Picking a publishing platform for your blog is often much more complicated than you might think. Since each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages, many are left confused with the “real” difference between them. That’s why in this article, I will break down everything you need to know about Wix vs WordPress.
Wix and WordPress are two well-known publishing (or blogging) platforms preferred by many beginner bloggers. Although WordPress is notably more popular than Wix, it does not necessarily mean that WordPress is better for you.
Now let’s jump into an in-depth analysis of Wix vs WordPress, and learn the advantages of both platforms in terms of usability, flexibility, SEO, and price.
What Is WordPress?
Note: This article is about WordPress.org, the self-hosted platform, not WordPress.com.
WordPress at its core is a Content Management System (CMS). It is a platform for publishing, editing, modifying, deleting, and organizing content.
On May 27, 2019, WordPress was celebrating its 16 anniversary. Since 2003, the platform has been asserting its position as one of the best CMS available.
This amazing application has become the most used blogging platform by dominating over 78% of the CMS market in 2019.
So, what is the secret behind its success?
The answer is quite simple: WordPress allows you to create and run a website without having to code. It offers thousands of free themes and plugins, which can be used to enrich your site’s functions.
While there are a lot of other CMS-based blogging platforms out there, WordPress remains the best one, thanks to its universal use and impressive functionality.
To get started, you need to buy a hosting plan and start building your site. WordPress is a self-hosted platform, which means you do have to invest in web hosting and a domain name.
What Is Wix?
Wix is a website builder with an easy to use drag-and-drop editor. It offers hundreds of intuitive templates and tools to help you build the ultimate site without having to code.
Wix is equipped with HTML 5, which is one of the most sophisticated technologies in web development. This platform allows you to create a stunning-looking website for eCommerce, promotion, business, or a professional portfolio.
Currently, Wix has 148 million users from 190 different countries. It also has an average of 45.000 new user sign-ups every day. This huge number shows that the platform is quite popular among beginners and professionals alike.
Wix has both free and premium plans. It provides a “freemium” service which will give you access to most of its features without demanding you to pay.
That being said, the premium plan does feel noticeably better, both in terms of features and performance. So, if you have tried using Wix’s free plan and loved it, you will most likely be blown away when upgrading to the paid ones.
Wix vs WordPress: Which One Is Better?
First of all, always keep in mind that everyone has different needs when building a website. What I know as a “great feature” may not be that great for you. Therefore, you need to focus on your personal objectives.
Nevertheless, I should state that this article will focus on comparing some basic elements of both Wix and WordPress, including ease of use, flexibility, SEO-friendliness, price and more.
1. Ease of Use
Ease of use is one of the most important aspects when choosing a publishing platform. Whether you are a beginner or experienced user, a well-designed dashboard and an intuitive interface can save you a lot of trouble when developing a website. So Wix vs WordPress – which one’s easier to use?
Wix comes with a drag-and-drop system, which is not uncommon among website builders. The difference is that Wix uses Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to enhance your experience.
You only need to answer a few questions about the purpose of your website, select your preferred design, and your website can be launched within minutes!
WordPress, on the other hand, has a steep learning curve. It is not very difficult to use, but if you have no experience whatsoever, you are going to need a guide to develop your site using WordPress.
However, once you get used to it, developing your site with WordPress will be a fun and rewarding experience.
Installing WordPress is also easy since most hosting providers are equipped with an auto-installer.
Moreover, the platform also has a lot more plugins and themes than Wix.
The Winner: Wix
Wix wins this round by the slightest margin. WordPress does have a bigger selection of plugins that can extend the site’s functions beyond your imagination, but when it comes to simplicity and simplicity, Wix is simply easier to use.
2. Flexibility
Both Wix and WordPress are quite flexible. You can create a blog, website, or even an online store using these amazing platforms.
That being said, there are some noticeable differences between them.
First, WordPress is an open-source platform and Wix is a closed website builder. It means that WordPress allows you to tweak their functions, plugins, and themes, while Wix only allows you to use the provided tools.
This condition can make a significant difference for users. Especially for those who need to create custom features on their sites.
Second, it is true that Wix provides fewer plugins and themes, they are quite stable and have a lower security risk.
On the other hand, while WordPress provides a lot more plugins and themes, not all of them are developed well. There may be some security risks or stability issues that occur in the free plugins you use. Therefore, you need to pick those tools with careful consideration.
Luckily, there are a lot of guides and information about the best and the most trusted WordPress plugins on the internet. With adequate research from various reputable sources, you will know what plugin should you use on your site/blog.
The Winner: WordPress
In terms of flexibility, WordPress is noticeably better than Wix. While both can be used to fulfill a lot of purposes, the vast selection of WordPress plugins and themes is a powerful pro that can not be matched by Wix.
3. Ecommerce
Creating an ecommerce store is one of the most popular reasons why people start looking for a publishing platform. For this purpose, WordPress and Wix both have a different approach.
As a CMS, WordPress by default is not designed to serve a purpose as an ecommerce platform. Luckily, you can use plugins, such as WooCommerce, that are designed specifically to convert your WordPress site into a powerful ecommerce store.
WooCommerce has everything an online store needs: it supports plenty of payment gateways and modules, has the ability to categorize multiple products, and provides tons of additional plugins to help you scale your business.
Meanwhile, Wix is designed to build an ecommerce store right out of the box, especially if you are using the business plan.
The platform includes online payment support, a Visitor Analytics App, a Professional Logo maker, and VIP support to help you develop your business.
