Wix vs GoDaddy 2023: Which Is the Better Option for You?
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Comparison winner
When it comes to Wix vs GoDaddy, the right option for you really depends on your needs – but overall, Wix is the better website builder. It gives you more creative control, more features, and the best help and support. GoDaddy, however, is a much quicker solution, and offers better site speed and value for money than Wix.
If you need a simple website live as quickly as possible, and you’re on a tight budget, then we recommend GoDaddy. If you want an easy-to-use builder with scalable features and lots of creative control, then Wix is the best option. Both Wix and GoDaddy have a free plan, so you can try either one risk-free to start off with.
We put both Wix and GoDaddy through our in-depth research process. First, check out their ratings below for a quick comparison:
Wix is better for you if…
… You want an easy-to-use platform that gives you more control over how your website looks, and you’re willing to pay more for it. It’s also the better choice if you need a greater range of inbuilt features and optional app extras.
GoDaddy is better for you if…
… You want to get online quickly, and you don’t mind sacrificing some creative control in favor of speed. We recommend GoDaddy if you need to keep costs down, and keep your site running as quickly as it is to set your site up!
Every single builder goes through our thorough research process. We investigate important areas such as:
- Ease of use
- Design flexibility
- Value for money
- Feature quality
- Help and support
- Customer satisfaction
This helps us rate and compare the builders fairly, focusing on important factors that users have told us matter most.
We even get groups of everyday people to test the builders out and give us feedback, which we then analyze. This helps us:
- understand exactly how easy (or difficult) beginners find the builder
- uncover any issues within the builder
- judge customer satisfaction
We’ve applied this process to over 50 website builders so far – all so we can bring you the most accurate results and recommendations!
Further Information
Wix vs GoDaddy: Quick Comparison
Overall Wix scores 4.8 out of 5 compared to GoDaddy that got a still very decent 4.1 out of 5. Both builders have a lot to offer, so it’s about finding out which one is right for your particular website building needs.
| Wix vs GoDaddy | Wix | GoDaddy | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Wix’s drag-and-drop editor makes it very beginner-friendly and easy to use. Plus it also offers a fast ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) option, so it has something to appeal to everyone. | GoDaddy’s ADI setup is super simple, so you can get your site up and running in no time. Its editor isn’t as straightforward as Wix’s, though. | Wix |
| Design | Wix offers a huge range of industry-specific themes, and has almost limitless customizability for near-complete creative control. | GoDaddy has come a long way in its designs and customization, but it’s still more limited than Wix. It doesn’t offer the same scope for customization. | Wix |
| Value for Money | Wix has a range of plans to choose from, including a free one. Wix's prices are pretty good for the industry standard, but GoDaddy is cheaper than Wix. | GoDaddy has four affordable pricing plans, as well as a free one. It offers great value for money, and has one of the lowest monthly costs out of all the builders we tested. | GoDaddy |
| Features | Wix has a wealth of quality features, as well as a massive app store filled with nearly everything imaginable. No matter what you need, Wix has it. | GoDaddy has a modest but solid selection of in-built features that are perfect for smaller websites. However, it doesn’t have an app store to help outside of that. | Wix |
| SEO | Wix gives you good control over your SEO, as well as providing a helpful SEO Wiz and extra SEO apps. | GoDaddy also has a useful SEO Wizard to help you optimize your website for search, but it’s only available on paid plans. | Wix |
| Help and Support | Wix offers a wider range of 24/7 help and support options, including phone, live chat, and social media. Its knowledge center is also one of the best, and it has on-page support, too. | GoDaddy has a similar offering to Wix, however its knowledge center isn’t as clear – and it doesn’t sport the same level of on-page support. | Wix |
Short on time? Our 5-minute comparison review video has everything you need to know!
Ease of Use
Which Has The Easier Learning Curve?
Which Has The Easier Learning Curve?
