Wix vs WordPress – What is better for your Business?

Globally, there are about 1.74 billion websites with less than 400 million of these estimated to be active. Nearly half of these are run by CMS like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Joomla, Drupal, or Shopify.

When comparing two of the biggest CMS (content management systems) used for building websites, we are still talking about an estimated 160 million Wix and 455 million WordPress websites.

But in this Wix vs WordPress comparison, we want to show you which is better if you want to run a business or become a freelancer.

WordPress vs Wix has been going head to head to control the market for web development and design. As of early 2020, 4,437,215,927 registered internet users are across the world according to Websitehostingrating. The market for these CMS is huge as the number of internet users continues to grow.

After doing some extensive research, we can now finally find out their core strengths and downsides and see which one is better for a business or an everyday blogger. We will look at several key features, the prices, and some of the downsides you have to cope with should you choose either to build your website.

Let’s have a look, and see which is better when Wix vs WordPress gets in the ring!

WordPress vs Wix: Let’s look at why WordPress?

WordPress is the most popular site builder in the world, powering nearly 27% of all websites in 2019, and growing. According to WordPress itself, more than 409 million people view more than 23.6 billion WordPress pages each month and WordPress users produce 69.5 million new posts every month.

It is no wonder that WordPress has become a fan favorite and needs little introduction. However, if you are unfamiliar, we’ll go through some details.

One must understand that there are two variations to WordPress. One is a .org and the other is a .com domain.

WordPress.com allows you to start your own website for free, but there are several downsides. It is a good starting point to experiment with WordPress and occupy your time with web design as a hobby. But anything beyond that makes it unsuitable for a professional website that would generate visitors, subscribers or leads. Here are several other downsides:

• You cannot remove WordPress.com’s ads and brand from your site
• There is only 3GB of storage space. After that, you’ll have to pay extra, starting from $8 a month.
• You cannot monetize your website with things like ads
• You can’t install plugins or any themes to build stunning visuals. Your website will be a basic blog.

WordPress.com is a by no means a bad choice. But it has its strict limits. For this reason, we will avoid talking about WordPress.com and focus on the more professional WP.org with limitless possibilities.

WordPress.org

Here on this link, you can see how many times the latest WordPress.org has been downloaded: WP Counter.

It is perhaps an all-time favorite and nurtures a huge community. WordPress.org has helped launch huge careers and help entire business giants. Some of the most popular WordPress websites are Tripadvisor, Ubisoft, the White House’s homepage, and many others that use WordPress.

However, in order to enjoy all its features, you’d need a web hosting provider.

Key Features

In this comparison, when we say WordPress, we will be referring to the free WordPress.org software from here on out.

WordPress dominates 76.4% of all CMS. Since 2003, WP has evolved to become a leading CMS and an application development framework. What is the key to this successful growth? Simply: You can basically build any type of website using WordPress.org.

WordPress has to be set up with your hosting provider like Bluehost, Siteground or Dreamhost. In most cases, this is a simple one-click install and is really easy with web hosting providers like Bluehost. You can create a website in 15 minutes.

You can also purchase your domain name from your hosting provider or migrate it from an existing domain.

The biggest advantage of WordPress is its customization options, most of which are completely free. You’re able to install plugins to get subscribers, build an email list, add different features, create an online store, and much more. On top of that, you’ll have access to thousands of website themes also for free from Astra themes or plugins like Elementor.

The best part is that you can monetize your website however you want and turn it into a business from day one. You can build affiliate links, create ads, build a free eCommerce store, and much more. WordPress has made some lucky and talented people really rich through passive income sources. Therefore, it is no wonder that the community and its number of users are dominating the market.

Prices

In order to get started with WP,  you have to pay a small fee ranging between $3 to $30 per month.

As mentioned, the prices may vary hugely, depending on the hosting provider and the payment methods (whether it is monthly or yearly.) Bluehost for example has some of the best prices, but you have to pay a yearly subscription.

It is still the best you can get in terms of price and quality. You’ll also get to choose a domain name for free.

