Wix vs WordPress for blogging: Which is the Best Platform?

Wix vs WordPress for blogging? That is the question to which I will provide a thorough response.

Are you debating whether to build your website with Wix or WordPress? Although WordPress is a widely known website builder, it is not the only option.

This article will contrast Wix and WordPress and highlight their advantages and disadvantages. After reading this Wix review and comparison, I hope you'll be able to determine which platform is best for you.

Wix vs WordPress for blogging: What are the Differences?

The quick answer? WordPress, in most cases, provides a superior blogging experience.

The longer answer? WordPress and Wix each have advantages, and it's worth investigating them further. After all, the location of your blog is almost as important as your blog's content.

Let's get started!

WordPress is a blogging platform.

WordPress is a web-based content management system (CMS). It may sound fancy, but it is simply a software application that assists you in managing your web content. Because of its user-friendly interface, you can easily create, edit, and publish content.

It is important to note that WordPress.org (software) is not the same as WordPress.com (software and hosting). This article only discusses WordPress.org.

Wix is a website builder.

Wix is a straightforward website builder with a visual drag-and-drop editor. Wix claims it is not a "pure" CMS but has "components and applications that function as part of a CMS."

Which is more popular, Wix or WordPress?

WordPress probably powers most blogs you've visited (including mine!).

It is now the most popular website platform in the world, powering 41.0 percent of all websites (to put that in perspective, the second most popular platform, Shopify, powers only 3.4 percent of websites).

On the other hand, Wix is the most widely used hosted website platform. Regarding traffic, it outranks its direct competitors, Squarespace and Weebly. But, Wix is not as well-known as WordPress.

What difference does it make? Because the more popular a platform becomes, the more resources become available to you.

WordPress has more support for community and tutorials than Wix, so if you get stuck, you can easily ask millions of users for assistance and search on Google.

Is Wix Or WordPress Better For Blogging?

To be clear, there is no correct answer to this question. It is entirely dependent on you and your blog's requirements. The platform that works for you may not work for others. What I can do is make the best recommendation.

We'll compare Wix and WordPress based on the following criteria:

Ease to Start

You can create a website minutes after signing up for a Wix account.

If you're starting, keep in mind that WordPress has a steeper learning curve than Wix. WordPress necessitates more technical knowledge or, at the very least, the ability to follow tutorials.

Furthermore, if you choose WordPress.org, you will be responsible for setting up your hosting and domain. While we prefer to select our web host, it does add some extra steps to the process. It's usually smooth sailing after that. Most web hosts have software that allows for one-click installation (for example, through Softaculous on cPanel).

Wix, on the other hand, handles hosting for you. You can begin designing immediately after creating a Wix account. There's no need to be concerned about servers or other technicalities.

As a result, Wix is ideal for anyone who needs to get a functional blog up and running quickly.

Is WordPress or Wix better for blog performance?

Did you know that your website's slowness can cause you to lose visitors? It is critical that your blog can load quickly and remain online even during periods of high traffic. All of this is dependent on the web hosting for your site.

I was impressed with the performance of the test website hosted on Wix. It received an A+ in various speed test tool and has been entirely operational since July 2020. That's incredible!

So, how will your WordPress-powered blog perform?

It all depends! As I previously stated, one of the most impressive aspects of WordPress is that it gives you complete control and allows you to choose your web host.

This allows you to choose from the market's fastest and most secure hosts. Personally, we prefer the idea of hosting our site with a web hosting company that specializes in web hosting.

Usability

WordPress can be simple, but your willingness to learn is crucial.

With WordPress's Gutenberg update, you can now easily design pages and blog posts using a block editor.

However, WordPress themes and plugins can break unexpectedly and require technical knowledge to repair. Because of its customizability and flexibility, WordPress can sometimes be perplexing.

Meanwhile, Wix is highly user-friendly and does not require any special skills to use. It's dead simple and easy to learn because they take you to step by step. It is suitable for even your grandmother. This is Wix's greatest asset.

Which has the most plugins and apps?

WordPress has a plethora of plugins that you can use for your blog.

WordPress has at least 58,000 plugins, both free and paid, available. Because of the sheer variety, if you need custom functionality for your blog, there's probably already one for it.

For example, you'll most likely need a caching plugin to make your WordPress blog faster. There are two popular caching plugins to choose from: WP Rocket and WP Super Cache.

