You want to build your website. Out of so many platforms out there, you are confused between Wix and WordPress. Wix is an easy-to-use website builder that also offers to host. WordPress is a full-fledged content management system that offers unparalleled flexibility. You need to understand the critical factors in the Wix Vs. WordPress discussion.
In this article, we will present a detailed comparison of both the platforms so that you can make an informed decision. Rest assured, you will have no doubt about the difference between these two platforms by the time you finish reading this article. Let’s get started.
We are going to compare Wix and WordPress on the following metrics:
- How to Build A website on Each Platform
- Functionality
- User-friendliness
- Design options
- Ecommerce
- Blogging
- The Editor
- Data Portability
- Maintenance
- Pricing
1. How to Build A Website on Each Platform
When it comes to website building, Wix and WordPress take entirely different approaches. Wix focuses on ease of use while WordPress focuses on flexibility and customization.
Wix provides a drag and drop website builder and offers a few website templates. In the case of WordPress, you get to choose from thousands of themes and you can customize them as you want. But this can be daunting for beginners who have no idea about website building. It is well known that WordPress has a learning curve.
Let’s have a look at the general website building process for each platform.
How to build a website with Wix
Website building using Wix is a fairly easy process. It asks you a few questions. Based on your answers, you are guided in creating your website.
This is how the process goes:
First, it asks you for whom you want to build a site.
Let’s say you are building a site for yourself. It will show you the following options.
Let’s create a Photography website.
It will ask about your website building experience whether you are pro at it, have built a few websites or you are a beginner. Let’s say you have never built a website before. In this situation, let’s see how Wix can help you build a website.
On the next screen, it will show you Photography websites templates. There are many templates to choose from.
Once you choose a template, click “edit”. A new window will pop up. You will be offered a video tutorial for website building.
You can skip the video tutorial. You will see the Wix editor screen. This is where you customize the website template to your liking.
Everything on your screen is customizable. Adding elements to your site is a very intuitive process.
Just have a look at the options on the left-hand side.
- Menus & Pages: In the site menu, you can add pages like Home, Portfolio, Bio, Projects, Blog, Store, and Members. Page Transitions is an interesting feature that can animate your pages. Options include Horizontal, Verticle, Cross-fade, and Out-in.
- Background: You can select from the gallery of background images, choose a color as a background or add your own background image. You can choose a different background for each page.
- Add: The Add option lets you add a plethora of elements. You can add Text, Image gallery, vector art, Shape, Interactive elements, buttons, box, strip, lists, grids, video, music, social, contact, menu, lightbox, database, blog, store, members and more.
- Add Apps: This opens up the Wix App Market. You can search for apps from different categories and add them to your site.
- My Uploads: Here you can upload your Media.
Once you have customized the website to your liking, you can simply click the “Publish” button to publish your website.
Before publishing, you will be prompted to enter your domain name. You can choose a free domain name from Wix or your own domain name.
So this is how you build a website with Wix.
How to Build A Website With WordPress
When it comes to website building, WordPress has a very different approach than Wix. You cannot just directly start with Website building. There are a few things you need to take care of first.
- Buy Domain and Hosting: To get started with WordPress, you need to have a domain and hosting. Although WordPress is free, you will still need to buy hosting and domain names to make it work. To get the most out of WordPress, you can choose a Managed WordPress host like Nestify, which will take care of speed, security, performance, updates, and backup of your WordPress website.
- Install WordPress: The most important part of this process is to Install WordPress. WordPress is free to download. You can install it on your web server. Most hosting providers offer a one-click WordPress installation. You can also download the official copy of WordPress from their official download page.
- Install Themes: The way WordPress builds websites is through themes. Themes are the framework on which everything is built. There are more than 20,000 themes available. There are free as well as paid themes. There are all sorts of themes for different purposes so you have a lot to choose from. Check out our ultimate list of top 70 free WordPress themes. Choose a responsive theme so that your website will look good on mobile devices. You can customize any theme with the built-in customizer.
On the left-hand side, you will see the Customizer menu. It has the following options:
- Site Identity: Here you can give a title and tagline to your site. You can also upload the site icon and logo here.
- Colors: You can customize colors from this menu.
- Menus: In this tab, you can add a menu and decide the menu location.
- Widgets: You can choose from multiple widgets here. Depending on your theme, you will have different widget locations.
- Homepage Setting: Here you can choose if you want your home page to be a static page or your latest posts page.
- Additional CSS: You can add custom CSS to your theme to change the styling.
The Customizer options will vary depending on your theme. Nonetheless, themes offer ample customizations so that you can create a site that you want.
