What Is A Wix Website
Wix.com is a cloud-based service that allows building hosted websites using the drag-and-drop editor and over 800 templates. The Wix platform has all you need for your website in one place hosting server, domain name, and software to build your website. However, you are limited by features that Wix provides, and have no access to the website folders in case if you need in-depth customization or move your site to another host.
So, Wix is a great tool if youre not into coding. It allows you to start a website in just a few hours. But, if you need full control over your website, WordPress is a better choice because it gives you the means to create a self-hosted website with access to site folders.
As for 2021, Wix claims that it has over 200 million registered users. According to Builtwith, there are roughly 4 million live Wix websites.
Popular Wix websites
Here is an example of a neat web page built with Wix.
Wix Vs Competitor Pricing
Theres no denying that Wix has changed tact with its pricing over the years, doing away with cheaper plans like the Connect Domain option, which used to be around $5/month . The Combo plan has increased by around $2/year over the past few years to $16, meaning this is now one of the more expensive ad-free starting plans on the market.
Heres a quick breakdown of how Wixs pricing compares with our other top-rated website builders. Weve included each builders cheapest paid plan alongside its best value for money plan :
Does being more expensive make Wix a bad option? No. The jump in price is balanced out by a wealth of new website features that put Wix ahead in this category, giving it an incredible score of 4.9 out of 5. This is an increase of 18% compared to when we last analyzed this website builder, and serves to label Wix as a more premium platform, where you get a lot for your money.
If you want to get the most out of Wix, wed recommend signing up to its $27/month Business Basic plan which gives you access to a wide range of quality tools and features .
Wix Is a Quality Website Builder With a Ton of Features
The Free Custom Domain Is Limited To Certain Extensions
Firstly, the free custom domain it offers you only comes with certain extensions, among which are .com, .boz, .net, .org, .co.uk or .info. If you want a different extension then youll have to purchase it elsewhere.
If you want to purchase a domain from Wix, itll cost you $14.95 per year .
This isnt particularly expensive .
Generally speaking, its cheaper to buy a domain from a cheap registrar such as Name.com or Namecheap.
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Get Started With Hostinger
When you want to begin pricing domain names, Hostinger makes the process extremely easy. Visit the domain name search tool page on Hostinger to begin looking at costs.
Remember, in certain circumstances, Hostinger may provide you with a domain name free for a year. This means the prices you see potentially would only apply in the second year and beyond. You have to pay for your domain name annually to maintain it.
Hostinger lists the prices based on the extension, as do other domain registrars. The extension is the portion of the domain name after the dot. For our crazyegg.com site, the .com is the extension.
The .com extension is the most popular extension. Consequently, it also is the hardest to find for your desired domain name. If our website was crazyegg.xyz instead of crazyegg.com, we might not receive as much traffic since many people default to .com when typing a domain name.
If someone already owns the .com extension for your desired domain name, you would have to switch to a different extension or change your desired domain name. Two websites cannot have the same domain name and extension, so you must buy a unique domain name and extension.
Additionally, the cost for the domain is only the cost for your websites name. If you dont host the site yourself, you still would need to pay someone to host the site for you. If you would like to learn more about all the services that Hostinger offers, we wrote a detailed Hostinger review.
How Much Does A Domain Name On Wix
Wix does a poor job of clearly layout out their price points for domain name registration as well as hidden fees the implement. Here are the prices of registering a domain name through Wix:
- If you purchase a Wix plan and pay annually youll get the domain fee waived the first year but will have to pay for subsequent years after.
- For a 1 year registration of a .com domain name it costs $14.95 at Wix.
- If you register your domain for 2 years in advanced the fee is $13.95 per year.
- For three years in advance, the rate drops to $12.95 per year.
Wix, unlike Squarespacedoes not provide domain name privacy included in the price. Instead they charge it as a $9.90 a year upsell. So, if you purchase your Wix account and register a domain name for 1 year, youll get the domain free for the first year free then youll be paying $14.95 + the $9.90 WHOIS protection
With Wix, expect to pay $24.85 a year for a .com per domain name. The same exact domain name at Namecheap with domain privacy costs only $8.88 a year.
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Does Wix Have A Free Plan
Yes, Wix has a free plan plus a 14-day free trial so you can test its web builder free of charge. The free plan has 500MB of storage and no set duration. That’s convenient for busy people who aren’t sure when they’ll have time to come back to work on their website.
