Wix vs WordPress – Which One Do I Recommend? (Pros and Cons)

It’s easy to be impressed by Wix’s shiny ads and slick marketing. It really is a simple website builder, but once you start doing your own research, you’ll quickly see WordPress at the top of nearly every recommendation list.

So which one should you choose?

I built my first website about twenty years ago, and since then, I’ve tried dozens of different builders. One thing I’ve learned is that choosing the wrong platform can turn into a serious roadblock for your business later on.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through a clear, straightforward comparison between Wix and WordPress. My goal is to help you make a confident choice that not only gets your website online today but also supports your growth for years to come.

• Wix vs WordPress: My Recommendation for Long-Term Success (Quick Summary)
• What is Wix? (An Expert's Overview)
• What is WordPress? (An Expert's Overview)
• Wix vs WordPress: My Detailed Comparison
  • Pricing and Costs
  • Ease of Use and Learning Curve
  • Design Flexibility and Customization
  • Plugins and Apps
  • Wix vs. WordPress for Blogging
  • eCommerce Comparison
  • Data Portability and Ownership
• Final Verdict: My Recommendation
• Frequently Asked Questions About Wix vs WordPress
• Additional Resources for Creating a Website

Wix vs WordPress: My Recommendation for Long-Term Success (Quick Summary)

Let’s cut to the chase. For anyone building a serious, long-term website, my recommendation is WordPress.

While Wix is undeniably easier for your first few hours of building, WordPress gives you the flexibility, power, and ownership that are essential for growth.

At-a-Glance Comparison Table

Feature	Wix	WordPress
Ease of Use	Extremely simple for beginners (drag-and-drop).	Slight learning curve, but powerful and flexible.
Cost	The free plan is very limited. Paid plans can get expensive.	Lower long-term cost with more control over spending.
Customization	Limited to templates and the Wix App Market.	Nearly limitless customization with themes and plugins.
Ownership	You don’t own your site; it lives on Wix’s platform.	You have 100% ownership of your site and all its data.
Scalability	Limited. Difficult to add advanced features.	Highly scalable for any type of site, from a blog to a large store.

What is Wix? (An Expert’s Overview)

Wix is an all-in-one, cloud-based website builder that launched in 2006. It’s built for people who want a purely visual way to create a website.

Its main feature is a simple drag-and-drop editor that lets you build pages without ever needing to see a line of code.

Wix operates as a “closed” platform. This means Wix handles all the technical details like hosting and security for you. While convenient, this also locks you into their system and its rules, which is a major trade-off.

Pros of Using Wix 👍	Cons of Using Wix 👎
The drag-and-drop builder is extremely easy for absolute beginners to use.	You are locked into the platform and cannot easily move your site elsewhere.
It’s an all-in-one platform, so hosting and technical maintenance are handled for you.	Once you choose a design template, you can never switch to another one.
You can get a simple website online very quickly.	The App Market is very limited compared to the WordPress plugin library.
	It becomes significantly more expensive than WordPress as your site grows.
	The blogging, eCommerce, and SEO features are far less powerful than WordPress.

What is WordPress? (An Expert’s Overview)

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) and a giant in the industry, powering over 43% of the internet.

When I talk about WordPress, I’m specifically referring to self-hosted WordPress.org, which gives you maximum control.

Think of self-hosted WordPress as owning your own digital property. You choose your hosting, you own your data, and you have complete freedom to customize everything with a massive library of themes and plugins.

Pros of Using WordPress 👍	Cons of Using WordPress 👎
You have 100% ownership and control over your website and all its data.	There is a slight learning curve compared to all-in-one builders like Wix.
Access a massive library of over 60,000 plugins for limitless functionality.	You are responsible for your own security and backups (though plugins make this easy).
Choose from thousands of themes and switch your design at any time.	You need to purchase your domain and hosting separately.
It is more cost-effective and scalable for long-term growth.
It offers superior SEO, blogging, and eCommerce capabilities.