4. Install a Page-builder Plugin: WordPress by default allows you to create a blog post. You can also customize a page to a certain extent. Page builders take this to the next level. With page builder plugins, you can create beautiful pages for your website. You may want to check out these 14 best WordPress Page builders.
You can create all sorts of pages like About Us, Contact, Pricing, Knowledgebase, FAQs, Support, etc.
5. Install Essential Plugins: Once you have created pages and set up your blog, you need to install some plugins so that your website keeps running smoothly. Although there are more than 50,000 plugins available for WordPress, check out the following sets of plugins that can help you create the website you want:
- SEO Plugins: Use these plugins to take care of SEO for your website.
- Lead Generation Plugins: Lead generation is a very important activity for any website that seeks to grow its business. Use these lead generation plugins to boost your traffic and collect leads effectively.
- Security Plugins: Make your site secure with these security plugins.
- Social Media Plugins: Grow your social media outreach with these Social Media plugins
- Backup Plugins: Keep regular backups of your website with these backup plugins.
- Analytics Plugins: Analyze the traffic of your website with these Analytics plugins so that you can make informed decisions.
- Help Desk Plugins: Add Help Desk to your website so that your customers can contact you. These help desk plugins make this easier.
- Contact Form Plugins: Contact form is an important part of any website. Use one of these plugins to add a contact form to your site.
- Donation Plugins: You can also accept donations on your WordPress website. These free donation plugins take care of every aspect of on-site donation management.
- Directory Plugins: Did you know you can create a directory website with WordPress without bothering about coding it? These directory plugins help you add any kind of directory to your website.
- Real Estate Plugins: If you are running a real estate website then you must check out these real estate plugins. These can add real value to your website.
- Download Manager Plugins: If you are offering downloads on your website, then you need to use download manager plugins to keep things easy to manage.
- Mobile Plugins: A vast majority of people use mobile devices to browse the internet. Your website is no different. You need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile. These mobile plugins add to the user experience of mobile visitors.
So this is how you create a website with WordPress. Though there is ample scope for customization, you might get confused with the choice of plugins and themes. You may decide to hire a developer to help you build your WordPress site. However, once you get the hang of it, you can create hundreds of WordPress websites on your own.
2. Functionality
Every website needs to have certain functionality that serves its purpose. Every template or theme cannot have all the features. We need to consider if we can extend the functionality of our website. Wix and WordPress offer extensions that can add specific functionality to your website.
Wix Apps
To add specific functionality to your Wix website, you need to find an app for that functionality in the Wix App Market.
When it comes to the number of apps, Wix has a handful. The Wix App market currently features about 316 apps. Adding an app to your website is an easy process and each app is tested for compatibility. So you can rest assured that the app will work.
WordPress Plugins
In the case of WordPress, there are more than 60,000 premium as well as free plugins that make almost every functionality possible.
There is a slight hiccup with this. Every plugin may not work properly with the theme you are using. Sometimes a plugin cannot work properly because of the plugins you have already installed. Therefore you have to make a careful choice about which plugins to use.
You can also add custom code to your WordPress website which is not possible with Wix.
3. User-friendliness
User-friendliness can be an important criterion for you if you are a beginner and want to handle your website all by yourself. In such a situation, you would want an easy-to-use dashboard, minimum settings, and as little headache as possible.
When it comes to the Dashboard, Wix offers an attractive, intuitive dashboard whereas WordPress offers a functional albeit unattractive dashboard. The WordPress dashboard is excellent for blog management whereas Wix is not built for blogging.
WordPress has a bit learning curve. You need time to get familiar with plugins and themes. However, it is incredibly easy to add blog posts on your website with WordPress. You can get started easily and it doesn’t need any coding whatsoever.
At the same point, it is easier to create stunning web pages with Wix. You need to use Page builder plugins with WordPress to achieve the same thing.
WordPress requires more understanding of the platform to get the full benefit from it. However, the vibrant and responsive community of WordPress can help you with most of the issues you face.
You need to take a holistic view at user-friendliness when it comes to your website. Is it easier to get problems resolved? Is it easier to grow? Is it easier to maintain the website? You will get these answers as we explore these points further in the article.
4. Design Options
Visitors love a well-designed site. There are many elements that you should consider while designing your site. Is it aesthetically beautiful? Is it easy to navigate? Is it responsive? Is it user-friendly? These are just the factors from the user’s perspective. A web designer has a completely different perspective.
As we have seen, WordPress and Wix both offer a framework for design. WordPress offers themes and Wix offers templates.
