Wix vs Shopify: Which Is Best For Your Online Store?

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Based on in-depth user testing and product research, Wix came out on top as the best ecommerce website builder for small businesses, ahead of Shopify by a knife-edge margin.

Wix is a great value web builder with ecommerce capabilities that are ideal for smaller ecommerce businesses. On the other hand, Shopify is perfect for scaling businesses that are serious about growing their online stores, and his has some great value price plans to consider.

An important influencing factor was the value for money each platforms offers – Wix’s affordable plans start at just £9 per month (billed annually) and top out at £119 per month, whereas Shopify’s plans cost between £19 and £259 per month.

Overall, this means that Wix is the right choice for most SMEs that just want to get their online store off the ground, but Shopify is the ideal partner for businesses that want to use advanced ecommerce features to supercharge their online sales.

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Wix	Shopify
BEST FOR All-round ecommerce platform for small businesses	BEST FOR Best range of apps and extensions
Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.8	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.7
Pricing ~~£16-119 per month, billed annually~~ £14.40-£107.10 with code “TAKE10”	Pricing £19 – £259 per month, billed annually £1 for first month
Key features Easy to use drag-and-drop builder Extensive app market Inbuilt SEO and CRM products	Key features Fantastic in-built sales features 80 themes to choose from 100 payment gateways No transaction fees with Shopify payments
Try Wix	Try Shopify

Wix vs Shopify for small business: Head-to-Head

In a nutshell, Wix is the perfect fit for most small businesses to design an online store thanks to its intuitive interface and creative freedom. Whilst committed ecommerce specialist Shopify is a superb springboard for companies that need advanced tools to build ecommerce empires.

Wix has more ecommerce-specific templates compared to Shopify’s; 70 vs 10
Shopify is better for larger inventories; it can handle over 100,000 products, while Wix is ideal for smaller inventories (20 products or fewer)
Wix’s Business Plan is cheaper at £16 per month, compared to Shopify’s equivalent plan, which costs £19 per month.
Shopify has more app extensions with over 6,000 on its app store, while Wix has only around 250
Shopify allows you to sell on YouTube, whilst Wix doesn’t

4.8 out of 5

Sales features

4.3
User experience

3.9
Help and support

4.5
Website features

4.6
Design functionality

4.2
Value for money

3.7

Visit Wix

To learn more about just how well Wix performs as an ecommerce platform, read our full Wix ecommerce review.

4.7 out of 5

Sales features

4.7
User experience

4.3
Help and support

4.5
Website features

4.3
Design functionality

3.4
Value for money

2.4

Try Shopify for free

To discover exactly what Shopify has to offer as an advanced ecommerce platform, check out our full Shopify review.

Best value: Wix

With a range of affordable plans, Wix clearly comes out on top in terms of value for money – with an impressive 4.2 out of 5 score rating. Shopify on the other hand trails behind with an average 3 out of 5 score, although the high price charged for its ultra-premium Shopify advanced plan has a major impact on this.

The table below shows the two platforms’ equivalent plans head-to-head.

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Starter	Business Basic	Basic Shopify	Business Unlimited	Shopify	Business VIP	Advanced
Price £5 per month	Price £15 per month	Price ~~£19 per month~~ £1 for first month	Price £20 per month	Price ~~£49 per month~~ £1 for first month	Price £27 per month	Price ~~£259 per month~~ £1 for first month
Features A simple, instant storefront Unlimited product pages Fast and secure checkout	Features Unlimited products Secure online payments Plans and recurring payments Abandoned cart recovery	Features Unlimited products 10 inventory locations Customisable checkout Multichannel selling	Features Subscriptions Multiple currencies Advanced shipping Sell on social channels 1,000 product reviews	Features Everything in Basic plan Five staff accounts	Features Dropship unlimited products Loyalty programme 3,000 product reviews	Features Everything in Shopify plan 15 staff accounts Improved checkout capacity Custom reports and analytics
	Try Wix	Try Shopify	Try Wix	Try Shopify	Try Wix	Try Shopify

*Pricing is correct as of June 2024

Basic (lower-budget tier) plans compared

As mentioned above, the key difference between Wix and Shopify is the monthly price. For the equivalent ‘Basic’ plans from each product, you’ll be paying £3 less per month with Wix, which for a micro or small business, will soon add up over the course of a year. (Shopify does also offer a very affordable £5 “Starter” plan, but this does not offer the full-fat functionality of the proper premium plans.)

