8. 0/ 10
SCORE

Wix

Pros

• Wide variety of interesting designs
• Site contractor is really easy to use
• Great client performance
• Good customer service

Cons

• No ability to switch designs afterwards on
• High starting value
• Low store on most inexpensive plans

Founded way back in 2006, Wix is a cornerstone of the code-free website design business. But is it any nice?

I tested Wix by creating a website to examine the web builder’s ease of use, site performance, client service and price. Wix impressed me at nearly every move with beginner-friendly page editing tools, excellent server performance and good customer service. Nevertheless, the high price and limited storage of the lowest-tier prepare mean it might not be the best option if your budget is limited.

Wix programs and costs: At a glance

The Wix website builder uses cloud hosting, storing site data in a series of interconnected ( often virtual ) servers instead of placing everything on one physical web server. This provides several benefits you won’t find with more traditional organizing forms like shared hosting, including:

Reliability: Using multiple machines means that if one server goes down, visitors ’ browsers can also get your page by grabbing its information from another site. This ensures near-continuous availability. Wix particularly offers an above-average bandwidth assurance of 99. 99 %.
• Scalability: Cloud opening grows with your blog by pulling resources from more machines as needed. This means you won’t had to move to a more complex form of having like VPS having when your site reaches a certain length. This likewise lets Wix provide unlimited bandwidth on all paid programs.
• Better global site rate: Cloud hosting sites use machines in various geographic locations. This lets people ’ computers retrieve data from the client closest to their area instead of forcing them to depend on a client on the other side of the world, frequently resulting in better page rate.

All Wix programs are completely managed, meaning Wix works all client maintenance for you, including improvements to the website developer. Wix even provides a full lineup of safety tools like secure socket layer — SSL — documentation, distributed denial of service — DDoS — security and a practice network. As an added bonus, every program includes a complimentary site for the first year.

Here’s a detailed break of the four Wix ideas:

If you’re running an e-commerce organization, it ’s worth noting that Wix costs 2. 9 % plus 0. 30 Dollar on all purchases from US-based credit cards. These charges come directly out of your clients ’ buying, so you’ll want to change your prices to absorb those expenses. There is no Wix program without exchange fees.

Wix also has a completely program, which I’ve left out due to its tight limits. You may find out more about this solution in our list of the best free site builders.

Wix templates: Everything for everyone but make sure you choose the right one

Wix offers over 900 page layouts in groups like style, health and technology. There are also specialized designs for sites, e-commerce stores and specialized portfolios. Most of these themes are very beautiful, with a good compromise of images, words and interactive elements like buttons. There are a few flops, but with so many choices, you’re bound to find someone you like.

The major here is to make sure you choose a model you’ll like working with for a long time, as there’s no easy way to change your Wix pattern later on. If you decide to modify your template you’ll needed to create a new page with the model you want to transfer to and mechanically transfer data from your old site to the new one. You can then reassign your premium plan and domain to the new site. The whole process is clumsy and annoying, but you can avoid it by choosing an evergreen template and taking full advantage of Wix’s site customization tools.

Wix AI site generator: Clunky at best

The Wix AI site generator has two phases. First, you tell a bot your website’s title and purpose. The bot uses this information to personalize your site dashboard with a custom to-do list based on the functionality you’ll need.

Next, click on the Design your site button. Select Build with AI and Wix will use the information from the first step to generate a website, complete with images and custom text. This process is quick, but I was disappointed with the result: an ugly site with an irrelevant and poorly placed header image.

The blog images and sample text were relevant to my proposed marketing business, but the overall site was n’t nearly as attractive as most of the premade templates. I regenerated the site and received similar results.

The Wix AI generator was particularly disappointing compared to the elegant website I built with the Squarespace AI generator.   I suspect this is because Wix operates more like a standard generative AI tool, using basic information to spit out images based on what it thinks you want. Squarespace, on the other hand, provides a collaborative AI process where you can dictate several elements of your design — like brand tone and color scheme — and adjust them until you’re happy with your site.

I strongly recommend using one of Wix’s many elegant templates instead of this AI generator. You’ll get a better design and avoid the moral and legal issues associated with generative AI, which is often trained by scraping content from the web without its creators ’ consent.

Wix ease of use: Where Wix really shines

I tested Wix for ease of use in three areas: the purchase process, account/site management and website creation.

