Today, with the number of website building platforms on the market, building a website is as easy as choosing a platform that is right for you, dragging and dropping content into a selected template and clicking “publish.” Webflow and Wix are two strong website building platforms, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. In this comprehensive review, we compare Webflow vs Wix based on price, capabilities, affordability and features.
Webflow vs. Wix: At a Glance
Both Webflow and Wix have easy-to-use templates that allow users to drag and drop content without coding knowledge. They both offer users a number of different plans to meet personal and business needs, including three e-commerce plans to help users create online stores. They both also have a free plan available, something that is rare in the website building space.
While Webflow and Wix share many similarities, they also differ in key areas. Users without coding experience can use Webflow, however, the platform is also suitable for experienced developers who want to take advantage of its HTML/CSS capabilities, create visually rich animations, use an on-page editing interface and other advanced features that allow them to build a custom-designed website from scratch. To customize websites even further, developers can easily integrate custom code or leverage Webflow’s CMS API.
While Webflow allows users to fully customize their website, Wix relies on templates. Wix users can choose from more than 800 designer-made templates for every type of website under the sun including recipe blogs, wedding photographers, writers, car mechanics, jewelry designers and more. Templates are organized into categories such as Business and Services, Store, Creative, Community and Blog.
How Webflow and Wix Stack Up
Webflow | Wix | |
---|---|---|
Free Plan | Yes | Yes |
Monthly Costs | $14 to $212 | $16 to $59 |
Web Hosting Included | Yes | Yes |
Artificial Intelligence Website Design | No | Yes |
Integrations | Integrates with more than 60 apps and plugins to enhance website and grow business | Integrates with more than 300 apps to enhance website and grow business |
Customer Service | Email support, community forum, webinars, e-courses | 24/7 phone support, community forum, articles, top-tier plans include priority support |
E-Commerce Features | Sales channel integration, secure online payments, e-commerce templates | Sales channel integration, abandoned cart recovery, secure online payments, unlimited products, e-commerce templates, digital downloads, subscriptions and a native point-of-sale system |
Wix outshines Webflow when it comes to e-commerce features. All three of Wix’s e-commerce plans include unlimited products, abandoned cart recovery and the ability to collect recurring payments. None of Webflow’s plans include unlimited products. Even Webflow’s most expensive plan at $212 a month (if billed annually) caps the number of products sold in a month at 3,000. More advanced features such as digital downloads, subscriptions and abandoned cart recovery are not native to Webflow. Users are therefore required to integrate a third-party app to use these features.
Wix also has a built-in Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to help users quickly design websites. When users select Wix ADI, the platform will ask about site and design preferences to create a customized website.
One downside of Wix is that users cannot transfer an existing site or content from one template to another. Choose your template carefully, because once you have created a website, there is no turning back. The only way to change templates is to completely start over. Webflow, on the other hand, gives users the capability of controlling HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript to customize features down to the granular level. This does take website development knowledge, and the unlimited amount of customization options can be overwhelming.
Additional Features
For students, Webflow is a no-brainer. Webflow encourages students to jump-start their careers with a free CMS site plan valued at $999 per year. The plan is perfect for content-driven websites and includes a custom domain, 2,000 CMS items and 200GB bandwidth.
Bottom Line
Wix is a great solution for users with zero website design experience who want to create a clean website that is up and running in a matter of minutes. While Wix’s template-based approach puts user-friendliness ahead of design flexibility, Webflow gives users the option of customizing every aspect of the website. Webflow is a better option for those with website development experience. Users who want to add an e-commerce element to their website get more bang for their buck using Wix.
If you’re not sure if either is right for your website needs, learn more about the best website builders for small businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do any web building software platforms offer a free plan?
While not the norm, a handful of website building platforms on the market do offer a free plan. Wix, Webflow and Weebly all offer free plans. The plans are generally limited in features, bandwidth and storage space and many include the platform’s ads on the website. Read about the best free website builders to learn more.
What does Wix do?
Wix is a website building platform that helps users create beautiful business and personal websites without any coding knowledge. The platform offers more than 800 simple drag-and-drop templates for users to customize a website to suit their needs.
Is Webflow easy to use?
Webflow is not the easiest to use. Webflow gives you a guided onboarding tour when you first sign up and has a fairly robust help center where you can find more information. That being said, it’s not beginner-friendly and is more suited to those who have experience using other design tools.
How does Wix compare to Squarespace?
Wix and Squarespace are two of the most popular all-in-one website builders. Both offer affordably-priced plans starting at $16 per month that include everything you need to build and manage a professional website, however, Wix is more customizable and offers more advanced features–particularly for those selling online. Meanwhile, Squarespace is slightly easier to use for beginners and offers a number of built-in marketing tools.
Get the complete comparison of Wix vs Squarespace.
How scalable are website builders?
Website builders are highly scalable, and your plan can be easily modified to meet the needs of your growing team. If you outgrow even the top-level package of your service, many vendors offer enterprise-level functionality with customized pricing. It may be worthwhile to get in touch with your system’s customer service team to learn more.