Choosing the right website builder is challenging, especially if you’re just starting. Three of the most popular platforms that have become the go-to solutions are Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace. These options is so popular that you might have seen an Ads on Youtube previously.
Each platform is best known for:
Wix: intuitive drag-and-drop interface
WordPress: powerful content management capabilities
Squarespace: known for its sleek designs and user-friendly editor.
When it comes to creating a website, a Responsive Design is VERY important because it ensures that your website performs well across various devices while maintaining an attractive look. The website builder is a crucial factor in achieving that goal. Since we’ve previously use all of the 3 options above, we will share our takes.
Comparing Website Builders
Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress offer distinct features and tools that cater to different user needs. Here’s how they stack up against each other.
Features at a Glance
Wix is well known of their User-Friendly Interface and easy to use, E-Commerce capabilities with many built-in features, and extensive templates to choose from. Additionally, Wix has automated marketing tools and can create a subscription website, positioning it as a strong contender for business-oriented users as well as those who are just starting out.
Squarespace is known for its professional design templates that are especially appealing to visually driven brands and creatives. They do have fewer design options, but focuses on high-impact, visually-rich websites with a strong identity. Most professionals or those who are looking to build a brand find Squarespace design to be quite impressive.
WordPress is known for its ability to be fully customized, light and comes with almost all available functionalities via plugins. in its ability to power various types of websites, including blogs, e-commerce sites, and notably, membership sites and membership websites. This is achieved through its extensive range of plugins and design themes, which allow for the creation and management of online courses, webinars, podcasts, and more, catering specifically to the needs of membership platforms.
Ease of Use
As mentioned above, if you’re a beginner and just looking to quickly create a website with ease, then Wix and Squarespace prioritize just that, with their drag-and-drop editors, making website building accessible even to novices. Squarespace, while sharing a similar ease-of-use, takes a more structured approach to design that can be less overwhelming than Wix’s open canvas.
WordPress, though not as straightforward due to its sheer flexibility, but plugins such as Elementor is drag-and-drop editor so that you can edit your website similar to Wix and Squarespace editor style. Additionally, WordPress offers a rich editing experience that, once mastered, can yield professional and complex websites, however, please keep in mind that it does take some learning time.
Design and Customization
Squarespace offers elegantly-designed templates that are highly responsive and fit various niches. Wix is not far behind, with a plethora of templates that can be tweaked extensively thanks to its drag-and-drop editor. WordPress takes customization to another level, with both free and premium themes that can be modified with custom code or through visual editors, making it possible to create virtually any design. Read about what Squarespace offers in terms of its design here: Squarespace’s design capabilities WordPress themes and customization.
Ecommerce Capabilities
When evaluating the E-Commerce capabilities of Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace, you should consider the features and the pricing structures that these platforms offer. These elements can significantly influence the decision-making process for someone planning to launch an online store.
Both Wix and Squarespace includes product management, inventory management, payment options as well as shipping and marketing tools. However, it’s worth noting that; while both Wix and Squarespace has E-Commerce capabilities, they are not as extensive as WordPress when leveraging WooCommerce which is a WordPress plugin to turn your site into an E-Commerce Website. Read more about in-depth here: Comparing Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.
Online Store Features
Wix: Provides an extensive set of tools for building an online store. It includes a variety of product management options, multiple payment gateways, and personalized SEO settings to help make products more searchable. With Wix’s drag-and-drop builder, setting up an ecommerce site is highly intuitive. Detailed at Wix vs Squarespace vs WordPress, the platform offers built-in email marketing tools—a valuable asset for ecommerce promotion.
Squarespace: Provides comprehensive product management, advanced inventory management, sophisticated shipping and tax settings, and a suite of marketing tools. It is particularly strong in offering visually appealing templates and design options, making it ideal for businesses that prioritize aesthetics. Beware that in one of their standard plan, you have to pay a royalty fee of 3% for every sales you made. More on that later.
WordPress: When paired with WooCommerce, a dedicated E-commerce plugin, your site will transformed into a powerful online platform. This open-source solution, which means it’s free (with paid premium options of if you need) is fit for those who seek more control over their site BUT may require additional development skills or experience of running a site of some sort. Definitely not recommended for those who are just starting or don’t know how to run a website.
Regardless, the three choices offer a concrete e-commerce capabilities, they meets the demand of different needs and preferences:
- Choose Wix if you prioritize ease of use, flexibility in design through drag-and-drop functionality, and a wide range of built-in marketing tools. It’s a great option for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a versatile and user-friendly platform.
