Wix Review 2024: Features, Pricing, & Ease of Use

If you’re short on time, get a quick overview of Wix’s benefits and drawbacks in the table below:

Upon signing up to Wix, I had two options: build my website with the help of Wix’s recently introduced AI chatbot or set up my website manually.

Without the support of AI, Wix simply asks you what type of website you’re creating before directing you to the Wix backend dashboard. If you’re looking to build an online store, you’ll then be presented with a few additional queries, requesting your business name, working hours, and services.

I used Wix’s AI chatbot to get set up – a new feature and the path most recommended by Wix. The AI chatbot takes a few minutes to complete, but you’ll get a more personalized and tailored experience than the regular onboarding route.

You’ll get asked general questions about your business, website needs, and target audience. These are pretty standard questions but I was impressed by how conversational the process felt with Wix’s chatbot. For example, I mentioned I wanted to improve my store’s social media presence and generate blog content. I watched the AI tool pivot and react to my response – it went on to ask me what social media platforms I’d like to focus on and what type of blog content I planned to create.

Once the chatbot has received enough information, it’ll take you to a custom dashboard. Your Wix apps, content, images, and pages are generated by AI based on your earlier answers – giving you a unique website based on your needs and priorities.

After onboarding, I could then start navigating the backend or begin designing my website. Like the setup process, there are a couple of options: let AI create a site for me or customize a template myself.

We’ll discuss Wix’s templates in detail later so, for now, let’s test out the AI-supported builder. The AI website builder generates a site based on the AI chatbot site profile – this took a minute or so to load.

While I appreciated the hassle-free approach, and the fact that I could tweak the site’s content or ask the AI to create an entirely new website, Wix’s professionally-designed templates are a better option to start with. The AI-generated website looked outdated every time I tried it – while the AI builder has improved now that it has the chatbot’s recommendations to work from, the generated template isn’t always ideal. I told the AI chatbot I wanted to sell products but it set up a blog website for me instead, without ecommerce functionality or product pages.

Other members of the Website Builder Expert team have had similar experiences:

I highly recommend choosing a Wix template if you want the full website building experience, or have a particular brand style in mind. When I tried the AI chatbot builder, I found it fun and easy to use, but was a bit disappointed with the end result. For example, I was making a photography website but the AI brief kept giving me “plenty of text elements and few images”. But I wanted large, full-width images and galleries, and was frustrated I couldn’t edit the result there and then. In contrast, I was spoiled for choice when picking a template. It allowed me to envision my branding straight away, and choose a base design that matched my criteria. If you have an image of your site already in mind, I’d suggest browsing templates first.

Lucy Carney Content Manager

Once you’re in Wix’s editor itself, designing a website is easy and accessible for all skill levels, no matter which onboarding route you decide to take. I used Wix’s drag-and-drop editor to place elements anywhere on the page and I could stack pre-designed sections on top of one another to create the page’s core structure.

With Wix, you’re granted total creative control – more so than other website builders like Shopify which uses a restrictive section-based editor. However, the degree of freedom given by Wix’s editor can be difficult to manage, especially for those less tech-savvy. Even I found it tricky to use at points. For example, I couldn’t easily snap new elements into sections – I had to drag them across multiple sections and elements to place them where I wanted, and it was hard to align things neatly.

Wix has four premium plans to choose from: Light, Core, Business, and Business Elite. Wix’s pricing increased in May of this year, and now ranges from $17 to $159 per month (billed annually) – you can get 10% off your plan with the code “TAKE10”. Pricing previously started at $16 per month.

You’ll need the Core plan (from $29 per month) or above to unlock ecommerce features. The Business plan ($36 per month) is a good plan to choose if you’re looking to grow your business since it provides additional features, like product reviews and the ability to sell in multiple currencies.

There’s a steep jump between the Business and Business Elite plans, though – from $36 per month to $159 per month – which may make it difficult to scale your website steadily. That said, this is similar to Shopify’s pricing structure: the next step from the $79 per month Shopify plan is its $299 per month Advanced plan, so big prices increases from plan to plan are not too unusual in the website builder industry.

Does Wix Have a Free Plan?

Wix has a free plan that you can stay on for as long as you’d like – it comes with 500MB of storage space, a Wix domain name (www.accountname.wixsite.com/siteaddress), and ads. Other builders, such as Shopify or Hostinger, only offer a free trial.

While this can be a great way to build familiarity with Wix without spending a cent, we recommend upgrading to a premium plan as soon as possible to unlock further features and remove ads. This will give your site a professional appearance and provide you with tools to help your site grow.

Is Wix Good Value for Money?

Based on our research, Wix is not as cost-effective as other builders, such as GoDaddy or Squarespace – both of these builders offer beginner-friendly editors, like Wix, at cheaper price points. That said, you get what you pay for, and with Wix, that’s a suite of impressive features and high-quality templates, to name just a few highlights.

Check out our Wix Pricing Review for our expert recommendations and to read more about Wix’s plans.

