Wix vs. Shopify at a glance
If you own an online store, both Wix and Shopify will work for you, but there are nuances. Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of our Wix vs. Shopify comparison, let’s take a quick look at each platform to see what kind of sellers these ecommerce sites are best suited for.
What is Wix?
Wix is an online platform that allows you to create a professional website quickly and without any technical knowledge. Wix users can add an ecommerce functionality to their websites and build their own online stores. Wix is easy to use and offers a ton of templates for your website design. Since it’s a hosted platform, you won’t have to worry about buying a domain name or getting SSL encryption for your website.
Source: Wix
Who is Wix best for?
Wix is best for creators whose main goal is to build a content-rich website and show off their work while doing ecommerce on the side. Since it wasn’t built originally as an ecommerce tool, Wix is an incredibly versatile platform for anyone wishing to have an online presence.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an ecommerce platform that allows users to build, manage, and scale their business online. As a dedicated ecommerce tool, it offers powerful sales features, many integration options, and a strong customer support system for its users.
Source: Shopify
Who is Shopify best for?
Shopify is best for people who are genuinely passionate about entrepreneurship and want to build a profitable business with a strong brand. If, for example, you’re a dropshipping business owner and you’re looking for a platform for your best-selling print-on-demand products, Shopify will be a perfect fit for you.
Read also: Shopify vs. WooCommerce—Which Is Best for Your Online Store?
Wix vs. Shopify: an in-depth comparison
Before you choose a new platform, it’s important to define your needs. What’s most important for you? Is it pricing? A user-friendly interface? Maybe you’re looking for great marketing features to promote your trending products. Knowing your must-haves will make it easier for you to choose the right platform for your online store.
In this section, we’ll compare Wix and Shopify in seven categories: ease of use, costs, design features, apps and integrations, payment processing, customer support options, and marketing features.
Ease of use
The ecommerce site you choose should be intuitive and easy to use so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to manage it. Both Wix and Shopify are some of the most user-friendly platforms in the industry, but each has its differences.
One key difference is that Wix was created as a website builder that also offers ecommerce functionality. Shopify, on the other hand, has always been a dedicated ecommerce platform used for store building. You’ll get more powerful sales features with Shopify but a more versatile website-building capacity with Wix.
The Wix editor is a convenient tool that allows you to drag and drop elements into your website without having to switch from the frontend to backend constantly. When you make a change, you’ll see what it looks like in real-time.
Shopify also offers a user-friendly store editor that doesn’t take too long to get used to. It doesn’t have a drag-and-drop feature, so you’ll have to jump from the editor to your website to see the changes. But if you’re a beginner, you might find the Shopify website builder easier to navigate and less overwhelming than the Wix editor.
Wix or Shopify: who’s the winner?
In this round of Wix vs. Shopify, the winner is . . . everybody! This one is a tie—both platforms are beginner-friendly, and you don’t need any tech knowledge to get your store up and running.
Costs
When choosing a new platform, one of the first questions you’ll probably have is: “How much will it cost?” That’ll be especially important if you aim to sell dropshipping products with high-profit margins to build a profitable online store. Pricing will be a key factor in your decision, so let’s explore what kind of fees you’ll have to pay with Wix and Shopify.
Both Shopify and Wix offer short free trials—you’ll get a 3-day free trial with Shopify and a 14-day free trial with Wix. Wix offers a free plan as well, but it has very limited features. For example, your site will have Wix branding, and ecommerce functionality won’t be available.
If you want to start a Wix online store, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan. Wix offers three paid plans for ecommerce businesses—Core ($27/month), Business ($32/month), and Business Elite ($159/month), as well as a separate Enterprise plan. All plans include basic features, like a custom domain, no Wix site branding, and 24/7 customer support.
Shopify also offers three plans for online businesses: Basic, Shopify, and Advanced. After completing the free trial, you can access these Shopify plans for just $1/month for the first 3 months. However, compared to Wix, these are pricier—Shopify Basic starts at $29/month, the Shopify plan is $79/month, and the Advanced Shopify plan is $299/month.
Source: Shopify
While the plans you get on Shopify will come with stronger sales features, Wix will be cheaper in the long run. Plus, Shopify will charge extra transactional fees if you use other payment gateways than Shopify Payments. Unlike Shopify, Wix doesn’t charge extra fees for not using its in-house payment system.
Wix or Shopify: who’s the winner?
In this round of Wix vs. Shopify, the winner is Wix. The plans Shopify offers have great advanced features and are a good choice for experienced business owners looking for scalability. However, overall, Wix pricing is more affordable, and you’ll get the best value for your money.
Site design features
To make sales, your website has to look professional and attractive to customers. Let’s take a look at the design options both Wix and Shopify offer to see how you’ll be able to customize your ecommerce store.
Wix will give you a lot of flexibility when it comes to website design. It has 800+ free templates, all of which are mobile-friendly. Many shoppers browse stores on their mobile phones, so if your site isn’t adjustable for mobile, you might be losing out on sales.
Source: Wix
However, the downside is that not all Wix templates are built for ecommerce. In fact, out of 800+ Wix themes, Wix offers only 132 templates specifically meant for online stores.
The number of themes Shopify offers is smaller—you’ll have access to 12 free and 160 paid themes, but most themes come with styling options to give you more customization choices. The prices for the paid themes range from $150 to $390. While Shopify pricing for these themes is quite high, it’s a one-time investment that can significantly enhance the appearance and functionality of your Shopify store.
Source: Shopify
A major plus is that all Shopify themes are created with ecommerce features in mind. These themes also have vast customization options, either by installing various Shopify apps or through coding if you have the necessary know-how.
Wix or Shopify: who’s the winner?
In our view, Shopify takes this round. Shopify’s themes will give you more customization options and better features to build a robust online business with the potential to grow. But if you want to create a content-centric site, you’ll probably find Wix more useful. At the end of the day, it’s really down to your own needs—that’s why it’s so important to figure out what you want before choosing your platform.
Apps and integrations
It’s almost impossible to run ecommerce stores on platforms like Shopify and Wix without apps and integrations. These provide important features for your business, like marketing tools or payment gateways.
The Wix App store offers over 800 apps. While most Wix apps aren’t ecommerce-specific, Wix does support integrations with the most popular third-party ecommerce tools, including Printful. If you plan to sell custom t-shirts or other apparel, a printing provider like Printful will be extremely important. Take a look at this guide if you’re new to dropshipping, and check out our tutorial on how to connect your Wix store to your Printful account.
Source: Wix
The Shopify App Store, on the other hand, offers an impressive 8000+ apps and integrations, all focused on ecommerce businesses. This gives Shopify a major advantage over the Wix App Market. With such a wide selection, you’ll find tools to help you with social media marketing, Shopify SEO (search engine optimization), shipping, website traffic analysis, and more. In short—you name it, Shopify has it.
Like Wix, Shopify also integrates with Printful, allowing you to sync orders automatically. Here’s a tutorial on how to connect your Shopify store to Printful.
Wix or Shopify: who’s the winner?
Wix gives you access to the integrations and apps you need to create a robust website. However, a major drawback is that many of these aren’t ecommerce-specific.
Shopify offers more options to choose from, and the tools it provides are all built specifically for online businesses. For this reason, when it comes to apps and integrations for online business, Shopify is the clear winner.
Support
The world of ecommerce isn’t perfect—you’re bound to encounter problems and technical issues. That’s why it’s important to check if the platform of your choice has good customer support. A good customer support system will have several communication channels and provide plenty of resources for some basic troubleshooting.
Both Wix and Shopify have great customer support systems in place. Wix offers 24/7 live chat support, as well as email and phone support. The Wix Help Center is incredibly detailed, too, with a user-friendly interface and helpful screenshots. Another valuable customer support feature is the Wix website in-editor Help section, which allows you to search for help without leaving the website editor.
Additionally, if you’re struggling with anything in particular and have extra funds, you can hire a professional to help you with all things Wix ecommerce.
Source: Wix
You’ll find many of the same features with Shopify, with a few key differences. The Shopify site offers 24/7 live chat and 24/7 phone and email support. Just like Wix, it also has a very informative Help Center and online communities for you to find answers to problems from other sellers.
However, a downside is that the Shopify Help Center isn’t as easy to navigate. Since it doesn’t use pictures or screenshots, it’s not always easy to quickly find what you need.
Source: Shopify
Wix or Shopify: who’s the winner?
This isn’t an easy choice by any means, but Wix takes this round. Its resources are more user-friendly and easy to follow. Plus, the website in-editor Help section is a great tool that helps you as you’re working, so you don’t have to jump back and forth from the Help Center. Overall, while Shopify has a stellar customer support system, Wix takes the lead here.
Payment processing
Opening online stores is all about making money, right? So you have to ensure that your customers can pay for your products easily, quickly, and safely. That’s why it’s important that your platform integrates with the most popular payment processing systems.
If you’re starting a Wix business, you’ll be able to offer your customers all the traditional payment gateways—PayPal, Stripe, Square, Klarna, or use its own in-house payment system, Wix Payments.
A big advantage with Wix is that there are no extra transaction fees if you choose a payment processing system other than Wix Payments. Plus, the Wix in-house payment system offers an additional 40+ payment options, including Google Pay and Apple Pay. You can find more info about Wix payment options here.
Source: Wix
Shopify merchants have access to over 100 payment processing systems and its own in-house system, Shopify Payments.
Using a payment system other than Shopify Payments means you’ll have to pay transaction fees. But Shopify comes with a lot of strong payment features that’ll make your life easier. For example, Shopify’s discount system is more advanced—you can offer discounts in percentages instead of a specific amount of money, like Wix.
Shopify, unlike Wix, also allows payments in multiple currencies, making business easier for sellers looking to expand globally.
Source: Shopify
Last but not least, Shopify has a more robust POS (point-of-sale) system than Wix. Even with the Basic Shopify plan, you can access a POS system with strong features that allow you to sell in person anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, Wix stores are limited to the US and Canada only.
Wix or Shopify: who’s the winner?
The Shopify ecommerce features give it a slight edge over Wix in terms of payment systems. Shopify’s discount system is more advanced, the payment options are more flexible, and you’ll have an easier time selling internationally. All these advantages make Shopify the winner of this round.
Ready, set, go!
Which is the best ecommerce platform? It depends entirely on your needs. If you aim to build a strong online store that’ll grow into a large business, the Shopify website will give you more features geared towards that goal.
However, if you’re an artist or a writer primarily focused on creating a website to showcase your work, with only a secondary interest in selling products, Wix is the better choice. It’ll offer much of the same features as Shopify but with a focus that might align more closely with your goals.
If you need more help choosing a platform for your online business or anything else ecommerce-related, check out the Printful Blog. Or, if you’re looking for quick tutorials and informative videos, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Good luck with your ecommerce journey!
Read next:
