In this overview, I’ll cover some of the top Wix alternatives – and help you choose the right one based on your needs.
Wix is a good website builder, but it’s not the best choice for everyone or everything. The same way a Ferrari is a terrific car, it’s thoroughly useless if you need to plow a field.
Whatever your mission is, you need the right tools for it. So whether you’re someone fed up with Wix’s templates, features, ease of use, or something else – or are simply looking for a better option – I got you covered.
Some of these alternatives are just different beans from the same pod, offering similar stuff to what Wix does. And then there are others, including features Wix definitely doesn’t have. So, let’s take the trip along the spectrum and see which options are best for you.
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Wix Alternatives
Here are the best Wix alternatives to choose from:
- Squarespace (alternative with beautiful templates)
- Weebly (a simple to use option for online sales)
- WordPress (good alternative for every project)
- Shopify (professional eCommerce solution)
- SITE123 (perhaps the easiest way to build a website)
Let’s see what each of these alternatives offers.
Squarespace
Do the visual quality of Wix’s templates not meet your standards? Then look no further than Squarespace. This website creation platform seriously impressed me with its templates, and sites like Wix certainly can’t keep up. They’re modern and sleek – so your content or images can play a crucial role in how a website represents itself.
So, who is Squarespace for? Squarespace templates work particularly well for creative types who need to display art, photos, or other media.
But of course, it would be entirely naive to sign up for a website builder just because the template looks pretty! Squarespace is more than just a pretty face.
Every template comes with an SEO optimized layout. The result is that Squarespace isn’t just a good option for artists and photographers. It’s also appropriate for businesses that want their pages to reach a larger audience.
The editing process is solid, too. Squarespace has one of the most intuitive website editing experiences of any website builder. If you’re looking to inject a little bit of your personality into your site, there are ways to tweak it with numerous color and style options.
However, Squarespace is a bit more restrictive than Wix when it comes to content positioning (and Wix is restrictive enough already!). For example, Squarespace’ Content Blocks’ can only be placed in pre-determined columns.
If you have a lot of data-heavy content to share, I recommend you consider Squarespace instead of Wix. That’s because all Squarespace subscriptions include unlimited storage space and bandwidth.
In short, Squarespace offers you the resources to grow your site and audience, and choosing Squarespace means you won’t have to worry about costly plan upgrades in the future.
Squarespace packages are priced at $16/month and up. Unfortunately, you won’t find a free plan here. But you can, and should, take advantage of Squarespace’s 30-day free trial to determine whether this is the right Wix alternative.
For more info, check Squarespace vs WordPress, Squarespace vs BigCommerce, Wix vs Squarespace, and Squarespace vs GoDaddy comparison.
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Weebly
Weebly is an excellent option for users looking for a service focused on eCommerce, but still as simple to use as Wix. I found this website building platform almost unmatched when iombining ggreat-lookingtemplates with a user-friendly editor.
Even a novice can create professional online shops in a matter of hours.
Whereas Wix is a bit of the Wild West in how you can change and edit everything, Weebly is much more restricted. I had much less control over page layout and design, and there’s certainly none of the same freedom to drag-and-drop content anywhere.
This approach might be more restrictive, but it also means Weebly pages are easier to create quickly because you aren’t able to screw up their look by positioning content poorly.
And if you’re looking for a website builder that will allow you to edit your site on the move, Weebly is also well worth considering. The mobile version of its website editor is one of the best in the industry and makes designing Weebly pages as easy on your phone as on a laptop.
Weebly has a solid selection of good looking templates, so a lack of freedom won’t mean a lack of design.
With around 50 themes, Weebly’s selection of website designs is only a tenth of the size of Wix’s. However, every Weebly theme feels well thought out and ready to use, with classy pages and consistent aesthetics.
Also, the way Weebly themes work is an excellent example of how this website builder often provides a smoother experience than Wix. If you change the theme in Weebly, your content will be seamlessly transferred.
