Wix
Drag-anything website building for people who do not want a web project.
- Development
- Ecommerce
- Marketing
- from $17/mo
Wix is a hosted website builder covering sites, online stores, bookings, payments and marketing, with a freeform editor that places elements anywhere on the canvas. It is aimed squarely at business owners rather than designers or developers, and it wins by making the first version of a site achievable in an afternoon.
Wix ranking and coverage
- In Development
- #15 of 18
- Overall
- #82 of 122
- Terms score
- 5 /10
- Referenced here
- 6 pages
Cost position 3.1 · Portability 5 · Subscription flexibility 7 - Ranked on published terms only: entry price against category peers, portability and subscription flexibility, equally weighted. This is not a quality score.How the rank is calculated.
Wix: the short answer
Every line below is drawn from facts verified on 20 August 2026.
- What it is
- Drag-anything website building for people who do not want a web project
- Best for
- Small businesses that need a credible site quickly
- Starts at
- Free on a Wix subdomain; Light from $17/month
- Free option
- Free plan available, no trial
- Biggest strength
- Genuinely achievable for non-technical business owners
- Biggest drawback
- Freeform positioning frequently produces fragile mobile layouts
- Based on
- Primary-source research, not hands-on use
- Closest alternative
- Squarespace - Better design discipline out of the box, and stronger for portfolios
- True annual cost
- from $204 a year on Light, the cheapest paid tier ($17 a month)
Wix at a glance
| Best for | Small businesses that need a credible site quickly, Service businesses needing bookings and payments built in, Owners who will maintain the site themselves |
|---|---|
| Category | Development, Ecommerce, Marketing |
| Starting price | Free on a Wix subdomain; Light from $17/month |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free trial | No trial offered |
| Pricing model | freemium |
| Company | Wix.com Ltd. |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Founders | Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami, Giora Kaplan |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android |
| Public API | Yes |
| Browser extension | No |
| Mobile apps | iOS + Android |
| Self-hosting | No |
| Affiliate programme | Affiliate programme advertised, paying per referred premium plan |
| Data source | Vendor pricing page and public records |
| Last checked | August 2026 |
Wix pricing
Prices below were read from the vendor's own pricing page on 20 August 2026. Pricing model: freemium. No free trial is offered.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | per month | Wix subdomain with Wix branding, reliable hosting, the drag-and-drop editor and the template library. No custom domain |
| Light | $17 | per month | Yearly subscription paid in full, which is the basis every figure on the page uses. Free domain for one year, 2 GB storage and 2 site collaborators |
| Core | $29 | per month | Yearly. 50 GB storage and 5 site collaborators, plus basic ecommerce and scheduling. The tier a team of three needs |
| Business | $39 | per month | Yearly. 100 GB storage and 10 site collaborators, with advanced ecommerce |
| Business Elite | $159 | per month | Yearly. Unlimited storage and 100 site collaborators, with advanced reporting and developer tooling |
What Wix actually costs over a year
A monthly price is not the same thing as a monthly contract. These are the plans above resolved both ways, per seat or unit where the plan is charged that way. Where a vendor quotes only a yearly figure it is divided by twelve rather than left out, and the Quoted column says which figure the vendor actually publishes.
| Plan | Quoted | Monthly | Over 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | per month | $17 | $204 |
| Core | per month | $29 | $348 |
| Business | per month | $39 | $468 |
| Business Elite | per month | $159 | $1,908 |
Which Wix plan should you buy?
| Your situation | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want to try building before paying | Free | Wix subdomain with Wix branding. Fine for learning the editor. |
| You need a custom domain and no ads | Light | $17 a month with 2 collaborators. The minimum for anything public and professional. |
| You are selling products | Core | $29 a month, which is where ecommerce and analytics begin. |
| You need advanced ecommerce | Business | $39 a month. |
| You need unlimited storage and developer tooling | Business Elite | $159 a month, a large step usually driven by scale rather than features. |
| You care about design quality above all | Consider Squarespace instead | Squarespace's templates are more consistently well designed. |
| You are running a serious store | Consider Shopify instead | Wix sells competently; Shopify is a commerce platform. |
Verdict by who you are
Small business owner building their own siteYes
The most forgiving builder available. Drag-and-drop freedom means you can place anything anywhere, which beginners find liberating.
