As a website designer or developer, you often land at a crossroads: which website builder software to pick? It’s either for your own website or a client is seeking a recommendation.
A few popular names appear in such discussions, and Wix and Shopify are usually among them. The comparison is tricky since you’re comparing apples, but they’re of two different varieties and tastes.
I encountered this comparison recently while recommending the best option to one of my retail clients. I compared Wix vs. Shopify in detail, as it would indirectly impact the visibility of marketing initiatives that I run for them. I compared factors, including feature availability, e-commerce specialization, SEO capabilities, and pricing.
Wix vs. Shopify at a glance
Here’s a quick feature comparison of both website builder platforms.
|
Feature |
Wix |
Shopify |
|
G2 rating |
4.2/5 |
4.4/5 |
|
Best for |
Best for creatives, portfolios, small stores, and service-based businesses |
Best for “scaling online stores, dropshipping, and omnichannel retail. |
|
E-commerce tools |
Basic e-commerce tools suited for small stores |
Advanced e-commerce features like multi-channel selling, robust inventory management, and abandoned cart recovery |
|
Design and templates |
Over 800 versatile and visually appealing templates, suitable for creative businesses |
Over 150 professionally designed e-commerce-specific themes optimized for conversions |
|
SEO and performance |
Limited technical search engine optimization (SEO) control |
Offers more advanced technical SEO control (redirects, schema markup, canonical tags, etc.) |
|
AI features |
Includes AI text generation and image generator |
Offers AI-generated product descriptions via Shopify Magic |
|
Integrations |
500+ integrations, including marketing, SEO, and social media apps |
8,000+ apps available, including advanced e-commerce, marketing, and logistics integrations |
|
Free plan |
Yes, with limited features and Wix branding |
No free plan . 3-day free trial, then 3 months at $1/month |
|
Pricing |
Lite: $17/month Core: $29/month |
Starter: $5/month Basic: $39/month Grow: $89/month |
Note: The details below reflect the most current capabilities as of August 2025 but may change over time. Both companies constantly add advanced features.
TL;DR: Wix is intuitive, affordable, and ideal for creatives, service providers, and small e-commerce startups needing design flexibility and ease of use. Shopify is more powerful, scalable, and purpose-built for serious online retail — especially where inventory complexity, multichannel sales, and automation matter. Wix excels in user-friendliness, SEO guidance, and fast setup with AI tools. Shopify dominates in e-commerce features, integrations, and long-term growth potential. For smaller stores or portfolios, Wix is the better pick. For scaling an online business, Shopify takes the lead.
Wix vs. Shopify: What’s different and what’s not?
Before we begin the head-to-head testing, I want you to examine the web builder platforms and their features more closely. They’re both impressive. But the devil’s in the details, isn’t it? Let’s break down what sets them apart!
Wix vs. Shopify: The differences
Below is an overview of the key differences between Wix and Shopify.
- Website design and templates: Wix offers hundreds of free and paid templates (over 800) covering everything from portfolios and restaurants to online stores. Shopify has a smaller selection of themes, around 246 (free + paid), explicitly tailored for e-commerce. However, out of hundreds of Wix templates, 156 are for e-commerce stores. Therefore, if we’re building an e-commerce website, Shopify offers a better variety of templates. Wix, on the other hand, is more user-friendly. You can give prompts to Wix AI and let it create the whole website for you. You can iterate on the design with prompts until you get what you expect. This makes Wix easier to use.
- E-commerce features: Wix provides all the basic e-commerce features a small store needs. However, Wix’s e-commerce toolset is not as deep or advanced as Shopify’s. For example, Wix lacks advanced inventory management functions such as automatic stock alerts or complex product variant logic. On the other hand, e-commerce is Shopify’s core competency. You get unlimited products (Shopify doesn’t impose a product limit, unlike Wix’s 50,000 product limit), comprehensive inventory tracking with alerts, multiple product variants/options, and the ability to sell across multiple channels. If you’re selling at scale, Shopify does serve your needs better.
- App integrations and plugins: The Wix App Market includes around 500-800 apps, both Wix-made and third-party integrations. The ecosystem is smaller, so Wix might not have some very specialized apps or advanced integrations. If your business needs niche functionality, you might not find an app for it on Wix, and you could hit a dead end or have to use external code. Shopify has an enormous App Store with thousands of apps (well over 6,000) targeting all aspects of e-commerce. It allows your store to integrate with countless services and add new features as you grow. Shopify offers far more integrations and plugins than Wix, which is great for scaling — just be mindful of the extra costs of those add-ons.
Wix vs. Shopify: The similarities
Since we were comparing apples, there’s got to be something similar even when they’re of different varieties and tastes. Check out the similarities between Wix and Shopify:
- Web hosting: You wouldn’t have to find external hosting solutions. Both Wix and Shopify will host your website for you. I love this because I don’t want to take responsibility for managing servers and security, especially when starting out.
