WordPress vs Wix: What is the Best Choice for You?

These days, having a website for your business or personal brand is essential. You can use your website to attract new customers, sell products or services, showcase your portfolio, and so on.

Thankfully, you can build a website easily and affordably using a website builder or content management system (CMS). Two popular options are WordPress and Wix. 

Which one is right for you? 

In this article, we’ll provide a brief overview of WordPress vs Wix. We’ll also compare and contrast these tools so you can determine the right website-building solution for you. 

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) that you can use to create professional websites. It launched back in 2003. Over the years, it’s become the most popular CMS on the market. Over 43% of all websites on the internet are built using WordPress.

Name.com’s WordPress hosting

Here at Name.com, our WordPress plans come with the following features:

• One-click installation
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth
• Free daily backups
• Theme and plugin support
• Free Let’s Encrypt SSL
• Website maintenance

Be sure to learn more about traditional web hosting vs WordPress hosting.

WordPress themes and plugins

Once you have your hosting, you can start designing your WordPress website using WordPress themes and plugins. Why use WordPress? Well, compared to other website builders, WordPress’ selection of themes and plugins is second to none. WordPress users can choose from over 10,000 themes and 60,000 plugins.

WordPress themes are pre-designed templates that can adjust your website’s appearance. Your theme selection will determine your website’s color scheme, fonts, page layout, menu bar, and more. If you want to change your theme down the line, you can do so without disrupting any of your web page content. The WordPress platform offers free and premium themes, which provide more functionality than their free counterparts. There’s also a plethora of third-party sites offering even more themes and templates, sometimes at a cheaper price than directly from WordPress.

Meanwhile, WordPress plugins are pieces of code that can add new features or functions to your website. You can find plugins for just about everything. Some of of the most popular WordPress plugins allow you to:

• Strengthen your website’s security
• Install contact forms
• Enhance your search engine optimization (SEO)
• Add eCommerce capabilities
• Insert event calendars

WordPress security and performance

The WordPress CMS gives its users the flexibility to fine-tune their website design. However, this means that WordPress users are also responsible for managing their website’s performance and security. Fortunately, you can outsource these responsibilities to your WordPress hosting provider. 

Here at Name.com, our unlimited storage and bandwidth can keep your website running smoothly, even as you add new content. What’s more, we’ll outfit your WordPress website with a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate. SSL certificates ensure your website connection is encrypted, authenticated, and secure.

Ease of use and maintenance

WordPress’ popularity is due in part to its ease of use. You can create a WordPress website without any coding experience. If you partner with a managed WordPress hosting provider, your website’s maintenance will also be taken care of. We’ll fix technical issues and bolster your security so you can focus on your business and enjoy peace of mind. All you have to do is set up your WordPress website using our one-click installation process. 

What is Wix?

Wix is a cloud-based website-building platform. Thanks to its user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop tools, you don’t need any coding knowledge to use it. Wix has several different pricing plans you can choose from, including a free version. The type of Wix plan you choose will dictate the features you can access. 

Name.com’s Wix Website Builder

Once you’ve chosen a domain name on Name.com with our domain search tool, you can select a Wix plan and start designing your website using our Wix Website Builder. Every Wix plan includes a free domain name, an unlimited number of web pages, and 24/7 support from Wix’s customer support team. Beyond that, Wix’s plans have some notable distinctions.

Here’s an overview of the three Wix plans you can choose from:

• Free Website – Wix’s Free Website plan doesn’t require you to input any credit card information. However, there are some limitations compared to paid Wix plans.. For example, you can’t use a custom domain name. Instead, you must use a “yoursitename.wixsite.com” domain name. You’re also restricted to just 500 MB of storage and bandwidth. Most notably, Wix will advertise its branding on your website, which may detract from its professionalism. Luckily, you can upgrade your website to a premium plan at any time. Many users build their site using a free plan, and then upgrade when they’re ready to connect a domain name or unlock premium features. 
• Unlimited – Wix’s Unlimited plan is made for professionals. In turn, it doesn’t have the Wix advertisements or yoursitename.wixsite.com domain name. Instead, you can customize your web design and set up a free, custom domain name with a yearly plan. An Unlimited yearly plan also gives you access to Google Workspace for free, as well as up to 5 GB of storage. This plan can cost $22 or $29 a month, depending on if you choose an annual or monthly billing cycle. 