The lack of cross-theme content migration is one of the most common complaints against Wix. Because if you want to change your Wix template, guess what – you can’t!
This platform unquestionably puts online stores at the front and center of its service. Ever since payment provider Square acquired Weebly in mid-2018, it has offered some of the most flexible eCommerce payment options of any website builder, as well as an excellent point-of-sale integration, allowing you to sync up offline and online purchases.
There are plenty of eCommerce-friendly Weebly themes to choose from, so it’s easy to find one that matches your business’s style and personality.
What’s more, Weebly stores come with several advanced eCommerce features. One example is Site Stats, an add-on that helps you build a successful business by analyzing how much of an impact each product with your customer base.
Website performance is another part where Weebly shines as one of the best sites similar to Wix. Simply put, the websites load much faster because of superior media compression.
Feebly offers a free plan with a less intrusive ad, a more professional subdomain, and virtually unlimited bandwidth. For users who want to save a bit of cash
If you want to host your site on a custom domain or upload a lot of content, you can upgrade to a premium Weebly package for between $10 and $25/month. Note that Weebly separates its regular website and eCommerce packages. If you’d like to build a Weebly online store, it’ll cost between $12 and $38/month instead.
For more info, check Weebly vs. Wix, Weebly vs. Squarespace and Weebly vs. GoDaddy.
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WordPress.com
WordPress is probably one of the unique Wix competitors on this list. That’s because it’s not a traditional website builder at all. Instead technically, WordPress is a content management system. That means it offers much more flexibility than Wix when creating and managing your website.
Unlike sites like Wix, which are a closed private party, WordPress is built on open-source software. Because of this, a huge development community has sprung up around the platform.
Consequently, you can access thousands of third-party plugins with specific WordPress plans. WordPress will allow you to edit your website’s code if you’re a technical whizz.
WordPress can be more challenging than Wix, so you’ll find a steeper learning curve with this service compared to other options on this list. Still, the near-unlimited customization it offers makes the effort needed to get to grips with WordPress well worthwhile, especially if you’re a little bit tech-savvy already.
The WordPress page editor doesn’t use a drag-and-drop setup as Wix does. You’ll get to add your posts and edit your website’s looks separately.
Once you’ve got your head around the WordPress content management system, you’ll find that this platform offers access to an excellent set of blogging features.
WordPress is probably the best Wix challenger when sharing your story in a blog format. Blogs posted on WordPress are easy to bookmark on social media and can be automatically transferred through RSS feeds.
As an alternative, advanced users might consider using ‘WordPress.org instead of ‘WordPress.com.’ At WordPress.org, you’ll find the entirely free open-source software that WordPress.com is based on.
To use WordPress.org, you’ll need to purchase a separate hosting package from a third-party provider. Note that the software-only ‘.org’ package is significantly less user-friendly than WordPress.com’s all-inclusive hosting and website building package available at WordPress.com.
For more info, you can check WordPress vs. Tilda, WordPress vs. Drupal, WordPress vs. Wix and WordPress vs. GoDaddy.
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Shopify
Do you own a business and want to sell online? If so, the entire Shopify team is waiting for you with open arms. Many consider Shopify to be better than Wix when it comes to eCommerce.
At the time of writing, nearly a million businesses sell through Shopify, making it one of the most successful business-oriented website builders on the internet today, used by brands like Budweiser, Tesla, Red Bull, and Kim Kardashian.
What makes it better than Wix? Wix was created to handle all sorts of websites like photography portfolios, personal blogs, and business pages. But Shopify was made for eCommerce and eCommerce alone. So, I found Shopify offers an infinitely more precise and powerful experience than Wix regarding online stores.
Shopify’s app store contains thousands of different applications, all of which enhance your online shop in different ways, adding things like live chat support and making it easier for customers to pick different shipping options.
By contrast, Wix’s app store only contains around 250 applications. And, because they’re intended for all sorts of websites, only a small proportion offer eCommerce enhancements.