On the other hand, Wix allows you to add only 200+ free and paid apps. Custom functionality on your blog is challenging to implement due to the limited number of apps available.

If you only require standard features, Wix should suffice. However, as your blog grows in popularity, you will most likely want more advanced features.

Design elements – which is more adaptable?

WordPress's design potential is nearly limitless. Almost every aspect of how you want your blog to look and function can be changed. Some will necessitate some technical know-how on your part, or you may wish to hire outside assistance if you have the budget.

WordPress has thousands of free and paid themes to choose from if you don't want to do the design yourself.

You can handle visuals with drag-and-drop editors like the Elementor plugin if you want to start from scratch. Elementor is the most popular WordPress plugin design. It includes many sophisticated features, such as global settings, which allow you to make changes to your entire blog with a few clicks.

This can help distinguish your website from others in terms of design.

However, you are much more limited with Wix. You can't change the underlying code and are limited to what the editor can do if you don't use apps.

Wix has over 900 pre-designed templates. It's a lot, but it's nothing compared to WordPress.

You can build a layout for your website from scratch using the Wix editor to make it more unique. However, it is worth noting that, while consequential, the Wix editor is limited to a few features. For instance, if you want to change the design of a button, you must manually adjust the layout of each button on your entire website. 

Which has the superior User interface?

The writing interface is essential for bloggers because you will be spending a lot of time on blogging platforms writing blog posts.

With WordPress, you can customize your blog's look, feel, and behavior. The options are limitless! The best part is that the Gutenberg editor makes it simple to manage layouts.

Wix's writing interface is less appealing, and there are fewer formatting options. Furthermore, you will be unable to backdate or make posts private.

Site transfer simplicity

Do you want to change blogging platforms? This is significant because you never know what the future will bring.

WordPress makes migrating simple by providing an export tool and downloading all media files. Your WordPress database can even be exported.

Wix, on the other hand, makes switching platforms extremely difficult. Only blog posts can be exported. What happens to your pages, images, videos, and other media? They are unable to move. 

Maintainability

WordPress requires you to manage a lot more things on your own.

Using WordPress, you'll have to handle backups and security manually. Some people aren't very good at this, which is why many prefer managed WordPress hosts like Kinsta, which have interfaces that make it easier.

You have less to worry about with Wix. Every time you save or publish, a site revision is created, making it simple to backup and restore your site to an earlier version. Furthermore, your Wix site should be secure unless Wix itself or your Wix admin account is hacked.

Comments on blogs

You might want to enable comments from viewers on your blog to engage with your audience.

WordPress includes a native commenting system that allows users to create quickly, edit, and delete comments on your blog. You can promptly moderate these comments as well.

Wix also includes a commenting system. However, many users have complained that it is slow and difficult to manage.

Assistance

Wix has a help center with numerous articles that answer frequently asked questions.

WordPress does not have official support, but don't let that put you off. With WordPress's popularity, you should be able to find the answer to your problem on your own if you exercise some resourcefulness.

While we mentioned community forums and tutorials, you rely heavily on the community for answers.

Although it is rare, it is possible that threads go unanswered, that no real solutions are provided, or that there are no tutorials for your problem. In that case, platforms like Codable allow you to hire from a pool of thousands of WordPress developers.

Wix, unlike WordPress, offers phone and email support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So if you have a problem, their customer service will assist you in resolving it. This can be useful, especially if you are not very technical. They also have a comprehensive help center where you can find answers to almost any question.

Wix vs WordPress for blogging: Which is Cheaper?

The WordPress software is free, but as previously stated, you will also need to purchase a web hosting plan.

The prices of web hosts vary greatly. Hostinger starts at $0.99 per month (introductory price), whereas a more premium WordPress host, such as Kinsta, can cost up to $35 per month. You will also need to buy a domain name.

And Wix?

Wix has a free version, but it has significant limitations.

A paid plan is required to get the most out of Wix. Wix starts at $4.50 per month, which should be sufficient for a blog in its early stages. However, you will eventually require more bandwidth and storage space, necessitating the purchase of a more expensive plan.

Final Verdict

So, self-hosted WordPress is MY top choice for bloggers. It is quite possibly the most powerful and versatile blogging platform that is still user-friendly.

WordPress includes advanced features that make it easier for a blogger to accomplish tasks, particularly in the long run.

On the other hand, Wix may be ideal if you don't require much customization and prioritize ease of use above all else.