You also pay lower transaction fees with Wix, be it only a tiny difference. Wix charges 2.1%, whilst Shopify charges 2.2%.

Shopify, despite being more expensive, provides you with unlimited storage, bandwidth, and products. Meaning you can scale your business rapidly without having to upgrade to a higher-tier plan. Wix on the other hand, only provides you with 20GB of storage space, which can limit your ecommerce store’s performance and slow down your website.

For more info on what each Wix plan has to offer and which is right for your business, check out our dedicated Wix pricing page.

Standard (mid-tier) plans compared

The biggest difference between these two equivalent plans is the monthly cost. Wix’s Business plan will set you back £25 per month (billed annually), whilst Shopify’s mid-tier plan will cost over double that amount, at £49 per month on the same billing cycle.

This contrasting price difference will be a deciding factor for many small businesses that need to keep operating costs down. It is a key reason that Wix scores so highly in the value-for-money category compared to Shopify.

So what are you getting with Shopify compared to Wix to justify the price difference? Well, the transaction fees will drop down to 1.9% compared to Wix’s 2.1%. And you’ll be able to access professional reports and analytics that can help you make executive sales and product decisions. You’ll also have access to 5 staff accounts, whereas with Wix you only have access to one which must be shared around your team – and that can be a pain.

Advanced (higher-tier) plans compared

This is where the two platforms really differ. Not only is Shopify’s advanced plan considerably more expensive than Wix’s Business Elite plan at £259 per month compared to £119 per month, but it also comes with specialised features that you won’t get with Wix.

These include duty/import tax tools to help you sell internationally, and the ability to set custom prices by region. So you may charge more for your products in the US compared to the UK for example.

Of course, Wix’s Business Elite plan still has some great features alongside a far less formidable price tag. This included loyalty programmes and the dropshipping of unlimited products.

For more info on what each Shopify plan has to offer and which is right for your business, check out our dedicated Shopify pricing page.

Want to give Wix a go?

Based on our research, Wix is the best all-round ecommerce platform for small businesses

Visit Wix It only takes a minute.

Wix vs Shopify: Which has the best free ecommerce plan?

Neither Wix nor Shopify offers a free ecommerce plan, but both offer a free trial so you can see exactly how they could help your business, and the Shopify Basic plan offers a 3-month trial for just £1 per month.

Try Wix’s free trial

Try Shopify’s free trial

Best for website features: Wix

Both Wix and Shopify perform impressively when it comes to website features. but Wix is clearly ahead in this category. It scored a table-topping 4.5 out of 5, while Shopify notched a very decent 4.2 out of 5.

Quality of website features

Where Wix’s ecommerce platform really shines is that you can fully customise your website or online store without any code. All features can be edited within the storefront, so you know exactly how they will look while editing. Wix also offers a decent range of around 250 add-ons and extensions through its app market.

While Shopify’s design features are inferior to Wix, its business and functional website builder tools are second to none. And with over 6,000 available integrations available through the Shopify App Market, you can pretty much add any functionality to Shopify. They’re all high quality, but for some, you’ll have to manually enter the code or rely on a theme that already incorporates that feature.

Internationalisation

Setting taxes to automatically amend the customer’s region at checkout is easy with Wix, though you will need to enter the rates that apply to each country yourself. Wix is miles ahead of Shopify on languages, with the new multilingual support allowing you to easily translate your site into one of 180 supported languages.