The Winner
Wix is easier to use than GoDaddy
| Ease of Use | Wix | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 4.4/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Coding knowledge needed? | ❌ | ❌ |
| Editor | Drag-and-drop: drag anything anywhere you want to | ADI builder and section-based drag-and-drop: More restrictive movement |
| What did our users say? | "The ease of set up was really nice. By entering your business type you are given relevant templates - making things much faster" | "GoDaddy is good for people who don't want to fiddle around a lot with their website." |
| Ease of use verdict | Winner! Very beginner-friendly with helpful tips and hints along the way | Loser Less flexibility in movement can be frustrating |
A website builder is an online platform that allows you to build your very own website from scratch. Wix and GoDaddy are two such platforms – but which is easier to use?
GoDaddy saw a slight improvement in its ease of use, but not enough to move up from its overall ease of use score of 4.1 out of 5, which it received last year. Although it didn’t see an increase in its score, we noted an improvement because of its very clear and simple editor – which is a positive sign for the future.
Also testers found that it would be good for taking the hassle out of building, although the simplicity does raise a question on how scalable the builder is for a website.
Wix, on the other hand, achieves and remains at a score of 4.4 out of 5, making it one of the easiest to use builders on the market. Its score didn’t improve from last year’s rating because it saw a slight drop in the likely to recommend score, with one tester noting: “beginners could become overwhelmed by the level of custom features.”
Both Wix and GoDaddy have a fairly straightforward onboarding process. With Wix, all you need to do is set up your account and choose from one of its many templates, before being launched into the editor (where the fun really starts!).
GoDaddy’s starting process has a little more to it. That’s because it’s an ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) builder, which means it does the majority of the hard work for you, but it needs more information from you first. All you need to do is answer a few introductory questions, and it’ll create a starting website for you!
Both Wix and GoDaddy offer an ADI option. However, Wix also has a classic editor, for those of you that want complete creative control over how your website looks.
It’s worth noting that using an ADI builder doesn’t mean you won’t have to do anything to your website. You’ll still need to add your own content, and customize it to reflect your brand. You’ll also still be able to make limited adjustments if you’re not completely happy with the finished layout, too.
When it comes to getting to grips with Wix and GoDaddy’s editors, you’ll be pleased to know that both offer a drag-and-drop format, which allows you to click and drag elements around the page as you see fit.
With Wix, you’ll be able to move anything – anywhere you want. This is because it’s considered a ‘pure’ drag-and-drop builder, so there aren’t really any creative limitations.
This might be a bit overwhelming if you’re a complete beginner, but Wix provides helpful hints and tips along the way if you get stuck – just look for the little question mark icons! Alternatively, you can opt to use its ADI builder.
GoDaddy, on the other hand, has a bit more structure to it. Its templates are organized using blocks. These make it slightly trickier to master because you’ll need to work within the pre-set boundaries. In other words, you won’t be able to move things as freely as you can on Wix.
Further Information
- Read our full Review Of Wix
- Learn more with our Review Of GoDaddy
- Find out about the Easiest Website Builders
Design Flexibility
Which One Looks Better?
Which One Looks Better?
The Winner
Wix has better design flexibility
| Design | Wix | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 4.6/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Number of templates | 800+ | N/A |
| Can you switch later? | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Mobile Responsive? | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Design Verdict | Winner! More templates to choose from and better customizability | Loser Websites look good, but there’s limited scope for personalization |
Design is all about the look and usability of your website. You want something that’s easy on the eye, but also simple to navigate. In our research, Wix performed better than GoDaddy, with Wix achieving 4.6 out of 5 and GoDaddy scoring 4.1. Below, we’ll look into the design functionalities of each.
Wix
Wix has over 800 templates for you to choose from. These are broken down into industries, such as ‘Fashion and Clothing Store‘ or ‘Arts & Crafts‘, and can be previewed and tested before you commit to one.
It has seen a 4.5% increase in its design score since last year, thanks in large part, to a selection of new templates. We particularly love the new Lucia Alma illustrator template, that showcases beautifully how far Wix’s designs have come along.
