Comparing Wix vs GoDaddy: Discover My Winner for 2025

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After testing and comparing website builders for 300+ hours, I found that Wix offers a more complete package overall, with a better range of quality features. GoDaddy is more basic in its building tools, but it provides an uncomplicated and fast experience. But, which is right for you?

Key Takeaways 🔍

  • Wix is our top builder for 2025 thanks to its outstanding features, templates, and sales tools
  • Wix and GoDaddy both have free plans, but you’ll need to upgrade to sell products
  • Both builders are great value for money (GoDaddy is cheaper, but you get more bang for your buck with Wix)
  • Wix’s drag-and-drop editor offers more creative freedom with a larger selection of over 2,000 templates
  • While GoDaddy lacks an app market, Wix supports over 800 plugins to tailor your store to your needs

In addition to our earlier update which rolled out our latest 2025 research findings, I’ve done a sweep of the page to ensure all features and pricing are accurate (as of September). For example, I’ve added mentions of new Wix tools.

Wix vs GoDaddy: Quick Comparison

Need to see the builders up close and personal? The handy table below compares each platform, so you can see how each platform stacks up:

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Wix

GoDaddy

Overall Rating
4.8
Overall Rating
4.1
Today's best price
Today's best price
Free plan or free trial

Free plan

Free plan or free trial

Free plan

Number of templates

2,000+

Number of templates

200+

Free custom domain
Free custom domain
AI website builder
AI website builder
Recommended for

Businesses promoting their online presence

Recommended for

Tech novices and side hustlers

Try Wix Try GoDaddy

Who Do I Recommend Wix and GoDaddy For?

Both Wix and GoDaddy are among the best website builders we’ve tested, but the two cater to different audiences:

Wix is best for promoting your website online ✅

Wix offers a diverse range of high-quality features and designs, and while this can be overwhelming to newcomers, you won’t find a builder that’s better equipped for promoting your business online and reaching new customers.

GoDaddy is best for getting your site online quickly ✅

If you need a website up fast to promote your business, GoDaddy is perfect for that. Its simplified builder is beginner-friendly and means you can get a website ready in under an hour, giving you time to focus on other matters.

Which Builder Has Better Pricing?

Of the 12 website builders we tested this year, both Wix and GoDaddy offer the best value for money plans. You can see a breakdown of each builder’s pricing and plans in the sections below:

How Much Does Wix Cost?

Wix’s pricing is split into four plans, three of which have ecommerce features:

  • Light – $17 per month (billed annually)
  • Core – $29 per month (billed annually)
  • Business – $36 per month (billed annually)
  • Business Elite – $159 per month (billed annually)

For new online businesses trying to get off the ground, Wix gives users the tools for succeeding – but with slightly larger start-up costs than GoDaddy.

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a shoe website with a big ad banner
Wix placed a banner ad at the top of my website on the free plan. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Much Does GoDaddy Cost?

GoDaddy’s pricing is split into three premium plans, with only one plan having ecommerce features (the Commerce plan):

  • Basic – $9.99 per month (billed annually)
  • Premium – $14.99 per month (billed annually)
  • Commerce – $20.99 per month (billed annually)

If you do decide to sell, then the Commerce plan is almost $10 cheaper than Wix’s most basic ecommerce plan ($29/mo). But you will get more features included with Wix’s plan.

Can I Build a Website for Free?

For new users and businesses just getting started, Wix and GoDaddy both offer a free website builder. This is great if you have little to no budget, but I wouldn’t recommend staying on a free plan long-term since they lack the scalability and features of premium plans. Test the editor and features out with the free plans, but upgrade to a premium plan once you’re ready to share your site publicly.

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The Winner

Wix and GoDaddy both have affordable plans

Both Wix and GoDaddy offer a free forever plan, which come with ads and limited features. Once you’re ready to upgrade, GoDaddy’s plans are cheaper overall, but if you pay a bit more for Wix, you’ll unlock a greater suite of tools and design options.

Is GoDaddy or Wix Easier To Use?

