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…

Which Is More Beginner Friendly?

The Winner

Wix is easier to use than Shopify

Wix wins for ease of use. Wix is known for its editing simplicity, meaning you can get your store up and running in no time. It might not have the same ecommerce functionality as Shopify, but using it will give you much less of a headache.

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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.

While Shopify is extremely beginner-friendly, in user testing, our participants found Wix 14% easier to use than Shopify – making Wix the winner of this round!

Why Is Wix Easier to Use?

Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform designed specifically for creating online stores, but this can sometimes work against it. Unlike Wix, its editor isn’t super intuitive and users need to swap between the front and backend to edit.

Wix, on the other hand, does everything in one convenient place. Although its editor can be a bit overwhelming, once you’ve got used to it, being able to simply drag and drop elements into place makes building your store quick and straightforward.

Even better, Wix is a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, which 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.

On the flip side, it’s worth bearing in mind that Wix might be easy for the majority of store owners, but if you have a bigger inventory, you’re likely to find yourself hitting some frustrating barriers.

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. However, its bulky editor comes with its own set of problems, letting it down overall.

This steeper learning curve is why Wix comes out on top, earning a 4.0 out of 5 for ease of use, while Shopify only earns a 3.5

Looking for an Easy Store Builder?

In user testing, Wix was rated as the easier platform to build a store because its setup process is clean and straightforward.

Yes! I Want to Try Wix Now

Wix in Action: Ksenia Ponka

Ksenia Ponka

Ksenia Ponka is a PR and marketing practitioner. Her passion is to help companies uncover their growth potential and identify solutions to their problems, turning them into growth opportunities. 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.

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.

Who Offers More Creative Control?

The Winner

Wix has better design functionalities

Wix just beats Shopify for design. Its simplicity in design makes it a great option if you’re a small trader. Wix’s templates are packaged to help you do the basics straight away, but if you want an online store that’s more optimized for sales, Shopify’s themes are for you.

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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 45% of consumers saying they use their mobile phones more to shop online since March 2020. Both Shopify and Wix’s themes are mobile responsive, meaning your store will work just as well whatever device your customer is using.

Template Choice and Price

Independent designers ensure Shopify’s 73 themes are up-to-date and cover a range of industries. It’s worth mentioning that most themes come with multiple styling options, so you can pick the version that best suits your brand.

At $200+, some of Shopify’s paid themes are on the expensive side, 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, however, they’re still a little lacking in originality, as one user pointed out after testing Shopify:

“I found it really hard to feel I was able to create a brand which I was proud of.” 

Wix, meanwhile, offers 114 ecommerce-specific templates, all of which are free. Wix actually has over 800 templates in total, but not all of them are designed for ecommerce. However, Wix’s templates are so easy to edit, you can turn any of them into an online store pretty easily.

Do You Want a Stunning Storefront?

Wix beats Shopify for design with its free templates and focus on creative freedom, giving you control over your branding.

Yes! I Want to Pick My Wix Template

Where Should You Invest?

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 less cost.

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Is Wix or Shopify Cheaper?

Wix is the cheaper platform with prices starting at $27 per month,  compared to Shopify’s $27 per month, if you choose an annual plan. Wix also includes a 14 day free trial and is cheaper in the long run if you move up towards advanced plans.

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 adverts 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 and unlocks features that aren’t available on the monthly plan, such as a free domain and $300 ad vouchers.

Do You Want Great Value?

Wix has cheap entry plans, especially if you choose an annual subscription. Take your time browsing its plans – we’ll wait!

Yes! I Want to Visit Wix’s Pricing Page

Wix Pricing vs Shopify Pricing

Cheapest Plan Features

Overall, Shopify packs more powerful features into its plans, but Wix still wins because of its lower prices. Despite its cheap entry plan, Wix doesn’t hold back on its features, meaning you get great value for money even from its cheapest plan!

Did You Spot a Plan You Liked?

Wix offers an affordable way to run your store, without sacrificing features. We recommend exploring its Business Basic plan first.

Yes! I Want to Pick My Wix Plan

Which Is The Better For Selling?

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 a lot more powerful. Wix does a good job, but Shopify is designed for big businesses with a lot of stock!

Visit Shopify

Sales features is the area where Shopify flexes its ecommerce muscles, earning an impressive 4.5 out of 5 in our research. Wix isn’t quite as powerful as Shopify, but with a score of 4.4, it’s not far behind. You still have an impressive range of ecommerce features to work with.

