WordPress vs Wix — Which is better?
We’ve tried out both platforms to a great extent. This is a comprehensive comparison along with our final thoughts on the topic. So read on to find which platform is right for your business between the two.
Let’s jump right in, with a brief introduction of both the platforms.
What is WordPress?
WordPress was founded in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, as a blogging tool but has since transformed into a fully-fledged website building platform.
But there are two versions of WordPress which you need to consider:
Hosted WordPress- Hosted WordPress is referred to as a software as a service (SaaS) tool for building and maintaining websites, available at wordpress.com.
Self-hosted WordPress- Self-hosted WordPress is referred to as a portion of website-building and management software that you can download from wordpress.org. After that, you can install it on your own web server and you will need to buy some hosting for your website.
But, do you know which version of WordPress is being compared to Wix?
The self-hosted version of WordPress.
What is Wix?
Wix is a platform that allows you to build your own website without needing to know how to code. This SaaS tool was founded in 2006. According to Builtwith.com reports- there are around 8.2 million Wix websites right now.
Wix gives you a custom domain name, templates, a content management system (CMS), hosting, ecommerce tools and customer support as some extraordinary benefits.
You don’t need to worry about web hosting as Wix runs ‘in the cloud’. So, if you have access to the internet and a web browser, you can build and run a Wix website from anywhere in the world.
WordPress vs Wix: A Comprehensive Comparison
Now that you know the fundamentals of both the platforms, let’s go in-depth into their individual features. This way, it will be very easy for you to compare between the two and find out the best platform for your business needs:
1. Website Design
One of the first things that people notice is the design of your website. Hence, it’s essential to build a unique and beautiful layout for your pages. Let’s compare WordPress vs Wix in terms of web design.
In WordPress, you can choose from 9,000 free themes and install a default WordPress theme or select one from a third-party developer.
You can apply filters to look for particular designs while you’re searching for a theme. After the theme is installed, you can use the site editor to customize it.
In Wix, you can just choose from 800 pre-designed templates. Make use of the Wix ADI to make this process even easier as it will suggest a website design based on your information.Wix will produce a unique template for you depending on your website’s purpose.
Also, note that Wix doesn’t enable you to switch to a different design. You’ll have to build a new website if you want to use a different template.
Outcome: Since you get a wider variety of flexible themes in WordPress, it is the winner in this category.
2. Ease of use
It is a very simple process if you want to get started with Wix. It will ask you the type of website you want to build once you’ve logged in and then it will send you to its collection of templates for your chosen category.
You can build new pages using a drop-down menu with wix and switch between them in a few seconds.
On the other hand, getting started with WordPress can be a little intimidating as it doesn’t spoon feed you. Even though there are millions of blogs and tutorials covering every step – from building new pages to choosing the right theme, it can take some to know everything about WordPress.
Outcome: This round of the WordPress vs Wix battle goes to Wix, which has you running in no time.
3. SEO
Every Wix site comes with a strong technical SEO base, so you can put more focus on scaling your business. Wix provides a great collection of built-in SEO capabilities designed to help optimize your website.
WordPress also has a great SEO base. After a few technical configurations, search engines can easily index websites built with WordPress. It’s not very difficult to configure your website name, tagline, URL structures and other things. It provides various SEO plugins which you can use to change content, meta descriptions, SEO titles for all your posts and pages.
Outcome: This round is a tie between the platforms.
4. Blogging
Wix and WordPress both are used to create blogs. Let’s take a glance at which one is a better platform to start blogging.
Wix has all the basic features of blogging that enables you to easily add a blog section to your site. For instance: photos and videos, categories and tags etc.
But comments on Wix blogs are not very easy to manage as they are slow. For this purpose, many users install third-party commenting systems like Disqus or Facebook. It even lacks a few features such as building private posts, backdating posts, etc.
On the other hand, WordPress started out as a blogging platform and then transformed into a full-fledged website builder. Currently, it powers over 43% of the total websites.
It has got all the advanced blogging features such as a native commenting system that aren’t there in Wix.
It has a powerful Gutenberg block editor which enables you to create attractive layouts for your blog posts. Not to forget, you can even expand your blog using plugins.
Outcome: In terms of blogging, WordPress totally surpasses Wix.
5. Security
In terms of security, WordPress and Wix have two completely different approaches.
Wix allows you just the basics – like enabling two-factor authentication, and choosing a good password. Till you keep paying for this service, there will be people who will keep your website secure.
WordPress, on the other hand, places this burden on your shoulders. You need to stay updated, choose the right host, check for all the errors and handle almost everything by yourself.
To a few of you, this may seem like a big responsibility, but it actually makes sense because you have the option to make your site as secure as you want it to be.
There are various plugins also like WordFence to keep your websites secure with WordPress.
Outcome: Securing your WordPress website is not that difficult as long as you stay on top of the components we mentioned above. Hence, WordPress takes the crown again this round.
6. Pricing
Wix has a free version where you can get access to the 100s of templates, free hosting and unlimited pages. You can get even more if you upgrade to Premium.
Combo Plan: $16/mo (2GB bandwidth, 3GB storage).
Unlimited Plan: $22/mo (unlimited bandwidth, 10GB storage).
VIP Plan: $45/mo (unlimited bandwidth, 35GB storage, priority customer support).
To run your website through WordPress, you need to purchase a domain name and web hosting from a third-party. A domain name costs around $20/year and web hosting costs $10/month. You’ll have to buy most of the professional themes and some extensions.
Outcome: Without too much help, Wix lets you build and maintain your website from a third-party service provider. WordPress has all the features but additional charges may apply for adjustments or extensions required by your website.
For the above reasons, Wix is a better option as far as pricing is concerned.
7. Ecommerce
Let’s see who does it better in eCommerce since selling things online is one of the crucial features that most users look for.
The overall features of wix e-com platform are limited and most importantly, provides eCommerce only with their paid plans.
Whereas, with WordPress you can build your own online store using WooCommerce. There are various eCommerce plugins also available that you can use to sell digital goods and many other things with WordPress.
Outcome: If you want to grow and build a proper online store then WordPress +WooCommerce provides much more flexibility and choices when compared to Wix. So, WordPress is the clear winner of this round.
8. Data Portability
Data portability enables you to freely move your content away when you need it. Let’s take a glance at who does it better in terms of data portability.
With Wix, you can only export your blogs in XML format and you’ll have to manually download your images, videos, pages, etc. Whereas, WordPress is a great content management system which makes it very easy to export your content. You can even create complete WordPress backups and much more with this self-hosted platform.
Outcome: When compared to Wix, WordPress makes it easy to move your content away. Hence, WordPress takes the crown again.
9. Support
Wix offers a strong knowledge base along with a telephone and support. You can even request a call back from their side. However, WordPress only offers libraries filled with articles that have been written on how to perform any action using the CMS.
Outcome: In terms of support, Wix takes the crown over WordPress.
Final Thoughts
Wix is an all-in-one website builder which is easy to use and designed to help anyone build an incredible website without learning coding.
Whereas, WordPress is a flexible and dynamic platform that provides total control over your website, from design to security.
Wix is one of the best platforms for beginners, whereas WordPress requires technical skills and knowledge. It all actually depends on what you’re looking for. For instance, if you run a large online bookstore then WordPress is an incredible choice for growing your business.
Both Wix and WordPress come under one of the best website builders for most users. With wix, you pay a single fee for both the host and website builder. WordPress is free, but you pay a separate hosting company.
So we recommend using WordPress if you need advanced customization options. And choose Wix if you want a platform that’s simple to use without knowing any technical abilities.
