In every industry, there are different ways of completing a job. The same story is true for website development. WordPress and Wix are two main competitors in the website world. Business owners that do not know the difference, often use a certain platform without knowing the differences. It is important to know they difference between WordPress and Wix, and what your developer is using.
As a WordPress website developer, I am of course slightly biased! However, this article is my most honest representation of both platforms and what they can do for you.
Features of Wix versus WordPress
| Feature | Wix | WordPress |
| Custom Colors and Font | X | X |
| Multiple Pages | X | X |
| Blog Capabilities | X | X |
| Mobile Optimization | X | X |
| Visual Editor | X | X |
| Page Builder | X | X |
| Free Website Option | X | X |
| Drag and Drop | X | |
| Pre-Built Themes | Hundreds | Thousands |
| Plugins and Apps | 200+ | 55,000+ |
| Ecommerce | X | X |
The Major Deciding Factors
You Are Building the Website Yourself
Many business owners want to build their website themselves. In this situation, it is important to have drag and drop features. Wix offers pre-built themes to drop written content and photos into boxes. Be aware that many Wix websites have the reputation for looking alike.
If you want your website to stand out, you need to build a customized WordPress website. However, it will take more effort. WordPress includes page builders, such as WPBakery, which is a front end visual designer.
You Want to Customize Your Website
The customization features in Wix are limited. WordPress provides thousands of plugins and apps to create a beautiful, functional website that stands out among competitors.
The plugins include event calendars, ecommerce layout and billing, creative portfolios, and more. As a website developer, I have been able to provide clients customized design and features using WordPress plugins.
You Want a Free Option
Both WordPress and Wix have free options. When you choose the free options, the domain of your website ends with either wix.com or wordpress.com.
For example, getglobalmarketing.wordpress.com.
However, free Wix websites also include Wix ads. This appears very unprofessional and low budget for a business. If you are looking for a free option, choose WordPress.
You Are Willing to Pay for Hosting
WordPress and Wix offer hosting options to upgrade your website. WordPress is a CSS platform that offers hosting through many companies online. You can either use a free or dynamic premium WordPress template. Bluehost and HostGator are two of the top WordPress hosting companies.
Packages vary depending on the bandwidth, domain privacy, and spam protection. I build my websites on Bluehost. WordPress packages start at $3.95 for 50GB of website space and unlimited subdomains. The Choice Plus package is perfect for ecommerce websites. At $5.95 per month, Choice Plus includes unmetered website space, domain privacy, unlimited subdomains, spam protection, and more.
Wix packages are bought through the Wix website. Pricing starts at $11 per month for only 2 GB of bandwidth. Ecommerce websites must pay at least $20 per month to accept credit cards.
After evaluating WordPress versus Wix, I think they both have their time and place. If you love wasting money than go with Wix! Just kidding… sort of.
If you want to build a website yourself and do not mind ads than Wix is the website platform for you. The drag and drop feature will allow you to build your own site. If you are paying a professional, make sure that they are WordPress website developers! They can provide you with more customizations, templates, SEO optimization, and more affordable, effective hosting.
I apologize if I am offending the Wix professionals in the website world! However, this is my truth and I am sticking to it. If you need a beautiful, WordPress website, contact me, Gillian Rowley at gillian@getglobalmarketing.com or (541) 706-9442.