For more details, see our complete WordPress review or take a look at our beginner’s guide to WordPress.

Wix vs WordPress: My Detailed Comparison

In this section, I will share a more in-depth comparison of the two platforms.

Pricing and Costs

From a cost perspective, my analysis shows that WordPress is far more flexible and cost-effective than Wix in the long run. Wix’s free plan is a marketing hook because real functionality requires pricey upgrades.

Cost Factor	Wix	WordPress
Starting Price	Free (with Wix ads and domain). Paid plans start around $16/month.	Free software. Hosting starts at ~$2.99/month (e.g., Bluehost).
Free Plan Limits	Wix branding, no custom domain, limited storage and features.	Not applicable. You have full control from day one.
eCommerce Costs	Requires a higher-tier plan (starting at $29/month) plus transaction fees.	Free with the WooCommerce plugin. You only pay payment processor fees.

Wix Pricing Details:

The free Wix plan is a non-starter for any serious project because it forces their ads on your site and gives you an unprofessional URL. To remove these, you have to upgrade.

Their Core plan, at $29 per month, is what I’d consider their true starting point for a small business.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the different plans:

	Light	Core	Business	Business Elite
Price	$17 / mo	$29 / mo	$39 / mo	$159 / mo
Best for	The Basics	Engaging Your Audience	Growing Your Brand	Scaling Your Business
Storage	2 GB	50 GB	100 GB	Unlimited
Email Marketing	Light	Basic	Standard	Advanced
Ecommerce	–	✔️	✔️	✔️

I also noticed that each pricing plan has tiered features. For instance, the email marketing features in the Light plan are too limited.

Similarly, eCommerce starts from the Core plan, but to get more features, you need to upgrade to the Business or Business Elite plan.

WordPress Pricing Details:

The WordPress software itself is 100% free. However, you’ll need a domain name and web hosting.

I recommend Bluehost for beginners. It’s about $2.99 per month, and they throw in a free domain. For more details, see my complete Bluehost review.

If you want to start an eCommerce business, then SiteGround is an excellent choice at around $2.99 per month. They are my top recommendation for WooCommerce hosting (WooCommerce is a popular WordPress addon for eCommerce).

WPBeginner is also hosted on SiteGround’s enterprise servers. Read why we switched to SiteGround or take a look at our SiteGround review.

One big advantage of using WordPress is that you can control the pricing. You can choose to pay for paid services you need and use free plugins and tools to limit your expenses.

WordPress Cost Breakdown

Component	Cost / Availability
Hosting + Domain	Starting at $2.99 per month.
Themes	Thousands of free themes available. Premium themes from $19+ (one-time or annual fee).
Plugins (Functionality)	60,000+ free plugins available. Premium plugins are available as your site grows.
eCommerce	Free via the WooCommerce plugin. (Additional costs for premium extensions or payment gateways may apply).
Scaling & Growth	Unlimited growth with hosting upgrades. Integration with third-party marketing and automation tools.

My Verdict: WordPress wins on price, hands down. You have complete control over your budget and access to a competitive hosting market, which keeps costs low and value high.

Ease of Use and Learning Curve

Here’s the truth: both platforms are user-friendly, but they are designed for different goals.

Wix is simpler out of the box, but WordPress’s slight learning curve unlocks a much higher ceiling of power and flexibility.

WordPress itself uses an intuitive block editor. However, its real magic comes from page builder plugins like SeedProd or Divi.

These tools give you a true drag-and-drop visual building experience that, in my expert opinion, is even more powerful than Wix’s editor.

WordPress is the world’s most popular website builder, and the majority of those users are beginners and DIY users. This proves that it is super easy to learn, and most users are able to quickly master the basics.

My Verdict: Don’t let the term “learning curve” scare you. Investing a couple of hours to learn WordPress will pay dividends for years, giving you capabilities that Wix simply can’t match.