Business needing bookings or a small shopYes
Both are built in, avoiding extra subscriptions.
Design-conscious brandCompare first
The same freedom that helps beginners lets you build something misaligned. Squarespace constrains you more helpfully.
Growing ecommerce businessNo
You will outgrow it. Shopify or WooCommerce handle catalogue and fulfilment properly.
Anyone who may migrate laterCompare first
Wix sites do not port anywhere. Treat the platform choice as long-term, because leaving means rebuilding.
Should you buy Wix?
Buy Wix if…
- Small businesses that need a credible site quickly
- Service businesses needing bookings and payments built in
- Owners who will maintain the site themselves
Do not buy Wix if…
- Content-heavy publishing where a real CMS is needed
- Teams wanting to own or export the underlying code
- Sites where page performance is a primary concern
Key features
- Freeform drag-and-drop editor with absolute positioning
- Large template library across business types
- Wix Stores for ecommerce with payments and shipping
- Wix Bookings for appointments and classes
- Built-in email marketing and basic CRM
- Velo developer platform for custom code
- Hosting, SSL and CDN included
- AI site generation from a description
Integrations
- Wix App Market
- Google Analytics and Search Console
- Meta and Google advertising
- Mailchimp
- Zapier
- Wix Velo APIs
Wix screenshots
Captured by us in August 2026 at 1440px, unedited. Interfaces change, so these show the product as it looked on the date we verified this profile. Pricing pages are captured from a US vantage point, so the currency shown matches the USD figures recorded above.
Our assessment
Wix is the most forgiving website builder there is, and that is both its appeal and its limit. The freeform editor lets a non-designer place anything anywhere, which gets a site live fast and also produces layouts that behave unpredictably on mobile unless carefully managed. Pricing is reasonable at the lower tiers and the jump to Business Elite at $159 is steep. The structural caveat is the same as every hosted builder: there is no export, so the decision is effectively permanent until you rebuild elsewhere.
What works in Wix
- Genuinely achievable for non-technical business owners
- Bookings, stores and payments built in rather than bolted on
- Hosting, SSL and CDN handled with nothing to configure
- Very large template and app selection
What doesn't
- Freeform positioning frequently produces fragile mobile layouts
- No code export, so migration means rebuilding from scratch
- Page performance is mediocre compared with static or coded sites
- Changing template after launch means rebuilding the site
EveryAny Decision Score
3 of these 8 dimensions are calculated from verified facts; the rest are our judgement, shown as a band rather than a figure unless something specific sits behind them. How each score works.
- Cost position3.1/10
derivedentry tier at $17 a month against a category median of $15 a month across 16 comparable tools
- Portability5/10
derivedpublic API
- Subscription flexibility7/10
derivedfree plan, freemium, monthly billing
- Feature depthHigh
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- Ease of learningVery high
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- CollaborationModerate
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- AI capabilityHigh
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
- Professional adoptionVery high
editorialour judgement, with no measurement behind it
What leaving Wix would cost
moderate lock-in
Wix scores on public API. Portability 5/10 ; lock-in is the inverse. How this is calculated.
Wix competitors and alternatives
| Alternative | Why you might pick it instead |
|---|---|
| Squarespace | Better design discipline out of the box, and stronger for portfolios. |
| Shopify | The right answer if selling products is the main purpose. |
| WordPress | More work, but genuine ownership and no ceiling on content. |
Framer
Development
Design-led website builder that publishes production sites from a canvas.
Checked Aug 2026
Squarespace
Development
Templates that are genuinely hard to make ugly.
Checked Aug 2026
The freeform editor is a genuine trade-off
Most builders use a grid or block system, which constrains what you can do and guarantees the result reflows sensibly. Wix lets you place elements at arbitrary coordinates. That is why it feels liberating for a first-time builder, and why mobile layouts need separate attention: the desktop canvas and the mobile canvas are edited independently, and changes to one do not always follow to the other.
Check every page on a phone before launch, not after.
Template lock-in inside the platform
You cannot swap templates after publishing without rebuilding the site. Choose carefully at the start, because “we will redesign later” means starting again rather than restyling.
Where the tiers actually matter
Light at $17 removes Wix branding and connects a domain, which is the minimum for a business site. Core at $29 is the first tier with ecommerce. Business at $39 is where selling becomes serious. Business Elite at $159 is a large step, bought mainly for unlimited storage and advanced reporting, and most small businesses never need it.
Wix or the alternatives
Against Squarespace, Wix offers more freedom and less design discipline; Squarespace is harder to make ugly. Against Framer, Wix is far more approachable and produces notably heavier pages. If the site is primarily a shop, Shopify handles commerce properly and Wix does not need to. And if you intend to publish serious volumes of content, no hosted builder will serve you as well as a real CMS.
Wix questions, answered
- Is Wix worth it?
- Wix is the most forgiving website builder there is, and that is both its appeal and its limit.
- How much does Wix cost?
- Free on a Wix subdomain; Light from $17/month. The cheapest paid tier we recorded is Light, published at $17 a month, which works out at $17 a month or $204 over a year. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
- Does Wix have a free plan or free trial?
- Wix has a free plan. No free trial is offered.
- What is the best Wix alternative?
- It depends on the job. Squarespace: Better design discipline out of the box, and stronger for portfolios. Shopify: The right answer if selling products is the main purpose. WordPress: More work, but genuine ownership and no ceiling on content.
- Can I self-host Wix?
- No. Wix is a hosted service only, so your data lives on the vendor's infrastructure.
What this profile is based on
Every claim below is about our work, not about Wix. A "no" is recorded rather than omitted, because the difference between a tested review and careful desk research is the reader's to weigh. How we research a profile.
-
Prices read from the vendor : yes
Read from Wix's own pricing page on 20 August 2026
-
Plans and terms recorded : yes
5 rows, each with its billing period
-
Original screenshots : yes
2 captured by us: homepage, pricing page
-
Sources cited and dated : yes
1 primary source, each with the date it was read
-
Product used first-hand : no
Not tested. This profile is desk research from primary sources
-
Alternatives used first-hand : no
None, so comparisons here rest on published facts rather than use
-
Vendor contacted : no
Not contacted for this profile
Desk research from Wix's own plans page, read on 20 August 2026 through a United States egress. Wix renders its prices with the currency symbol after the figure - "17$ per month" - which is why a symbol-anchored parser reads nothing on this page and the figures here were taken from the rendered layout. Nobody here has built a Wix site.
Where Wix appears on this site
6 other pages here reference Wix. Every one is listed below, so the figure can be checked rather than taken.
- Buyer guide Best ways to build a startup website in 2026 ranked #3
- Another profile Carrd names it as a competitor
- Another profile Squarespace names it as a competitor
- Another profile Webflow names it as a competitor
- Another profile WooCommerce names it as a competitor
- Another profile WordPress names it as a competitor
Counts pages on this site that name the product by choice - buyer guides, articles, deal records and other profiles. Category and directory indexes list everything automatically and are not counted.
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Provenance and freshness
When each fact was last checked
- Pricing ·
- Plans ·
- Free trial
- Features
- Platforms
- Integrations
- Affiliate programme
- Company details
Individually sourced claims
-
Light is $17 a month, Core $29, Business $39 and Business Elite $159, and the page states that displayed prices are for yearly subscriptions paid in full
Wix plans ↗ · checked
-
Site collaborators are capped at 2 on Light, 5 on Core, 10 on Business and 100 on Business Elite
Wix plans ↗ · checked
-
Storage is 2 GB on Light, 50 GB on Core, 100 GB on Business and unlimited on Business Elite
Wix plans ↗ · checked
-
Most yearly plans include a one-year free domain voucher for a new domain bought from Wix
Wix plans FAQ ↗ · checked
What has changed
-
August 2026
- Recorded that every displayed price is a yearly subscription paid in full, which the page states in a footnote rather than on the cards
- Recorded the collaborator caps by tier, which decide the real cost of a third editor
- Recorded the storage limits by tier
-
August 2026
- Plan pricing verified across all tiers
- Added plan picker and verdicts
Sources & verification
Facts on this page were read from the sources below on the dates shown. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we record it as not disclosed rather than estimating it.
- Wix plans and pricing - checked 20 August 2026
Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will re-check it. Corrections are logged on the page.
