Wix vs Shopify 2023 Comparison: Which Is Worth Your While?

Do you wish someone would just tell you whether Wix or Shopify is better for you? Our experts have created this quick and easy quiz so you can find out which platform is your best fit! Click below to get started…

The Winner

It's a Tie!

These titan website builders are evenly matched when it comes to ease of use, with both Wix and Shopify scoring 4 out of 5 in our research. Wix is known for its editing simplicity, meaning you can get your store up and running in no time. And Shopify’s editor and powerful features make it easy to manage an online store.

If you’re selling online, time is money. The easier it is to build and manage your store, the more time you can spend attracting and serving new customers.

In this case, Wix and Shopify are incredibly easy to use with both builders scoring 4 out of 5 in our 2023 research.

Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform designed specifically for creating online stores, meaning it’s super responsive to the needs and wants of a business owner. It uses sections and blocks to keep your pages clutter-free, but you do have to jump between the frontend and backend for certain features, which can feel disruptive to the flow of building.

Wix, on the other hand, keeps everything in one convenient place. Unlike Shopify, its editor allows you to simply drag and drop elements into place, which makes building your store quick and straightforward. However, the high level of control and customization provided by Wix can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re just starting out.

One thing we really appreciate about Wix is that it’s a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) builder – this means that when you make changes to your pages, you can see exactly what they’ll look like in real-time.

When you start building your store, Wix will take you straight to your chosen template. From here, you can customize every element to reflect your brand with only the power of your cursor.

Every Wix ecommerce template comes with a store page already included. When you want to add your products, click on the demo listings to edit them. You can also easily add a collection too, grouping products together for a better user experience. But be warned: you’ll run into frustrating barriers if you start increasing your inventory size.

Wix in Action: Ksenia Ponka

Ksenia Ponka

PR & Marketing Practitioner

Ksenia helps companies uncover their growth potential and identify solutions to their problems. Her professional strength lies in effectively promoting companies and projects through omnichannel communication, combining PR, marketing, CRM, advertising, ecommerce, and social media marketing.

When I announced the launch of my website, more than 20 people wrote to me, asking for contact details for the agency that did the design. And when they heard that it was only me, using Wix, they couldn’t believe it.

Q&A

Would you recommend Wix?

When I announced the launch of my website, more than 20 people wrote to me, asking for contact from an agency that did the design. When they heard that it was only me, using Wix, they couldn’t believe it. So that’s why I would recommend this website builder to other users.

How long have you been using Wix?

I started to work on my website, Ksenia Ponka, in March 2022. I had no experience in web design, so it was a challenge because I wanted a professional-looking site with multiple pages.

What do you like most about Wix?

Firstly, I tried to use the Tilda website builder, but the number of free templates and the interface weren’t a good fit for my needs. So although it was a great choice to create a portfolio, a resume, or a personal blog, it didn’t work for me. I needed a more complicated design but with easy-to-understand layouts and tools to adjust it. I didn’t watch any guides and how-tos to start a website. I just opened the Wix manager and went on. It was intuitive and user-friendly with plenty of possibilities, including online bookings, request forms, galleries, and sub-pages. Moreover, I got a free voucher for a website domain upgrading to a business account, which helps avoid the service’s ad on your page. Nice touch!

Is there anything you'd change about Wix?

Some in-built and third-party plugins cost extra, even if you’ve already paid for a business account. For example, you can choose a template with an online booking service, but if you want it to work, you need to pay, which is a bit frustrating if you already have a professional subscription. Also, even though Wix is a simple website builder for total beginners, some editor options can be intimidating at first.

Click the + to see our favorite part of Ksenia's website

Ksenia’s homepage makes a big statement. The color scheme is bold and striking against the stylish white background, and visitors immediately know what it is she offers.

Shopify is better equipped to deal with larger stores, and makes adding a large number of products much faster. This is because it’s a dedicated ecommerce solution that places the emphasis on selling and product management.

Still, you can get creative with your Shopify template and customize it to fit your business needs pretty easily. However, Shopify’s bulkier editor comes with its own set of problems and requires a steeper learning curve.