Purchase process

The Wix purchase requires you to create an account and set up your site dashboard before you can buy a plan. The good news is that, unlike Squarespace, Wix lets you skip most of the steps for creating a “site profile ” ( like the AI chat referenced in the previous section ) to reach your dashboard quickly.

You’ll see a purple bar across the bottom of your dashboard with a button to Upgrade now. I wish this button was more prominent, but the color does make it easy to spot. The rest of the process is simple: pick a plan, enter your payment information and you’re good to go.

Like Squarespace, Wix’s pricing model has no hidden fees or increased renewal costs, things you’re almost certain to encounter when buying traditional web hosting. This makes it easier to choose the best plan for your website.

Account and site management

Logging into Wix takes you to the site dashboard, where you can see a customized website creation to-do list. This page also features quick links to areas for setting up content subscriptions, creating online courses/programs, managing your blog and viewing your analytics. Everything is clearly labeled and easy to navigate.

You can reach your account and billing settings by clicking on the person icon ( or your profile picture ) in the top right corner. I wish this icon were more prominent, but it ’s in the same location as the account menu on many other sites ( including web hosts like HostGator and GoDaddy ) so it ’s still easy for experienced internet users to find.

Website creation

I was initially confused when Wix sent me an email confirming my domain purchase and telling me to connect it to my website. I was certain I’d already connected my domain to my website, but I clicked the link in the email to make sure. This link launched the dashboard personalization process and had me halfway through building a new site before I realized my domain was, in fact, already connected to my original site.

Thankfully, this was the only confusing part of building a Wix site. The guided site creation process makes it easy to choose a template, select components to auto-install ( like a blog ) and start editing your site. My only complaint is that Wix does n’t say you’ll be stuck with your theme forever. I only knew this because of previous experience with Wix, and I had to reach out to customer service to learn that it ’s still true.

The site editor itself is remarkably simple. The first time you log in, Wix displays labels to help you understand the menu icons for things like adding elements and menus to your site.

You can click on any element of your site to drag it to a new spot or edit it. You can also choose to replace the placeholder content, like images and text, yourself or click on the three diamonds in the editing bar to generate new content with AI.

You can add content by clicking on either the appropriate icon ( Add Elements or Add Section ) in the sidebar or the area of the page where you want to add something. Elements are items like headers and buttons. Sections are pre-formatted multimedia blocks for things like company and team information.

You can access other pages of your site by clicking on the Pages icon in the sidebar and selecting the page you want to open. From there, you’ll be able to edit the page. This is simpler than switching pages in Squarespace, which involves leaving the site editor entirely to reach the navigation menu.

I also loved the mobile site editor. This editor uses the same tools as the regular Wix editor but displays your site as it’ll appear on a smartphone. This helps you understand — and control — how smartphone users will experience your site. The mobile site editor is really helpful, especially with mobile devices now accounting for 58 % of all internet traffic.

Overall ease of use

I gave Wix a 9/10 ease of use ranking, notably higher than the 7/10 ranking earned by both Squarespace and Shopify, Wix’s top competitors. Wix is easier to purchase, the account management area is more accessible and the site editor is more streamlined.

Wix performance: Some of the best in the biz

I built a test site with Wix and used it to evaluate Wix’s server performance over the course of one week, focusing on two metrics:

Uptime: The percentage of time your site spends online. High uptime is important, as people who can’t access your site will generally go somewhere else, and with 1. 1 billion websites on the internet, there’s always somewhere else for them to go.
• Site speed: The number of seconds it takes for your site to load. I recommend aiming for a site speed of less than three seconds, as bounce rate — the percentage of people who only view one page before leaving — decreases by 32 % when site speed goes from three seconds to one.

I also researched the performance tools offered by Wix. Let’s take a look at what I found!

Performance tools

Wix uses two protocols to improve site performance:

• Caching: A method of storing data in a fast-access layer typically connected to your server’s CPU or central processing unit. Caching improves site speed because retrieving data from the CPU is faster than retrieving it from the more traditional RAM.
• Content delivery network or CDN: A network of interconnected servers that store website data in various geographical locations. Users ’ devices can pull website data from the server closest to them, which is usually faster than pulling data from a server on the other side of the world.

