Wix vs WordPress: 2024 website builder comparison

Wix and WordPress are both excellent platforms to use if you’re building a website, either for your personal brand or for a small business. But they are very different.

We’ve tested Wix and WordPress so that we can help you make the right choice for getting online.

Of course, what you’re looking for might not always match what someone else wants from their website-building experience, so we’ve broken our page down into a range of sections, providing clear advice on which brands come out on top.

Wix vs WordPress: Key takeaways

Before you jump into our analysis, it’s worth noting that Wix and WordPress operate in very different ways.

While Wix is a website builder that can help automate a lot of the building experience, WordPress is a CMS platform.

Wix is a much more accessible option for those new to building websites, whereas WordPress is likely to be a more flexible but complex option.

Take a look at our summary of each brand in the boxes below for the main headlines. If you want more detail, continue reading the sections below.

From £7.50/month

Wix: Best all-round website builder

Wix is the easiest website builder to use, beating out every other builder we’ve tested. It also offers an excellent range of options, with hundreds of templates to choose from and all the features and tools you could need.

Full review

From £3/month

WordPress: Most flexible website solution

WordPress offers an enormous amount of flexibility and functionality that can make it the best choice for almost any sort of online platform. At the same time, it can be a more complex experience for users, so may not suit newcomers to the online world.

You can compare Wix, WordPress and a range of other brands on our best website builder page.

Wix vs WordPress: Feature comparison

The key takeaways above might have helped you make a choice already, but it’s always worth getting a little more detail if you can.

In the sections below, we’ve compared Wix and WordPress across a range of important features.

You have a better idea than anyone what you want from your new website, so take a look at the sections that matter most to you or your business to make sure you can make the best decision possible.

Ease of use

For many people, ease of use is among the most important factors when it comes to choosing a platform to get online.

When it comes to Wix and WordPress, it’s important to remember the differences. While both offer a basic website builder package, Wix is the more simple choice of the two.

As a website builder, we’d rate Wix as the easiest to use overall of all of the brands we’ve compared. It offers a dashboard that’s easy to navigate with a lot of your core needs taken care of without the need for much manual work.

On the other hand, WordPress requires a little more attention to reach the same basic standard of website.

Whereas the majority of your services, tools and features will be built into your Wix dashboard, with WordPress you’ll typically need to install plugins to achieve the same results. Many of these can be incredibly simple to use, though others may be more complex.

For us, Wix is the easier-to-use choice of the two, though, for those with more experience, the range of options with WordPress may make it a better choice.

Prices

If you aim to spend as little as possible, then WordPress offers one of the cheapest plans on the market.

At just £3 per month, the WordPress.com Starter plan includes a domain as standard, with an ad-free experience and a few other features.

Wix’s cheapest plan comes in at £9 per month. The Light plan includes many of the same features as the WordPress option above.

However, there are several differences to be aware of. With WordPress, you’ll need to opt for at least the £20 per month Creator plan to be able to install and use plugins on your site.

On the other hand, with Wix, you’ll need to pay £16 per month to get access to analytics and some of the other tools you may need.

	Wix	WordPress
Cheapest plan	£9/month	£3/month
Most expensive plan	£119/month	£51/month
Number of plans	4	5

If you only want to build a simple website to display basic information or content, then the £3 option from WordPress is probably OK. However, if you’re looking to create a more complex site, you might find that Wix is the better option.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that for some of the most important plugins from WordPress, you may need to pay an additional cost to a third-party provider.

Templates

When it comes to templates, Wix is among the best options for pure website builders.

It offers over 500 designer-made templates to choose from meaning that, whatever industry you work in and style of site you’re building, you’ll probably be able to find the right option.

With Wix, you can also feel confident that your template will work well. By default, the professionally-designed templates available are mobile-first, meaning they’ll work across a range of devices, and optimised for the best possible experience.

If you want a quick and easy template that looks professional, then Wix is a very good option.

