Wix vs Shopify: Differences, pros and cons in 2024

Wix vs. Shopify: Overview

Wix and Shopify are website builders and hosting platforms offering an all-in-one option to manage your small business website. Wix provides tools that could work for a wide range of websites, including e-commerce, while Shopify is more focused on solely e-commerce sites. 

Here’s an in-depth look at Wix and Shopify to help you better understand which could be a better fit for your business.

Featured website builder offers

Wix

Learn More

Via Wix’s website

Monthly fee

$17

Free domain

For one year

24/7 live customer support

Yes

Web.com

Learn More

Via Web.com’s website

Monthly fee

$19.99

Free domain

Only when paying annually

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Squarespace

Learn More

Via Squarespace’s website

Monthly fee

$23

Free domain

For one year

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

What is Wix?

Wix is a website builder and hosting platform offering everything you need to run nearly any business website. It offers flexible tools, allowing you to build your page with drag-and-drop functionality. Supported uses include:

• Online stores.
• Portfolios.
• Blogs.
• Restaurants.
• Appointment booking.
• Events.

In addition to running a basic business website, Wix has features that allow you to build custom web and mobile applications. However, you’ll need more advanced technical abilities to use these features successfully.

Business owners can choose from hundreds of templates to build their websites. While sites are extremely customizable, due to Wix’s design flexibility features, creating a less user-friendly website is possible if you don’t understand the latest website design and user experience standards.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a website and hosting platform focused on the e-commerce industry. Features enable businesses to build sales-focused websites with cross-channel sales features, payment processing, inventory management, order fulfillment, marketing and sales management tools incorporated into the all-in-one platform.

Building a website at Shopify isn’t attractive to businesses not interested in selling. It could work for some service businesses, but other content creators may want to look elsewhere. However, Shopify has a compelling toolset if you sell physical or digital products.

The online editor offers access to design themes and add-on apps to give your online store additional features, including:

• In-person sales.
• Email marketing.
• Chat support.
• Social media tools.

Some apps require additional fees above the standard Shopify pricing.

Wix vs. Shopify: Pricing

Winner: Wix

	LEAST EXPENSIVE MONTHLY PLAN	MOST EXPENSIVE MONTHLY PLAN
Shopify	$39	$399 for highest monthly plan; Starting at $2,300 per month for three-year Plus plan
Wix	$17	$159

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The lowest-cost plan at Shopify is $39 per month, while Wix has three plans with a lower monthly cost. For businesses on a tight budget and businesses that don’t need a scalable e-commerce website, Wix’s pricing is more compelling than Shopify’s.

With both providers, paying more unlocks additional features. Wix plans go up to $159 monthly, and Shopify charges up to $2,300 per month (when paying every three years). In both cases, you’ll pay more for payment processing regardless of your chosen plan. Shopify payments are fully integrated, and Wix allows you to integrate with external payment processors or use its payment system.

Wix vs. Shopify: Design and user interface

Winner: Shopify for e-commerce, Wix for other businesses

Wix and Spotify include the ability to create a custom website on your domain. But the website-building experience is vastly different.

Shopify’s website builder includes drag-and-drop functionality, where your site is mainly built using sections with pre-set alignment. If you stick to a pre-designed color theme, you’ll likely make a functional website that looks good on most devices and works well for e-commerce sales.

Wix offers a freeform editor where you can drag and drop page elements to place them anywhere. Businesses can closely follow templates or place items anywhere on the page. Wix gives you more flexibility, but users without strong design skills could inadvertently build a website that doesn’t look great or is challenging to use.

Wix vs. Shopify: Features

Winner: Shopify for e-commerce, Wix for other businesses

Wix gives users features to do almost anything possible with a modern website. While you may need more technical skills to take advantage of every feature, default features allow:

• Restaurants to take orders and manage reservations.
• Service businesses to manage appointments.
• Events businesses to sell tickets.
• Other websites to build blogs and manage diverse content.

Shopify features are more streamlined and focused on e-commerce. It’s not as flexible, but everything a sales website needs is easy to find and add. If your primary need is product sales, the combination of features at Shopify is better suited to quickly getting your site running and tracking sales from start to finish.

Wix vs. Shopify: E-commerce options

Winner: Shopify

Shopify does one thing very well. While you can certainly run an e-commerce site through Wix, Shopify’s focus makes it the clear winner for e-commerce sellers. For example, its extensive e-commerce features include but are not limited to:

• Inventory management tools and processes. 
• Order fulfillment tools and processes. 
• Return management and shipping tools. 
• Shipping discounts.
• Order fraud analysis. 
• Abandoned cart recovery processes and tools. 

The biggest drawback for e-commerce, when compared to Wix, is pricing. Shopify is generally more expensive and offers fewer payment processing options. However, the features to list and sell products, handle fulfillment and provide a positive customer experience give Shopify the advantage when selling nearly any product.

Wix vs. Shopify: Customer support

Winner: Tie

Wix customer support is available 24/7 in English through a callback system. Enter your phone number and Wix will call you back. Support comes in 10 additional languages with more limited hours. You can also pay extra to work with a professional Wix site designer if you need more help than general Wix customer support.

Shopify also offers 24/7 customer support through the Shopify help center. You can reach the support team by email or chat. Some plans include callback support, but not all users can contact someone by phone.

Which is best for your business?

Winner: Shopify for e-commerce, Wix for other businesses

When deciding between Wix and Shopify, it’s best to understand your business needs, as there’s no correct answer universal to all businesses.

If you’re a product business with physical or digital sales needs, the Shopify platform is likely the best choice, as features are designed around your e-commerce needs. It may be a little more expensive than Wix, but the design and sales features likely make the higher cost worthwhile.

For businesses doing anything else, Wix is generally a better choice. You can probably get by with a lower monthly plan cost and access a much wider variety of features and drag-and-drop design flexibility for different types of businesses.

Featured website builder offers

Wix

Learn More

Via Wix’s website

Monthly fee

$17

Free domain

For one year

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Web.com

Learn More

Via Web.com’s website

Monthly fee

$19.99

Free domain

Only when paying annually

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Squarespace

Learn More

Via Squarespace’s website

Monthly fee

$23

Free domain

For one year

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)