Though I found both builders easy to use during hands-on testing, GoDaddy is the better choice for total beginners, while Wix is suitable for those seeking a more hands-on approach with plenty of creative control.

How Do I Get Started With Wix and GoDaddy?

When you boot each website builder up, you’re presented with a choice to use their AI website builders, which involves filling in a short questionnaire used to generate a custom template based on your answers.

In my own testing, I found that both Wix and GoDaddy generated completely new templates based on my answers, meaning they truly are customized for your particular business.

You can see our experience using Wix’s AI website builder in the video below:

However, what sets GoDaddy apart is its speed – you can have a published site in under a minute, making it the fastest builder for getting online. So, I highly recommend GoDaddy if you’re on a time crunch.

Is Wix or GoDaddy’s Editor Better?

I found that once I was in the editor, GoDaddy’s drag-and-drop wasn’t as advanced as Wix’s. Elements could only be placed in certain blocks, and there was little customization to be found in their style and size on the page. With Wix, I could move elements anywhere on the page without limitation.

In streamlining the entire building process, GoDaddy has stripped back a lot of user choices but keeps things simple. For example, while GoDaddy does have premade templates to pick from, it heavily advertises the use of its AI builder, whereas Wix is more upfront about there being two choices: an AI builder or templates.

a sports site in grayscale in a website editor
I found GoDaddy's editor a lot simpler to use than Wix's. All of my editing tools were in the menu on the right. Source: Website Builder Expert

💡 One thing we noticed during testing…

I was impressed by the amount of creative choice Wix gave me in the editor. From the right-hand sidebar, I could add gallery carousels, contact forms, restaurant menus, social media links, and other useful design elements to my homepage. If you want to make your website your own, Wix is a good call!

A smiling headshot Holly Choules
Holly Choules Writer
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The Winner

GoDaddy's onboarding process and editor are really simple

Wix’s editor is more advanced. From its generative AI tools to its endless customization options, you can create a sophisticated website that comes with the key functionalities your business needs to grow online.
Try GoDaddy for Free

Which Builder Has Better Designs?

Though you can create presentable designs with GoDaddy, Wix’s templates and customization options offer much more variety. From the editor, I could customize each part of my website by dragging and dropping different design elements wherever I wanted on the page.

Wix has over 2,000 free templates to choose from, covering industries ranging from online sports stores to forensic pathology. Plus, Wix introduced an AI Theme Assistant in September 2024, offering design suggestions within the editor itself to help with areas like color schemes and font style.

Wix’s template page, showing six online store template examples.
With Wix, I could look through over 2,000 templates. I didn't find them all visually striking, but there’s something for every industry. Source: Website Builder Expert

Did You Know? 💭

If you have some web design skills already, Wix Studio, a built-in platform specifically for agencies and freelancers, gives you total design freedom over your website. It enables you to use code and other web development tools, while still having access to Wix’s range of features.

GoDaddy, on the other hand, falls short with roughly over 200 themes. When I explored the templates myself, the limited nature of GoDaddy’s editor made each template look fairly similar and blur together in my mind. GoDaddy pushes its AI building experience ahead of its templates for one reason: its template design is lacking.

a selection of GoDaddy templates for the same website
GoDaddy gave me a choice of different template layouts, but all still based on my AI builder prompt. Source: Website Builder Expert
Wix logo black 2025
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The Winner

Wix’s design features are more advanced

With over 2,000 templates to choose from spanning multiple industries, and a wide range of customization options, Wix makes it easier for you to design a website that best represents your business.
Try Wix Now

Does Wix or GoDaddy Have Better Website Features?

Features are what really separate the average platforms from the elite. What you can and can’t do on each platform is crucial to your final decision, especially when starting a new business.

What Features Does Wix Have?