When building my website with Wix, I had the choice of over 900 templates to help me in my design efforts. This diverse range of high-quality templates is why Wix is our top website builder for designing, beating Squarespace in this research area due to the sheer number of templates Wix provides.

I used the preset filters to browse Wix’s template library, but there’s also a search bar to find relevant themes. Wix’s templates are broken down into categories and industries, such as “Real Estate”, “Pets & Animals”, “Restaurant”, and “Online Education.” There are dozens of filters available.

I particularly love the “Portfolio & CV” templates because there’s such a broad range of styles to cover a variety of industries, from business-focused templates to themes for illustrators and creatives. These themes are just one of the reasons why Wix is our favorite choice for building a portfolio website.

Wix offers unbeatable website features, covering a diverse range of needs, from events and bookings to blogging and social media. Arguably, there’s an overwhelming number of features available – I’ve been using Wix for years and I’m sure there are Wix features I’ve yet to discover. Still, the features produced by Wix are top of the range and provide you with the tools you’ll need to build and grow your website.

SEO

Wix is the best SEO website builder in the market, offering built-in features to help your website get off to the right start, such as customizable URLs and metadata. There are also a bunch of useful integrations to help you optimize your site, from keyword support with Semrush to advanced insights with Google My Business.

I was especially impressed by one Wix SEO tool – after setting up my website, I visited the SEO dashboard and received a personalized SEO checklist based on my site. To set this up, I simply had to share my business name and location, as well as my primary keywords. This tool is really useful for beginners or anyone less confident with SEO because Wix clearly outlines areas for improvement.

Wix has a number of built-in SEO tools and features to take advantage of, such as a Semrush integration and SEO Learning Hub – empowering users to optimize their websites for search engines effectively. From customizable meta tags and structured data to mobile optimization and SSL security, the platform also provides a user-friendly interface that allows even beginners to implement SEO best practices without getting lost in technical jargon. Wix continuously updates its platform to ensure it meets the evolving needs of SEO, making it a reliable choice for anyone looking to boost their online visibility.

Heleana Neil Content Editor

Email Marketing

Wix provides a built-in email marketing suite to help website owners connect with their audience and build engagement. You can customize email templates to suit your brand, set up automation to streamline workflows, and view email-specific analytics. On Squarespace, this is a paid extra so it’s quite the steal with Wix.

When testing it myself, I was pleased to see that Wix’s email marketing editor follows a similar approach to Wix’s website editor – I could simply drag and drop elements onto the email template.

Social Media

Want to find more customers? Looking to drive more traffic to your website? I recommend syncing your website with your social media accounts so you can connect with people on platforms they’re already using. This is a great way to boost engagement and generate leads. With Wix, you can create new social posts from your Wix dashboard to publish on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X (previously known as Twitter).

You can also add an Instagram feed section to your site, blending your online presence across your website and the social platform.

Internationalization

Wix supports over 180 languages and auto-translates website content for your readers. In comparison, Hostinger supports 70 languages but you need to manually translate content across your pages.

Wix’s translation and internationalization tools are incredibly useful if you’re looking to expand your website’s reach or tap into new markets or territories. Wix also recently partnered with Global-e to help merchants sell products globally, providing users with tools such as localized product pricing and advice on international selling.

If you’re thinking about building an online store or selling products, whether that’s physical items or online courses, you’ll need to subscribe to either the Core, Business, or Business Elite plan.

Sales features such as abandoned cart recovery, discounts, selling via socials, and back-in-stock notifications are available across all three Wix plans. Features like product reviews, advanced shipping, and multiple currencies are only available on the Business or Business Elite plan.

Wix takes second place in our ecommerce website builder research, sitting just behind our top choice, Shopify. Shopify is unmatched when it comes to sales features, offering unlimited products and international selling tools from its cheapest plan. Where Shopify helps businesses grow into industry-leading enterprises, Wix is more suitable for smaller stores and straightforward inventories.

Read our in-depth Wix Ecommerce Review to learn more about Wix’s sales features.

Wix’s AI website builder – which, as of June 2024, is available in additional languages after its English trial – helps you begin your online journey, but you can also use its suite of AI tools to create content and tweak your pages.

Wix’s AI tools can support with:

• Color schemes – let AI pull inspiration from your brand’s logo or describe the type of color style you’re looking for, such as “colorful and bold”
• Page sections – choose from a variety of section types, such as “About”, “Services”, or “Subscribe” and add text that the AI tool should include
• Content generation – Wix’s AI tools can generate site content, trailers for uploaded videos, product descriptions, and more based on a brief prompt
• SEO – Wix introduced the AI Meta Tag Creator at the end of 2023 which creates meta titles and descriptions for you, helping users tackle SEO best practices
• Image editing – use AI to enhance and edit visuals, improve the quality of images, and even remove or refine image backgrounds
• Email marketing – let Wix create email templates and marketing content
• Website analytics – get AI-generated insights into your website’s performance and traffic, and also receive recommendations to help optimize your site

While Wix has a plethora of impressive built-in features, you can add further functionality to your site through Wix’s app market. There are hundreds of third-party apps to install – I could explore Wix’s team picks, trending apps, and filter the market by category, such as “Marketing” or “Services & Events”.

