Wix vs WordPress – Find the Right Platform for Your Business

Author
Chipo   3

If you’re having a tough time picking the right website building platform for your online business…you aren’t alone.

There are a lot of good options out there, making it that much harder to choose just one.

In today’s post, we’ll discuss two of the most popular website building platforms: Wix and WordPress.

Both platforms offer entrepreneurs, just like you, a wide variety of features to build a thriving, online business.

To help you gain more clarity around what each has to offer, we’ll discuss the following aspects of each platform, including:

  • Getting started
  • Ease of use
  • Themes & templates
  • Plugins & apps
  • Blog & SEO functionality
  • Ongoing maintenance

By the end of this article, you should be able to identify the website building platform that best suits your needs.

Wix vs WordPress… let’s get started.

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What is WordPress?

WordPress Logo

WordPress.Org vs WordPress.com


Before we dive in, you should know that this article focuses on self-hosted WordPress (WordPress.org). WordPress also has a for-profit, paid service – WordPress.com – and if you want to learn more about the difference between the two,

you can read about it here.


Now that’s been clarified, let’s continue.

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS), which means anyone can download and use the software… for free.

You can use WordPress to build all kinds of websites, including:

  • Business websites
  • Blogs
  • eCommerce stores
  • Portfolios & Resumes
  • Membership sites
  • Forums
  • the list goes on.

With this kind of versatility, it’s no wonder WordPress powers 43% of all the websites on the Internet — making it the most popular CMS and website building platform ever.

WordPress Pros & Cons: Quick Summary

Pros

  • Free to use
  • Fully customizable
  • Versatile – you can build any type of website
  • Enormous directory of plugins & themes
  • Supported by several reputable hosting providers
  • Most popular website builder & CMS
  • Massive online community and plenty of user run support forums

Cons

  • Learning curve for beginners
  • Need to pay for hosting
  • No dedicated support team you can contact directly

What is Wix?

Wix Logo

Wix is a website builder designed to help people with little to no technical experience set up their websites in rapid time.

Where WordPress is suitable for websites of all sizes, Wix is better suited for smaller websites.

It features user-friendly drag and drop tools, and its 800+ website templates make it an ideal platform for building business sites, ecommerce sites, and blogs.

WordPress is known for its flexible and adaptable nature, but Wix is known for convenience and simplicity. Anyone can get started immediately without the need for coding knowledge, or hiring a web developer. So far, this has worked out well for the platform.

Presently, Wix is home to 200 million registered users across the world and is available in 17 languages.

Wix Pros & Cons: Quick Summary

Pros

  • Very easy to learn and navigate
  • No need to pay for a separate hosting provider
  • Software and app updates are updated automatically
  • Regulated App Market, so apps are easy to trust

Cons

  • Much fewer design choices and third party integrations than WordPress
  • eCommerce features are only available to paid users
  • Website templates are not interchangeable
  • Wix’s Blog Editor is very basic compared to WordPress’ Gutenberg Editor

Wix vs WordPress: A Breakdown

Graphic of person using their laptop

Which platform offers a faster and simpler setup process?

Once you’ve chosen a website building platform, it’s very hard to switch once you’ve started building.

This breakdown will take a look at the important factors entrepreneurs should consider before selecting a platform to build their website. That way, you can make a confident decision without the worry of having second thoughts in the future.

Getting Started: Setting Up Your Website

In terms of getting started, Wix and WordPress have very different processes. Wix prioritizes speed and convenience, making it easier for beginners to create a website in minutes.

WordPress, on the other hand, has a lengthier setup process that takes some time for beginners to understand.

Wix

Wix makes it very easy to get started from the moment you land on their site. Their homepage provides clear direction with a bold call to action and a button that stands out and tells you exactly what to do: Get started.
Wix.com homepage

Wix’s homepage provides clear instructions on how to get started.

Once you’ve clicked the button, it takes you to a second page to confirm whether you’re building a website for yourself or a client – a typical option for freelance web developers and agencies.

Wix Setup Wizard screen with two options — “Get Started” or “Create for a Client”

The beginning of the Wix Setup Wizard.