Let’s see how these two platforms fare when it comes to design options.
Wix Templates
Wix offers around 500 templates for website building. All these templates are written in HTML5. These are fully responsive. Although the choice seems limited, these templates are categorized by the type of business or purpose the website would serve. Examples include eCommerce, Travel blog, Restaurant, Business, Portfolio, etc.
You can move elements, change the layout, add elements, and rearrange them with the drag and drop feature. There are certain things you can customize.
The restriction Wix imposes is that once you select a template, you cannot change it. You can customize the template but you cannot switch it for another. So you are stuck with the choice of template. You have to be very careful when you choose the template. As you would see further, WordPress does not have such restriction.
WordPress Themes
As templates are with Wix, themes are with WordPress. Yet, WordPress themes outnumber Wix templates by a huge margin. There are more than 20,000 premium as well as free themes available for WordPress.
This vast number of designs makes designing a pleasant task for two reasons: First, you have the flexibility to choose a theme that would suit your particular needs. There are numerous choices. Second, you can even add to the theme. It means you can add custom CSS to the theme to change it the way you want.
All themes work out of the box and can be customized to your liking. Each theme has its own advantages and aesthetic appeal. You are not stuck with one theme. You can try out as many themes you want and switching themes is a very easy task.
WordPress offers you extensive control over your design. You can customize as much as you want.
5. Ecommerce
One of the best ways to earn money from your website is to run an eCommerce store. An online store generates revenue and gives you the flexibility to earn even when you are offline. Now, how effective are these platforms when it comes to running an online store?
Let’s get to it.
Ecommerce With Wix
Wix offers a pre-defined online store template that you can customize. As an alternative, you can add a “Store” Page to your selected template.
Wix offers “online store” functionality primarily through apps that you can add to your site. Some of these apps include:
- Wix Stores: Creates and manages your online store.
- Wix Art Store: You can sell digital art and prints from your site.
- Online Store by Ecwid: Run an online store on your Wix website.
- eCommerce by POWr: Start your eCommerce store
- Amazon by Wix: Showcase your Amazon products on your site.
There are other apps that offer different functionality, e.g an app that allows booking, an app that accepts restaurant orders, and so on.
Wix does not offer extensive options for running an online store. There are limited options when it comes to payment gateways. You do not have much control when it comes to managing your eCommerce site. Overall, Wix does not offer flexibility and performance when it comes to running an online store.
Ecommerce With WordPress
WordPress has numerous plugins that offer the functionality of an online store. Two of them are the most popular and offer extensive functions for any ecommerce project. These are:
- WooCommerce
- Easy Digital Downloads
WooCommerce is a big player in the ecommerce segment. Thousands of online stores run on WooCommerce. It is a free plugin that is available for download in the WordPress Plugin repository. It has more than 4 million active installations.
With WooCommerce, you can create any type of eCommerce website. You can sell physical as well as digital goods. Worldwide shipping is available and there are more than 100 payment gateways you can choose from.
There are add-ons that extend the features of WooCommerce even more. WooCommerce is an ecosystem in itself with a vibrant community that provides support and discussion. Check out our complete beginner’s guide to using WooCommerce.
If you are just selling digital products, then you may want to try the Easy Digital Downloads plugin.
WordPress offers innumerable plugins that are designed to help you grow your online business. Right from landing pages, contact forms, exit intent pop-ups to increase conversions, reduce cart-abandonment, payment gateway, there is a plugin for every need.
When it comes to running an online store, WordPress is a far better solution than Wix.
6. Blogging
Blogging is one of the most important activities people do on the internet. The number of people who blog regularly is increasing at a steady pace. Blogging isn’t a pastime anymore. You can earn a steady income by monetizing your blog.
If you want to build a website primarily for blogging purposes, then you should definitely check out the pros and cons of both the platforms.
Blogging With Wix
You can add a blog to your website using the “Blog” option in the “page” menu.
It comes with basic blogging features such as categories, tags, images, videos, archives, etc. It uses Facebook comments for commenting.
It does not have a full-fledged editor when it comes to blogging. The plain text editor does not offer many formatting options. Wix does not perform up to the mark when it comes to blogging as it misses so many features a blog requires.
Blogging With WordPress
WordPress has always been a blogging platform first and a CMS later. WordPress provides an excellent blogging experience.
It has all the features a blog would need; content management, commenting, reverse chronological index, a full-fledged editor, widgets, and plugins.
Adding a new blog post is easy and intuitive. The introduction of the new Gutenberg editor makes it even easier with its powerful features.