Wix and Shopify have also rolled out AI features to make the website building process easier for users. Wix’s ADI builder designs a basic site for you, and both Wix and Shopify now offer AI text generators within their editors. Wix’s AI Text Creator is simple to use and helps you produce content for your site, while Shopify Magic generates product descriptions – with more capabilities to be rolled out soon.

The two builders balance each other out. Wix’s editor is intuitive and simple to use, but the number of tools on offer can make the whole process quite daunting. Shopify, on the other hand, has a trickier interface, but there are better elements and features for an online store.

More Information

• How to Start an Online Store: Our complete step-by-step guide to setting up your online store
• How to Start an Online Clothing Store: A closer look at the things to consider when selling clothes online
• 12 Best Drag and Drop Website Builders: Discover a dozen of the easiest-to-use platforms around

The Winner

Shopify has better design functionalities

Shopify just beats Wix for design. Its simplicity in design makes it a great option if you’re a small trader, and its templates and website elements are created with online stores in mind. If you’re looking to start selling and want to establish a brand online, Shopify’s the perfect fit.

Visit Shopify

When analyzing design functionality, we take a look at a wide range of factors including mobile editors, image libraries, and product pages. In this heat, Shopify is the best for design, scoring 4.4 out of 5 – an improvement of 14% since last year’s research.

But why is Shopify our preferred option for design? Let’s dive into it.

Mobile Responsive Designs

First up, you need to know whether your store will look good on all devices. Mobile commerce is on the rise, with sales expecting to reach $710 billion in 2025 – and that’s in the US alone. Both Shopify and Wix’s themes are mobile responsive, meaning your store will work just as well no matter the device your customer is using.

Template Choice and Price

Independent designers ensure Shopify’s 100+ themes are up-to-date and cover a range of industries, such as restaurants, sports, and pet supplies. It’s worth mentioning that most Shopify themes come with multiple styling options, so you can pick the version that best suits your brand.

Of these templates, 12 are free and the rest will cost between $180-$360 to purchase. We get that this could be a dent in the budget, but it’s a one-off payment that you should see as an investment in your store. You get better design choices from paid themes, and it’s worth the extra spend to create something unique!

As one of our website testers said:

“It’s good for people who are willing to invest a lot of time and money to build something that is professional and scalable.”

Wix, meanwhile, offers 120+ ecommerce-specific templates, all of which are free. And if these don’t grab your eye, Wix actually has over 800 templates in total, but not all of them are designed for ecommerce. For this reason, Wix scores 4.2 out of 5 in our 2023 research.

The Winner

Wix offers better pricing and value for money

Wix offers better value for money than Shopify. The more advanced your store, the more you will appreciate being on a Shopify plan – but Wix eCommerce offers plenty of scalability for an affordable price.

Visit Wix

Wix is better value for money than Shopify, scoring 4.4 out of 5 in this year’s analysis. Wix has a generous free plan to help you get a feel for the platform ahead of purchasing a plan, and its ecommerce plans come jam-packed with useful features.

Shopify falls behind in this category, scoring 3.6 out of 5 – a real improvement since last year’s research, however, boosting its score by a mighty 20%. What lets Shopify down in pricing are the additional costs that rack up over time, but let’s take a closer look to learn more…

Is Wix or Shopify Cheaper?

Both platform’s ecommerce plans start at $27 per month, if you choose an annual plan. So how can we separate the two? Well, Wix includes a 14-day free trial and is cheaper in the long run if you move up towards advanced plans. Shopify’s plans hugely leap in price between upgrades, and it only offers a three-day free trial.

Shopify also charges transaction fees unless you use its in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments, whereas Wix doesn’t charge any extra fees. Neither platform will show ads on your store, and both let you sell an unlimited number of products.

We recommend choosing one of Wix’s annual plans to get the most value for your money. This reduces your monthly cost to $27 per month as opposed to $34 per month, and unlocks features that aren’t available on the monthly plan, such as a free domain and $300 ad vouchers.