With another great hosting provider, called Dreamhost, you can pay yearly and monthly. Their monthly fee for a single WP website is $4.95, and a 3-year subscription can be as low as $2.95.

Downsides to WordPress

The downside of WordPress is that you need to be familiar with it. Learning is easy, but it might take time to get used to the endless number of features, customizations, and endless plugins to extend your website’s updates.

You also need to keep an eye on what plugins you’re using, the image size, and all accumulated data that can slow your page speed and damage your page ranking. WordPress is really great, but one needs to understand its mechanism a little after starting.

Also, a lot depends on your hosting provider, so avoid using the really cheap and crappy ones.

That being said, these challenges can easily be overcome when you decide to work with a professional WordPress development agency. Ultimately, WordPress is relatively intuitive and easy to manoeuver for users, as long as you entrust the actual build and development projects to a pro.

When it comes to publishing regular blog content or updating a webpage, the CMS ensures users can rapidly go through the process. Learning to find your way in the CMS is a lot easier and faster than learning how to develop a professional-looking website from scratch. So, if you opt for WordPress, you don’t want to take any chances with a DIY approach.

How to get started with WordPress?

The procedure is very simple. Most people make the mistake of going to www.WordPress.org and download whatever they can and start from scratch. Nope!

You have to go to one of the hosting providers we’ve mentioned earlier like Bluehost, Siteground, or Dreamhost. Through these hosting providers, you will be able to download WP and have access to various perks. We’d recommend you go with Bluehost for starters as it is the easiest to use and worth the expense.

If you need help with launching your own website, we have a complete guide for free on how to start building your own WordPress website if you are on a tight budget.

Wix vs WordPress: Let’s look at why Wix?

Key features

One of the key strengths of Wix is its simplistic drag-and-drop site builder design that helps you create small websites. There are hundreds of free templates to use. In comparison with WordPress, Wix provides its own web hosting as well as domain names (free and paid) so you don’t have to worry about that.

That is why it is no wonder that amongst simple website building technologies, Wix takes is liked by so many.

Wix was made for those who wish to create simple, yet visually stunning websites for small businesses, artists, shop owners, restaurants, and people with specific hobbies. You get a ton of templates and extra features to choose from. Their drag and drop function is pretty simple and fun.

Prices

Just like with WordPress, you can go with a free option, but it is very limited and won’t look very professional in terms of the domain name and features. This is great if you want to try it out as a hobby. But if you need a professional website with your own domain name, you must choose from one of their premium plans ranging from “Combo” to “Business VIP”. The cheapest plan with a custom domain name costs $13 per month. This is ideal for pro sites with a lot of data storage and ad-free browsing.

You can try out Wix by clicking on “Try Wix” and start designing your website!

Downsides to Wix

There are three things I didn’t like about Wix, and I’d recommend everyone to consider it before paying for it.

Slow-loading pages can damage user experience and SEO. This usually occurs when your page has a lot of data that needs loading and this might be time-consuming if someone has a slow internet connection.

Difficulty to change templates is a problem in case you wish to change things in the future

Tracking requires a paid plan, whereas with WordPress you get Google Analytics and MonsterInsights for free.

Once your website outgrows Wix, you cannot transfer it. This is a huge problem because if you get thousands of visitors and want to set up more features, you’d like to move it to another platform with better data storage, speed, and maintenance. But this means you’d have to create a new website from scratch. With WordPress, this is not a problem, since a lot of hosting providers offer free migration.

Conclusion – Is WordPress a better CMS than Wix?

Looking at the question: “Which is better, when doing a Wix vs WordPress comparison?” We can say that it really depends on what you want. If you want to have absolute control of your website, tinker with the design, build a subscriber list, and have some time on your hand, we’d encourage you to go with WordPress.

Wix is a great option if you want something simple and leave it as it is. But there is a reason why people choose WordPress over Wix. Wix is suitable for everyone. If you’re a business or want to dedicate more time to your website you should consider WordPress.