There are many alternatives to Wix that can either save you money or make it easier and more flexible to build a website (or both!).
In this post, I’ve put together a list of the best alternatives to Wix. Each of these options is better than Wix in some ways, like price, ease of use, flexibility, and features. The important thing is that each one is better than Wix, so it’s a great choice.
Of course, it would be hard to find a tool that is 100 times better in every way than Wix. There are always pros and cons to each of the choices I’m trying to show in this set. Basically, each tool will explain both what is better than Wix and what is not better than Wix.
Why Look for Alternatives to Wix?
That’s not everything, but it’s some of the most important things, so you should look at the Wix list:
- Editing Experience: This is a bit subjective, but I don’t think the Wix editor is very easy to use. You can find simpler alternatives that give you the same level of flexibility.
- Flexibility: Wix has a lot of options for people who want to build websites. But you can find ways to help with membership sites, custom content sites, and more that are much more flexible.
- Templates: Again, this is a matter of opinion, but I think Wix’s templates are pretty simple. You can use templates that have already been made to find other options. Also, once you choose a Wix template, you can’t change it. This is sort of a limit. There are options that can make the change easier.
- E-Commerce Support: Wix lets you make e-commerce stores, but if you’re serious about building an online store, you can find a much more powerful alternative.
- Pricing: Wix isn’t the most expensive website builder out there, but if you’re on a tight budget, you can find something cheaper.
Top Sites Like Wix to Choose From
After we’ve gone over these reasons, let’s talk about the best choices.
Owned and operated WordPress
WordPress is by far the most popular way to build a website. It is more popular than Wix and all the other options on this list. More than 39% of all websites are run by WordPress. As a point of comparison, Wix is far behind at 1.5%.
Self-hosted WordPress is software that you can get for free. This means that, unlike with Wix, you have to buy your own web hosting and install the software yourself. In other words, you can’t sign up for a “WordPress account” and start a site like Wix.
But because WordPress is self-hosted, it is the most flexible of all of these options. Even hosting costs for small websites aren’t too high, starting at about $5 per month.
What’s good about WordPress:
I’ll say it again: the biggest advantage of self-hosted WordPress is that it gives you a lot of freedom. You can easily add new features, build almost any kind of website, and change how your website looks.
There are two main ways that WordPress can be changed.
- Plugins: These give your site new features. There are more than 55,000 free plugins, and there are also thousands of paid plugins.
- Themes: These decide how your site looks, just like the Wix template. There are thousands of free and paid themes you can choose from.
- You can also use plugins to make website builders that work like Wix. For example, the Page Builder plugin lets you design your website using a drag-and-drop visual editor, which is similar to what Wix offers.
If you can’t do anything with a plugin or theme that’s already been made, you can always hire a developer to change the code for you. This is a bit more complicated, but it means you will never run into random bottlenecks.
Even if you don’t care about flexibility, WordPress can be much cheaper than Wix for some needs. WordPress isn’t always cheap, but you can run a simple website for about $60 a year with cheap shared hosting. This is a lot more than Wix’s plans, which are usually pretty pricey. You can choose from many options.
Bad things about WordPress:
That’s the biggest problem with self-hosted WordPress. This is what’s called a “self-hosting” tool. So, unlike Wix, you have to buy hosting and install the WordPress software on your own. Since WordPress is so popular, web hosts have made it easy for you to do this. But even so, it is an extra step.
You are also in charge of keeping your website up-to-date and safe. Again, it’s not that hard or technical, but there are still more things you have to do when you use Wix.
You should use a type of web hosting called “controlled WordPress web hosting” to make things easier, but if you do, you won’t be able to save money on WordPress because this type of web hosting is a bit more expensive than others.
Squarespace
Squarespace and Wix are pretty much the same when it comes to the most popular website builders. So, if you like Wix a lot but still want to use something else, Squarespace is probably the next best option.
Squarespace works in the same basic way, so that’s not a surprise. Both Squarespace and Wix have the same starting price of $12/month, so they are pretty similar in terms of cost and pricing. Squarespace, on the other hand, doesn’t have a cheaper limited plan for Wix.
The good things about Squarespace:
The best things about Squarespace are the editor and the templates that are already made. I find that the Squarespace editor is easier to use than the Wix editor, at least for me. I also don’t think it’s that hard to learn, and I think the learning curve is a bit shorter.
