Which is better—Wix or Shopify?
We at Meetanshi get this question from our clients all the time. Surprisingly, many think choosing an ecommerce platform is easy.
But the reality is very different.
There’s a score of things to consider: features, SEO, user experience, product management, pricing, and more.
Yes, it is a lot of work.
That’s why we bring you a complete comparison of Wix vs Shopify. In this post, find everything you need to know to choose between Wix ecommerce vs Shopify.
But first, a few basics.
What Are Shopify and Wix?
Before getting into the meat of the discussion, let’s quickly understand what Shopify and Wix are.
Shopify
Shopify is an e-commerce development platform you can use to create online stores. It has customizable templates, apps, marketing tools, and sales channels. You can use them to create user-friendly, easy-to-manage e-commerce stores.
Over 4.4 million websites use the Shopify platform, according to the latest statistics, with a market share of 11.2%.
Wix
Wix is a leading no-code website builder platform. It also offers ecommerce features that can be used to build an online store. One thing everyone loves about Wix is its drag-and-drop website building feature which makes creating a site seamless for everyone. Even without having any knowledge of coding, you can create beautiful websites in Wix.
Wix started out as a website builder for creative bloggers and small businesses. But it has now pivoted to offer ecommerce store building capabilities. It offers various ecommerce capabilities, third-party apps, SEO tools, an intuitive website builder, etc.
According to its global website market share of 43%, it is the leading website builder in the world.
| Element | Shopify | Wix | Which is Better? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use |
|
| Shopify |
| Customization |
|
| Wix |
| Templates & Themes |
|
| Wix |
| Inventory Management |
|
| Shopify |
| Pricing and Fees |
|
| Wix |
| Free Trials |
|
| Both |
| Apps and Integrations |
|
| Shopify |
| SEO Friendliness |
|
| Both |
| Customer Support |
|
| Shopify |
| Payment Gateways |
|
| Shopify |
Shopify vs Wix for Ecommerce: In-depth Comparison
Let’s analyze each of the elements in detail. This will help you understand the difference between Shopify and Wix and find out the most suitable platform for your business.
Shopify vs Wix: Ease of Use
Shopify is designed for ecommerce businesses. And they have pioneered ecommerce store creation. You can use sections and blocks to create pages for your online store. It makes the page clutter-free and ensures a defined flow of content and multimedia.
Likewise, Wix also has an intuitive editor, making store creation easy. It has everything in one place, unlike Shopify.
You can drag and drop items to build a store and customize it. While it would be a dream come true for most users, others might find these customization options overwhelming. Another element that makes Wix great is its ability to show exactly what you need as you build the store.
As an ecommerce store builder, Shopify is the clear winner here.
Shopify vs Wix: Pricing & Fees
Comparing Shopify vs Wix pricing, the first thing to keep in mind is that they approach the pricing very differently.
Shopify offers three plans starting from $39/month. It goes to $105/month for small businesses and $399/month for medium to large ones.
Shopify also offers a 3-day free trial to test the platform. And you can continue using it at just $1/month for the first three months.
In addition to the subscription plan, Shopify also charges certain fees per transaction. And that can add to your overall cost as your business scales. Likewise, you also need to pay for any third-party paid apps that you install.
On balance, Wix has more affordable and value-adding plans for a business. You can create an ecommerce store using Wix for as low as $27/mo using its Core plan.
Note: You can not add ecommerce features to your Wix site using free or Light plans.
The best part about using Wix for ecommerce is that—it does not charge additional transactional charges. This makes it a suitable choice for businesses that are just starting out and looking for a budget-friendly online store builder.
Related Read: Shopify Plus Pricing
Shopify vs Wix: SEO Friendliness
Shopify offers essential SEO options that allow updating titles, meta descriptions, url slug, etc.
Shopify automatically generates an XML sitemap that updates on its own. Therefore, making it easier for the search engines crawlers to find and index your site.
For example, here’s a auto-generated sitemap of a Shopify store.
Also, there is not much to work on when it comes to the technical side of Shopify stores. You get fast-loading storefronts, in-built schema markups, and more.
Wix offers an intuitive SEO dashboard to track your store health and performance.
It also lets you verify your site on Google Search Console and get insights. You can also find an SEO checklist to set up your store for better rankings.
Wix also boasts SEO tools to help you through your search optimization journey. The tools include site inspection, URL redirect manager, sitemap management, etc.
However, Shopify beats Wix when it comes to the out-of-box SEO readiness.