WordPress, on the other hand, offers a much larger range of options. According to WPZoom, WordPress offers more than 30,000 themes to choose from. This is largely because anyone can create templates to use on the platform.

The upside of WordPress’s enormous selection is that, as with Wix, you’re going to find something that suits you. The downside is that you’ll have to pay for a lot of these templates.

You may also find WordPress templates more difficult to use, and you’ll probably have to pay more attention to things like site speed and mobile experience.

When it comes down to it, which brand is better for templates depends on what you’re looking for. For an easy experience without much hassle, Wix is the better choice. For those with more experience and specific needs, WordPress may be the right choice.

SEO

Wix provides its users with an in-built SEO tab in its dashboard. With the dashboard, website owners have an easy-to-use platform that offers clear guides on how to set up your site, along with actions post-launch.

As you first set up your new website, the SEO dashboard includes a setup checklist. You’ll answer a series of questions about the site you’re launching, as well as choose the priority keywords you’re going after.

Once you’ve finished answering questions, Wix will suggest several actions for you to take. This can include anything from adding text or images to your homepage to something more technical, like connecting your new site to Google Analytics.

Whatever actions are suggested, Wix will also provide a brief explainer as to how to do it, along with a prompt on why it’s important.

For some of the more advanced tools, you’ll need to upgrade your Wix plan – this is fairly common for website builders.

Your approach to SEO with WordPress could vary considerably depending on several factors. Primarily, it will depend on which plugin – or plugins – you choose to make use of.

Yoast SEO is among the most popular tools on WordPress to help website owners optimise for search. It offers both Free and Premium plans, meaning that you’ll have to choose which route to take.

Yoast SEO’s Free plan offers basic functionality – letting you set metadata for your pages, for example – whereas the Premium plan expands considerably on what’s on offer.

Overall, whether Wix or WordPress is a better fit for you when it comes to SEO will depend on your comfort with the subject.

An experienced SEO professional would likely prefer the customisation and flexibility offered by WordPress and its network of third-party plugins. A less experienced website owner would more likely prefer the guided actions from Wix.

Ecommerce

Wix provides basic ecommerce features for any users paying for the Core plan, costing £14 per month.

All of Wix’s ecommerce-enabled plans include the ability to accept payments for products, plans or subscriptions. They also enable selling on marketplaces and social media channels.

Wix allows online shop owners to have up to 50,000 products on their site. This includes variations of single products. For example, if you were selling a product in five colours, it would count as five products, not one.

For most people, the 50,000 limit on products will not be a problem.

Wix also includes abandoned cart functionality with all of its ecommerce plans. This is a powerful feature that can help you to re-engage lost clients and is commonly added as a paid extra to other platforms.

Once you upgrade to Wix’s Business or Business Elite plans – costing £20 and £119 per month respectively – you’ll gain access to advanced ecommerce features, including support for multiple currencies.

Just like using SEO, ecommerce with WordPress operates quite differently than it does with Wix or any other website builders.

For starters, you’ll need to use a third-party ecommerce tool like WooCommerce.

WooCommerce is a platform that has been designed and built to integrate with WordPress. It essentially provides a dashboard for you to use within your main WordPress website.

From the WooCommerce dashboard, you can manage products, payment options and shipping, along with a range of other features.

Of course, WooCommerce isn’t the only option available for WordPress ecommerce so there’ll be more research needed to find the best choice for you.

Overall, WordPress has the potential to offer a more in-depth ecommerce experience – especially compared to some of the cheaper Wix plans. However, when it comes to ease of use, Wix is a better choice.

As with other factors on this page, whether WordPress or Wix is better for you largely comes down to your level of experience.

If you’re a professional with years of online experience, you’ll probably go for Wix and make use of the ecom plugins. If you’re new to online retail, Wix is the obvious choice to go for.

User reviews

We generally recommend that user reviews are taken with a pinch of salt. This is as true for website builders as it is for any other product.

However, you can find basic information in user reviews that can help you understand what benefits or negatives to look out for.