This is also a matter of opinion, but Squarespace templates usually look good, especially if you work in a creative field (for example, if you’re a photographer or an event planner).
The bad things about Squarespace:
Squarespace’s biggest flaw is that it’s not as flexible as Wix.
For example, Squarespace doesn’t let you use third-party apps like Wix. This means that you can only use Squarespace’s own integrations. One way to get around this is to use a service that gives you embed code that you can put into your Squarespace theme. Still, it’s too bad that we can’t use the app marketplace for apps made by other people.
Second, Squarespace isn’t as flexible as Wix Corvid, which is a tool that works with Wix code. So, if you like Corvid’s ideas, you might feel like Squarespace is a step down.
Weebly
Weebly is another popular website builder, and it’s a good choice if you want a Wix alternative that’s easier to use. It has one of the shortest learning curves and is easy to use for people who want to build websites.
At the same time, it still has e-commerce features (which were improved when it bought Square) and a marketplace for third-party apps, which gives it a lot of flexibility. Also, this is pretty cheap, starting at just $5 a month.
What’s good about Weebly:
As was already said, one of the best things about Weebly is how easy it is to use. Weebly has a small learning curve, so most casual users should be able to figure it out quickly.
Because of this, it works best for simple websites that don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. Weebly could cost less than Wix.
Bad things about Weebly:
Weebly wins if the learning curve is small and it’s easy to set up, but there are two sides to every coin. On the other hand, you have less freedom. The Weebly editor, for example, doesn’t have that many options.
Also, Weebly doesn’t have anything like the Corvid tool, which focuses on Wix code, that Wix does. Because of this, Weebly is best if you want a simple package like Wix.
Shopify
Shopify is a popular service that is all about helping you build your online store. If we just focus on this one thing, we can give you a much better e-commerce solution than Wix. Because of this, Shopify, along with WordPress and WooCommerce, is one of the most popular ways to make an online store.
If your main goal is to sell things online, Shopify is one of the best Wix options for you.
Shopify costs $29 per month to get started. This is pretty close to Wix’s cheapest e-commerce plan, which costs $25 per month. Wix only lets you pay once a year, but Shopify lets you pay every month.
Shopify has these pros:
Again, Shopify is only for e-commerce, and its platform is much more powerful than Wix’s. In general, almost every part of your business can be run with more flexibility.
Shopify has a large app store that you can use to add a lot of new features and integrations to your store. This is in addition to the more flexible built-in e-commerce features. It is a lot bigger than the Wix app marketplace.
The bad things about Shopify:
Shopify does e-commerce better than Wix, but in almost every other way, Wix is better. You can add simple blogs and content pages, but Shopify is not really made for non-shopping content.
Because of this, Shopify works best when the “main” site is an online shop. If you only want your store to be a small part of your site, you can use Shopify to improve how your e-commerce works while using a different platform (like self-hosted WordPress) for your main site. For example, you can use store.yoursite.com as the subdomain that links to Shopify.
Webflow
Webflow is a tool for making websites that is very popular with people who make websites for a living. Webflow, unlike Wix, is built with a code-first approach, but it has a drag-and-drop builder like Wix. Because of this, Webflow is a great choice for advanced users because it makes it easy to see and change your website’s code. It also has a flexible content management system that makes it easy to work with custom content types and supports e-commerce to a limited degree.
The downside is that this Codefirst focus is not a good choice for casual users. The price starts at $12 per month, which is about the same as Wix. But unless your site is just a simple pamphlet, most people will want to use a CMS plan that costs at least $16 per month.
Webflow has these pros:
The best thing about Webflow is that the built-in code editor makes it easy to get to the code that makes up your website. Wix lets you see your code, but it’s not as easy to use as Webflow.
Webflow’s content management system can be changed in more ways. This is a great way to handle custom content.
The bad things about Webflow:
Simply put, Webflow is based on code and is not the best Wix alternative for people who don’t know much about web design. Webflow has a drag-and-drop builder, but it’s best to leave it to someone who knows at least a little bit about how HTML and CSS work. Basically, Webflow is probably not the best alternative for you if you don’t want to see the code.
WordPress.com
I’ve already said that self-hosted WordPress is one of the best options. Now I’m back on WordPress.com, which is a different kind of WordPress. WordPress.com is a specific way of using WordPress software. It’s still based on WordPress, but I’m putting it in a different section because it’s a totally different thing.