Shopify allows you to set your Shopify Checkout to automatically amend taxes depending on the region of the customer, but you’ll need to manually enter the rates first. Shopify allows you to translate your site into one of 20 supported languages, with third-party apps on the app store hugely increasing this number (although most of these charge additional fees). However, you can now sell in multiple currencies using Shopify Plus, Shopify’s enterprise plan.

App integration

Wix does have a decent app market, though it mainly caters to those looking to grow their online presence rather than their sales. In fact, ecommerce add-ons are sorely lacking, and the search function leaves much to be desired. On the plus side, no coding is required to add extensions to your store.

Shopify’s app market is excellent, and has add-ons and extensions for all the ecommerce areas we investigated. It’s also easy to add third-party apps to your online store. Most just require a download, and even those that require you to grapple with snippets of code are simple enough to get to grips with. Our researchers also liked that the search function of the app store recommends alternative suggestions for your queries.

SEO

The SEO content in Wix’s knowledge centre is very helpful. The search function is pretty effective, and returns plenty of in-depth articles about how to make your content rank at the top of search engine results. On top of that, when adding a product, Wix not only prompts SEO best practices, but shows how the product you’re editing will appear in a search engine.

As of 2022, Wix announced an integration with Semrush at no added charge to Wix users which allows users to access Semrush’s SEO keyword data and insights right within their platforms that helps them boost their websites in the search rankings.

Wix SEO Settings also allow users to apply technical SEO settings on a page level to entire sections of a website or a selected group of pages, all from one place thanks to a centralised management dashboard. This saves you the time, hassle and confusion of having to jump around to settings of multiple different pages.

Shopify just has one pretty thorough article in its help centre that covers all the basics of improving SEO. However, it loses marks for not providing any keyword support. You can also get more support through apps in the app store, but most of these apps come with extra charges.

Marketing

Wix really holds your hand when it comes to building your customer base. It offers tons of email templates that are already pre-populated with your key information, so you can fire off campaigns at a moment’s notice. It also promotes its pick of the best tools to market your business using Google and social media, and has a dedicated area in its dashboard explaining marketing best practices.

Although it’s not quite as supportive as Wix, Shopify handles email marketing pretty adeptly – you can pick from a range of templates, customise them to match your brand, and then track the success of your campaign. If you want more help marketing with Shopify, then head to Shopify’s ever-reliable app store.

Want to give Wix a go?

Based on our research, Wix is the best all-round ecommerce platform for small businesses

Visit Wix It only takes a minute.

Best for dropshipping: Shopify

When it comes to Wix vs Shopify for dropshipping, Shopify wins out due to it’s seamless dropshipping experience offered by its integration with DSers, and the range of guidance Shopify provides on dropshipping in its blog, filled with webinars and other great supportive content.

Shopify primarily uses DSers to provide its dropshipping features: a management platform for entrepreneurs and small business owners to source millions of products within a few clicks. It can also be seamlessly integrated into all Shopify stores. Shopify are very active at promoting and encouraging dropshipping, and provide a wealth of resources for anyone considering a new dropshipping venture on their website, and you can start with DSers for free.

While Shopify has its main featured app for dropshipping, Wix has an extensive library of apps that integrate seamlessly into your website and store for you to get started – from Modalyst to Sprocket, all to help you find the exact type of dropshipper for your specific needs.

Best for sales features: Shopify

Shopify edges Wix when it comes to sales features, although with Shopify scoring 4.5 out of 5 and Wix 4.4, both perform extremely strongly in this area. Shopify flexes its ecommerce muscle by effortlessly handling multi-channel retail, covering all the payment options you could possibly need, incorporating top-class customer analytics, and advanced shipping, accounting and promotion/discount code options.

Security

Wix offers all the standard security features you’d expect from a top ecommerce platform. SSL certificates are included with all Wix sites, and it’s PCI compliant and accredited as a level 1 service provider and merchant. Customers are able to store their details securely at checkout to make repeat purchases a little bit easier. It also supports 3D secure payments in European countries where it is mandatory (including the UK). Shopify ticks all the same boxes, but in contrast, has 3D Secure Payments built into Shopify payments so that all transactions worldwide benefit from the extra protection.