Although Wix has an awesome range of templates, once you publish your site, you won’t be able to change it. If you do decide that you want to use another one, you’ll need to recreate your site from scratch.
As a result, we recommend taking some time to look through all the options available, so you’re double-sure when you hit that ‘Publish’ button!
Wix’s editor then gives you drag-and-drop functionality. Think of this like using Lego – to build your final product, all you have to do is choose your element and pop it into place. In the Wix editor, this means selecting and holding it so you can drag it to wherever you want. When you’ve decided on placement, just release.
And the best part? There are no limitations with Wix, meaning you won’t need to stick to certain blocks or rows. You really can put anything anywhere!
This will particularly appeal to the more creative-minded amongst you, but it can get a bit confusing at times. The editor is pretty crowded and busy, so don’t worry if it takes you a while to find your feet.
GoDaddy
Out of all the builders we’ve analyzed, GoDaddy has made the second lowest improvement in terms of design since our last round of testing. Its new score of 4.1 out of 5 which is 5.8% lower than its old one. This is because they haven’t kept up with what the market is offering in its templates, alongside not being quite as mobile responsive as competitors.
Its ADI function builds your website for you, so a lot of the aesthetic details are out of your hands. However, we don’t think you’ll be disappointed by how polished and professional its designs look.
Despite how easy it is to build a website with GoDaddy, customizing it is another matter entirely. Unlike Wix, you won’t have full free reign over your website’s design due to GoDaddy’s block-based layout.
You can resize images, and move them around in a limited area, as well as add extra elements or pages, but that’s about it. Because of this, all of GoDaddy’s websites naturally look quite similar, making it hard to stand out from the crowd.
How Do The ADIs Compare?
It’s important to note that Wix also has an ADI product – Wix ADI. This works in a similar way to GoDaddy, but you don’t get the same level of editing control you do with Wix’s main editor.
With an ADI option, customizable templates, and an option to code your site from scratch, Wix caters to a wider range of people looking to build their website, whereas GoDaddy prefers to stick to the simplest and fastest solutions.
We spoke to a group of web design experts, who agreed Wix has the better templates. They thought they were more aesthetically pleasing, and much easier to customize to reflect your unique brand.
Further Information
- Wix Templates Review – our review dedicated to Wix’s design
Pricing and Value for Money
Which One Offers Better Bang For Your Buck?
Which One Offers Better Bang For Your Buck?
The Winner
GoDaddy offers better value for money
| Pricing | Wix | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 3/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Free plan or free trial? | Free plan | Free plan |
| Number of plans | 7 | 4 |
| Starting price | $16 | $9.99 |
| Personal plans | Combo: $16 Unlimited: $22 | Basic: $9.99 |
| Business plans | Pro: $27 VIP: $45 | Standard: $14.99 Premium: $14.99 |
| Ecommerce plans | Business Basic: $27 Business Unlimited: $32 Business VIP: $59 | Ecommerce: $16.99 |
| Enterprise package | $500 | ❌ |
| Pricing verdict | Loser Although it has more plans on offer, it's more expensive | Winner! Its features match up to Wix’s and its pricing plans are much cheaper |
Wix has a completely free plan, then seven paid plans ranging from $16 to $45/ month, when paid annually – the three highest plans allow online sales.
GoDaddy has four plans and a one month free trial, with prices ranging from $9.99 to $24.99 per month (when billed annually).
Cheap prices always go down well, but we like to look beyond that and really see what you get for your money. Before we get into all that though, are there any freebies?
Well, Wix has an entirely free plan. No, you heard us right – you can literally build and publish your website at no cost. Of course, this does come at the expense of having tacky Wix ads on your site, and even in your subdomain too (e.g. “https://carnagelucy.wixsite.com/lucyscupcakes”).