This wizard includes answering questions on the type of business you want to set up (e.g. a consultancy).

List with different types of websites to choose from

Select the type of website you’re creating.

Based on the option you select, Wix offers additional features for you to choose from and incorporate in your website:

Screen with three service options to add “Bookings”, “Chat”, or “Blog”

Additional features to add to your website.

Next, name your business and add your contact info:

Screen option where you name your business

Name your business.

Select your site’s domain name (included in their service). If you’d like a custom domain (e.g. www.[yourbusinessnamehere].com), you can upgrade to one of Wix’s premium plans – which we’ll discuss in more detail later.

Screen option where you finalize your free Wix domain

Select your site’s free domain name.

If you want to collect payments through your business, the Wix setup wizard has a step where you can select your preferred payment method.

Text Screen depicting different payment methods to accept

If your business collect payments, you can choose the payment methods you want to accept.

Once you’ve completed Wix’s setup wizard, you have a website! 

From here, you can choose to go to your site dashboard or further customize your website’s design:

Screen showing that you’ve completed your website setup in Wix

Once you’ve completed your setup, you can continue to your Wix Dashboard or customize your site’s design

If you select the “Continue to Dashboard” option, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can set up the “business side” of your website, like setting your working hours, payment method, video conferencing options, etc.

Your Wix Dashboard with additional options to setup the business side of your website.

We’ll discuss Wix’s “Customize [Site] Design” options in detail shortly.

WordPress

WordPress.org homepage

WordPress.org homepage.

When you select the blue “Get WordPress” button in the top right-hand corner, you're taken to a page explaining how to get the software. To save you the trouble, it describes two options for getting the WordPress CMS:

  1. 1
    Through a hosting service
  2. 2
    Or by downloading and installing it on your own personally managed servers

If you aren’t a tech-savvy developer and have little to no coding experience, we recommend that you choose option 1. Further down the explainer page, WordPress provides additional information on WordPress hosting and recommended platforms to choose from.

WordPress.org recommends 3 hosting providers: Dreamhost, Bluehost, and SiteGround — but there are other providers like WPX, Kinsta, Flywheel… your options are practically endless.

To find the right hosting provider to meet your needs, consider the following:

  1. 1
    Your budget
  2. 2
    If the hosting company specializes in WordPress
  3. 3
    The size of the website you want to build
  4. 4
    The bandwidth you think your site will need based on traffic requirements
  5. 5
    Performance and support reviews for each provider

Once you’ve chosen your hosting provider, created your hosting account, and installed WordPress (usually an automatic or one-click install affair), you’ll be directed to the main WordPress dashboard after you login to your site.

Here, you’ll find your main backend navigation tabs in the left sidebar, such as tabs for managing your blog posts, adding plugins, and modifying the appearance of your website design.

WordPress Admin Dashboard welcome screen

WordPress Admin Dashboard welcome screen.

Ease of Use

Image of someone navigating a website/platform

Which platform is easier to navigate?

In terms of ease of use, Wix has the upperhand over WordPress. Their dashboard is optimized for easy navigation and quick execution.

WordPress has a steeper learning curve, since users need to follow more steps before getting started — selecting a hosting provider, buying a domain, installing WordPress, etc.

Wix

Managing your website on Wix is simple and straightforward. Everything that has to do with your website is managed by Wix, making it easy to find your way around.

Wix Dashboard.

You can take care of everything from your dashboard. Let’s take a look:

Left Sidebar

Some of the actions you can take through the Wix dashboard’s left sidebar include:

  • Reviewing your latest site and business activity (number of visitors, total sales, latest blog posts, etc.)
  • Customizing the services you offer on your site and how they appear to visitors
  • Adding a loyalty program if applicable to your business
  • Setting up automations
If you want to make changes to more complex aspects of your site, you’ll find them in the Settings menu in the left sidebar.
Additional settings in Wix Dashboard

Additional settings in Wix Dashboard.

Header

Through the Wix dashboard’s header navigation you can:

  • Create a new Wix site
  • Explore other parts of Wix, including their App market, latests updates & releases, and educational resources
  • Get help from Wix support or hire a professional to build your site out for you
Wix Dashboard header

Wix Dashboard header.