According to our 2025 research, Wix is the reigning king of website features. Its builder comes with a range of tools, all available from one centralized dashboard, including:

  • Wix Astroan AI-powered business assistant that’s new for 2025
  • Wix Business Launcher to help you find other ways to make money online
  • Wix Menu (for restaurants)
  • Wix Booking to help manage services and appointments
  • Wix Hotels to support with reservations and payments
  • Pricing plans to showcase transparent prices to your site visitors
  • Membership groups for accessing exclusive content
  • Email marketing for connecting with subscribers with branded newsletters
a screenshot of the Wix editor showing booking settings with placeholder images of stairs and a tea set
When I clicked on the Wix Booking app, I was able to make events that others could sign up for. It was all managed from the Wix dashboard. Source: Website Builder Expert

Do GoDaddy’s Features Compete With Wix?

GoDaddy can’t hold a candle to Wix’s range of features. As well as lacking an app store – meaning it loses a lot of niche, business-related features – building a website with GoDaddy is much more limited than Wix, with an emphasis on being streamlined and easy to use rather than offering the best quality features.

Adding a new service to GoDaddy website
It was so easy for me to add new services within my GoDaddy dashboard. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, where GoDaddy does stand out is in its marketing and social media integration. With features such as building branded content, an AI social media content calendar, and email automation available on every plan, GoDaddy is great for getting your business name out there. It’s also a good alternative for those needing a website to advertise their business and little else.

Wix logo black 2025
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The Winner

Wix has the best website features

Wix’s range of features and quality of tools makes it flexible and usable for any type of business. The bulk of important features, such as email marketing, are built into the builder, but you can also add extra functionality through Wix’s app market.
Test Wix for Free

Can You Sell Online With Wix or GoDaddy?

Neither Wix nor GoDaddy are dedicated ecommerce website builders, but you can sell products with both of them, depending on your chosen premium plan. If you’re interested in starting a small business, selling a few products on a website is the easiest option. If that’s the case, I recommend Wix, since its sales features are more powerful than GoDaddy’s.

Both providers include the most vital sales features on their respective ecommerce plans:

  • Sell unlimited types and quantities of products
  • Sell both physical and/or digital products
  • Process payments securely through gateways like PayPal, Stripe, or Square (although Wix offers a larger number of gateway options)
  • Mobile apps for managing your store on the go
  • Various shipping and accountancy options
  • Discount and sale codes
Ecommerce design elements for GoDaddy's website editor
I could add a selection of ecommerce-specific sections to my test website on GoDaddy. Source: Website Builder Expert

The issue with GoDaddy’s ecommerce is that its features are limited and lack scalability. For example, GoDaddy won’t be ideal if you’re looking for dropshipping or international selling tools. As a small business, you don’t want to immediately cap your business’ potential growth.

Wix’s ecommerce plans extend all the way up to specialized enterprise plans for industry-leading brands, meaning you have plenty of room to grow your business with Wix’s subscriptions. To put it simply, Wix’s sales features let you run a sizable and profitable online store, while GoDaddy limits you to a smaller business.

Wix Dropshipping Apps
I could find all of Wix’s dropshipping apps in its extensive app store, along with customer reviews and ratings to help me pick the best ones. Source: Website Builder Expert

Latest Wix Ecommerce Features ⬇️

  • Wix has now integrated with Pinterest, letting merchants sell their products via the social media platform and manage everything from their Wix dashboard
  • Wix has partnered with Alibaba, helping stores expand their selling capabilities around the world and connect with suppliers more easily

Wix logo black 2025
editors choice icon
The Winner

Wix can help you grow your online store

Wix has better sales features than GoDaddy, because it allows online stores to scale up as they grow bigger, meaning that you can rely on Wix for longer throughout your ecommerce journey.
Sell With Wix

Do Wix and GoDaddy Handle SEO for Your Site?

The strength of your website’s SEO (search engine optimization) will determine how highly you rank on search engines, like Google. The higher you rank, the more eyes will be on your site. Simple, right?

Wix’s SEO features are the strongest overall. Like its website-building features, Wix provides top-notch customization across the board, allowing you to edit things that will have an impact on SEO, such as meta titles and descriptions, URL slugs, and header code.

But, that on its own wouldn’t be enough. What really elevates Wix’s SEO suite above GoDaddy is the partnerships and integrations Wix has been able to swing.

What SEO Tools Does Wix Offer?

