who wants a good-looking site quickly and does not want to learn a design tool. Choose Core if you need to take payments, Light if you truly do not, and take your time over the template, because you cannot swap it later.
WordPress
Choose WordPress when you want to own your site outright and expect it to grow into something other builders cannot contain. For most people, WordPress.com's Personal or Premium plan is the sensible way in; developers and content-heavy businesses should look at Business or self-hosting.
Questions people ask
Is Wix better than WordPress?
Wix scores 8,6/10 and WordPress scores 7,9/10 on our rubric. Wix is the stronger all-round pick. Wix leads on ease of use, design and support. WordPress leads on flexibility and value.
Which is cheaper, Wix or WordPress?
Wix starts at 17 US$/mo and has a free plan; WordPress starts at 0 US$/mo and has a free plan. WordPress is the cheaper way in.
Which is easier to use, Wix or WordPress?
Wix scores 9,2/10 for ease of use against WordPress at 5,6/10.
Do Wix and WordPress have a free plan?
Both Wix and WordPress have a free plan.
Can you sell online with Wix and WordPress?
Both Wix and WordPress can take payments and run a store.
Can you move your site off Wix or WordPress?
Wix does not export a working site; WordPress lets you export your code.
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