If you take a close look at the header, you’ll notice a purple button with “Upgrade” written in white. Wix puts that there to encourage users to upgrade from the free plan to one of their paid, premium plans. These plans come with advanced features to help users expand their site functionality.

Top Section
Wix Dashboard top section

Wix Dashboard top section.

In the right side of the Wix dashboard’s top section, you’ll see three buttons - two are white and one is blue. The “Site Actions” button allows you to make big changes to your website (change your site’s name, duplicate your site, transfer your site, etc.)

The “Edit Mobile App” button is only useful if you want your website to have an accompanying mobile application. Wix has a mobile app setup wizard that is just as easy to use as the one used to build a Wix website.

Mobile app setup wizard in Wix

Mobile app setup wizard in Wix.

Finally, the blue “Edit Site” button takes you to the Wix Website Editor.

Snapshot of Wix’s visual site editor

Wix’s visual site editor.

Making changes in Wix’s visual editor is as simple as clicking the part of a page you want to edit and using the available options to change colors, font selection, font size, shadow effects, and more.

Highlighted top section in Wix visual editor

Wix makes it very easy to click and edit any part of your website.

Some page sections have specialized settings – like the header. You can even choose what happens to your site header when a visitor scrolls through a page.

Customization settings for your site header in Wix

Some sections, like the header, have specialized settings.

Additional Site & Business Tools

At the bottom of your Wix Dashboard, you’ll find a grid of additional tools you can use to enhance your site or business — from SEO, to installing additional apps, and even setting up ads.

Snapshot of additional tools in the Wix Dashboard

Your Wix Dashboard offers more tools and services to enhance your website and business.

WordPress

WordPress has a steeper learning curve than Wix, but comes with much more site building flexibility once you overcome it.

Installing WordPress
As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need a separate hosting provider in order to build your WordPress website. Most of the popular hosting providers offer a 1-click WordPress installation — for free — to make it much easier for you to get started.
Snapshot of a 1-click WordPress installation feature in SiteGround

Most popular web hosts provide a 1-click WordPress installation feature.

But that’s only one part of the process.

Before you can actually start building your WordPress website, you need to buy a domain, connect it to your hosting provider, install WordPress, and then login to your WordPress Dashboard.

Navigating the WordPress dashboard is quite straightforward, as every section is clearly labeled.

WordPress Dashboard Welcome Screen

Welcome Screen in WordPress Dashboard.

Left Sidebar

The left sidebar in the WordPress Dashboard is where most navigation will take place. 

Here, you can update your plugins and WordPress software — I recommend doing this manually.

WordPress Updates page

WordPress Updates page.

The “Posts” and “Pages” sections allow you to add, edit or review blog posts and pages.

Posts section in WordPress Dashboard

Posts section in WordPress Dashboard.

In the “Comments” section, you can moderate comments visitors leave on your posts and pages.

Comments section in WordPress Dashboard

Comments section in WordPress Dashboard.

You can also access settings for any plugins you’ve installed. This is what the AWeber tab would look like:

AWeber plugin tab in WordPress Dashboard

AWeber plugin tab in WordPress Dashboard.

If you want to customize your site’s appearance — e.g. the theme — you can do that through the “Appearance” tab.

Appearance tab in WordPress Dashboard

Appearance tab in WordPress Dashboard.

And, if more than one person is managing your website, you can add them as a user and assign them a specific role.

“Users” tab in WordPress Dashboard

Assigning user roles in WordPress.

If you want to make changes to the more technical parts of your site, you’ll find them in the Settings menu in the left sidebar.

Here, you can make basic changes like selecting a new timezone, changing how the date appears in your dashboard, or choosing a different site language.

Snapshot of a few general settings in the WordPress Dashboard

General Settings in the WordPress Dashboard.

You can also make advanced changes — like how you want your URLs to appear.

Additional settings in WordPress

WordPress makes their settings easy to follow — especially for beginners.

Header
WordPress Dashboard header

WordPress Dashboard header.