One of the apps I really enjoyed is called ReCharge. It allows your customers to set up recurring payments through your store, allowing you to create a membership-based business on your Shopify website. ReCharge is an excellent example of a niche shop it’s possible to develop through Shopify but not Wix.
Unlike Wix, Shopify pages aren’t designed with a drag-and-drop editor. Once you pick a theme to use, most of your store will be generated without further input.
All you need to do is to add products through the store management system, and items will appear on the site automatically.
If you’re running a business online, the importance of reliable customer support can’t be underestimated. And this is another area where Shopify has some major advantages over Wix.
Shopify prices begin at $24/month for a Basic subscription with two administrator accounts and no gift card support. More advanced features like third-party shipping rate calculations are only included with Advanced accounts that cost up to $299/month.
You can also check Shopify vs Squarespace, Shopify vs BigCommerce, Shopify vs WordPress, Shopify vs Wix, and Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison.
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Site123
Do you find the Wix editor confusing? Would you rather do literally anything than spend hours editing your website? In that case, this last entry of my Wix alternatives list will be right up your alley.
SITE123 offers a simplified website building experience – and that’s why I heavily recommend it to beginners.
In almost every respect, SITE123 is better than Wix regarding user-friendliness. The difference between the two is noticeable the second you open an account with SITE123. At first, you’ll be asked about what kind of website you want to make. After adding key details, SITE123 will automatically generate a template.
They call it “artificial intelligence.” I call it “using a quiz to get you the right template.”
Either way, the result is simple – a pretty basic website, immediately including all the elements that you’ll need.
What’s more, with SITE123, you don’t use a traditional drag-and-drop system to edit your pages. Instead, you’ll get access to a content management system that allows you to add blocks – that’s a lot of pre-made pages you can combine to form the website of your dreams.
Then, rather than worrying about the layout of your web pages, you simply have to add text and media to areas that have already been assigned for them.
But don’t get the wrong impression. Just because SITE123 is easy to use, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t a powerful platform. SITE123 users get access to an app market containing nearly 100 add-on applications that can be used to integrate new features into your site, such as social media marketing and live chat.
And with website templates, SITE123 takes a similar approach to Wix. There’s a huge number of designs to pick from, you’ll find everything from artistic portfolios to small business websites.
SITE123 has a completely free plan that gives you access to its website building software and a subdomain.
If you want your beautiful SITE123 pages to appear on your web address, then you’ll need to upgrade to a Premium package which costs $7.80/month. And it’s a great deal for online businesses. SITE123 is a much cheaper Wix alternative for eCommerce.
To sum it up, SITE123 combines ease of use with friendly pricing. You can’t go wrong here if that’s what you’re after.
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Best Wix Competitors Conclusion
No matter why you’re looking for Wix alternatives, I believe you should find an appropriate service on this list.
Picking the best Wix competitors comes down to your personal needs. Many users will be searching for a replacement website building platform that’s more business-oriented than Wix, and some will be looking for one that’s easier to use – or cheaper. Or all of those things at once!
There’s no perfect solution for everyone, but I hope my list helped you get some knowledge on what exactly is available.
To recap, these are the best sites similar to Wix:
- Squarespace is the best Wix alternative for incredible-looking websites.
- Weebly offers an incredibly user-friendly site editor.
- WordPress.com is the best for advanced users who need more control.
- Shopify customers gain access to a fantastic eCommerce app market.
- SITE123 is one of the simplest website design tools on the market.
If you’re looking for a user-friendly Wix competitor, both SITE123 and Squarespace are worth considering for their powerful yet easy-to-use platforms.
Weebly and Shopify are great options for those thinking (or already doing) selling online, Which one you should choose mostly depends on your skill level and also budget – after all, Shopify is a fair bit more expensive.
And finally, WordPress is an exciting wild card. It’s certainly much more different from Wix than the other platforms, but if you’re looking to learn website development or simply are a blogger, this is a decent option.
To determine which is best for you, it’s worth testing out both services by taking advantage of their free plans. Doing so will allow you to identify the service you feel more comfortable with without spending anything.
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