Choosing A Platform
Wix Studio vs WordPress: Which Should You Actually Hire?
We build on Wix Studio, so read this knowing that. It still says where WordPress wins, because sending you to the wrong platform costs us more than the job is worth.
The Short Answer
Most businesses are choosing an agency, not a platform
For a business site of up to roughly forty pages, Wix Studio usually costs less over five years and breaks less often. For unusual functionality, or if being able to move the site between hosts matters to you, WordPress is the better choice.
The platform argument is usually had by the wrong people. Whoever builds your site will pick what they are good at, and a competent build on either platform beats an average build on the other. What actually varies is who you end up paying, and for what, in year three.
The comparison below is written for a business site: a company that sells a service, wants to be found on Google and wants to change its own prices without ringing anybody. If you are running a marketplace or something with genuinely unusual data behind it, the answer changes and it is further down this page.
Side By Side
Where each one actually wins
Six things that decide it in practice, judged for a business site rather than in the abstract. Three of these go to WordPress.
| Wix Studio | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting it built | Faster. Hosting, CDN, SSL and backups are already there, so the budget goes into design and copy. | Slower. Hosting, security and a page builder all have to be chosen and set up before design starts. |
| Editing it yourself | Most owners manage without training. Editing is visual and hard to break. | Depends entirely on the builder used. Often needs a walkthrough and a written guide. |
| Running cost | One subscription covers hosting, security and updates. | Hosting, plus plugin licences, plus somebody keeping it patched. |
| Unusual functionality | Velo covers a lot, but there are ceilings and you meet them abruptly. | Wins. If it can be built for the web it can be built here, and probably has been. |
| Moving it later | Content exports, the build does not. Leaving means rebuilding the front end. | Wins. The whole site moves between hosts, and that portability is real. |
| What breaks over time | Little. Platform updates are Wix's problem rather than yours. | Wins on control, loses on effort. Plugin and core updates are the most common cause of a site going down or being compromised. |
If the site is the shop window for a business of up to about forty pages, Wix Studio usually costs less over five years and goes wrong less often. If you need unusual functionality, or portability matters more than running costs, hire a WordPress agency. We will tell you which you are at the first conversation.
Who It's For
Which one are you?
Rough, but it is right more often than not.
Wix Studio, and we can help
- A service business, a trade, a practice or a shop, with under about forty pages
- You want to change your own prices and text without an invoice
- You would rather one predictable subscription than a hosting bill and a retainer
- You want it live in weeks rather than months
WordPress, and we will say so
- You need functionality that does not exist yet and has to be written from scratch
- You are integrating with systems that expect server-level access
- Being able to move the whole site between hosts is a requirement, not a nice to have
- You already have a WordPress developer who does good work for you
The Honest Part
What we lose by telling you this
The one real trade with Wix is portability. Content exports cleanly, but the build itself does not move to another host, so leaving means paying for a front end again.
That is the argument against us and it is a fair one. Weigh it against how often it actually happens: most businesses that ask about leaving are worried about a hypothetical, while the maintenance retainer and the patched-too-late plugin are things that happen on a schedule.
The other thing worth saying is that the ranking argument is dead. It gets repeated by people who sell WordPress, and it has not been true for years. We have Wix sites on page one for competitive commercial terms in Kent, and the pages that got there did it on content, structure and speed like everything else.
Proof
Built on Wix Studio, ranking on Google
Three of ours, all on the platform this page argues for.
Luxury Venue
Brympton House
An immersive Wix Studio site for a Grade I listed Somerset wedding and events estate.
See this project →
Social Enterprise
ConnectGo
A credibility-focused site for an impact learning platform, with integrated demo scheduling.
See this project →
Climate Fintech
Seal Sustainability
An investor-facing platform site communicating a complex climate and blockchain proposition.
See this project →Common Questions
Wix Studio and WordPress, answered
Neither, for everyone. For a business site of up to roughly forty pages that needs to look good, load fast and be edited by the owner, Wix Studio usually wins on total cost and on how little goes wrong later. For anything with unusual data, heavy integration or a plan to move it somewhere else one day, WordPress is the better answer and we will say so.
No, and it has not been true for years. It gets repeated mostly by people who sell the alternative. Google ranks pages on content, structure, speed and authority, and Wix Studio is capable on all four when it is built properly. A bad Wix site does not rank, and neither does a bad WordPress one.
You export the content and rebuild the front end elsewhere. This is the real trade and it is worth being straight about: you cannot lift a Wix site onto another host the way you can move a WordPress install. If that possibility matters to you more than the running costs, choose WordPress.
Usually Wix, because the hosting, security and updates are in the subscription rather than in a maintenance retainer. A WordPress site of the same size typically needs somebody paid to keep the plugins current, and the cost of not doing that is the site being broken into.
We do not, and we would rather tell you than take the work and learn on it. We are a Wix Legend Partner and that is where the depth is. If the project genuinely needs WordPress we will say so at the first conversation, at no charge.
Yes, and it is a good part of what we do. Content, URLs and redirects come across so the rankings survive the move. The pages that were earning traffic keep their addresses, which is the part most migrations get wrong.
Let's Talk
Not Sure Which You Need?
Tell us what the site has to do. If the answer is WordPress we will say so on the call, and it costs you nothing to find out.