Through the WordPress dashboard’s header navigation you can:

  • Create a new post, page, user — or add new media
  • Access the Comments section of your website
  • Review your cache settings
  • Get help from your host’s support team or documentation
Setting up a Website 

If you only need to build a basic blog with a free theme and WordPress’ native content management tools… you’ll be set up in no time.

However, if you need to install additional third party applications (called plugins), learning how to use those to build a more capable business website can take some time – depending on how complex each plugin you install is. The same goes for your theme.

Themes & Templates: Design & Customization

Image of one webpages vs the other

Which platform offers more design freedom?

In terms of themes and templates, WordPress is miles ahead of Wix. While Wix does offer hundreds of free templates to use, their design options are limited.

WordPress offers thousands themes (both free and premium) with customization options that offer you more design freedom.

Wix

Wix offers over 800+ free templates to design your website. These templates are categorized by industry and come prefilled with example content, to give you a clear idea of what your final website could look like.
Text Snapshot of some of Wix’s available website templates

Wix offers over 800+ free website templates for their users to design and customize.

Using Wix’s built-in theme editor, you can tweak your site design (change colors, add a new section, etc.), and rearrange blocks as you see fit.

WARNING: One BIG disadvantage is that you can’t change a template once you’ve selected one. You can always customize the one you’ve chosen, but you cannot switch to another template.

WordPress

There are over 9,000 free themes available in the WordPress theme directory, and probably close to - if not more - the same number for premium, third party themes. You can find these themes on the official WordPress theme directory.

WordPress themes range from small, simple personal websites to large, complex eCommerce sites. Most themes come with customization options, so you have some degree of flexibility to modify them according to your branding needs.

Free themes tend to come with limited features and support as compared to paid themes, which is definitely something to consider when selecting a theme for your WordPress website.

Homepage of WordPress.org Themes section

WordPress.org offers over 9000+ themes for users to choose from and customize.

You can also find high quality, industry-specific themes on ThemeForest, the most popular marketplace for paid WordPress themes and templates.

Snapshot of themes being sold on ThemeForest

ThemeForest is offers a variety of premium WordPress themes and templates.

But, if you want COMPLETE design freedom, you should use a WordPress visual theme builder to craft a WordPress theme that perfectly fits your branding.

Power Solution: Thrive Theme Builder + Thrive Architect


If you’re not a coder or designer, customizing your WordPress theme is a HUGE challenge.


But with Thrive Theme Builder and Thrive Architect, DIY building a professional business website is a total breeze


Wireframe your entire website in under 20 minutes with Thrive Theme Builder’s WordPress theme page templates…


… and build entire sales funnels with Thrive Architect’s smart landing page template sets to start selling lighting fast.

Plugins & Apps

Image of a group of plugins

Which platform has the best plugins and/or apps?

WordPress and Wix both offer their users a wide range of applications to expand their website’s functionality. WordPress has a massive plugin repository that offers over 50,000 free plugins to their users — however, not every plugin can be trusted.

Wix, on the other hand, offers several hundred apps in their app market. And while the Wix App Market can’t be compared to WordPress’ plugin repository, each app in their market undergoes a strict vetting process to ensure maximum safety and reliability.

Wix

The Wix App Market offers over 300 apps — both free and paid — that you can add to your site in a few clicks. These apps offer a range of features to enhance your website and give your business a competitive edge.

You can find an app for most of your business needs, from ecommerce to design and marketing.

As you go through the App Market, you’ll discover apps made by Wix – like Wix Blog, Wix Stores, and Wix Chat – while others are made by third party developers.

Snapshot of the Wix App Market

The Wix App Market has 300+ apps that cater to almost every need their users’ have.

Compared to other app marketplaces, Wix’s App Market may seem limited. But they’ve chosen to focus on quality over quantity, vetting every third party app to ensure it meets their in-house guidelines.

This makes it easier to trust the apps in the marketplace, knowing they’ve been reviewed for safety, reliability, and efficiency.

WordPress

In WordPress, plugins are where the magic happens.

The WordPress Plugin Repository boasts over 59,000 free plugins, which means there is a plugin for everything.
Snapshot of the WordPress Plugin Repository

A few of the plugins in the WordPress Plugin Repository

So whether you need to add a lead generation form, a quiz, or an online course, you can find a WordPress plugin to make it happen.