On Trustpilot, as of May 28th, 2024:

Wix scores 4.6 out of 5 stars. Over 17,000 people have reviewed Wix with over 70% rating it 5 stars.
WordPress.com scores 1.9 out of 5 stars. Over 3,400 have reviewed Wix with just over 50% rating it 5 stars.

It’s worth noting that there is a big difference in the number of reviews for each brand.

It’s also worth mentioning that several of the user reviews we read for WordPress are in line with our recommendations around ease of use. Broadly, the key takeaway is that WordPress is a more difficult platform to get to grips with than something like Wix.

Wix vs WordPress: Summary

The first thing to mention in this summary is that Wix and WordPress are very different options to choose between.

Broadly, our advice would be to make your decision based on experience. If you’re an experienced online professional looking to build something new, WordPress will normally be the right choice.

If you’re new to the online world and looking for an easy entrance to it, Wix is the one for you.

Take a look at the list below for our head-to-head view of each of the factors and features covered on this page.

Ease-of-use: Wix is the easier-to-use option, without question.
Price: WordPress offers a cheaper plan overall, but for more advanced sites, Wix is probably cheaper.
Templates: WordPress is the clear winner in terms of volume.
SEO: Wix is easier to get to grips with and has SEO built-in, though WordPress offers more flexibility through third-party plugins.
Ecommerce: Wix is easier to get to grips with and has ecommerce options built-in, though WordPress offers more flexibility through third-party plugins.
User reviews: Wix is the clear winner, though in large part this is down to user expertise.

There’s no clear winner between Wix and WordPress. Again, the most important thing for anyone choosing between them is to base your decision on your levels of experience.

WordPress is a superb choice that offers massive flexibility and scalability. For those with experience – or for those looking to learn a lot – it’s the superior option for the long-term.

On the other hand, Wix is a less flexible option that still provides a good level of scalability. If you want your website built quickly and easily, then it’s the better choice for you.

Bryn Glover

Bryn is the founder and editor of WebsiteJumpStart. He has worked in the digital field for over a decade and was editor for Startups.co.uk - the UK's leading small business website - and for NerdWallet UK before launching WebsiteJumpStart to help people and businesses get online with ease.

Website launch checklist: Download our guide

Launching a website is a process of several steps. If you want your website to run smoothly and look good, it’s important to complete those steps in the right way. Our website launch checklist is here to help you with exactly that. Take a look at the sections and

July 24, 2024 No Comments

Content brief template

Whether you run a personal or small business website, creating engaging and interesting content is vital to engaging with your audience and hitting your goals. Every page on your website will have content of some kind – from your homepage and about us page to product listings or articles.

July 18, 2024 No Comments

GoDaddy vs WordPress: Website builder comparison

GoDaddy and WordPress are both excellent options for individuals and small business owners planning to launch a website. We’ve tested GoDaddy, WordPress and a whole range of other builders to help you make a decision on which brand is best for you. Of course, what you or your

July 10, 2024 No Comments

Squarespace vs WordPress: Website builder comparison

Squarespace and WordPress are great tools for business owners looking to launch their brands online or for people trying to start a personal website. We’ve tested both options – and a whole load of others – to help you decide which brand is best for you. Obviously, different people and

July 9, 2024 No Comments

Squarespace vs GoDaddy

Squarespace and GoDaddy are well-known and well-liked website builders that simplify building an online platform. To help you choose between the two brands, we’ve tested them both and put together an in-depth comparison. Of course, what matters most for one person may be less important to another. That’s

June 13, 2024 No Comments

Wix vs GoDaddy: Website builder comparison

Wix and GoDaddy are both popular website builders for anyone looking to launch an online platform, whether for personal or business purposes. We’ve tested and reviewed both GoDaddy and Wix to help you make the right choice. Remember that what you’re looking for might not match another person’s needs, so

June 5, 2024 No Comments

Wix vs WordPress: Website builder comparison

Table of Contents