Wix vs WordPress

By the ContractorUK Editorial Team · Fact-checked 8 November 2026

The basic difference between Wix and WordPress

Wix is a closed platform. The editor, the hosting, the templates and the business tools all come from Wix, and a Wix site only runs on Wix's servers.

WordPress is open-source software. You can run it yourself on a host of your choosing, or pay a service to run it for you, such as WordPress.com, which is owned by Automattic. Our Squarespace vs WordPress guide explains the split between WordPress.org and WordPress.com in more detail.

Nearly every practical difference below follows from that one point.

What each costs in the UK

The fairest price comparison is Wix against WordPress.com, since both include hosting.

No-cost tier	£0, with Wix branding and no domain of your own	£0, on a WordPress.com subdomain, with ads shown to visitors
Entry plan	£9 a month (Light)	£3 a month yearly or £8 monthly (Personal)
Next up	£16 a month (Core)	£7 a month yearly or £17 monthly (Premium)
Business tier	£25 a month (Business)	£20 a month yearly or £32 monthly (Business)
Highest listed price	£119 a month (Business Elite)	£36 a month yearly or £55 monthly (Commerce)
Domain	A year's domain voucher with most yearly paid plans	A year's domain on annual plans; none on monthly

Wix figures from wix.com/plans, which shows yearly prices paid up front, with tax added for your billing address. WordPress.com figures from wordpress.com/pricing, excluding taxes. Checked on 8 November 2026.

Self-hosted WordPress doesn't fit in a table like this. The software costs nothing; you pay a host and a domain registrar instead, and either do the upkeep or pay someone to. Our Wix pricing guide breaks down what each Wix plan includes.

Free versions compared

Both offer a genuine no-cost tier, and both come with strings. Wix's free plan can't connect your own domain and shows Wix branding. WordPress.com's free plan puts your site on a wordpress.com subdomain, shows WordPress.com ads to your visitors and doesn't allow plugins.

Either is fine for trying things out. Neither looks like an established business to a client who glances at the web address. Our guide to free website builders covers the other options and their limits.

Changing your design, or your platform

On Wix, the template you start with is the one you keep. Wix's help centre says a site can't change to another template once it has been created; the fix is a new site, with your content copied over.

WordPress lets you switch themes from the Appearance menu whenever you like, and the official directory lists thousands of free themes. A theme changes how the site is displayed, not the content underneath it.

Leaving is the bigger difference. Wix says a site built with it must stay on Wix's own servers, so there's no export: moving means rebuilding. WordPress sites can move from one host to another, and WordPress.com's guide to the two versions says the content stays yours on both, and you can move it.

Built-in tools against plugins

Wix bundles its business tools into the plans. From Core upwards the plans include payments, basic online selling and appointment scheduling, and the higher plans add more advanced selling and marketing features.

WordPress keeps its core small and lets plugins do the rest. WordPress.org's plugin directory holds 78,000-plus free plugins, for things like bookings, forms and shops. That route is more flexible and more work: every plugin is something else to keep updated, and on WordPress.com you need at least the Personal plan to install any.

Who looks after the site

With Wix, Wix does. Hosting and security monitoring are part of the subscription, and Wix lists 24/7 customer care among what its plans include.

With self-hosted WordPress, you or your host do, which means keeping WordPress, the theme and each plugin current and backed up. WordPress.com sits between the two, running updates and backups for you.

Situations where Wix makes more sense

• You want everything from one company, with one login and one bill.
• You'd rather drag elements into place than learn about themes and plugins.
• You need scheduling, payments and a small shop in one plan, and the £16-a-month Core plan, billed yearly, covers it.
• You're confident you'll never want to move the site.

Situations where WordPress makes more sense

• You want to be able to change host, or hand the site to a different developer.
• Your site will grow and may need features no single builder offers.
• You'd like to change the design later without rebuilding.
• You have, or can hire, someone comfortable with WordPress. Such people aren't hard to find.

Another way to end up on WordPress

If WordPress appeals but setting it up doesn't, ContractorUK Websites builds UK business sites on WordPress for you, from a short description of the business or your CV. It comes with hosting, a secure https address and a footer filled from Companies House, and you change things by typing what you want. Try the first build free for 7 days; after that it's £49 a month including VAT. We've put it head to head with Wix in ContractorUK vs Wix.

Where we land

For a business that wants a site up this weekend and never wants to think about software, Wix is the easier start, as long as you accept that the site lives on Wix for good. For anything you expect to grow, hand to a developer or move one day, WordPress is the better foundation.

Wix and WordPress are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to compare products. This page isn't endorsed by Wix, Automattic or the WordPress Foundation.