- Choose Squarespace if you place a high value on professional, visually stunning design templates and need advanced inventory and shipping management features. It’s especially well-suited for creative professionals and businesses that want move their business to the next step.
- Choose WordPress if you are looking for full customization, and are comfortable with building a website, or have some experience. The best thing about WordPress is that, it’s totally free to use as well as many plugins including the E-commerce plugin like WooCommerce.
**Although, WordPress is Free, you still have to pay for the hosting and buy a domain separately.
Marketing and SEO Tools
Next, when it comes to choosing the right website building platform, it’s important to choose the best website builder for SEO. Google indexes website using keywords, and it’s important that you build the site around the keywords that are related to your niche. All these options comes with the SEO optimization in mind. In selecting Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress, one must consider their robust marketing and SEO tools pivotal for boosting online presence and driving traffic.
Search Engine Optimization
Wix has comprehensive SEO tools that is great for beginners. Users can leverage features like ‘Wix SEO Wiz’ for personalized SEO plans. According to their 2024 research, Wix offers automated SEO benefits that can significantly enhance the business’s online visibility.
In contrast, WordPress provides extensive SEO capabilities, mainly through its vast array of plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math. It’s widely recognized for its advanced SEO customization options, making it highly suitable for those looking to deeply refine their SEO tactics.
Squarespace, while not as customizable as WordPress, still provides solid SEO options. Their platform allows for basic on-page SEO practices that can effectively optimize your website for search engines.
Email and Social Media Marketing
Email marketing is an important aspect for any website. It allows you to take in the user’s email in which you can send interesting offers/promotions to them to generate more income. Wix offers a native solution with ‘Wix ShoutOut’, which lets users design and send out email campaigns directly from their Wix account. The builder’s automated marketing tools also integrate well with email campaigns.
WordPress doesn’t have an in-house email marketing service. However, as mentioned previously, it uses plugins to integrate with popular email marketing tools such as GetResponse, MailChimp or Constant Contact and many others (most email marketing tools can be integrated to WordPress!), which give users the flexibility to choose the tool that best suits their marketing strategy or even the one that you are already using.
Squarespace offers integrated email marketing features that blend with its website designs, helping to maintain branding consistency across all platforms. They’ve got a strong focus on the design, ensuring that emails not just deliver content but also visually attractive to read.
On the front of social media marketing, each platform accommodates social media integration. Wix and Squarespace provide easy-to-use interfaces for linking social accounts and sharing content, while WordPress, with its plugins, allows for more customized social media strategies. The capacity to drive traffic from social media to their websites can be a game-changer for users of each service, as they work to build a cohesive online presence. This is why we stress many times that WordPress requires some knowledge to use because if you don’t know what or which plugins to look for, it can be overwhelming.
Of course, one’s choice among Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress will depend on the level of customization, but all of them have a great solution prepared for you to meet your goals.
Pricing and Value for Money
Now, probably an important topic you’ve been waiting for, how much do they cost? Cost is a critical factor and vary by platform, some do offer a free plan with the option to pay for certain features. This section will compare the pricing structures and plans offered by Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace.
Free vs Paid Options
To start off, WordPress is totally free. Most hosting provider will provide an option to install WordPress when you create a website free of charge. The only hassle is that you have to look for the Hosting Company as well as buy your Domain somewhere else. If you’re looking to host a server, then you might be interested in getting a VPS (Virtual Private Server): Top 5 Unmetered VPS Hosting Plans.
Keep in mind that, although WordPress is free, many people do spend quite a lot on its plugins. Professional sites will likely need certain types of customizations like a page builder, SEO Tools, Email Marketing, Security, etc. all of which free to use but limited features.
Wix does offer a free plan but comes with limitations such as 500MB storage space and branded ads, meaning that they will put their brand “Powered by Wix” on the footer of your website. Moving to a paid plan, prices range from $17 to $159 per month when billed annually.
Squarespace does NOT offer a free plan, but they offer a 14-day free trial for users to give it a try. After the trial, users need to choose one of the paid plans to continue using the service.
Comparing Plan Features
Paid plans across these platforms differ in terms of storage, bandwidth, access to a custom domain, and other functionalities essential for a business’s online presence.
- Wix offers combinations ideal for both personal use and e-commerce, with escalating features and storage as the plan prices increase.
- Squarespace, known for its strong design features, mobile optimized and user-friendly interface, includes unlimited bandwidth and storage on all plans, and their business plan is often highlighted for robust blogging features.