7. The Editor
An important feature of any website builder is the Editor. This is where you create posts, edit pages and make the content.
Wix Editor
Wix offers a visual editor that utilizes drag and drop to give a unique editing experience.
You can edit any element on the page. Move it, rearrange it or delete it with just a click. Things are edited visually.
You can see your edits live. You don’t have to leave the page you are editing to see the changes. If you can click an element, you can change it.
WordPress Editor
WordPress has recently upgraded its Classic Editor to the block-based Gutenberg editor.
It adds to the editing experience as you can simply insert certain features as blocks.
Gutenberg is good for blogging. You can easily add text, images, headings, embed videos, etc. You can add categories, tags, and featured image to your blog post. You can use the same editor to create pages as well. Widgets can add important sections and features to your pages.
Gutenberg does not show you live changes. To see the changes, you have to click on the “preview” tab which takes you to a page where you can see the changes reflected.
8. Data Portability
Data portability is a must-to-consider feature when it comes to any website. We do not always stay with the same host. For any reason, if we decide to switch to a different platform, we need to be sure that we can do so and it can happen without much hassle.
The questions to consider are:
- Can I move my data?
- Can all my data be transferred without any loss?
- Can data transfer take place automatically?
- What will it cost me to move my data?
- What are the limitations when it comes to data portability?
Both these platforms have different answers to these questions. It is important that you take these answers into consideration when you decide to go with a particular platform.
Wix
It is very easy to create a site with Wix. At the same time, it is very difficult to move your site to another hosting provider. The contents of your website, which are created using Wix Editor, can only be hosted exclusively on Wix servers.
In their support document, Wix exclusively mentions that your content cannot be exported anywhere else.
This is a major disadvantage of Wix as a platform.
WordPress
You have the full rights of the content you create on the WordPress platform. Transferring the data is also easy should you choose to change your Host.
Nestify, a premium Managed WordPress Host, can migrate your data safely with zero downtime.
You can easily take backups to your site. There are many plugins available to help you export your data.
When it comes to data portability, WordPress offers complete flexibility.
9. Maintenance
A website needs maintenance. It is a digital machine, after all. The question is how easy it is to maintain your website. You may even ask who is doing this maintenance task? Both platforms have their own pros and cons when it comes to maintenance.
Wix
Wix handles the maintenance and security of your site, you don’t have to worry about it. All the updates and security vulnerabilities are taken care of by Wix.
WordPress
WordPress does not handle the maintenance and security for you. Although it can provide tools for the same, it is you who have to manage the maintenance of your site.
You need to regularly install updates for plugins and themes. The security of your site is your concern which WordPress does not share.
You can be free of concerns about security, maintenance, backups, and updates when you choose a managed WordPress hosting like Nestify.
10. Pricing
Pricing can be the single most important factor when you want to build a website. You cannot exclude pricing from the discussion when you are comparing two platforms. After all, you are paying for these services. You should have a clear idea about what it is going to cost you.
Wix Pricing
Wix offers 4-tier pricing plans. The Combo Plan starts $13 per month. The Unlimited Plan costs $17 per month. The Pro Plan is pegged at $22 per month and the VIP plan costs $39 per month.
If calculated annually, Wix costs anywhere between $156 – $468, depending on the plan you select.
The pricing includes hosting and a free domain for 1 year.
WordPress Pricing
With WordPress, there is a lot of flexibility when it comes to the pricing since WordPress does not bind you to any particular web host.
You are free to choose any web host you want. A cheap host may cost you less than $4/month whereas a Managed WordPress hosting provider like Nestify can cost you$8/month.
The variation in hosting prices depends on what each host is offering. You may be opting for shared hosting, managed hosting, VPS hosting, or cloud hosting. Each has its own benefits and pricing.
You also need to take into account the price of the domain name, premium themes and premium plugins that you purchase.
Conclusion
There are certain areas where Wix is a clear winner and WordPress seems to lag a bit. For example, when you compare the user-friendliness you will find it easier with Wix. However, there are certain points where Wix marks itself as no-go zone. For example, you cannot switch a template once chosen.
The major concerns can be about data portability and pricing. Wix does not support the export of your data. Are you willing to pay for not being able to change the hosting platform?
On the other hand, WordPress offers unparalleled functionality and flexibility. The sheer number of themes and plugins and the vibrant community support are definitely worth a consideration.
Overall, WordPress is a better choice when you consider long-term gains. Wix may offer short term benefits. The question is: do you want to run your website for short term or long term? The answer will guide you to choose the right platform for you.
We hope this article helped you. Do leave your feedback in the comments.
