Wix vs Shopify: Side-by-Side Comparison for Online Businesses
Wix vs Shopify: Which platform is best for small businesses? Read this article to compare pricing and features, and find the ideal platform for your online business.
If you ask me what the most popular website builders have been over the past few years, the answer is Wix and Shopify. They are both widely used platforms and the undisputed leaders in their respective markets. With 8.5 million active websites worldwide, Wix has become the best website builder. On the other hand, Shopify is the most valued and popular e-commerce website builder, powering over 5.3 million online stores worldwide.
The two website builders, Wix and Shopify, focus on different areas, but there is a lot of overlap. For example, although Wix can build websites for various industries, other fields, and different types of businesses, due to Shopify's higher pricing, Wix vs Shopify for small businesses, owners still prefer to use Wix. However, due to the vast, lucrative e-commerce market, which holds an annual revenue growth rate of 9.49%, the market size is expected to reach $6.478 billion by 2029, according to Statista. As a leader in the e-commerce industry, Shopify has generated more than $20 billion in cross-border sales from Shopify merchants. The vast profit market has made many people who want to participate in e-commerce hesitate to use Shopify as a website builder.
It can be said that both Wix and Shopify have advantages and disadvantages. Today, this article will compare Wix and Shopify through six aspects to solve your doubts so you can better choose between the two.
Wix vs Shopify: Comparison of the best website builders
Wix/Shopify: Ease of use
Ease of use is the first criterion when evaluating whether a website builder is good. The initial motivation for people to choose a website builder is that it does not require coding knowledge and design fundamentals, and anyone can use it. Which is easier to use, Wix or Shopify? Let's compare and see!
Wix:
Wix offers a free plan for customers to explore using the website builder. Wix provides two approaches to building a website. The first is Wix ADI. If the customer chooses this approach, Wix will ask a few questions before creating the website and automatically generate the website based on the customer's answers to business information and design preferences. Another option is to use the Wix Editor. This approach lets the customer choose the website template and edit the website content freely. In general, the Wix editor is very newbie-friendly and easy to use. The drag-and-drop editor allows users to get started quickly. Wix is often called one of the most uncomplicated website builders, offering tutorials and step-by-step guides.
Shopify:
Shopify offers a free trial for users to try out. Shopify recommends dashboards for new online stores based on how well your business has grown and the answers to your questions. Shopify is also straightforward; users can click the "Online Store" button to build their business and customize the storefront. Shopify offers a website editor that allows users to design websites using templates.
Wix and Shopify are generally very easy to use and get started. Wix offers two ways for customers to choose their preferred way to build their website. In contrast, Shopify offers one common type of website builder. Both platforms are suitable for beginners, but which one you choose depends on your requirements for how you want to use your website builder.
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Wix/Shopify: pricing and cost
Let's compare Wix and Shopify on pricing!
Wix:
Wix is the more affordable choice for website builders. It offers a permanent free plan, but features are limited. Wix has four premium plans that range from $17 to $159 per month (annually). However, if you want to sell online, you'll need a core monthly plan starting at $29.
Shopify:
Shopify has five pricing plans. From the base plan to the Plus plan, prices range from $39 per month to $2,300 per month (on an annual basis). Businesses can customize pricing upon request. In addition, Shopify offers a unique plan to embed a "buy button" on your website or blog for $9 per month.
Overall, Shopify is more expensive than Wix. Wix's pricing is more cost-effective. If you are a small business owner, I recommend Wix. However, if you want to make a long-term career in e-commerce, Shopify is the best choice for you. If you're on a budget, check out this article to find the right website builder: 7 Best Shopify Alternatives We Tested 2025.
Wix/Shopify: the best template provider
Which is the best template provider, Wix or Shopify? Web design is most people's first impression of your business. That is why it is essential to choose a good template.
Wix:
Wix offers up to 900 templates for free, and about 130 of them are designed specifically for e-commerce. You can make changes and designs to the template by dragging and dropping. However, Wix's templates aren't fully responsive, meaning some template features don't display well on smartphones.
Shopify:
Shopify offers 214 themes for the online store, with 13 free templates. These themes are expensive, ranging from $100 to $500. However, these themes are beautifully designed and responsive, so they look great on desktop and mobile devices. You can drag and drop to edit the template, and if you have CSS and HTML skills, you can customize it to your liking.
Overall, comparing Wix vs Shopify pricing, small business owners are better off with Wix, giving users much freedom. However, you have a high demand for website templates and a large budget. In that case, Shopify is undoubtedly the best choice for you. Shopify's templates are beautifully designed and free for users to edit, making them friendly for e-commerce-focused customers.
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Wix/Shopify: e-commerce comparison
When comparing Wix vs Shopify for small businesses, the e-commerce feature is the most important.
Wix:
Wix's e-commerce is very powerful, but it's not the core focus of the platform. Wix provides an item management interface, an internal e-commerce tool that allows customers to create products, fulfill orders, manage inventory, offer subscriptions, and more. Wix provides basic features such as secure payments and supports sales on popular platforms like Amazon and TikTok. Wix offers over 50 payment methods with a transaction fee of 2.9% + $30￠. In addition, Wix also provides three shipping options: free, flat rate, and weight-based. Wix offers applications that extend functionality, but not many are available. You can also use Wix's own created applications. There is a big gap between Wix and Shopify in terms of POS. Wix POS is currently only available to a handful of US online stores.