Some plugins are completely free — like Thrive Automator for example — but most offer a freemium model, where basic features are free to all users, while advanced features are premium.

Simply browse the official WordPress plugin library and install whatever you need to enhance the functionality of your website.

WARNING: not all plugins in the WordPress Repository are equal from security, performance or reliability points of view.

Some plugins may be poorly coded or outdated, making your website vulnerable to attacks or crashes should you install them.

When choosing a plugin, consider the following:

  • Is it compatible with the latest version of WordPress?
  • When was the last time it was updated?
  • Does it offer a forum where a support team actively answers user questions?
  • Does it have a high user rating with a substantial number of installs?

Lastly, keep in mind that installing too many plugins can drastically slow down your site performance. Therefore, only install the plugins you absolutely need to build your website and run your business.

Maintenance

Maintaining your website

Which platform offers better assistance for ongoing maintenance?

Ongoing maintenance looks different on Wix and WordPress. Wix focuses on taking care of the work for their users, while WordPress leaves most of the job to theirs — which isn’t as complicated as it might sound.

Wix

In terms of ongoing site maintenance, Wix does the work for you.

All platform updates are carried out by their in-house technical team and are automatically deployed on your site.

Backups are also automatic on Wix, since everything is managed on Wix’s own platform.

This is a major win if you aren’t tech savvy because you can focus on building your website while someone else keeps it safe and secure.

WordPress

Compared to Wix, maintaining a WordPress website can be a chore – especially for beginners. 

Basically, WordPress leaves it up to you to make sure your site, theme and plugins are updated regularly.

Multiple times a year, WordPress will release software updates to improve security and fix bugs. When this happens, you’ll also need to update your website’s version of WordPress.

If a plugin needs to be updated, you'll see a white number inside a red circle on the “Updates” tab, in your WordPress Dashboard indicating the number of plugins waiting to be updated. It looks like this:

Snapshot of update alerts in the WordPress Dashboard

Update alert in WP-Admin dashboard.

And before you manually update your plugins, make sure there’s a recent, working backup of your website to revert to if needed.

In terms of backups, WordPress does not take care of this for you. The easiest backup strategy is to use the one provided by your hosting platform.

Alternatively, you can use a plugin to backup your site. But, for safety reasons, make sure it has a high number of installs and positive reviews like BackUp Buddy.

Maintain Your Website Like A Pro


If you’re new to WordPress and have limited technical knowledge, maintaining a WordPress website can seem like an overwhelming task.


So, we created this detailed guide to help you take care of your website like an online business pro.

Blog

Abstract image of a blog post

Which platform has better blog functionality?

When it comes to blog functionality, WordPress is miles ahead of Wix. Wix does offer blogging tools to their users, but their features are quite limited. WordPress, on the other hand, offers a variety of native features to help users build an engaging blog for free.

Wix

Wix Blog offers basic blogging tools. It supports articles, allows you to create categories and tags, and provides access to an archive of free media — mainly images, videos and GIFs.

Creating your first blog post is straightforward. Access your blog through the Wix Dashboard and click the blue “Create New Post” button in the top right of the screen.

Blog overview section in Wix

Blog overview section in Wix.

You’ll be taken to the Wix Blog Editor, where you can start writing immediately:

Wix Blog Editor

Write your first blog post in minutes with the Wix Blog Editor.

Wix only lets you preview your post after you’ve added a title and 2 or 3 lines of text. Your blog posts will display the same aesthetic as the theme you selected for your website, during the setup wizard.

Blog post preview in Wix

You can only preview a blog post after adding a title and a few lines of text.

If you’ve got a bit of writer’s block and can’t start your own blog post from scratch, you can easily select one of Wix’s pre-built blog post templates:

Wix Blog post templates

Writer’s block? Wix Blog offers pre-filled templates to help you write a blog post with ease.

These pre-built blog post templates are a combination of an article outline and a writing guide. Each heading and accompanying paragraph includes tutorialized text to guide you on what to include in each section of the post.

Snapshot of a blog post template in the Wix Blog Editor

Each template serves as an outline and a writing guide.