Some apps are free to use, such as Wix’s own apps like Wix Bookings for scheduling appointments and Wix Pro Gallery to showcase professional images, an essential add-on for photography websites.

Other integrations offer free trials or premium plans, so you can spend as much as you’d like on these optional extras. For example, the Smile app helps you set up a loyalty program and reward customers with points and exclusive gifts – there’s a free plan available but you’ll need to pay for the $39.20 per month (billed annually) Premium plan for additional features.

Wix provides all of its websites with a free SSL certificate to help keep your site encrypted. This reassures visitors that they can browse your pages safely without risking their personal data. Wix also guarantees that its sites are PCI compliant and anti-fraud protection is in place, meaning online payments are safeguarded. You can also rest assured that Wix’s expert security team are constantly looking out for suspicious activity on the Wix network, in order to address any information security threats.

Wix offers the best customer support out of all the builders we’ve tested. Here’s what you can expect from the website builder:

• 24/7 phone support
• Live chat, available Monday to Friday, between 2AM and 6PM EST
• Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn
• Help Center full of guides on topics such as “Connecting a domain” or “Promoting your site”
• SEO Learning Hub for expert support on all things SEO
• Wix Learn provides video tutorials and online courses
• Community forum so you can connect with and learn from other Wix users
• Support within the editor – you can browse the Help Center for guidance without leaving the editor and you can get a tour of the editor by selecting it from the “Help” category in the navigation bar

Unfortunately, Wix has no email support which is something you can get with other website builders, such as Squarespace. However, I found Wix’s live chat option to be very responsive and helpful. When testing, I got a response from the AI-powered live chat in under 10 seconds. I then asked to be connected to a person from Wix’s customer service team –  thankfully, the transfer was seamless and they were keen to answer all of my questions thoroughly.

As we’ve mentioned already, Wix is the best website builder on the market – it’s been our top-rated choice for nine years in a row. That said, it won’t be the right fit for every website owner or business, so it’s worth checking out the competition too.

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Wix	Squarespace	Shopify	GoDaddy
Overall Rating 4.8	Overall Rating 4.6	Overall Rating 4.4	Overall Rating 4.3
Starting from $17 $15.30 with code ‘TAKE10’	Starting from $16 $14.40 with code “WBE10”	Starting from $29 $1 for first month	Starting from $9.99
Free plan or free trial Free plan	Free plan or free trial 14-day free trial	Free plan or free trial 3-day free trial	Free plan or free trial Free plan
Number of templates 900+	Number of templates 150+	Number of templates 150+	Number of templates 200+

If you want to build an online store, consider Shopify. Shopify is the best dedicated ecommerce website builder out there, outperforming Wix with its intuitive product backend and superior sales features, such as customizable checkout pages.

While Wix is very beginner-friendly, Squarespace is the easiest website builder to use, according to our research. Its drag-and-drop editor offers more structure than Wix, and Squarespace’s quality designs make it easy to create something stylish. I had a professional-looking website ready to publish in an hour.

GoDaddy is ideal if you’re looking to get online quickly and cheaply. This is largely because of its simplicity and focus on beginners, but GoDaddy’s plans are also incredibly good value for money – you can get online for $9.99 per month (billed annually) which is considerably cheaper than Wix’s cheapest premium plan which costs $17 per month.

Still unsure which website builder to pick? Take our quick quiz for a personalized recommendation:

We regularly test and review website builders so we can bring you accurate and up-to-date recommendations. Our in-house research team has carried out over 200 hours of data collection across 16 website builders so we can confidently say that Wix is the best website builder overall.

Our research process encompasses 398 areas of investigation across six core categories:

• Website features – 30%
  • We look at the quality and quantity of website features available, such as SEO
• Design functionality – 25%
  • Focusing on the templates and design options
• User experience – 17%
  • We test every website builder ourselves to assess its ease of use
• Help and support – 10%
  • We review how you can get in touch with a website builder for help
• Value for money – 10%
  • Assessing the pricing plans and what you can get for your money
• Customer score – 8%
  • We look at how well a website builder performs against its competitors

Each category has its own unique weighting, allowing us to focus on what matters most to our readers. After testing, we award each website builder with a rating out of five, based on its performance across these research areas.

I’ve tested Wix myself to understand the ins and outs of the website builder, presenting you with data-led insights so you can decide for yourself if Wix is right for you. From our 2024 research, Wix is the best website builder overall thanks to its impressive features, easy drag-and-drop editor, and customer support options.

Because Wix caters to a wide range of industries and users of all skill levels, our recommendations are also broad – but no less expert. It’s a great option if you’re looking to build a simple site, like a blog or portfolio, and you can get started with its free plan to test things out. However, it’s also ideal for small businesses looking to get online and sell a few products.