These protocols are automatically enabled, so you don’t need to do anything to experience their benefits.

Uptime

The industry-standard uptime guarantee is 99. 9 %, promising that server issues won’t cause more than 10 minutes of downtime per week. Wix offers an even higher uptime guarantee of 99. 99 %, meaning your site should n’t experience more than two minutes of downtime per week.

I tracked my Wix site for one week with BetterStack to see if Wix lives up to this promise. My site experienced no downtime during this week, suggesting that Wix might even exceed its ambitious 99. 98 % uptime guarantee. This puts it on par with other top website builder companies like Squarespace and Shopify.

Site speed

I used WebPageTest to test my website’s speed over five days, running speed tests for both desktop and mobile devices in various countries to understand how a broad range of users experience Wix sites.

I used the data from these tests to establish the following averages ( remember, lower numbers are better ):

While these tests aren’t a perfect representation of site speed (users ’ experience will vary based on their devices and internet plans ) they are strong enough to provide a rough idea of how users will experience Wix sites. Specifically, I used these numbers to determine that:

Wix’s average mobile site speed is 3. 06 seconds
• Wix’s average desktop site speed is 1. 70 seconds
• Wix’s overall average site speed is 2. 38 seconds

This puts it well ahead of Squarespace’s average of 2. 67 second average but significantly behind Shopify’s 1. 71 seconds average, mostly because of Wix’s mediocre mobile speed. However, Wix makes it easy to improve your mobile site speed by optimizing your layout with the mobile site editor.

Overall performance

Wix earned an 8/10 performance ranking with its excellent server performance and solid site speed. This puts Wix on par with its top competitor, Squarespace, and newer high-quality website builders like the Hostinger website builder.

Wix security: Comprehensive protocols to keep your data safe

Wix uses a variety of security protocols and tools to keep your data— and your visitors ’ data — safe:

• Secure socket layer — SSL — certification: A protocol that encrypts data sent to and from your website so malicious users can’t intercept it. SSL certification also signals that your site is safe. Many browsers and VPNs won’t open a site without it. Similarly, Google will assume a site without SSL is unsafe, which may result in lower rankings.
• Firewall protection: Like wearing a mask during COVID or flu season, having a firewall for your website keeps out most viruses while still letting the good stuff — air or, in this case, regular web traffic — in. Wix uses multiple firewalls to ensure maximum protection.
• Distributed denial of service — DDoS — protection: Software and security protocols designed to prevent your site from being flooded with malicious traffic, which can slow your site down or even shut it down entirely.
• Two-factor authentication: A protocol requiring you to enter both your login credentials and a second “factor, ” like a number sent to your phone, to access your account.
• 24/7 security monitoring: Employees at the Wix Security Operations Center are constantly analyzing traffic and other data to find and eliminate vulnerabilities and threats.

These security measures are similar to those taken by other popular website builders like Squarespace and Shopify. It’s also better than the security you’ll get from most top web hosts, with the biggest benefit being two-factor authentication. This nets Wix a 10/10 security ranking, on par with other popular website builders and ahead of most traditional web hosting companies.

Wix customer support: Slightly above average

The internet is 24/7. Your website builder’s customer service should be 24/7, too. They should also be available through multiple channels– like live chat or phone– quick to respond and knowledgeable in a variety of website builder-related issues. I tested every Wix customer support channel to determine how well Wix lives up to these expectations.

Knowledge base

The Wix knowledge base, called the Help Center, is accessed through a drop-down menu. There’s a search function if you know exactly what you’re looking for and several categories of content you can peruse for general advice.

You can explore the categories without opening a new tab, which I appreciated since I always already have too many tabs open. Once you ’ve found the article you need, you can keep reading in the menu or open the article in a new tab.

The articles themselves use beginner-friendly language, images and step-by-step instructions. A few also have animations demonstrating how to perform specific tasks within the website builder. However, video tutorials are few and far between, which could prove frustrating if you prefer to learn through video. This lack is particularly notable when compared to the Squarespace Help Center, which paired almost every article with a video tutorial.

Direct communication

Wix primarily offers customer support through live chat. You’ll initially be directed to an AI chat that pulls answers from the knowledge base. After receiving excellent responses to some basic questions, I asked to speak to a person. The AI asked for more details about my query, then sent another AI-based response. These responses were great, but I was frustrated by the bot’s determination to keep me away from Wix’s customer service representatives.