Wix Pricing vs Shopify Pricing

Shopify packs more powerful sales features into its plans, but Wix still wins this category because of its lower prices and affordability when upgrading. And, despite its cheap entry plan, Wix doesn’t hold back on its features either, meaning you get great value for money even from its cheapest plan!

You can compare the cheapest plans below:

More Information

• Wix Pricing Review: Get the full breakdown on Wix’s plans in our pricing review.
• Shopify Pricing Review: Find the right Shopify plan for your needs and budget.

The Winner

Shopify has better product and inventory options

Shopify has a much more sophisticated range of product features than Wix. Its inventory management is also incredibly powerful and tough to beat. Wix does a good job, but Shopify is designed for big businesses with a lot of stock!

Visit Shopify

Shopify is the clear winner for sales features, but context is key.

This is the area where Shopify flexes its ecommerce muscles, earning an impressive 4.7 out of 5 in our 2023 research. Wix isn’t quite as powerful as Shopify, but with a score of 4.5 out of 5, it’s not far behind – you still have an impressive range of ecommerce features to work with.

Wix includes precisely what you need to sell online. If you don’t want to build a business or sell tons of products, you’ll enjoy the simplicity of Wix – but for more complex online stores, Shopify is best.

Shopify in Action: Blackland Razors

Shane Swartzlander

Founder

Shane started Blackland in 2015 and it quickly earned a reputation as one of the most respected companies in the shaving industry. Blackland's fueled by a passion for tools that blend both form and function, and everything they make is obsessively designed in-house, made in the USA, and backed for life.

I’ve been using website builders for about seven years for our business. As a non-developer, these tools have been incredibly valuable in creating great websites and I’d be happy to share my experience.

Q&A

What attracted you to Shopify in the first place?

We switched to Shopify primarily because it’s an incredibly powerful commerce platform. On Squarespace we did a lot of workarounds and had limited access to analytics. Shopify’s detailed analytics and robust app ecosystem are highly valuable to us. Additionally, Shopify’s integrations are second to none and it has become the standard for ecommerce website builders.

How long did it take to make your site?

It took about three or four months of part-time work to get the Blackland Razors site complete and running properly. Much of that time was spent researching the platform and determining which apps to use which can be an overwhelming part of the process as Shopify is sort of like an iPhone – it’s not worth much unless you choose the right programs to put on it.

How easy to use is Shopify?

I think it’s approachable and accessible for most people to figure out reasonably easily. Plus, since Shopify is so popular, there are tons of users and developers who can answer your questions or do paid troubleshooting to help overcome whatever hurdles you run into.

What do you like most about Shopify?

Shopify’s modularity and adaptability make it difficult to beat right now. With the right apps, it can do just about anything you might need – whether that’s a simple store with a single product, a complex dropshipping empire, or a subscription product. You can even use it in person as a storefront POS. While it isn’t a magic bullet, Shopify has enough room for growth that we think it will do what we need for many years.

Is there anything you'd change about Shopify?

Shopify seems to be a little slow to implement community-requested changes. There are many Shopify threads from years ago about a feature that should be added with a lot of customers agreeing. Shopify team members will say they’re going to consider it and then it just never happens. There is a lot of that and I think Shopify sometimes hides behind their app store as a solution for things they don’t want to build. “We don’t do that, but this app does!” Each of those apps can slow down your site, add more tools that you have to learn, and cost money so adding apps to get features that should be native is frustrating.

What do you wish you'd known before you began?

I wish we had better understood which apps we need to have and which are a waste of time. Shopify has so many apps and it’s tough to know if/when you need an app to do what you want to do and which one you should pick. So we spent a lot of time stuck on problems that an app easily solves. Other times we got apps that we thought would be great, but we didn’t actually need. It’s all part of the learning process and now that we have that knowledge we could move much more quickly.

Payment Options

For payment options specifially, Shopify beats Wix – scoring 5 out of 5 for its payment variety.