Shopify vs Wix: Templates & Themes
Shopify, you can choose from 100s of themes from the official theme store (12 of them are totally free.) And there are more themes on third-party marketplaces like ThemeForest. You can customize them as per the unique needs.
Shopify themes are mobile-friendly and responsive. It means they automatically adjust elements based on the users’ screen sizes. And they’re also tested for optimum performance across devices.
Wix also has excellent templates you can use to build ecommerce stores. There are 120+ ecommerce-specific templates in Wix.
You can also modify the templates or build your own from scratch using the draft-and-drop editor. And they’re mobile-responsive as well.
This means you’ll have more flexibility over the look and feel of the store using Wix. Making is a clear winner when it comes to designing and customization flexibility.
Shopify vs Wix: Apps & Integration
Shopify renders a variety of apps on its official App Store. You will find over 8,000 free & paid apps for all types of your needs from various categories, like reviews, email marketing, SEO, designing, etc.
You can also find apps for Shopify for integrating third-party tools and services like Facebook, Instagram, Klaviyo, etc.
You can explore our library of best Shopify apps to find the one that meets your business needs.
Shopify offers paid apps on subscriptions basis—which means you’ll have to pay monthly or annual to use paid apps.
On the other hand, Wix’s App Market is not as extensive as Shopify’s. It has 500 apps, out of which 250+ of them are geared towards ecommerce.
You can find Wix apps for a variety of purposes, such as marketing, selling online, media and content, etc.
Shopify’s rich library of apps and integrations makes it a clear winner over Wix.
Shopify vs Wix: Payment Gateways
Shopify supports a wide range of payment gateways. You can choose from over 400 popular payment gateways, based on your country or region.
Shopify also has its own payment service called Shopify Payments. Merchants from eligible countries can use it to accept payments from customers using Credit and Debit Cards, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, etc.
Wix supports integration with 100+ payment gateways. It includes leading payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, Wix Payment, Square, 2CheckOut, etc. Merchants can use these payment gateways to accept payment via payment methods like Cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
Shopify has an edge over Wix when it comes to support for payment gateways.
Shopify vs Wix: Inventory Management
Shopify is a complete selling solution that offers ecommerce, point-of-sale, and inventory management systems. This means you can manage the product inventory across the selling points like offline store using POS, online website, etc.
Wix falls behind Shopify in terms of inventory management.
There are two ways to manage inventory in Wix: one is by tracking your inventory, where the number of products gets updated as you sell. The other one is manually updating products’ stock status.
Wix apps also allow you to manage the inventories, get updated on low stock, and update stock on the store for the users. But most of these apps are paid ones.
In a nutshell, Wix’s inventory management features may not be suitable for larger businesses managing hundreds or thousands of products.
Shopify has a clear edge over Wix in terms of inventory management features.
Shopify vs Wix: Customer Support
Shopify has an impressive customer service system. You can get 24×7 Shopify support via email, live chat, and phone. It also has a helpful resources section with tutorials to help you throughout the learning curve. You can also raise questions in the Shopify community and discuss with other merchants and technical geeks.
Wix also has an impressive customer support ecosystem. It has an extensive and well-curated resources section with guides, tutorials, etc. The support resources are extremely detailed to help users understand the processes.
Shopify is a clear winner over Wix, with its 24×7 multi-channel customer support.
How to Choose Between Wix vs Shopify?
Now that you know how Shopify and Wix fare against each other, it’s time to make the ultimate decision. Here are some of the factors to consider:
- Business Size: Shopify is suitable for larger businesses or startups planning to scale
- Target Market: Shopify is suitable for selling worldwide with its multi-store feature
- Budget: Wix is suitable for small businesses looking for a budget-friendly online store
- Third-party Integrations: Shopify is suitable for businesses looking for wide variety of integrations
The ultimate choice depends on your business needs and budget. Shopify is a better choice for businesses of all sizes.
If you’re already a Wix user, read How to Transfer from Wix to Shopify.
Final Take: Which is Better Shopify or Wix?
Shopify and Wix both have unique features and benefits that appeal to certain businesses. The best way to choose between Wix vs Shopify is to look at your business and identify your primary goals and vision. This will lead you towards the best platform that fits your business. After all, that’s what’s ideal for any brand to grow.
Wix is a better option for small sites and stores with limited resources that want to start quickly. However, when it comes to ecommerce capabilities, Shopify is the clear winner.
That’s the best conclusion to any discussion pitting Shopify vs Wix ecommerce.