Moreover, Wix also has a “commission-free” policy which means that you will get 100% of the payment from every transaction. Meanwhile, since WooCommerce depends on third-party payment systems such as Paypal, you may have to pay a small commission to complete the transaction.
For instance, if you use PayPal, you will not be charged for the first $50.000. However, once your total transactions go over that number, they will start charging you 2,9% plus 30 cents per confirmed-payment.
The Winner: Wix
If you plan to start an ecommerce store from the get-go, and debating on Wix vs WordPress, Wix may be the better option. WordPress does have better scalability since you can choose to upgrade your hosting once your store grows. However, you need to get everything done by yourself, which will take time and a bit of expertise.
Wix, on the other hand, by default provides all the features you need to run an ecommerce store. It even has a commission-free policy that allows you to keep every cent of your income to yourself.
Nevertheless, note that the commission-free policy only applies to Wix’s default payment system. If you are using third-party payment gateways (such as Stripe or PayPal), you may be charged.
4. Blog
WordPress is notably more popular for blogging than Wix, but does it perform better?
Well, first of all, you need to know that both WordPress and Wix are excellent platforms for blogging.
Wix provides all the basic features for blogging: you can write articles, add visual content, categorize your posts, manage your content and more.
Unfortunately, this platform lacks some basic blogging elements, such as the native commenting system and has a very limited text editor.
Meanwhile, WordPress also provides all the basic features for blogging, but you can enhance it with various plugins for creating better and more interesting content, such as the Rich Text Editor or WP Smart Editor.
Moreover, WordPress provides a native commenting system that can be tweaked, customized, or changed completely by using WordPress comment plugins.
The Winner: WordPress
There is one solid reason why WordPress is known as the most popular blogging platform: It provides everything you need and more to start blogging. Wix is not a bad platform to create a blog, but when compared with WordPress, it is underwhelming.
5. SEO
SEO is an important aspect of modern blogging. It will improve the visibility of your content on search engines, thus improving the overall traffic to your site.
To put it into perspective, currently, Google can receive more than 63.000 search requests per second (yes, you read that correctly).
Optimizing your SEO will open the door to a new level of success, that is for sure. But what about Wix vs WordPress – are there any differences regarding SEO?
The answer is both yes and no. You can apply basic SEO principles to both platforms.
However, the real difference between the two lies within the tools. WordPress supports various SEO plugins to optimize your content, such as Yoast, SEMrush, and All in One SEO Pack.
Wix, however, provides an integrated tool “Wix SEO Wizard” to help you optimize the content. It also supports some third party SEO tools, such as Ubersuggest and Keywords Everywhere.
These tools function well and can boost your SEO performance. Nonetheless, I have to say that it still falls short when compared to WordPress. They just do not function as effectively as the WordPress SEO plugins.
The Winner: WordPress
The SEO plugins in WordPress offer better accuracy, features, and effectiveness. You can always use basic SEO principles to boost your Wix SEO performance. But in the end, the range of SEO support on WordPress is simply better.
6. Price
WordPress and Wix are very different in terms of pricing. While you can definitely create a website without spending a penny on both platforms if you are serious about making it in the industry, investing in a website is a good idea.
Wix Pricing
Wix can go as cheap as $4.50/month. However, the cheapest and free plans will leave Wix ads on your site. It also only gives you 1GB bandwidth and 500MB storage, which is quite underwhelming.
I personally recommend you to get the unlimited plan for $12.50/month. This plan comes with unlimited bandwidth, 10GB storage, free domain registration for the first year, and additional tools, such as the Site Booster App and the Visitor Analytics App.
If money is not a problem, you may want to get the VIP plan that costs $24.50/month. It has everything you need to run your website, and you will get priority support.
Moreover, Wix also provides special plans for business and eCommerce sites. The plan costs from $17/month to $35/month. It comes with a built-in online payment system with a 0% commission fee.
WordPress Pricing
WordPress, on the other hand, is completely free. Nevertheless, a CMS cannot work without hosting and other basic necessities (such as a domain, SSL, themes, etc.), which means that you still need to spend some money to create your website.
Depending on your hosting provider, you can pay as low as $0.80/month. When you need to scale up, you can purchase a different plan without hassle.
Moreover, even though WordPress does provide tons of free plugins and themes, you can also buy the premium ones that have more perks and benefits.
The cost varies, for instance, you can go as high as $89/year to get Elegant Themes Club that provides hundreds of premium themes and plugins, or as low as $4/month to get Trustpulse Premium.
The Winner: Both
So who’s got better prices when comparing Wix vs WordPress. Wix does seem more expensive at first, but it comes with all the basic needs to create and run a website. On the contrary, WordPress is free, but you need to pay for hosting, an SSL, domain, premium plugins, etc.
In other words, it’s just a matter of personal preference. If you prefer to not bother with basic needs and intend to go straight into content, Wix definitely is your pick.
But if you plan to limit your budget and have no problem with a little endeavor to create a new website – WordPress is the one you are looking for.
Take Your Pick!
Finally, choosing the champion when debating Wix vs WordPress is quite difficult, especially since both have their advantages.
However, based on the comparison above, I must say that WordPress is the winner of this contest. With a very small margin, though.
While both platforms are quite easy to use, have good flexibility, and provide everything you need to start a website, I feel like WordPress offers a lot more benefits and perks.
Wix can help you create a beautiful, professional-looking website, but it does have more limitations than WordPress, especially in terms of template choices and functions.
Moreover, WordPress also has better scalability. You can start as a free user and upgrade your site bit by bit along the way. This way, you can set your budget according to your current needs.
So, do you agree with me? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
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