Wix has become pretty well known over the last few years, in part due to budget-busting marketing campaigns starring stars like Heidi Klum, Jason Statham and Gal Gadot, better known as Wonder Woman. But let’s start with the basics:
The Wix website builder is a simplified way to create a website. It runs in your web browser (no need to install any software) and already provides its own web hosting. You sign up, select a template design, and start creating. It doesn’t require any advanced technical skills (forget HTML!).
Today, Wix is the biggest player in the website building landscape and hosts a whopping 110 million websites.
Who should use Wix?
Their visually impressive layouts are designed for small businesses, restaurants, online stores and artists such as musicians and photographers. They are optimized for mobile devices and can be spiced up with one of the numerous apps available from the Wix App Market.
In a way you can compare Wix to a prefabricated house: the fundamental structure already exists and can’t be changed. You can, however, paint the walls to your gusto (choose a theme) and add the furniture you love (photo galleries and other apps).
In fact, I used it to create our own bilingual company website called Tooltester.net. We had a particular design in mind and just needed a quick way to build it. Also, I didn’t want to have to think about security updates etc. which meant WordPress wasn’t an option.
In the end I considered both Weebly and Wix (our top-rated builders) and went for Wix. With Weebly there was just no perfect way to make our design look good on mobile devices. Working with the Wix editor was a breeze, offering handy tools such as photo filters and animated texts. But before getting ready to swipe your credit card, keep in mind that every website has different requirements.
Wix Review: Pricing Options
Wix is available for free for as long as you want, but if you require professional features like your own domain name or priority support, you must choose from one of their five premium plans ranging from “Connect Domain” to “VIP (only US)”. The cheapest ad-free plan with a custom domain name costs $10 per month.
Now you are probably wondering if Wix is right for you. Let’s find out what’s good and what’s bad about this product:
Wix offers a free plan. Sign up for it here (link will open in a new window)
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Wix Pricing
| $0 |
FreeCreate a free website with Wix ads. Not included: your own domain name. |
| $5 |
Connect DomainConnect your own domain with your Wix site. Your site will still show Wix ads. |
| $10 |
ComboIdeal for smaller professional websites. No ads and plenty of storage. |
| $14 |
UnlimitedThe right plan if you need a lot of web space (up to 10 GB included). |
| $17 |
eCommerceBest plan to create an online store – includes unlimited products. |
| $25 |
VIPFor larger online stores that require VIP customer support. |
Monthly prices for 1-year contracts; Domain included in selected packages.
From our view, Combo is by far the best plan for regular websites without ecommerce. It is ad-free, includes a domain name for 1 year and provides enough storage for most needs. Find our detailed analysis of Wix’s premium plans here.
Pros and Cons of Wix
Excellent templates
The most remarkable thing about Wix is its templates. The designs are exceptional and offer pre-built layouts for many different industries.
It’s extremely flexible
Whereas other website builder limit the extent to which elements can be moved around, Wix allows your to finish your work off “pixel perfect”.
Adding animations
Wix is one of the few site builders that let you animate text and other elements. But make sure not to overdo it!
App Market
There are hundreds of website apps that you can add to your website. There is a newsletter tool, live chat software, online booking widgets, etc. All of those can be easily integrated into your Wix website. But keep in mind: many of them are third party apps—if they get shut down you can’t complain to Wix.
Wix Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI)
Wix offers a (relatively) smart assistant to create your website with. But this is only available for some types of projects (e.g. portfolios, yoga sites, etc). For instance, it’ll automatically connect your social media, generate a contact form for you or pick a suitable design for your audience. But don’t worry, if you don’t like something, you’ll be able to change it. More information.
Automatic Site Backup
Wix automatically creates backup points of your website that can be restored at any time (much like Apple’s time machine system). This way you will never lose any important information.
Excellent templates
The most remarkable thing about Wix is its templates. The designs are exceptional and offer pre-built layouts for many different industries.
It’s extremely flexible
Whereas other website builder limit the extent to which elements can be moved around, Wix allows your to finish your work off “pixel perfect”.
Adding animations
Wix is one of the few site builders that let you animate text and other elements. But make sure not to overdo it!
App Market
There are hundreds of website apps that you can add to your website. There is a newsletter tool, live chat software, online booking widgets, etc. All of those can be easily integrated into your Wix website. But keep in mind: many of them are third party apps—if they get shut down you can’t complain to Wix.
Wix Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI)
Wix offers a (relatively) smart assistant to create your website with. But this is only available for some types of projects (e.g. portfolios, yoga sites, etc). For instance, it’ll automatically connect your social media, generate a contact form for you or pick a suitable design for your audience. But don’t worry, if you don’t like something, you’ll be able to change it. More information.
Automatic Site Backup
Wix automatically creates backup points of your website that can be restored at any time (much like Apple’s time machine system). This way you will never lose any important information.