GoDaddy also has a free plan, so if you prefer the thought of using ADI, you can still get online without spending a cent. You’ll still have to contend with ad banners, and you won’t have access to all features – particularly advanced SEO tools – but, similar to Wix, it’s a great starting point.
Wix Pricing
Wix has more pricing plans than you can shake a stick at. It has four non-ecommerce plans and three ecommerce ones, ranging from $16 to $59 per month. Wix like many other builders, has seen a price increase over the last year. That coincides with its value score decrease of -11.8%.
When compared against its competitors, Wix only achieved a mediocre score of 3 out of 5 for value for money. Its starting plans are much pricier than GoDaddy’s, but it does pack a punch with its extensive library of features and extra apps. It might be more expensive, but you get what you pay for.
Naturally, the more you pay, the more you get. All premium plans come free of Wix advertising, give you your own personal domain, and promise a minimum 1GB of bandwidth.
GoDaddy Pricing
In addition to its free plan, GoDaddy has four pricing plans, only one of which gives you ecommerce functionality. These range from $9.99 to $16.99 per month, and are tailored for different needs.
It sounds obvious, but if you just want a personal site, GoDaddy’s Basic plan is ideal. If you’re a budding business, you’ll want to look at either the Standard or Premium plans. These plans give you more generous features, such as more social posts and email marketing campaigns per month.
All of GoDaddy’s plans include a marketing tool called GoDaddy Insight, which uses data to provide you with constant advice on how you can keep improving your online presence. This comes built-in to your GoDaddy plan, alongside essential features such as SSL security.
In our research, GoDaddy scored 4.1 out of 5, and this is because even its most expensive plans are still super affordable. In fact, GoDaddy’s plans, on average, are among the cheapest out there.
And the features it offers are pretty great, too. Sure, there’s no app store – and if you want advanced SEO functionality, you’re going to need to opt for the Standard plan at the very least. But still, GoDaddy comes with a wealth of tools that – considering the price – are ideal for smaller sites or online businesses.
Further Information
- Best Free Website Builders – find out what other free platforms are out there
- Wix Pricing – take a more detailed look at what you get in each pricing plan
Features and Tools
What Will Your Site Be Able To Do?
What Will Your Site Be Able To Do?
The Winner
Wix has better tools and features
| Features | Wix | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 4.8/5 | 3.1/5 |
| Industry-specific features (e.g. menus, RSVP forms, etc.) | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Edit from mobile | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Email Marketing | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Social Media Integration | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| App store | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Features Verdict | Winner! Wix has something for everyone thanks to its robust features and massive app store | Loser GoDaddy has a small but still high-quality offering, but lacks and app store |
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.
Let’s get straight to the point: Wix is unrivaled in this category. It scored a near-perfect score of 4.8 out of 5, while GoDaddy only scored 3.1 out of 5. GoDaddy dropped in score by 6.7% since last year, because although it has a faster server response time than Wix, its features don’t quite compare.
For example, GoDaddy doesn’t provide as many blogging features like writer profiles or a search bar. GoDaddy also doesn’t provide unlimited storage on its plans like Wix does, instead it is limited to 1000GB on the Platinum plan.
Below, we’ll dig a bit deeper into a few different areas to see the reasoning behind these scores, and unveil what separates the two.
- The ability to 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 large number of gateway options)
- No transaction fees imposed by the website builder
- Mobile apps for managing your store on the go
- Various shipping and accountancy options
- Discount and sale codes
Out of the two, however, Wix has the stronger ecommerce offering. This is because, in recent years, the platform has made a real effort to bolster its selling tools. Now, you can sell across a multitude of platforms and import your products en masse, making it ideal for budding ecommerce maestros.
If you’re interested in creating a powerful online store, you’ll want to check out dedicated ecommerce platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce.
Compared to this, GoDaddy looks slightly lackluster. It comes with analytics, comments, writer profiles, and categories segmentation, and you can also create an RSS feed to allow for subscriptions. However, it doesn’t offer specialized analytics, an archive, or a search bar. Can you still create a functional and attractive blog? Yes. But will it be the most advanced? Not compared to what you get with Wix.