- WordPress plans range from personal to enterprise levels, emphasizing flexibility, and freedom for content management and scalability.
Good thing about Wix and Squarespace is that, all of their plan comes with Free Custom Domain (1 year), which includes the ability to connect a custom domain, which is crucial for brand identity. Moreover, the higher-tier plans focus on servicing business needs with advanced features such as increased storage space and improved customer support. Here’s a framework that covers the basic structure of plan offerings:
Wix:
- Light Plan: $17/month – For personal use, 2GB storage
- Core Plan: $29/month – Comes with Analytics, Customer Account, 50GB storage
- Business Plan: $36/month – For complete online branding, Advanced Shipping Option, 100GB storage
- Business Elite: $159/month – Priority support, Unlimited storage
Squarespace:
- Personal Plan: $16/month – Basic features, no transaction fees
- Business Plan: $23/month – Professional features, including Advanced Analytics. But has 3% transaction fee.
- Commerce Basic: $28/month – For E-Commerce Site. Built-in tool to increase your sales. 0% transaction fee.
- Commerce Advanced: $52/month – Advance Shipping/Discounting. Can integrated via API with 3rd-party.
WordPress:
- Free: Need to find hosting provider and select WordPress as an option to install on your site.
Wix offering different levels of ecommerce functionality at various price points. There is no free plan for ecommerce; however, the Business plan is available, as indicated here, and it’s designed to cater to the needs of online stores.
Squarespace provides a straightforward pricing system with a focus on value for money. Their commerce plan offers unlimited storage and bandwidth, which is a significant plus for growing online stores, and is priced competitively as seen here.
WordPress requires a separate investment in hosting and may incur additional costs for premium themes and plugins. The core WooCommerce plugin is free, making the initial entry into ecommerce more accessible. Still, scaling the business could mean adding paid extensions, which adds to the overall cost.
The ecommerce capabilities of these platforms vary, and the best choice depends on the specific needs of the business, technical expertise, and budget.
Support and Resources
The level of support and resources is something that often overlooked. Luckily, these platforms offer great support to the website builder both for beginners and experience developer. It is worth noting that since WordPress is free, you can’t really get a support, but it’s possible to get an answer to your problem via many bulletin boards or stackoverflow.com.
Customer Support Services
Wix offers an extensive range of customer support services. Their Help Center is filled with tutorials, while direct support is available through phone or live chat. For immediate assistance, Wix’s live chat support is responsive, providing users with quick help when they need it.
Squarespace stands out with its effective support services, especially with its 24/7 email response team, ensuring help is always a message away. Plus, they offer live chat support for more prompt queries during weekdays.
WordPress, given its open-source nature, does not offer an official support team for the free version, but WordPress.com‘s premium plans include live chat and email support. However, due to its vast user base, a multitude of forums are available where one can seek peer-to-peer assistance.
Learning and Community Resources
Wix users, the platform provides Wix Academy, a useful source for learning how to make the most of its features. In addition, they host a forum for community support, where users can exchange ideas and solutions.
Squarespace, alike, has a strong focus on guiding its users with a comprehensive help center and community forum. Their user-friendly interface is designed to minimize the learning curve, making it simpler for users to achieve professional results without a steep learning ramp-up.
WordPress might have a steeper learning curve due to its customization capabilities. However, it compensates with an overwhelmingly large community and countless online resources, tutorials, and guides. WordPress meetups and WordCamps also offer in-person opportunities for learning and networking.
Final Verdict
When it comes to selecting the best website builder, it boils down to balancing their pricing, features and how experience you are.
Wix shines for those starting out, with its user-friendly interface and a plethora of templates. The trade-off is in SEO fine-tuning, where it lags behind WordPress.
Squarespace positions itself as a middle-ground, boasting high-quality design with moderate customization. This website builder satisfies users keen on aesthetics without overwhelming feature sets.
WordPress demands more technical know-how but rewards users with unmatched customization potential. Its vast plugin library allows for expansive functionality and scaling, crucial for advancing web presences. A WordPress website offers users complete control, from choosing a web hosting provider to enhancing their site with a wide range of WordPress plugins for various needs.
Each platform has its merits, and the verdict hinges on a user’s specific needs and skills. Those seeking simplicity might gravitate towards Wix or Squarespace. Meanwhile, users with growth in mind and a readiness to tackle a steeper learning curve may find WordPress to be the superior choice. The verdict isn’t a one-size-fits-all; instead, it’s an invitation to weigh individual priorities against each builder’s offerings. Consider the long-term vision for your site to make the most informed decision.