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

You can unfold the tabs below to learn about product and inventory features, or skip straight to the sales tools that interest you most:

• Payment options
• Shipping options
• Tax settings

Shopify in Action: Blackland Razors

Shane Swartzlander

Shane is the founder of a razor ecommerce brand with experience building his website in Squarespace and Shopify. He started Blackland on a shoestring budget in 2015, named after the German translation of his last name, it quickly earnt a reputation as one of the most respected companies in the shaving industry. They're 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

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 you to make your site?

It took about three or four months of part-time work to get the 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 best about it?

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.

Any improvements you would make?

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 had 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.

Who Offers More Choice For Your Customers?

The Winner

Shopify has better payment options

Shopify beats Wix with the sheer number of payment options it offers! While Wix supports Square and doesn’t charge transaction fees, which are two things we’d like Shopify to take note of, its small number of payment options lets it down.

Visit Shopify

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

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

Wix supports all 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.

Who Gets Your Product To The Buyer?

The Winner

Shopify has better shipping options

Shopify once again beats Wix, this time with its extensive shipping features. However you want to deliver orders to your customers, Shopify has the tools to make it happen – including curbside pickup, local delivery, or international shipping – while Wix is more reliant on apps.

Visit Shopify

Shopify is also helping merchants offer more flexible and contact-free shipping options, like curbside pickup and local delivery. In summary, you’re never left stranded when organizing shipping with Shopify.

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 also offers an app integration with ShipStation, a shipping solution that streamlines the process of sending products out to ecommerce customers.

Which Keeps The IRS Off Your Back?

The Winner

Shopify has better tax settings

Shopify has more built-in tax settings than Wix, which is why it wins this round. Small businesses will find Wix’s tax settings satisfactory, but Shopify gives larger stores a lot more control over their taxes.

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As you’d expect, Shopify 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.

Shopify Plus customers can also access Avalara AvaTax, which automates both your tax calculations and the tax filing process.

How Can You Grow Your Site?

The Winner

Wix has better marketing features

Wix wins the marketing round! It’s very close, but Wix simply offers more than Shopify  –  particularly when you consider the superior blogging features and the power and simplicity of Wix Ascend, offering all your marketing tools in one manageable place.

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Shopify relies heavily on third party apps for marketing. While this does give you lots of flexibility, it’s hard to compare the two platforms fairly with so many apps flying around.

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

Also, recently Wix has paired up with Semrush. Get excited and imagine this for a moment – you’ll be able to 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 will have access to 21 billion keywords – now that’s awesome for your SEO marketing efforts!

It’s no surprise, then, that Wix wins the marketing features round. When we asked Wix users which features they found most helpful when building their site, marketing tools were the clear winner, with more than one responding with SEO tools.

One user praised Wix’s “blogging tools and SEO tools,” while another said it was Wix’s “social media integrations” they found most helpful.

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:

What Extras Do They Offer?

The Winner

Shopify has a better app store

Shopify has a better app store than Wix in terms of ecommerce integrations, in that it 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, making it a great resource for scaling up your store.

Shopify’s App Store gives you huge scope to grow your store. 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, we thoroughly recommend Ecwid for all Wix online stores. Still, for ecommerce-specific apps, the Wix store cannot match Shopify.

Can You Sell Safely?

The Winner

Tie

It’s a draw – both Wix and Shopify provide plenty of measures to protect your online store, so you should feel safe no matter which platform you choose.

The short answer is: yes. 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, as 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, as that would make them easier to crack, but safe to say they’re working hard behind the scenes to keep their users safe online.

Who Has The Better Helping Hand?

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 in the editor mean Wix edges Shopify here.

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, round the clock support.

However, Wix’s Help Center is even better, with hundreds of articles and videos to support you. The layout is also clearer than Shopify’s Help Center – which doesn’t include videos – though Shopify’s customer service is still highly accessible.

Another 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, but with Wix, you can receive help directly within the editor.

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.

Is Great Support Important to You?

We really enjoyed Wix’s in-editor support, which answers your questions as you build so you can get publishing sooner.

Yes! I Want to Try Wix for Free

You should now know whether Wix or Shopify is a better choice for you.

We recommend Wix for anyone setting up a new, small business who needs an affordable entry plan without sacrificing features. It’s easy to use and gives you tons of creative freedom, making it perfect for brand-conscious entrepreneurs.

We recommend Shopify for larger businesses looking for a more powerful platform that can support long-term growth. You’ll need a larger budget to get started with Shopify, but it’s a worthwhile investment thanks to its impressive sales tools and huge app store.

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

Starting a Small Business?

Wix offers affordable plans at $27/month, great features, and tons of creative freedom – you’ll be running your store in no time!

Yes! I Want to Try Wix For Free

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

Looking for a Powerful Selling Platform?

Shopify is perfect for growing large businesses, with its impressive sales tools and dedicated ecommerce suite.

Yes! Start Shopify’s Free Trial