In a nutshell, WordPress.com uses open source WordPress software and wraps it in a “Wix-like” way. Just sign up for a WordPress.com account and get your site up and running.
To install your own plugins and themes, which are what make WordPress so powerful, you’ll need a WordPress.com business plan that costs at least $25 per month. This makes it a lot more expensive than the cheapest plan on Wix.
What’s good about WordPress.com:
The main benefit of WordPress.com is that it combines the best parts of self-hosted WordPress and Wix with your business plan. With the advantages of having tens of thousands of
You get the flexibility of self-hosted WordPress with WordPress plugins and themes, but you also get the ease of Wix because you don’t have to worry about maintenance or security. Creating a website is also as easy as making an account. This is a lot less work.
What’s wrong with WordPress.com?
The price is the only bad thing about WordPress.com. Because you have to have a business plan to use plugins and themes with WordPress.com, it costs more than self-hosted WordPress and Wix. At $25 a month, that’s not a big difference, but if you’re on a tight budget, you can find something cheaper.
Leadpages
Leadpages started out as a landing page builder, but it now lets you build a full website just like Wix. Because of where these landing pages came from, we focus more on lead generation and improving conversion rates than on other tools.
You can style and get started with your website using a drag-and-drop visual editor and pre-built templates. Read the full review of Leadpages to find out more.
Leadpages costs $27 per month if you pay for it all at once.
The good things about Leadpages:
Because Leadpages started out as a landing page, it is better at optimizing marketing and conversions than Wix. You have a lot of options for getting leads, like the pop-up builder. You can also easily run A/B tests to figure out how to make your page better. Wix has a few ways to run A/B tests, but Leadpages makes it much easier to create tests and see results.
Disadvantages of Leadpages:
Since Leadpages wasn’t made to build websites, it doesn’t have as many features as Wix.
For example, it can accept online payments, but it doesn’t have the built-in e-commerce features that Wix does. Leadpages has good integration, but it doesn’t have a market for third-party apps.
Leadpages is a little more expensive than Wix, and the least expensive plan costs $27 per month when paid for yearly. It’s the most expensive tool on this list because of this. So, you’re probably doing too much if you don’t use features that focus on these changes.
Tilda
I just found out about Tilda, which is a website builder. I think it’s a great choice for people who want a simpler alternative to Wix. That’s the key: it can’t be changed as much as Wix. But because the builder is based on blocks, it is very easy to use and you can make some nice-looking websites with a very short learning curve.
There is a free plan that lets you make a website on your subdomain for a limited time. But most people, like Wix, want a paid plan that starts at just $10 a month.
What’s good about Tilda:
The best thing about Tilda is how simple and block-based it is. It’s easier to learn than Wix, and I think it gives most people the freedom they need. Tilda is a great alternative if all you want is a really simple way to make a website that looks great. The Tilda also comes with its own CRM. This is helpful if you want a simple way to keep track of your customer contacts.
Bad things about Tilda:
Tilda is great for simple websites, but not for those that need to be able to change things easily. There is no place to buy apps. The block-based method isn’t as flexible as Wix’s drag-and-drop editor when it comes to design, but you can make your own blocks. Overall, this is only for people who want a simpler alternative to Wix.
Which is the best choice for you?
If you’ve done all that, you might be wondering which option is best for you. I don’t think there is just one answer because there are too many things to consider. Self-hosted WordPress is a good place to start if you’re comfortable with self-hosted tools in general.
There is a reason why WordPress is used by more than 39% of all websites. It comes in inexpensive packaging that is easy enough for people who aren’t tech-savvy to use to get a lot of flexibility.
- If, on the other hand, you want to keep using the hosted tools, here is a quick overview of each choice.
- Squarespace has updates to its templates and editor that are great for creative people.
- Weebly is easier to learn than Wix, but it still gives you a good amount of freedom.
- One of the best options for your online store is Shopify.
- Webflow is a great program for web designers and other experts.
- WordPress.com has the same features as self-hosted WordPress, but it is run by Wix. but costs more than both Wix and WordPress that you host yourself.
- Leadpage is good for marketers and optimizing conversions, but it is more expensive than Wix and doesn’t have e-commerce features.
- Tilda is a simpler alternative that has a unique way of building websites based on blocks. For simple websites, Tilda is a great choice.