Multi-channel integration

As part of your ecommerce plan, you can integrate Shopify with 10 different selling channels including Amazon, Pinterest, eBay, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook Messenger. This is a great way to target different sectors of your audience and maximise your selling potential.

Wix in comparison is still new to multi-channel selling, yet is already catching up with Shopify. Though it doesn’t integrate with quite as many channels, you can sell through Facebook, Instagram, eBay, and more. But head-to-head Shopify definitely wins the multi-channel selling battle.

Sales type and payment options

Wix supports sales of physical and digital products, and services, as well as all the main payment gateways. It also supports Apple Pay, but not Amazon Payments.

Shopify has it all when it comes to payment options and solutions. It allows customers to sell services, digital products, and physical products within all payment plans (you will, however, have to download a specific app to be able to sell digital products) and it integrates with more than 100 payment gateways, though which ones you can access depends on your location. This gives you ultimate flexibility, and minimal restrictions when it comes to taking payments.

Big data (reporting tools)

Wix has made great strides in its analytics capabilities over the last few years. Most notably, its Store Analytics feature gives you everything you need to help you optimise your online shop and make better decisions. It gives you visitor numbers, where they came from (Google, Facebook etc), what percentage of them made a purchase, and which products are top sellers. You can compare all this data to any previous period to see trends over time.

Shopify has excellent analytics capabilities and provides insights you can really use to optimise your store, whether that’s upselling to your target audience, increasing your average order total, or creating promotional pricing and product bundles. For example, the ‘Top Online Store Searches’ report lets you see what search terms your visitors are using to find products in your store, and there’s even a report on which terms don’t return results. This can help you make executive inventory decisions, and is one of the reasons Shopify just edges it compared to Wix.

Want to give Shopify a go?

Based on our research, Shopify has the best range of apps and extensions

Try Shopify It only takes a minute.

Best for design flexibility: Wix

This is Wix’s strong suit, and that expertise came through in our testing – with Wix recording a very good 4 out of 5 rating in this category. More surprisingly, Shopify more than held its own here, only slightly trailing Wix with a 3.9 out of 5 score. Wix triumphed over Shopify in all three key features we looked at: the range and quality of templates offered, brand, UX and design, and the mobile editor. In all these areas, Shopify is good, but Wix is about as good as it gets.

Templates

An example of a Wix Stores template

Wix offers over 70 templates that are designed specifically for ecommerce websites, covering more sectors than any other ecommerce platform we tested. With Wix, you can add whatever features you want to any template.

You can also preview as many templates as you want before making a decision. However, once you’ve chosen a template, you can’t change it. If you want to use a different one, you’ll have to build a whole new site.

An example of an ecommerce site built using Shopify

Shopify offers 10 free templates, with an additional 50 that you can buy for a one-off cost of between £100 and £130. They don’t have quite the same instant visual appeal as Wix, but you’ll definitely be able to find one that will do your online store justice. Each template includes the features that Shopify thinks will be most beneficial to the industry it’s been designed for, which is good if you get what you’re after, but annoying if you don’t. Unlike Wix, Shopify allows you to change your template as many times as you like.

Brand, UX and design

Wix’s templates all scored highly for user experience (UX), and it’s clear that they’ve been designed from the ground up with their end user in mind. They look good as well, though they will still require some input from you to make sure they still look good once repopulated with your own content. This should be pretty easy to achieve though using Wix’s intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.

Shopify’s themes are attractive and well-designed. The typography and colours are consistent, which is good from a branding perspective, and all themes follow best website design practices. Just remember that not all themes include every feature you might want, so choose carefully.

Mobile editor

Wix’s mobile editor is quite simply superb. It’s fully responsive, which means that it adapts the desktop version of your site to a mobile or tablet screen and any changes you make are automatically configured on the desktop site. And, unlike Shopify, you can actually build a website directly from your phone!

You can edit both the desktop and mobile versions of your site using Shopify’s mobile app, and each will be automatically reformatted to fit the screen size of the other. However, unlike Wix, you can’t actually create a website on your phone.