That way, you can start writing without spending time fretting over the structure of your posts.

Detailed example of a post template in the blog editor

Each template contains tutorialized text to help you structure your article correctly.

The Wix Blog dashboard also includes suggested apps you can install to expand your blog’s functionality – subscriber forms, on-page translators, etc.

However, some of the suggested apps are fairly new and still buggy so if you choose to go this route, make sure you check their reviews first.

App options to improve your Wix Blog

You can install additional apps to expand your blog’s functionality.

One of the downsides to building a blog on Wix is the comments functionality. It’s not user-friendly and isn’t as easy to manage as WordPress, which is why most users end up installing third-party apps like Facebook or Disqus.

You also can’t backdate or create private posts on Wix – features you can easily find on WordPress.

Additionally, compared to WordPress’ native blog editor, Wix’s plain text editor feels basic. The sidebar only features standard element options – like adding text, images, image galleries, or files.

There are also two “advanced” options — adding a paywall or adding a product from your store — but that’s it.

WordPress

Blogging functionality is one of WordPress’ strongest features because it started as a blogging platform before it grew into the leading content management system it is today.

Some of the standout features for WordPress include being able to create private posts for a select audience, a native commenting section with the ability to moderate comments, and its intuitive block editor.

Create More Conversions with Thrive Comments


WordPress’ native comment functionality is good…


But if you want to turn your visitors into an engaged and interactive community — you need Thrive Comments


Thrive Comments is designed to help you create a conversion-focused, gamified comments section under every blog post, to keep your visitors coming back for more.


Watch this video to learn how to boost visitor engagement with Thrive Comments.

Creating and publishing new content in WordPress is straightforward:

  1. 1
    Add a new post
  2. 2
    Give the post a title
  3. 3
    Add content with WordPress’ intuitive block builder
  4. 4
    Publish the content when ready

The content editor in WordPress is easy to grasp and designed to help you create and publish content as quickly as possible.

Creating your first blog post is as simple as typing away in the content editor:

Snapshot of the Gutenberg Editor in WordPress

Creating a blog post in WordPress’ Gutenberg Editor.

To see what else the block editor has to offer, click the blue square plus sign button next to the WordPress logo and scroll through the various options available.

You’ll find all the standard element options — like adding a new text, images, videos, galleries, tables, etc…

And as you continue to scroll down the sidebar, you’ll find more advanced options like adding widgets, embedding tweets, YouTube videos or Spotify links… and so much more.

Below are just a few examples of the available integrations in the WordPress block editor:

 Available integrations in the WordPress block editor
 Available integrations in the WordPress block editor

The WordPress block editor allows you to integrate with almost any application you can think of (Vimeo, TED, Kickstarter, Imgur, Flickr, TikTok, Loom, etc.), taking your site pages and blog posts to a whole new level.

And if you want to create visually amazing content, you can use a front-end, what-you-see-is-what-you-get, visual editor plugin to do so.

Advanced page building plugins, like Thrive Architect, include complete design freedom features to help you create stunning blog posts in record time. 

SEO

 Image abstract image of search engine results page

Which platform has better SEO functionality?

In terms of SEO, WordPress and Wix both have basic SEO features to help your website get discovered by search engines. But, if you want to take your SEO efforts to the next level — on either platform — you’ll need additional applications or plugins to make that happen.

Wix

Your Wix Dashboard has a dedicated “SEO Tools” area to help you optimize your website for search engines.

“SEO Tools” section in Wix

Available SEO Tools in Wix.

The first thing you’ll see in Wix’s SEO Tools area is a “Get Found on Google” feature.

Its “Start Now” button takes you to Wix’s SEO Wiz – a step-by-step checklist designed to help your business get found online.

Snapshot of Wix SEO Wizard

The Wix SEO Wizard provides you with a free checklist to optimize your website for search.

You’ll need to answer a few questions about your business, like whether it has a physical location or is strictly online; as well as the keywords you want your website to rank for.

Once you’ve completed Wix’s SEO setup wizard, you’ll see a personalized SEO Setup Checklist. This checklist consists of three main workflows: