Wix vs Shopify: How to choose [comparison 2024]

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Two of the top ecommerce platforms, Wix and Shopify have powerful features that can support a fully functional online store. However, business owners often face the Wix vs Shopify dilemma and struggle to choose between the two.

While each has its own strengths and is suitable for specific types of businesses, there are areas where one shines over the other. Wix is known for its user-friendly interface and easy learning curve, making it ideal for small businesses and personal websites. Shopify, on the other hand, excels in ecommerce functionality, providing robust tools for managing complex online stores.

To help you make an informed decision, we went the extra mile and used both platforms extensively to fully understand various aspects. This includes ease of use, design capabilities, ecommerce features, pricing, and customer support. 

This blog post on Wix vs Shopify is a deep dive into the unique advantages of each platform, helping you determine which one aligns best with your business goals and technical skills. The goal of this article is to give you a clear understanding of which platform is the right fit for you, enabling you to make a well-informed choice and set your online business up for success in 2024.

Wix vs Shopify: What you need to know

Wix vs Shopify: An overview

Comparison point	Shopify	Wix
Ratings	4.4/5 (G2) 4.5 (Capterra)	4.2/5 (G2) 4.4 (Capterra)
Cost 2024 (basic plan)	$39 USD/month billed monthly	$24/month billed monthly
Free trial	Yes	Yes
Product limit	No product limit	50,000 products
Number of stores 2024	1 store on basic plan	1 online store per Wix site
Pros	– Robust ecommerce features – Scales with your business – Extensive app store	– Intuitive drag-and-drop interface – Affordable pricing plans – Flexible design options
Cons	– High pricing and fees – Steep learning curve – Limited theme customization	– Limited ecommerce capabilities – Scalability issues for large sites
Best for	Ecommerce businesses, large stores, scalability	Beginners, small business, personal websites
Integrations with online marketplaces	6,000+ ecommerce-specific integrations	500+ integrations
Number of store themes	100+ templates	900+ templates
Store builder	Yes	Yes
Sales features	Sales reports, multiple sales channels, track sales trends, manage different selling platforms	Overview, orders, gift cards, payments
Store design features	– Order – Products – Customers – Content – Analytics – Marketing – Discounts	– Payments – Sales – Catalog – Apps – Site and mobile apps – Inbox – Customers and leads – Marketing – Analytics – Automation
Customer support	24/7 support via phone, chat, and email, and online forum support	Phone support during business hours, 24/7 chat support, email support, and online forum support
Security features	Encryption for data protection, two-step authentication for account security, fraud analysis tools, regular security audits	Two-step authentication, anti-DDoS protection, SOC & SIEM, security visibility, data analysis & machine learning, bug bounty program.

While setting up the ecommerce store, I’ve explored both Wix and Shopify extensively. While Wix is easier to use and allows quick website design, Shopify has excellent ecommerce features for more complex processes and fits the big store needs.

Evaldas Urbonas, VP of Product

Wix vs Shopify: What’s better for ecommerce?

Ecommerce platforms attract organic traffic and drive sales when built correctly. Factors like UI/UX, ease of navigation, customer support, and features are significant contributors to their success. 

In this section of the Wix vs Shopify for ecommerce comparison, we’ll explore these factors in detail to determine which tool stands out in each of the following categories:

• Pricing
• Ease of use
• Creating a website
• Ecommerce features
• SEO features
• Limits
• Customer support
• Security features

Pricing

Winner: Wix

	Shopify	Wix
The cheapest plan	$39/month billed monthly	$24/month billed monthly
Cost of using yearly (cheapest plan)	$368 billed yearly	$204 billed yearly
Fees	For the Basic plan: – Online standard card rates: 2.9% + 30¢ – Online premium card rates: 3.5% + 30¢ – In-person credit/debit transaction rates: 2.6% + 10	For all plans: – Credit/debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay: 2.9% of the transaction amount + 0.30 USD – Wix payments point of sale (POS): 2.6% of the transaction amount + 0 USD – Tap to pay: 2.6% of the transaction amount + 0.20 USD – Wix payments manual card entry: 3.5% of the transaction amount + 0.30 USD

With the basic features available on Wix for $24/month, it is a more affordable platform. Owing to the pricing, it can be a good choice for small and medium-sized business owners. However, you’ll see that the price displayed on its website is $17/month — note that it is only available when you go for a yearly subscription, equating to $204 yearly. 

So if you don’t want to commit to an annual package, you must pay $24/month. Additionally, the monthly plan does not include a free domain for one year, which you usually get with a yearly subscription.

The Shopify Basic plan starts at $1 for the first month and then needs to be upgraded to $39/monthly, equating to $468 yearly. In comparison to Wix’s monthly plans, the Shopify monthly plans are on the higher end. However, if you commit to a yearly plan, there is a one-time payment of $368.

Wix offers more affordable pricing and wins this round.

Ease of use

Winner: Wix

	Shopify	Wix
Learning curve	Moderate	Easy
Customization	High	Moderate
Overall UX score	8/10	9/10

When it comes to ease of use, Wix stands out as the winner. It offers an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface that makes website building easy, even for beginners. 

The simplicity and user-friendly design ensure that users can quickly create and manage their sites without needing extensive technical knowledge. This ease of use is ideal for small business owners and individuals who want to get their website up and running with minimal hassle.

In terms of customization, Shopify excels with extensive options and flexibility, allowing users to tailor their online stores to their specific needs. Wix, on the other hand, offers customization options that are easier to navigate but might be limiting for those who need advanced features.

Overall, Wix ranks higher in user experience due to its simplicity and ease of use, making it a preferred choice for beginners seeking a straightforward website-building solution. Shopify is better suited for users who need advanced capabilities and are comfortable with a steeper learning curve.

Creating a website

Winner: Wix

	Shopify	Wix
Drag-and-drop editor	No	Yes
Beginner-friendly	Yes	Yes
Number of themes	100+	900+
Flagship theme	Dawn	Editor X

The Shopify website builder is easy to use but a drag-and-drop option would make the process more convenient. The lack of a true drag-and-drop editor means that users must rely on the pre-set layout options making it less flexible and limiting creativity for those without coding skills.

It’s easy to add sections, change the header and footer, add images to the home page sections, and link them. However, there is a moderate learning curve when it comes to adding products and images. 

It offers multiple customization features and allows you to customize every section of the page. From text and color scheme to the number of products and mobile layout, you can tailor everything based on your preferences.

Shopify’s interface is designed for ecommerce businesses, offering a wealth of features and customization options that can be overwhelming for novices. However, for those who are willing to learn, Shopify provides powerful tools for building and managing a comprehensive online store.

Unlike Shopify, which starts the process by letting you choose a template, Wix allows you to design your website with AI. It also offers you suggestions on which template to pick based on your business type.

In the Wix vs Shopify debate, Wix stands out for its simplicity and ease of use. The drag-and-drop editor is incredibly intuitive, allowing you to create a professional-looking website in a matter of hours. The extensive library of themes provides ample inspiration and flexibility, making it easy to find a design that fits your vision. 

You can easily edit the text, size, fonts, colors, and background images directly on the page to see the changes in real time.

Creating a website on Shopify may require understanding the tool first. Shopify has a side bar where all the customization options are available. Whether you need to add product lines, change the font, add images, or change the background, you cannot do it directly on the page, unlike Wix. This makes the process less convenient than what Wix offers.

For those looking to design a website quickly and with minimal hassle, Wix is the better choice. Its user-friendly interface, extensive theme library, and design capabilities make it the ideal platform for beginners.

Shopify demands a higher level of technical skill and more time, making it better suited for those with specific ecommerce needs and the willingness to invest in learning how to use the platform.

Ecommerce features

Winner: Shopify

	Shopify	Wix
Unique discounts	Yes	Yes
Abandoned cart recovery	Yes	Yes
Payment gateways	100+	50+
Multi-currency support	Yes	Limited
Inventory management	Advanced	Basic

Shopify is the clear winner as its ecommerce features are far more comprehensive and user-friendly. We found setting up discounts and promotions in Shopify quite easy.

The dashboard shows the net profit, gross margin, gross profit, and earnings. You can also set up payout accounts and tax regions.

Additionally, Shopify supports over 100 payment gateways, allowing businesses to offer their customers various payment options. This can enhance the shopping experience for customers and reduce cart abandonment.

The abandoned cart recovery feature was easy to configure and proved effective in recapturing lost sales but it can only be activated by upgrading to a paid plan.

The ecommerce functions in Wix felt more limited. It lets you connect various payment options, such as credit/debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Wix point of sale, to your store.

The process of setting up discounts was simple, but the customization options were not as extensive as those on Shopify.

Abandoned cart recovery worked well and allows you to add automation. You can set up rules for recovering abandoned carts and activate them without upgrading your plan.

Below is a screenshot showing how Wix allows you to recover abandoned carts with two emails:

If your goal is to focus more on targeted customer segmentation with targeted marketing then Shopify can be your go-to. It offers excellent ecommerce features with abandoned cart recovery automation.

Evaldas Mockus, VP of Growth

SEO features

Winner: Wix

	Shopify	Wix
SEO apps in store	303	15
Automatic SEO settings	Yes	Yes
Advantages	Advanced SEO apps, detailed analytics, customizable settings	Built-in SEO Wiz, user-friendly, automatic prompts

With 303 SEO apps and 8000+ apps for customizing the store, Shopify offers an extensive app selection for those looking to boost their online presence with SEO. Without using any SEO app, Shopify offers automation for limited SEO tasks, such as generating sitemaps, optimizing URLs, and adding alt text for images. 

For businesses with dedicated SEO teams or those willing to invest time in learning, Shopify offers unparalleled flexibility and control.