Wix has plenty of built-in SEO tools, as well as integrations with popular SEO platforms:

  • Customized SEO checklist – Wix offers personalized SEO support and recommendations based on your website, so you can make strategic improvements to boost your rankings
  • Semrush – a popular keyword research tool you can use to look for search keywords related to your industry.
  • Google Analytics – gives you access to numerous website metrics, from key traffic sources to the number of conversions on a page.
  • SE Rankings – this tool provides you with insights into your main competitors, helping you compete with them on search engine results pages.
  • Microsoft Clarity – used to access insights on user behaviors, so you can track what real visitors are doing via heatmaps and website sessions metrics.
  • Wix SEO Learning Hub – access resources on all things SEO, including webinars, glossaries, and online courses from industry experts
  • Searchlight newsletter – a newsletter by Wix detailing the latest SEO updates.
screenshot of Wix's SEO tools
Wix's dashboard provided me with all the SEO tools I could need, plus a handy checklist I could go through to ensure that I'd covered all bases. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Does GoDaddy’s SEO Compare?

No matter which premium plan you choose, GoDaddy provides access to SEO basics, as well as its SEO Wizard website optimizer.

Unfortunately, GoDaddy lacks the advanced SEO features that Wix provides. GoDaddy covers the basics, such as editing your meta titles and descriptions, URL slugs, and image alt tags. However, you’ll have to do without canonical tags or SEO best practice prompts. It also can’t compete with the sheer amount of extra integrations and partnerships Wix has, but then again no other competitor really can.

a window warning users they need to upgrade to use GoDaddy SEO
To access SEO on the free plan, I could either upgrade to a paid plan or just pay to use SEO. Source: Website Builder Expert

💡 Useful to know

GoDaddy’s SEO tools during hands-on testing didn’t give me much confidence. For example, the SEO Wizard had me adding target keywords to my website pages. However, I felt that this could cause a complete SEO beginner to keyword stuff, since it’s not an organic way to add keywords to your content. Keep this in mind as you set up!
Wix logo black 2025
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The Winner

Wix has better SEO tools than GoDaddy

Wix is above GoDaddy when it comes to SEO, offering a fleshed-out SEO checklist alongside unique integrations with platforms like Semrush and Microsoft Clarity.

How We Tested Wix and GoDaddy

When comparing Wix and GoDaddy, I used the results of our 2025 round of website builder research to provide you with suitable recommendations for your business. Our team conducted over 300 hours of data collection and covered 207 areas of investigation.

Each platform is assessed via six key criteria that reflect what users are looking for in a builder—this criteria is also weighted based on importance:

  1. Website functionality – 30%
  2. Design features – 25%
  3. User experience –  15%
  4. Pricing – 15%
  5. Help and support – 10%
  6. Reputation – 5%

My own experiences during hands-on testing have also shaped the views expressed in this article. By getting up close and personal with Wix and GoDaddy, I have a clear understanding of each builder’s strengths and weaknesses. This allows me to share useful insights that can help you make your final choice.

Wix vs GoDaddy: Which Is the Winner?

It was a great showing from the two builders, but in the end, Wix is the overall winner. Its superior features, such as its AI chatbot builder and in-depth marketing suite, make it difficult to suggest any other builder for business owners that want to promote themselves online.

That being said, GoDaddy certainly cements itself as a solid cheap alternative, great for those who are short on time and money and, perhaps, those who need to streamline their operations between their in-person and online presence.

If you want to know more about each builder, you can read our full Wix review and GoDaddy review.

Written by:
Holly Choules is a Writer at Website Builder Expert with a background in researching and crafting engaging content for digital platforms. In previous roles, she has demonstrated her wordsmith skills by writing for public facing brands in a range of industries. After gaining hands-on experience using leading website builders, like Wix and WordPress, she is now keen to share her findings through informative, easy-to-follow articles that help small business owners get online and grow their presence. Since joining the team in 2024 and transitioning into the tech sphere, Holly is passionate about applying her three years of content writing experience and upholding Website Builder Expert’s position as an authoritative source on website builders, ecommerce, and digital marketing.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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