GoDaddy doesn’t come with any third-party apps or plugins, so you’ll be restricted to the features that come with the platform.
Although there’s no doubt that Wix’s app market is a huge advantage, it does come with one big drawback, namely that many of the apps aren’t free, so you’ll need to pay extra to add them to your website. We’ve already established that Wix isn’t the most wallet-friendly builder, so be mindful of how quickly your monthly costs can rack up if you plan to rely on a number of premium apps.
It also has integratable marketing tools which are available through apps like Wix ShoutOut. This makes it easy to create, send and share email marketing campaigns with your users.
GoDaddy’s email features are totally built-in. You won’t be able to connect to any third-party marketing apps, although it does have its own email marketing service. However, that’ll come at an additional cost (starting at $6.99 per month) on top of the monthly fee you’re already paying.
GoDaddy has now also made this possible, although Wix still offers a larger range of formatting options.
Further Information
SEO
Which One Has The Tools To Help You Rank Higher?
Which One Has The Tools To Help You Rank Higher?
The Winner
Wix has better SEO tools
| SEO Features | Wix | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| Customizable meta titles | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Meta descriptions | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Image alt attributes | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| SEO specific app | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| SEO prompts | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Keyword Support | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Google Integrations | Google Analytics Google Search Console | Google Analytics Google Search Console |
| Headings | H1 to H6 | H1 to H6 |
| SSL Security | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| EBook / SEO Specific Guidance Page | ✔️ | ❌ |
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
Wix helps your site’s SEO by putting you in control. It allows you to edit things that will have an impact on SEO, such as meta titles and descriptions, URL slugs, and header code. Wix received a 5/5 for its SEO tools, as it now comes with:
- An Semrush integration
- A keyword support SEO checklist, where you can add 5 keywords
- SEO Wiz now offers the ability to try and edit keywords
If you’re struggling to know where to start, don’t worry. Wix offers keyword support through its SEO Wiz, and various apps, such as Site Booster, where you can track your website’s SEO performance.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s SEO has seen some major improvements in scoring since last year, an increase of 33.33% to be exact. Bumping it up to an SEO score of 4 out of 5, just below Wix’s 5 out of 5. That is because it incorporated customer headers and URLs, it also now has SEO prompts and keyword support.
The level of SEO support you receive with GoDaddy largely depends on your pricing plan. For those of you on the Standard, Premium, or Ecommerce plan, you’ll have access to its advanced SEO tools, including its SEO Wizard website optimizer. Although excellent for SEO newbies, it’s not accessible for those of you on the free or standard plans. You’ll have to make do with just the basics.
By ‘basics’, we mean that you’ll still have control over your meta titles and descriptions, URL slugs, and image alt tags, but will have to do without canonical tags or SEO best practice prompts.
Further Information
Help and Support
Which One Lends A Better Helping Hand?
Which One Lends A Better Helping Hand?
The Winner
Wix offers better help and support
| Help and Support | Wix | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 4.8/5 | 3.8/5 |
| 24/7 support | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Live chat | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Phone support | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Email support | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Video Tutorials | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Advanced specialist support | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Help & support verdict | Winner! Wix has a better range of help and support features, as well as a more comprehensive knowledge center | Loser GoDaddy offers lower quality support options, and its knowledge center is harder to navigate |
Wix takes the lead by a large margin with a help and support score of 4.8 out of 5, while GoDaddy has a score of 3.8 out of 5. Interestingly Wix’s score has increased by 10.5% since last year. Wix and GoDaddy both come with a wealth of support options for when you find yourself in a fix.
Wix
Wix has a strong support offering, which is why it scored 4.8 out of 5 in our help and support category. It offers phone support 24/7 (for English- and Spanish-speaking customers), and during the day for most other languages.