Take a look at how the two website builders compare:

Shopify permits over 100 different payment gateways, but it doesn’t currently support Square. On top of that, you’ll have to pay transaction fees – unless you use its own gateway, Shopify Payments to streamline the process.

Plus, Shopify now allows merchants to enable tipping during checkout, or customize the text to ask for donations to your business or favorite charity.

And, Shopify doesn’t neglect your business needs – the platform recently launched Shopify Bill Pay, partnering with Melio, to help Shopify merchants manage and pay their business bills from a single dashboard.

In comparison, Wix supports all of the traditional payment options, including PayPal, Stripe, and Square, but doesn’t allow digital wallet payments like Apple Pay and Amazon Pay.

That said, it does have its own in-house payment option called Wix Payments, and doesn’t impose transaction fees no matter which payment gateway you choose. The lack of transaction fees means you get to keep more of your money compared to Shopify, but its limited payment options lets Wix down.

Shipping Options

Shopify is also helping merchants offer flexible and contact-free shipping options, like curbside pickup and local delivery.

With Wix, you can track orders, set tax rules for each product, and take advantage of dropshipping. However, you’ll still need apps to help with global shipping payments. That said, Wix recently announced Wix Shipping, partnering with leading shipping platform Shippo – this solution should help Wix merchants manage and fulfil orders quickly and smoothly.

Tax Settings

As you’d expect, Shopify also gives you tons of control over your tax settings – you can even set up Shopify to automatically handle common tax calculations to free up your time and reduce brain-ache.

And if you’re a Shopify Plus customer, then you’ll get access to Avalara AvaTax, which automates both your tax calculations and the tax filing process.

No one wants to make taxes more complicated than they already are!

The Winner

Both Shopify and Wix have strong marketing features...

It’s a tie! Shopify and Wix offer reliable marketing features, whether that’s built-in to the builder already or available in the app market. If you’re looking to promote your business and target your audience successfully, both builders provide email marketing tools, SEO support, and social media integrations.

Wix and Shopify score an equal 5 out of 5 for their marketing features, but there are some key differences between the two builders.

For starters, Shopify covers the basic marketing tools in-house, such as newsletters and social media integration, but it relies heavily on third party apps overall with over 8,000 to choose from. Not only does this give you lots of flexibility, but you should always be able to find a solution to your problem thanks to Shopify’s range of apps.

From email marketing platform Mailchimp to social campaigns tool Remarkety – Shopify’s app market could rival any website builder’s built-in features.

On the other hand, Wix has changed the ecommerce marketing game with Wix Ascend. Ascend is a comprehensive marketing solution which is available as a separate subscription, letting you manage your marketing campaigns easily in one place.

Wix has also paired up with Semrush, meaning you can access Semrush keyword data straight from your Wix dashboard. Depending on your Semrush account you’ll either get 10 free keywords a day or more if you have a plan already. Overall, you’ll have access to 21 billion keywords – which is awesome for your SEO marketing efforts!

If you want to read more about how each platform performs in particular areas, unfold the tabs below to see how Wix and Shopify compete for social media integration, email marketing, blogging, and SEO:

The Winner

Shopify has a better app store...

Though both builders score 5 out of 5 for their app markets, Shopify just takes the cake. When it comes to ecommerce integrations, Shopify’s app store simply has more to choose from. Wix is fine for smaller online stores, but for bigger and better ecommerce functionality (like global shipping payments), you can integrate the Ecwid app.

Visit Shopify

Shopify has a lot more apps to choose from than Wix – 8,000+ apps to be precise. This gives you huge scope to grow your store, making Shopify’s app store a great resource when you’re looking to upgrade. Among other things, you can:

• Add a customer wishlist
• Set up dropshipping
• Add product reviews
• Use currency conversion

Plus, the recently added Shop App is a personal shopping app that lets customers view their favorite Shopify stores, get product recommendations, and track orders. It’s already being used by over 16 million users!

Within the Wix App Market, there are over 500+ tools and services to browse, but only 48 ecommerce-specific apps. For an online store, we thoroughly recommend Ecwid to help you get started. Still, for apps that’ll support your business grow online, Shopify can’t be beat.