• Business Unlimited – Wix’s Business Unlimited plan unlocks even more advanced features, such as online storefronts, payment processing, shipping, appointment booking, and subscription management. It also gives you access to up to 100 GB of storage. You can get this plan for $32 or $38 a month, depending on your selected billing frequency. 

Wix templates and customization

Templates and add-ons are Wix’s version of WordPress’ themes and plugins. Wix allows its users to choose from over 500 professionally designed templates, categorized by industry. 

Once you’ve chosen your Wix template, you can drag and drop features, such as images, buttons, and CTAs, onto your web pages and input their content. 

Unfortunately, once you implement a Wix template, you can’t change it. In turn, you’ll need to remake your website from scratch if you change your mind about its template design.

Wix performance and security

Unlike WordPress, since Wix is a closed-source platform, all of its development is done in-house. As a result, you won’t need to worry about managing your website’s hosting, maintenance, or security. The Wix team has it covered. 

Like Name.com’s WordPress hosting, Wix includes free SSL certificates on all of its websites to facilitate secure connections. It also guarantees 99.9% uptime, fast loading times, and daily automatic website backups. 

Every Wix plan has storage limitations, so you’ll need to be mindful of your website’s file sizes. Over time, you may need to upgrade your plan to increase your available storage capacity.

Wix SEO and marketing tools

Wix offers many features and add-ons that can enhance your SEO and marketing efforts. Here are just a few marketing and SEO tools you can look into:

• SEO Wiz
• Visitor Analytics
• Ad vouchers
• Site Booster app
• Semrush integration
• Integrated email marketing
• Social media integrations

Just keep in mind that these special features are only available for users with premium Wix plans. 

Comparing and contrasting WordPress vs Wix

Now that you’re familiar with these two powerful website-building platforms, let’s review Wix vs WordPress’ key features: 

• Ease of use – WordPress and Wix are both beginner-friendly. However, Wix wins out in terms of ease of use, thanks to its drag-and-drop website builder, the ease of adding new features or upgrading functionality from within one trusted platform, and a dedicated customer support team.

• Customization and flexibility – When it comes to customization, WordPress has more options. The web design possibilities on WordPress are truly endless, but note that customization freedom can come with more risk. Unlike with Wix, you can create your own code and swap out your theme at any time. Wix’s customization options aren’t as expansive, but there’s still a lot of freedom without the risk of buggy plugins or themes.

• SEO – In terms of search engine optimization, WordPress and Wix are essentially tied. That’s because they both have built-in SEO features, as well as specific SEO plugins and add-ons.
• eCommerce capabilities – WordPress and Wix premium plans can both support online stores. With WordPress, you’ll simply need to download an e-commerce plugin, like WooCommerce. The Wix App Market features seamless integrations with stores like Amazon.
  
  The superior platform will depend on the size of your store. Wix transaction fees are 2.9% plus $0.30. If you sell large volumes of products, these can really add up. In contrast, WordPress’ WooCommerce doesn’t charge any transaction fees.
• Pricing and value for money – All things considered, Wix and WordPress are both cost-effective options. As of the date of this article, Wix only costs $22 to $38 a month, depending on your plan. You don’t need to worry about buying your own hosting, since it’s included in this monthly fee.
  
  Meanwhile, WordPress is free to use, but you’ll need to pay for hosting, as well as any premium plugins or themes you install. Fortunately, Name.com’s affordable WordPress hosting costs just $29.95 a year. Learn how to build a WordPress website effortlessly with Name.com

Meanwhile, WordPress is free to use, but you’ll need to pay for hosting, as well as any premium plugins or themes you install. Fortunately, Name.com’s affordable WordPress hosting costs just $29.95 a year. Learn how to build a WordPress website effortlessly with Name.com

Get started with a WordPress or Wix site with Name.com

Well, that concludes our Wix vs WordPress comparison. To sum it up, Wix is an awesome option for beginners who want an easy, all-in-one tool to create a basic website. On the other hand, the WordPress platform has more to offer to website builders who crave more customization, control, and scalability. 

No matter which website-building tool you prefer, you can start the website-building process at Name.com. Our cheap WordPress hosting and Wix website builder can help you create beautiful websites in minutes. 

Head on over to Name.com to begin your journey online today.

Sources:

Britannica. WordPress.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/WordPress

W2 Techs. Usage statistics and market share of WordPress.

https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress

WordPress. WordPress Themes. 

https://wordpress.org/themes/

WordPress. WordPress Plugins. 

https://wordpress.org/plugins/

Wix. Wix Payments Processing Fees.

https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-payments-processing-fees-7668440