If you’d rather not pick up the phone (and we don’t blame you), you can reach Wix via live chat and social media, too. It also has a helpful forum and the best help center of any website builder.
Wix’s Help Center is an online resource where you can search for guides and tutorials. Think of it a bit like a Wix-only search engine – you type in a query, and a list of search results will pop up that will be able to help you.
Having tested Wix’s help center thoroughly, we’re confident in its ability to help you out. It even lets you know if you’ve searched for help on something Wix doesn’t provide!
GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s help and support score came out lower than Wix’s. We awarded it just 3.8 out of 5, having stayed the same since the previous round of testing. However, this isn’t because the support it offers isn’t as good – it’s just that the quality of the help you can get isn’t as great.
Like Wix, GoDaddy offers a 24/7 phone line, as well as live chat, email, video tutorial, and support via social media. Its big drawback is its knowledge center. It’s not as comprehensive as Wix’s and, when we tested it, we found it hard to find accurate answers to all of our questions.
On-Page Help
Wix has one more ace up its sleeve, though – its in-editor help. If you encounter a problem while editing your site, you can simply click on the question mark bubble and find the answer, without having to leave the editor!
What About Alternatives to Wix and GoDaddy?
As you know, Wix and GoDaddy aren’t the only website builders on the market. There are many out there for you to choose from. If neither Wix or GoDaddy are ticking your boxes, check out any of the below for alternative options.
Squarespace
If you’re after stunning designs along with a builder that wins for best value for money, then you won’t find better than Squarespace. It has the best quality templates on the market, with great quality features to match. Prices start at $16 per month, and it’s worth every cent! It’s just as easy to use as Wix, but will take longer to set up than GoDaddy.
Further Information
Shopify
If it’s ecommerce you’re after, you can’t get better than Shopify for selling online! It’s a great alternative to Wix if you want a bit more oomph for your online store. That does mean a higher price tag, starting at $29 per month, but it’s a worthy investment. Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform rather than a website builder, and comes jam packed with specialized features to help you get started and set you up for success.
Further Information
Jimdo
Jimdo is a great alternative to GoDaddy because it too uses ADI to build a website from scratch. Similar to GoDaddy, that makes it ideal if you’re in a rush and you want a professional-looking website – without all the hard work!
Jimdo’s website features aren’t quite as developed as those of Wix and GoDaddy – although the builder does still offer excellent value for money.
Further Information
Wix vs GoDaddy: Our Overall Winner
It was a great showing from two top platforms, but in the end, Wix emerged victorious. As we said, you simply get more with Wix: greater features, better control, and more expansive help and support. This is reflected in Wix’s higher overall score of 4.8 out of 5, compared to GoDaddy’s 4.1 out of 5 score.
Wix is a more powerful builder than GoDaddy, offering complete creative control and providing better quality features and more scalable plans. It’s more expensive, though, and its wealth of customization options can make it overwhelming for beginners.
GoDaddy, on the other hand, is more limited when it comes to features, but offers fantastic speed due to its effortless ADI builder, and site speed for your visitors. Not only that, but it’s made some strides in improving its ease of use.
We Recommend Wix if…
… You want total control over your design, but you don’t want to spend ages surfing a steep learning curve. Wix delivers websites that can grow with you, and it’s great if you want to start selling, too. Wix is also better if you’ve got more money to spend, as its average pricing plan is more costly than its competitors.
We Recommend GoDaddy if…
… You want to get online with a polished website fast. GoDaddy’s ADI builder takes the hard work out of building a website, which is great if you don’t have time to devote to designing. It’s also much cheaper than Wix, so better if you need to keep an eye on your budget!
Both of these builders are worth consideration, but, overall, we’d recommend Wix to anyone who isn’t in a mad rush to get their website up and running. Put a bit more time into design, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful website that you can keep customizing with cool and exciting features.
FAQs
If you want to build an online store, read our Wix eCommerce Review or check out our Ecommerce Website Builder Comparison Chart.
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