The Winner

Shopify helps keep your site secure...

Both Wix and Shopify provide plenty of measures to protect your online store, but Shopify just takes the lead in our 2023 research with a score of 5 out of 5. This is partly because of Shopify’s fraud protection measures, which is an area that Wix falls short in. Still, you should feel safe no matter which platform you choose.

Visit Shopify

Both Wix and Shopify take security very seriously and have plenty of measures in place to protect both you and your visitors, so you can sell safely online.

• SSL security is included on every plan with both Wix and Shopify. This protects your visitors’ data when they submit information on your site (such as login or payment details) – and is also an important ranking factor for Google.
• Both Wix and Shopify are certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, which means that your store is automatically PCI compliant too. This is good news because you must be PCI compliant if you’re selling online and accepting credit or debit card payments. PCI compliance is important for protecting payment information, business details, and reducing fraud.
• Viruses, malware, DDoS attacks, and other nasties are always a risk to any website or online store. Luckily, Wix and Shopify have built-in security measures to help protect their systems and your store. Neither platform lists the details of these protections, since that would make them easier to crack, but it’s safe to say they’re working hard behind the scenes to keep their users safe online.

What nudges Shopify above Wix in this category is its fraud detection measures – where Wix relies on payment gateways, Shopify supports prevention internally by providing its merchants with fraud analysis, Shopify Protect, card testing protection, and more.

The Winner

Wix offers higher quality customer support

Overall, Wix has better customer support than Shopify. Having around-the-clock support with Shopify is great, but it’s the quality of Wix’s customer service which makes it the winner. A more comprehensive help center and support directly within the editor mean Wix takes the victory.

Visit Wix

On paper, Wix and Shopify are pretty much neck and neck when it comes to support. Shopify’s 24/7 phone support and live chat are huge perks, especially for users needing instant support, no matter the time of day.

And both Wix’s Help Center and Shopify’s Help Center are incredibly detailed, with hundreds of articles and videos to support you.

But one massive point in Wix’s favor is its in-editor help. It can be frustrating having to click back and forth between a guide and your store, and even more frustrating with Shopify’s backend interface, but with Wix, you can receive help directly within the editor.

When we tested building with Wix, we found this feature to be particularly useful. It was nice to solve a problem in real-time as we were designing our website.

Hover your mouse over the editor’s question marks and you bring up small speech bubbles, which answer common problems. In Shopify, this process is clunkier and requires you to visit a separate page.

We’ve looked closely at both Wix and Shopify in our comparison article, and with the help of our 2023 research, Shopify is our top choice for businesses.

Its advanced sales features and scalability make it ideal for businesses of any size, but we have to recommend Shopify for companies with lots of products to sell since it has great inventory management tools. Shopify’s a powerful platform that can support long-term growth, especially with its huge app market, and though its plans aren’t cheap, we think it’s a worthwhile investment.

Wix isn’t a bad option at all, but it just falls short of Shopify in this instance. Wix is user-friendly, affordable, and its plans come jam-packed with features. It also gives you tons of creative freedom, making it ideal for brand-conscious entrepreneurs.

You Should Use Shopify If…

• You’re running a bigger business
• You need powerful features – Shopify has the best sales tools on the market
• You want a good suite of built-in analytics tools
• Your store needs a wider range of payment gateways

You Should Use Wix If…

• You’re starting or running a small online store
• You want lots of creative control
• You’re after a larger choice of templates
• You plan to run a blog alongside your store – Wix has better blogging features
• You’re on a budget – Wix has cheaper price plans, and you can start building for free

Not sold on Wix or Shopify? That’s fine!

We know that finding the right ecommerce website builder for your business is an important step, and we’re here to help you find our perfect fit. Check out these alternatives next:

• Squarespace Review: For a design-rich and easy-to-use experience.
• Square Online: Start selling for free with this builder.
• BigCommerce Review: Ideal for fast-growing businesses.