Using the Wix free plan will reveal to you whether you can get along with its design interface. While most of the features are pretty self-explanatory, there are some users who find the web designer too clunky. That said, Wix achieved a 4/5 in our Ease of Use category of testing, well above Shopify and BigCommerce .
However, you won’t be able to sell products or take payments using the Wix free plan. It’s technically possible to monetize the Wix free plan if you manage to drive enough traffic and add adverts or affiliate links. Yet that approach will take so much effort and dedication, you may as well invest some capital in a premium Wix plan. The benefits of upgrading include no Wix adverts, your own custom domain plus access to analytics and marketing tools.
What Is Editor X
Editor X was originally called Corvid until Wix wisely did a brand pivot during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its a completely separate tool from the Wix website builder. Its more of a front-end design tool, similar to Webflow. It has a steeper learning curve but allows for much more design flexibility.
It has its own pricing plans that are divided into Website Plans and Business & Ecommerce plans.
Editor X pricing.
Does Wix have student pricing?
Wix offers a 50% discount on annual plans for students. See Wix for Students.
Is Wix more expensive than WordPress?
It’s hard to say because they are priced much differently. Wix is an all-in-one package. WordPress is free but you pay for hosting, themes and plugins so each WordPress website costs differently.
Is Wix’s ecommerce plans more expensive than Shopify?
On a monthly term, Wix’s Business Basic plan is just slightly cheaper than Shopify’s Basic Shopify plan
How to cancel a Wix account?
This support doc explains it but I can confirm I bought and cancelled a Wix account with my own credit card and cancellation was easy and transparent!
Do freelancers use Wix?
Many freelancers use Wix for website building. These partners can get 20% off of their websites.
Does Wix charge transaction fees?
Wix does not charge transaction fees on any ecommerce plans. There is of course still a credit card fee that is paid to a 3rd-party payment provider such as Stripe or Paypal.
Can you pay with a credit card?
Can you pay with Paypal?
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Benefits Of Wix As Your Website Builder
Wix offers small businesses some of the compelling website-building options. As an online website builder, theres no need to download and install any program or file. You must only have a web browser like Chrome or Firefox and an internet connection, hence giving you the flexibility of working from anywhere and using any device.
Being a drag-and-drop website builder, you can directly choose and place pictures, videos, text, and other components as you create your website. With Wix, what you see is what youll get, so whatever way or style you design or include in your website, it will look exactly as it is, before and after publishing it.
Users also have ready access to Wixs 500 designer templatescreated for almost any conceivable purpose or functionthereby giving the needed competitive edge especially for the small business owner who needs to create a positive impression to target customers.
Along with its automated web development technology, Wix offers a wide array of great features. It provides users with extensive design flexibility, top-notch SEO efficiency, automatic mobile optimization, access to numerous powerful third-party apps, sophisticated design elements, unlimited fonts, as well as media galleries and scroll effects.
You can edit images right inside the Wix interface.
How Can I Pay For My Wix Subscription
Accepted payment methods at Wix are Visa/Mastercard, American Express, JBC, Diners and Discover. If you are based in Europe you can also pay by direct debit . Direct debit may take 2-7 business days to process. Wix also issues VAT invoices that can be found in your account under Billing History. Paypal is currently not accepted by Wix.
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What Does Your Wix Site Need
Although you certainly can run a website with just the basic Wix interface, youll probably need some add-ons to run a functional business website.
For pretty much any professional site, youre going to want:
- visitor analytics
And if you want to give your site a little more personal pizazz, you can add:
Maybe youre not building a business website. Maybe its a personal portfolio or a website with another purpose. In either of case, various Wix apps can significantly personalize and enhance your website.
As you look through the Wix App Market, one of the first things you notice is that a lot of the apps have free plans. Others have free trials, and others yet advertise themselves as free to install or plans starting from $20/month.
Another thing to think about is transaction fees. Are you using your website to sell something? If youll be accepting money through your Wix website, you will be charged a small percentage of each payment as a transaction fee. These fees differ based on payment type, and credit/debit card fees vary by region. You can read about them on Wixs website.
But youre not done yet
Should You Go For An Annual Plan
You can see from the table above that theres a huge amount to be saved by paying for your plan upfront for a year , rather than month to month. We totally get it signing up to a year can feel intimidating. But the reality is that youll probably want your site for at least a year, and in most cases a whole lot longer. If your concern is committing to Wix as a platform, remember:
- The free plan is perfect for testing out how Wix works, and building a site you like, without paying a cent
- Theres a 14-day money-back guarantee with all premium plans, so you have two weeks to try the additional features, then change your mind
Weve tested Wix thoroughly across different areas, including design, ease of use, and features. Weve also analyzed Wixs value for money, where it scored 3.4 out of 5. Although this isnt the highest score for this category, Wix does come out on top of the pack for its website features, where we awarded it a near-perfect 4.9 out of 5! So, although it might not be the cheapest builder weve tested, you certainly get a lot for your money! You can see Wixs star ratings below:
4.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5 stars
Further Information
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Is Web Hosting Necessary
If you want to build a website, then yes, web hosting is necessary. You have a few different options. There are cheap web hosts, all-in-one website builders and top-rated web hosts. The best web hosting services are still affordable, but more importantly, they offer a range of hosting plans, features and unlimited or generous storage.
Where Can You Purchase Domain Names
You can purchase domain names through registrars accredited by ICANN . These registrars are responsible for both managing your domain and keeping track of periodical renewals.
The price of a domain name may vary across registrars, as they offer different domain plans with different feature lists. In general, you can buy a domain name for between $10 and $20 per annum. However, this depends on many things, like the specific domain extension you want to buy, validity period, running offers and discounts, and more. You can also purchase pre-owned domain names from their rightful owners, though these names usually cost more.
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Connect Your Wix Domain
So you have purchased the domain and now it is time to connect your Wix domain.
You might have already cruised through this step if purchasing from Wix because they make it so easy. If you have already built your site, purchase your domain and Wix will automatically prompt you to connect to one of the sites you have already built.
And that is it. You will have connected your domain name to your Wix site! Check the site out live and you will see the URL as your custom domain purchase.
Which Plan Is For You
The Wix Combo plan is an affordable upgrade for beginners, allowing you to pick your own domain name and remove the tell-tale ads. For more advanced users, the Unlimited plan will enable your site to offer a better user experience to your growing audience.
As for the Pro and VIP plans, its a matter of your budget and asking yourself if you will use the additional marketing and scheduling tools. It sure would be nice to get the VIP treatment, but for most, it remains a luxury.
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Wix Website Pricing Plans Which One Is Best For You
Connect domain £4 per month
- Incredibly low-cost, affordable plan for any business
- You can add your own custom domain
- 24/7 customer support for such a minimal price
- Removes those pesky, unprofessional looking Wix ads
- 3GB of storage space allows you to create more complex websites and have more creative freedom
- £75 ad voucher to spend on advertising your business on Google
- Free domain for 1 year
- Up to 30 minutes of video uploading available to stream and showcase your videos online
- Limited bandwidth resulting in a slower, more clunky website
- No access to Wix’s site booster app
A step up from Connect Domain, but still fairly limited, Combo is a great first step for those who are building a website for the first time.
You can create a fully customised website with no Wix ads, and use your own custom domain, free for a whole year. However, your bandwidth is limited to 2GB, so this won’t be suitable for more ambitious design ideas and businesses that want to dazzle their customers with plenty of videos and photos on the site.
Despite this, we would recommend this plan for any micro business owners that want to dip their toe in the website building water especially if you want the basics for a super affordable price.
Looking for the best Value Wix solution? Look no further than the Combo plan.
Unlimited £11 per month our top recommendation
The Wix unlimited plan is our top recommendation for the majority of small businesses and is the platform’s most popular plan.
Easy Steps To Calculate How Much A New Domain Name Costs
Although obtaining a domain name for your website is a relatively easy process, calculating just how much it will cost isnt always as straightforward. You may encounter some hidden fees and extra costs, depending on your needs. You could also save money with a difficult-to-remember site name, but your visitors may not find you.
If you would like an easy-to-use option for taking care of all the steps for selecting, registering, and paying for a domain name, we like Hostinger. It gives you a great price and allows you to complete the process in a few steps. When you sign up with Hostinger, you may even receive your domain name for free for the first year.
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How Much Does It Cost To Change Domain Name On Wix
It is important to note that you cannot change your domain name on Wix for free. If you have a paid subscription with Wix, then you can change your domain name from your My Domains page. To do this, simply click the pencil icon next to the domain that you wish to change and enter the new domain name.