Shopify:
There is no doubt that Shopify has strong e-commerce capabilities. Managing inventory, adding products and customer accounts, subscribing to sales, checking orders, gift cards, memberships, Shopify automatic tax collection, and other basic e-commerce features Shopify offers. These features are more comprehensive and advanced than Wix's. Shopify offers hundreds of different third-party payment methods, with transaction fees generally ranging from 2.9%-2.4% + $30￠. Shopify provides a very mature shipping method; you can use Shopify itself to offer shipping services or a third-party app to manage your shipping needs. Shopify's app store is also huge, offering more than 6,400 apps focused on e-commerce. Shopify's point-of-sale system is comprehensive, integrating credit/debit card payments, Google Pay and Apple Pay, unified analytics, and more.
Overall, Shopify is the best e-commerce platform. However, Wix vs Shopify for small businesses, Wix may be a better one.
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Wix/Shopify: which one has more useful features
When evaluating the pros and cons of a website builder, don't forget about the features it offers. Of course, a good website builder is not about how comprehensive its features are but whether they are comprehensive. Let's take a look at what Wix and Shopify have to offer customers! And Wix vs Shopify for small businesses, which is better?
Wix:
As mentioned above, Wix offers two ways to build websites. One is the traditional drag-and-drop method, an intuitive interface allowing you to place elements anywhere on the page precisely. The other is the AI way of building websites. Wix can create a website in minutes by describing your vision and goals. Wix also uses AI capabilities in different ways. Wix has built-in AI tools. You can use them to generate branded content, product descriptions, blog posts, and create or edit images. Wix also has AI assistants to help you through all website creation and business development stages. Wix offers six options/products and 1000 unique variations for those involved in online sales. You can create titles and descriptions, and Wix provides photo galleries.
Shopify:
Like Wix, Shopify offers AI tools to its customers. Shopify's AI capabilities are focused on e-commerce capabilities. Shopify Magic is a set of free tools that help customers with AI image editing, SEO keyword generation, FAQ suggestions, email marketing chats, checkout, and more. Another AI tool is Shopify Sidekick, an AI assistant that provides users with strategy and content suggestions. Shopify offers three options/products and a total of 100 unique variations. Shopify allows you to create titles, descriptions, and photo galleries. Shopify also allows you to add 3D models to your products.
Overall, Wix vs Shopify for small businesses, Wix is the better choice. But you look at Wix vs Shopify pricing. Although Shopify is more expensive, the features are more suitable for those who want to focus on e-commerce.
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Wix/Shopify: which one helps you more about promotion
Now we come to the final step: which is better for promoting your business, Wix or Shopify?
Wix:
Wix offers a powerful marketing suite that helps you with SEO optimization and allows you to optimize your content by editing title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs. In addition, you can manage campaigns directly from the Wix dashboard and integrate them with other tools. Wix also provides branding workers to help you create badges and generate business names. The Wix platform also allows you to create social media graphics and videos. Wix supports multiple languages and provides analytics tools to help you monitor site traffic and sales. You can also easily set up Google Analytics.
Shopify:
Shopify helps you identify and reach your target audience by allowing you to drive marketing to your website through apps like Facebook and Instagram. Shopify also offers excellent email marketing tools, making setting up email campaigns to attract customers easy. On the SEO side, Shopify also provides essential analytics tools to help you monitor your visitors and sales and set up Google Analytics. It can also help you with SEO optimization, editing title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs to optimize content.
In general, both Wix and Shopify have good advertising services. Regarding Wix vs Shopify pricing and Wix vs Shopify for small businesses, Wix may be better than Shopify because it is cost-effective and can help customers better internationalize their business. Wix also has a good function in optimizing SEO.
Final Thoughts
This article explores Wix vs Shopify, comparing their differences and similarities across six key aspects.. Based on these six aspects, you can learn more about Wix and Shopify and choose a network builder that is best for you. The six aspects are ease of use, pricing, and cost, number of templates, e-commerce comparison, valuable features, and promotion. It's worth noting that both Wix and Shopify are not cheap, and you'll need to select according to your budget. For small business owners or people who have just started their business, choosing either Wix or Shopify may lead to over budget. They are not the perfect choice for small business owners.
If you are unsatisfied with either site builder, try Wegic. Wegic offers a permanently free version with all the features mentioned above. If you choose the Basic or Pro plan, you'll pay $9.90 per month and $15.9 per month, respectively, and unlock more features. With Wegic, you don't have to work as hard as a traditional website builder, and you can talk to the AI to create a website in 1 minute! Wegic is your best assistant! Wegic will free you from the shackles of traditional website builders; you need to tell Wegic's AI assistant your vision for the website and goals and wait for the magic to happen. Once Wegic’s AI assistant has built your website, you can also edit and change your website freely, no matter whether it is published or not. Hope you can find the best website builder in 2025!
Click on the image below to see Wegic's pricing strategy⬇️
https://wegic.ai/pricing
Written by
Kimmy
Published on
Jan 15, 2025
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