Design Flexibility and Customization

When it comes to design, this isn’t a fair fight. WordPress offers infinitely more design flexibility than Wix.

If you want a unique website that you fully control, WordPress is the better choice.

Design Factor	Wix	WordPress
Number of Templates	Over 900+ pre-made templates.	13000 free and thousands of premium themes available.
Ability to Switch	No. Once you choose a template, you cannot switch.	Yes. You can switch themes at any time.
Customization	Limited to the built-in editor and apps.	Limitless. Full control via theme options, page builders, and code.

Wix Design Options:

Wix has over 900 templates, which look good. It is easy to customize a theme with basic point-and-click tools.

If you are making a new website, setting a new template is simple and quick.

But here’s the deal-breaker: once you pick a template, you are locked in forever.

I can’t overstate what a massive problem this is. If you ever want to rebrand or need a feature your template doesn’t support, you have to start over from scratch.

WordPress Design Options:

In WordPress, there are thousands upon thousands of themes. You can switch between them anytime. Better yet, you can use a theme builder like SeedProd to create your own professional, custom design without writing code.

We use SeedProd for many of our partner sites because it lets us build custom designs more quickly and easily.

Plus, if you are starting from scratch, you can use SeedProd AI, which is a vibe coding AI website builder. Simply describe what kind of website you want to build, and it will create it for you, complete with images and content.

My Verdict: WordPress is the decisive winner. It provides the professional-level design control that any serious business needs.

Plugins and Apps

WordPress’s plugin ecosystem is vastly superior to Wix’s app market. For adding new features and functionality, WordPress is in a league of its own.

Extension Factor	Wix	WordPress
Number of Extensions	Over 800+ apps in the Wix App Market.	Over 60,000+ free plugins, plus thousands of premium ones.
Functionality	Covers basic needs like forms and galleries, but limited.	Virtually unlimited. Any feature you can imagine likely has a plugin.

Wix Apps:

The Wix App Market’s 800+ apps cover the basics.

But it’s a walled garden because Wix controls what’s available. You won’t find the same level of innovation or variety you get with an open-source platform.

WordPress Plugins:

Trust me when I say this: if you can think of a feature, there is a WordPress plugin for it.

From advanced contact forms with WPForms to professional analytics with MonsterInsights, the possibilities are infinite. This massive library is arguably WordPress’s greatest asset.

My Verdict: It’s a knockout win for WordPress. The plugin ecosystem gives you the power to build literally anything you can imagine.

Wix vs. WordPress for Blogging

As a blogging platform, WordPress is far more powerful and professional than Wix. WordPress was born for blogging, and its content management features are second to none.

Blogging Feature	Wix	WordPress
Post Editor	A simple, plain text editor with limited formatting.	Powerful block editor for creating rich, custom layouts.
Commenting System	Basic native comments; many users use third-party apps.	Robust, built-in commenting system with full moderation.
Advanced Features	Lacks features like private posts, post backdating, etc.	Includes all advanced features for serious content management.

Blogging with Wix:

Wix treats its blog feature as an add-on. The editor is a basic text field, and its commenting system is so limited that most serious users have to install a third-party tool.

It’s fine for a casual journal, but not for professional content marketing.

Blogging with WordPress:

WordPress provides a superior writing experience with its block editor, allowing you to create engaging, media-rich layouts for every article.

It has a powerful native commenting system and all the advanced tools needed for a professional publishing workflow.

My Verdict: If blogging is important to your strategy, don’t even consider Wix. WordPress is the industry standard for a reason.

eCommerce Comparison

For building a scalable online store, WordPress combined with WooCommerce is a professional-grade solution that blows Wix out of the water.

Wix can handle a few products, but WordPress can build an empire.

eCommerce Factor	Wix	WordPress
Payment Gateways	Limited to Wix Payments and a selection of third-party apps.	Supports all major payment gateways with no restrictions.
Transaction Fees	Charges a processing fee on all transactions (e.g., 2.9% + $0.30 in the US).	No extra transaction fees. You only pay your payment gateway fees.
Scalability	Good for small stores, but the features are limited.	Highly scalable with thousands of dedicated WooCommerce extensions.