Rating Details
| criterion | rating | comments |
|---|---|---|
|
Ease of use |
The editor is very easy to understand. If you are stuck, the FAQ section will help. Short introductory videos give instructions on the different functions. Complete novices will love Wix ADI: this new system holds you by the hand while configuring your website. It’s a bit less flexible but very convenient. What’s best: you can switch to the regular builder whenever you like. | |
|
Choice and flexibility of design (templates) |
The designs look professional and allow for pixel-perfect customizations (see examples). There’s a mobile-friendly version that can be adapted individually. You are also able to embed videos in the background and even upload your own fonts to the Wix editor. | |
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Advertisement-free |
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Ad-free only from the premium plan “Combo”. The free version and the Connect Domain plan show some pretty visible Wix ads. |
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Languages |
The editor supports 16 languages. Multilingual sites are generally possible. Here is a guide to multilingual website creation. While it’s doable, we wouldn’t recommend it for larger sites. | |
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Features |
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Your own domain name (e.g. .com or .net) |
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Free domain name for one year included in the premium “Combo” and higher plans. Wix supports domain endings including: .com, .org, .net, .co.uk and .info. Renewal prices start at $14.95 per year. Using the “Connect Domain” package (and higher) it is possible to move your existing domain to Wix or point it from another domain registrar to Wix. More information. Always included: SSL encryption (https). |
|
Depth of navigation |
A maximum of two levels are possible. A third level would be desirable. | |
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Widgets (small tools to add extra functionality) |
Wix App Market features a wide range of unique widgets and apps. We especially like Wix Music, to sell and promote music, and Wix Bookings that will let your customers book and pay for appointments and consultations. External applications can be easily integrated as well. | |
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Monetization |
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You can integrate Google AdSense via their App store. Another possibility is banner ads and affiliate links. |
|
E-Commerce |
An online store is included in the “eCommerce” package. You can also test the function in the other plans. At $17 per month it’s fairly priced (there are no sales fees) and it allows to sell both physical and digital goods while tracking what you have in stock. Learn more in our detailed Wix Ecommerce review. | |
|
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) |
You may have heard bad things about Wix’s SEO capabilities, which was still true a few years ago (more about this here). However, they have improved massively, letting you edit page titles, meta descriptions, and alt tags individually. There are even advanced SEO tools like 301 redirects. Unfortunately, Wix changes image file names into something cryptic (e.g. 09ab7~mv2.jpg/), which is a minor disadvantage. Beginners can use the SEO Wiz, a guided tutorial. For more information, check Wix’s SEO post. | |
|
Blog |
Wix’s blog is a pretty good add-on, which is also SEO-friendly. It comes with most of the features that you’ll need (e.g. tags, categories, RSS, etc.). Visitors can leave comments via Facebook or Disqus. It’s also possible to schedule blog posts. With the Wix mobile app you can edit and publish articles on the go. | |
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Visitor statistics |
In order to access statistics, Google Analytics must be integrated in advance. | |
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Contact form |
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There is a simple contact form builder. More sophisticated tools can be found in the App Market. |
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Password protection |
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Exemplary! Pages can be allocated an individual password. You can even create a small membership website where users sign up in order to receive personal login credentials. Unfortunately it doesn’t integrate with ecommerce. You decide whether they get approved instantly or manually by you. Both features included in all plans. |
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Newsletter tool |
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You can use Wix’s own “ShoutOut” newsletter service. It’s very easy to use but not as powerful as specialized external providers. For alternatives take a look at this comparison of newsletter services. |
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Add HTML code |
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Embed various widgets and other tools by means of an integrated app. |
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Storage space |
500 MB+ |
500 MB – 20 GB web space, depending on the pricing tier. Please note that there is also a monthly bandwidth limit in most plans. This is only relevant for large websites, e.g. the 2 GB bandwidth of the Combo plan should be enough for about 3,000-5,000 visitors per month). The Unlimited and VIP plans both provide unlimited bandwidth. |
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Backups & Restore |
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Wix comes with a very convenient version control system, called Site History, that will let you restore to any previous version of your site with one click. |
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Support |
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Support center, forum, phone. The documentation is very detailed and clearly explained. If you get stuck, you can submit your question to the forum. Answers are usually prompt but sometimes a bit of email back and forth until the issue is solved. |
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Fun Factor |
Starting up is very playful and, initially, impressive results are achieved quickly. Wix gives you a lot of freedom in the design process. | |
|
Overall Rating |
4.6/5 |
Wix.com is a smart website builder with optical delights. Easy to use and as flexible as it can get. It’s the perfect website builder for photographers, bands, artists and any kind of portfolio site. |
FAQ
ChatWix Review: Conclusion
If I am being honest I had my reservations about Wix at first as their product hasn’t always been easy to recommend. Back in the days it was Flash-based and always a bit different (like your old classmate who had that weird taste in clothes). However, thanks to their neverending improvements they have become one of the cool kids, slowly climbing our ranking to now claim the top position.
Wix and SEO: can we be friends?
They even got Google’s John Mueller to publicly statethat Wix’s SEO capabilities are fine for their search engine. So unless you are planning on ranking for some insanely competitive keyword you should have no issues with Wix! In the end, SEO depends a lot more on your ability to create outstanding content rather than the website builder.
Wix’s App Market: all the widgets you will ever need?
One area where they’ve really done everything right is their app store. Most other website builders mainly rely on third-party apps that can break if the company stops supporting them. Wix’s strategy is a bit different: they have created more than 80 high-quality apps themselves. Among those: an appointment scheduling tool (Wix Bookings), the event management app Wix Events, hospitality widgets (Wix Restaurants and Wix Hotels) as well as Photo Gallery and Video tools. And you can bet that there will be more.
Final thoughts
I would recommend it without reservations for smaller websites (not more than 30 pages) that have to look flawless. Why not also for larger projects, you ask? Unfortunately the navigation menu doesn’t really accommodate complex site structures as there is only one sub-level. Weebly usually works better for big websites.
Wix has the widest selection of prebuilt designs for any kind of industry. As it’s not possible to switch to a new theme after your initial choice, it’s more difficult to revamp your site’s design (you’ll have to redesign it manually or start from scratch). On the positive side, this limitation facilitates Wix’s greatest strength: unmatched flexibility within your chosen theme.
And even if sometime down the road you would like to get into the ecommerce game you can easily add a shopping cart at relatively little cost. Read our Wix Ecommerce review to learn more.
What Wix has created here is certainly impressive in many ways with a development speed that is almost breathtaking. Just make sure you try out the free plan before switching to a paid plan to find out if it’s the right choice for you.
