Wix or WordPress?
A few years ago, this wasn’t really a challenging question. Whether it was blogging, business or portfolio, WordPress was the way to go. However, today, the landscape has changed.
A closer look at Wix reveals that the platform now rival WordPress with just as good website building and content management features. In this article, we shall weigh both platforms and help you choose the best option for your needs.
Website building platforms
A website builder is a platform used to create a website from scratch. Currently, there are several website builders or such platforms in the market. Among the most common ones are Wix and WordPress.
Wix website builder
Wix is a cloud-based hosted website platform that was started back in 2006. The platform features several useful tools, including Wix Artificial Design Intelligence.
One key unique feature of Wix is that you don’t have to know how to code to use it. It is a big name in this field with over 70 million users around the globe.
WordPress Content editor
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The differences
In this article, we will be comparing Wix to the self-hosted version of WordPress – WordPress.org, which is different from WordPress.com.
#1. Set-up & configuration
The most significant difference between Wix and WordPress remains to be that the latter is a standalone tool that you can only use after you have installed it on a web server. For the former, all you need to do is sign up, and you will be set. All activities involving the website you are building are done within Wix.com.
NB: Here is how to start a WordPress blog on HostGator under 10 minutes
#2. Capability
Another difference between the two lies in their abilities. WordPress is far much powerful than Wix. However, one needs some coding skills to be able to leverage its flexibility. On the other hand, Wix is much simpler as it comes with pre-designed templates, design assistance, and several in-house features.
#3. Design & Interface
Wix is a winner when it comes to ease of use and interface. Almost anyone can build a website using Wix’s drag-and-drop editor. It is also less complex than WordPress, which means you don’t have to take some time to learn how to use it.
WordPress has a steeper learning curve, but with a few pointers, you can figure out your way.
Design and customization are WordPress’s forte. Unlike Wix, WordPress has no limit on customization.
#4. Plug-ins
Who has the best extras remains to be a controversial question. But we’ll give Wix the lead since it offers much better security for apps and plug-ins. WordPress does have lots of apps and plug-ins, but the majority aren’t designed by professional developers.
#5. Cost
More often than not, pricing is a deciding factor when weighing two things. The same applies here too. With website builders, it is important to know what costs you will incur at each stage of website building.
For Wix, you will be required to pay for a premium plan should you want a custom domain name. The premium plan also lacks ads. If at any point you want to add a premium extension, you will also need to pay some extra charge.
For WordPress, you will need to purchase a domain and pay for web hosting. You are not limited to premium plans either. Note that the scale and complexity of your site will determine how much you spend.
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Wix vs WordPress – Pros and Cons
Wix Pros
- Easy to use as it designed for non-technical users
- Has a dedicated support team
- E-commerce is integrated into Wix, so you don’t need additional plug-ins
- Unlike WordPress, it offers drag-and-drop site-building
Wix Cons
- Has a limited range of website features
- Offers users little control
- Customizing templates can difficult especially simplistic ones
WordPress Pros
- Comes with an array of useful website features including themes and plug-ins
- WordPress receives frequent updates
- Has an excellent blogging module
- Offers advanced customization abilities
- Free and open-source
WordPress Cons
- Requires technical know-how
- Lacks a support team but has online guides and a forum as a trade-off
- If you intend to create an online store, you an e-commerce plug-in
- Has extra costs – domain and hosting fees.
- Has an unintuitive dashboard interface
Conclusion
Building your website is much easier today with the help of these platforms. Although each has its own set of pros & cons, both are great for website building.
Your pick here ultimately depends on your needs. If you are not sure which one to go for, WordPress is a much better and ideal choice for eCommerce and blogging.