Wix excels with its built-in SEO Assistant and 15 SEO apps. The SEO Assistant offers a setup checklist to help the site appear higher in search results. The checklist includes homepage setup, site page optimization, and building site SEO progress. However, you must upgrade the plan to access the assistant’s complete list of SEO recommendations.

It also automatically creates default SEO settings for all your website pages according to their type. However, these settings are based on common SEO best practices, including basic meta tags, URL Redirect manager, Site Verification, Robots.txt Editor, and Sitemaps. You can customize them to your business’s needs.

While Shopify offers more advanced and customizable SEO tools, Wix wins this round due to its user-friendly approach and built-in SEO guidance. Wix’s SEO options make it easy for anyone to improve their site’s visibility without needing technical knowledge, which is particularly advantageous for small businesses and beginners.

Limits 

Winner: Shopify

	Shopify	Wix
Products in a store	No limit	50,000 products
Options per product	3	6
Images per product	250	15

Shopify takes the lead with its ability to accommodate an unlimited number of products. However, after adding 50,000 products, you can only add 10,000 products per day. It also allows up to 250 images per product, which is great for businesses that rely on visuals or 3D images to showcase their products.

You can display multiple angles, color, variations, or close-ups of product features as Shopify gives you the space to do so comprehensively. However, only three options per product may be a constraint for businesses with more complex product variations.

Wix caps the number of products at 50,000 which can be a problem for those expecting rapid expansion. It allows six options per product, offering more flexibility for products that require multiple variations. On the downside, Wix limits the number of images per product to 15, which can be restrictive for businesses that need to provide detailed visual content.

Customer support

Winner: Shopify

	Shopify	Wix
24/7 support	Yes	Yes
Live chat	Yes	Yes
Phone support	Yes	Yes
Support resources	Multiple	Multiple
Help center	Extensive	Extensive

Both Wix and Shopify offer 24/7 customer support through live chat, phone, and email, ensuring that help is always available whenever you need it. This round-the-clock availability is a significant advantage for businesses operating in different time zones or those needing immediate assistance to resolve issues quickly.

Shopify’s live chat representatives were quick to address our queries, providing detailed and actionable solutions. The phone support was equally impressive, with minimal wait times and courteous staff who went above and beyond to help us resolve our issues.

Wix, on the other hand, also offers robust customer support, including 24/7 live chat and phone support. However, email support is more limited compared to Shopify. Despite this, Wix’s live chat support is efficient, although response times can vary depending on the time of day.

While both Wix and Shopify offer excellent customer support, Shopify stands out with its 24/7 availability across all support channels and consistently high quality of service. For businesses that prioritize immediate and round-the-clock assistance, Shopify is the superior choice. 

Security features

Winner: Wix

	Shopify	Wix
Encryption for data protection	Yes	Yes
Two-step authentication	Yes	Yes
Anti-DDoS protection	No	Yes
SOC & SIEM	SOC – Yes	Yes

Wix emerges as the winner due to its comprehensive approach to protecting websites from various threats. Both platforms offer encryption for data protection and two-step authentication, which are essential for safeguarding sensitive information and securing account access.

However, Wix goes the extra mile by providing additional features that enhance overall security like SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS 1.2 (Transport Layer Security). For enabling the SSL certificate, you need to connect the domain to your site. Wix offers a step by step SSL troubleshooting guide to help beginners set their security measures.

The Anti-DDoS protection was particularly reassuring as the website would remain operational during potential attacks. The SOC & SIEM services provided detailed insights into our security status, with real-time alerts and comprehensive reports. For businesses that prioritize security, Wix provides a more holistic solution.

Wix offers the basic two-step verification and verified logins for the store that can be set up under the Account settings:

Shopify’s encryption and two-step authentication were easy to implement and provided data and account security enhancements. Unlike Wix, Shopify uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to help secure the connections to your Shopify admin and to your store.

The SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 reports ensured that the store was continuously monitored, offering peace of mind that any threats could be detected and managed efficiently. 

Here are some basic configurations of Shopify store that you can set up under the My Store tab:

Shopify vs Wix: FAQs

1. Which is better for dropshipping: Wix vs Shopify?

Shopify is better for dropshipping due to its extensive app integrations that streamline the dropshipping process and offer more robust ecommerce features compared to Wix.

2. Should you choose Shopify or Wix for small business with limited resources?

For small businesses, Wix is a more suitable choice due to its lower pricing, user-friendly interface, and comprehensive built-in features that require little or no technical knowledge.

3. Can I transfer my existing website to Wix or Shopify?

Yes, you can transfer your existing website to both Wix and Shopify. However, the process may require some technical expertise or specific migration tools.

4. How does the pricing compare between Wix and Shopify?

Wix offers more affordable pricing with plans starting at $24/month, while Shopify’s plans start at $39/month. Wix’s yearly subscriptions are also more affordable compared to Shopify’s.

5. How does the customer support availability compare between Wix and Shopify?

Shopify offers 24/7 customer support through live chat, phone, and email. Wix provides 24/7 support via live chat and phone, but email support is limited.