Best for help and support: Shopify

There’s really not much to choose between Wix and Shopify when it comes to help and support. Both scored 3.8 out of 5 in this category, and the differences between them are pretty minor.

In our view, Shopify just edges it thanks to users on the advanced plan having access to a dedicated support agent.

Customer support

Wix offers 24/7 support via live chat, with users also able to request a call-back if they prefer. Moreover, Wix’s help forum is truly excellent. If, for example, Wix isn’t able to provide a feature you require, you can vote to have that product incorporated in the future. This is great evidence of its mission to continue to improve its product for its users.

Shopify also gets full marks for customer support, with assistance available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email. When you request help within the editor, it takes you directly to the bespoke knowledge centre so you can get a quick answer to your query. And on the advanced plan, you get access to a dedicated support agent who can help with setup and assist you with any other problems you might have with your online store.

Best for ease of use: Wix

Overall, Wix came out on top in our ease of use testing, with a 4 out of 5 score compared to Shopify’s 3.5 out of 5.

With one of the best interfaces around, it’s no surprise that Wix offers a great user experience – with simple, understandable language and clear icons. And, if you do make a mistake, you can easily undo it directly within the editor.

Shopify also performed strongly, with our testers complimenting its typography, jargon-free language, and easy-to-identify icons.

How do Wix and Shopify compare to other ecommerce platforms for small businesses?

In comparison to other ecommerce platforms on the market, Wix and Shopify are highly regarded as the two best providers available for small businesses.

This is because they both offer well-rounded ecommerce packages that provide great apps and integrations, design flexibility, and sales features to increase those all-important conversions.

Although neither offers the ability to sell for free like Square Online, neither do they have stunning-template designs suitable for creatives like Squarespace does.

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BEST ALL ROUND	BEST SALES FEATURES
Wix	Shopify	Squarespace	Square Online	BigCommerce	GoDaddy
BEST FOR All-round ecommerce platform for small businesses	BEST FOR Best range of apps and extensions	BEST FOR Best for ease of use and great design	BEST FOR Best value – start selling for free	BEST FOR Best sales features	BEST FOR Creating a simple online store
Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.8	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.7	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.7	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 3.7	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 3.7	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.2
Pricing ~~£16-119 per month, billed annually~~ £14.40-£107.10 with code “TAKE10”	Pricing £19 – £259 per month, billed annually £1 for first month	Pricing £17-£35 per month, billed annually Use code “SU10” to receive a 10% discount on all Squarespace plans	Pricing £0-£64 per month, billed annually	Pricing $29-$299 (around £23-£240) per month, billed annually	Pricing £13.99 per month (first term savings available)
Try Wix	Try Shopify	Try Squarespace	Try Square	Try BigCommerce	Try GoDaddy

The ecommerce platform rankings in the table above are based on thorough product analysis from our insights team. Our methodology is built on our latest round of in-depth research and user testing conducted in early 2022, in which each provider was assessed on its features, design flexibility, value for money, help and support, customer scores, and ease of use.

Wix vs Shopify Verdict

Ultimately, whether Wix or Shopify is the best fit for your business depends on what your goals are. If you want to scale your online store to dizzy heights, then Shopify is your ideal partner. You’ll benefit from in-built industry-leading sales features and an app store that offers all the third-party apps you could ever need to make your ecommerce website a success.

However, as a small seller, a Wix commerce store gives you everything you need , and it’s a much more affordable way to start selling online. You’ll also be able to design a store that really reflects your brand, choosing from a wealth of free template options and using Wix’s intuitive design interface to really bring your vision to life. And there are also no transaction fees to worry about.

To see how exactly how Wix could help your business, why not get started on Wix’s free plan today?

You can scale your business with Wix, however, the more orders you have to fulfil, the more you’ll need Shopify’s advanced ecommerce tools. To see exactly what Shopify has to offer, you can sign up for a free trial.

Try Wix or Shopify for free, and see which is right for your business

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