I tried again, and this time typed in “speak to a person ” twice. The bot finally got the hint and connected me to a customer service rep in about a minute. The rep had atrocious spelling and a habit of providing three-word answers, forcing me to ask for clarification several times. They also did n’t have access to my information ( they asked if I had a Wix site despite me being logged in ).

Wix also offers a callback service in several languages. However, English is the only language with 24/7 callback service. You can check the callback information page to check the hours for other languages your team might need support in.

I submitted a callback request and received a call two minutes later. Again, the initial answers were short and unhelpful, forcing me to ask gradually more granular questions until I got a useful answer. This leads me to believe the support team is trained to answer specific questions, not to have a broad understanding of how Wix tools work. Still, once I found the right questions I managed to get helpful answers, and the whole process took less than ten minutes.

Wix does n’t offer customer service via support ticket or email. While this might be frustrating for some users, the live chat and phone support are good enough that I don’t feel like it ’s a major loss.

Overall customer service

On the whole, Wix customer service is impressive. The knowledge base is comprehensive and easy to navigate. The live chat — both the bot and the customer service rep I spoke to — was fast and relatively helpful. The phone support was fast and, after some initial confusion, helpful. This earns Wix a 7/10 customer support ranking, better than Squarespace but lower than Shopify.

Reputation

Wix has an excellent reputation, with a 4. 6 out of 5 star Trustpilot ranking based on over 21,000 reviews. There are several hundred recorded complaints on the Wix Better Business Bureau page, but these are all closed, suggesting that Wix is good about addressing issues in a timely manner.

Wix value: How does it compare to the competition?

With my tests concluded, the final thing to consider is how valuable its offerings are when compared to other website builders. I started by analyzing the most affordable plans from two website builder companies, Squarespace and Shopify:

This data allows me to draw the following conclusions:

Wix provides average pricing, with the most affordable plan costing only$ 1 more per month than Squarespace and significantly less than Shopify.
• Of the three most popular website builders, Wix is the only one that does n’t offer e-commerce features on its most affordable plan. You’ll need to buy the Core plan for basic e-commerce functionality. At$ 29 a month, this plan is much more expensive than the basic Squarespace plan and equal to the basic Shopify plan in cost.
• Wix provides similar security to other popular website builders, including features like two-factor authentication that aren’t typically offered by traditional web hosting companies.
• Wix provides low storage space when compared to Shopify and Squarespace, which both offer unlimited storage.

Based on these facts, it ’s safe to say that Wix provides below-average value for a website builder.

Wix vs. traditional web hosts

Many traditional web hosting companies now offer website builders. Hostinger is a notable example, with a website builder plan starting at$ 3 a month. This plan offers much more storage than the equivalent Wix plan — enough for at least 1,000 pages— plus email hosting for up to 1,000 email addresses and an excellent security suite. You’ll need to pay for four years up front, but this is only$ 144, equivalent to eight months of Wix hosting. The renewal cost of$ 13 a month is also less than Wix’s$ 17 a month, leading to significant long-term savings.

Other traditional web hosting companies offer significant introductory discounts on their website builders, but the renewal cost is closer to what you’ll pay for Wix. GoDaddy, for example, offers a website builder that starts at$ 10 a month, but this rises to$ 17 a month on renewal.

Overall

The limited storage and the lack of e-commerce features on the Light Wix plan means you’re getting a lot less for your money than you’ll get with other website builders like Squarespace or Shopify. The difference is even more drastic when you look at newer alternatives like the Hostinger website builder. This lands Wix a value ranking of 6/10.

Wix: Is it right for you?

So, what’s the verdict on Wix? Well, let’s take a look at the rankings for the categories we tested:

• Ease of use: 9/10
• Performance: 8/10
• Security: 10/10
• Customer service: 7/10
• Value: 6/10

These numbers lead to an overall ranking of 8/10, putting it ahead of Squarespace but behind Shopify. However, Shopify‘s features are focused on e-commerce stores and its cost is high for sites that won’t use all of those features. If you want a website builder with similar performance for an affordable price, I recommend Hostinger’s website builder, which is actually more affordable than Wix and uses Hostinger’s high-quality servers.