Wix eCommerce:

Wix’s eCommerce is only available on their more expensive plans. It works for a very small shop, but you’re locked into their payment system and limited feature set, which restricts your ability to grow.

WordPress eCommerce:

With WordPress, the free WooCommerce plugin transforms your site into a world-class online store.

You can use any payment gateway, you don’t pay extra transaction fees, and you can sell anything from physical goods to digital downloads with Easy Digital Downloads or memberships with MemberPress.

My Verdict: For serious eCommerce, WordPress with WooCommerce is the only platform I recommend. It gives you the freedom and power to build a successful online business without limitations.

Data Portability and Ownership

This is one of the most important comparisons, and it’s not even close. WordPress gives you complete ownership and portability of your data, while Wix essentially holds your content hostage.

Portability Factor	Wix	WordPress
Content Export	You can export blog posts, but not pages, images, or other content.	You can easily export all your content with a one-click tool.
Site Migration	Extremely difficult. Content is hosted exclusively on Wix’s servers.	Simple. You can move your entire site to any hosting provider at any time.

Data Portability in Wix:

Wix makes it nearly impossible to leave their platform. You can’t export your pages or images. This is a deliberate business strategy to lock you in. In my two decades of experience, this is one of the biggest red flags a platform can have.

Data Portability in WordPress:

With WordPress, you own everything. You can create a full backup of your site and move it to a new host in minutes. This freedom is non-negotiable for a serious business.

My Verdict: WordPress is the only choice for anyone who believes in owning their own work. The freedom it provides is priceless.

Final Verdict: My Recommendation

While I can see a case for Wix for a quick, temporary landing page or a small hobby site, my professional recommendation for any serious, long-term project is WordPress.

It comes with the freedom to easily extend your website, grow your business, and increase your revenue alongside. Plus, you control all the data, design, and integrations, which further removes any future roadblocks.

Here is a quick side-by-side comparison with my reasoning.

Category	Winner	My Reason
Cost	WordPress	More cost-effective long-term with full control over spending.
Ease of Use	Wix (for beginners)	Wix has an easier initial setup, but WordPress is more powerful.
Design	WordPress	Limitless design options and the ability to switch themes anytime.
Plugins/Apps	WordPress	A massive ecosystem of over 60,000 plugins provides endless functionality.
Blogging	WordPress	Superior content management features for any serious blogger.
eCommerce	WordPress	Far more scalable and flexible for building a professional online store.
Portability	WordPress	You have 100% ownership and can move your site anywhere, anytime.

Frequently Asked Questions About Wix vs WordPress

1. Which one is cheaper, Wix or WordPress?

In my experience, WordPress is cheaper in the long run. The software is free, and competitive hosting from providers like Bluehost starts around $2.99/month. Wix’s free plan is too limited for serious use, and their paid plans quickly become more expensive than a flexible WordPress setup.

2. Can I transfer my domain away from Wix?

Yes, you can transfer your domain name away from Wix. The catch is that you cannot easily transfer your website’s content—the pages, images, and files. This is a major drawback that makes leaving Wix difficult.

3. Which is better for SEO: Wix vs. WordPress?

WordPress is far better for SEO. It gives you complete control to implement any SEO strategy. I use the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin on my sites, which provides a professional-grade toolkit to optimize content and rank higher.

4. Which platform offers more storage and bandwidth?

WordPress hosting wins by a landslide. Most hosting companies provide “unmetered” storage and bandwidth, which is much more generous than Wix’s hard caps. For instance, Wix’s most basic paid plan gives you a tiny 500 MB of storage, which is simply not enough for a growing site.

Additional Resources for Creating a Website

• How to Make a Website (My Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners)
• How to Start a WordPress Blog the Right Way
• How to Increase Your Website Traffic (Proven Tips)

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