- Ease of use: I don’t code, but these website-building platforms let me set up a store regardless. I like this self-serve way of building websites.
- SEO tools: Search engine optimization (SEO) is critical to my marketing strategy since my client sells niche products in the cosmetics line. Both platforms offer essential SEO features, including customizable meta tags, URLs, and automatic sitemap generation.
- Blogging: We plan to cover detailed guides using products we’re selling. It’s important that I can easily create and manage a blog directly within the website. I have that flexibility from both Wix and Shopify.
You have an overview of how Wix and Shopify are similar and different. Let’s test them based on various aspects of the tools.
How I compared Wix and Shopify: My prompts and evaluation criteria
I tested both the tools for designing a homepage of an e-commerce website for a hypothetical cosmetics brand, Blush & Lush. I compared Wix and Shopify for their user-friendliness, flexibility, design features, e-commerce integration, SEO, performance, and pricing.
I tested the two platforms for a week to ensure I didn’t miss out on any features. The above testing criteria were necessary for our use case, as we wanted to go with a user-friendly interface, where it’s easier to make customizations. I tried to use a mix of simple and complex design features to make the website stunning with necessary functionality. E-commerce capabilities were essential since we wanted to sell cosmetics while making SEO one of our key channels.
I have had a fair share of experience designing simple websites for my services and startups. I wanted to be as fair as possible when comparing these two platforms. I have tested the same content and functionality on them, except for the design and the stock images used.
Let’s get into actual testing and see how Wix and Shopify differ in reality.
Disclaimer: These insights are based on hands-on testing of Wix and Shopify as of August 2025. Platform features, pricing, and functionality may evolve over time. This review reflects individual experience and opinions at the time of evaluation and does not represent the official stance or endorsement of G2. For the latest updates, consult Wix and Shopify directly.
Wix vs. Shopify: How they actually performed in my tests
For each comparison factor, I’ll explain why a software feature stood out and how it impacts a user. I have tested these tools to find their strengths and weaknesses and give you a complete overview. This should help you make an informed decision when purchasing Wix or Shopify.
1. User-friendliness and flexibility
It’s super easy to work with Wix when creating your e-commerce store. You can visually edit items on the page without going into technical know-how. I was able to edit the text, call-to-action (CTA), images, and graphics simply by clicking and modifying them.
.png?width=600&height=341&name=User-friendliness%20(Wix).png)
The platform allowed me to add animation with a button click. For example, when hovering, the product’s image expands in size. A widget can be added to each product page to add a review section. If there are fewer reviews, the platform helps you aggregate them through review request automation.
.png?width=600&height=263&name=Product%20image%20review%20(Wix).png)
Although the platform was easy to use, we might need some time to get acquainted. While editing a product page, navigating back to the home page was a little tricky. However, I could move to the homepage by using the pages drop-down menu at the top-left corner. However, I only discovered it after using the platform for a while.
From a UI standpoint, Wix is easy to use. It’s responsive, and you can test pages on different screen sizes using the options in the top bar.
.png?width=600&height=303&name=UI%20on%20different%20devices%20(Wix).png)
On Shopify’s front, you need to go through a quick learning curve in order to set up your store. The platform skillfully guides you to reach different checkpoints to help you design seamlessly. However, I like Wix’s flexibility better. On Shopify, I had to manually type the product description (I copied and pasted it from ChatGPT), but Wix gave me AI assistance in its product itself to create copy on the go, which is a real value when you want some inspiration.
Shopify also offers multiple themes for designing your store, and it was fairly easy to choose one. Regarding themes and templates, Wix and Shopify have a few differences. Wix offers more themes and templates than Shopify. However, most templates cater to websites from product or service companies. For e-commerce, there are only 156 templates, which is fewer than Shopify, which primarily caters to e-commerce businesses.
Overall, I found Wix’s interface more intuitive and flexible than Shopify’s.
Winner: Wix 🏆
2. Design features and capabilities
Both platforms are rich in design features and capabilities. Wix offers several stock media, making it easier to use the images from the platform when covering generic items.
I like that Wix’s themes include images and placeholder text. You can change those to quickly set up your store.
When it comes to Shopify, it’s tricky to add stock images to products. It makes sense from a selling perspective, as unique products sell better than generic items. It encourages you to upload pictures of your products, write descriptions, and add them to the platform. However, you can use Shopify’s stock images on the cover or other areas, which can be a little generic.
Shopify is rich in design elements and layouts, making it easier for designers to pick and add them to their stores. For example, there are multiple rows, collages, collapsible content, a contact form, and more. While Shopify has all the design features, it doesn’t suggest when to use them. These sections are set as placeholders with stock images in Wix’s theme.
.png?width=600&height=522&name=In-built%20image%20template%20(Shopify).png)
Wix gives you options to transform different sections according to your needs. The number of possibilities is low compared to Shopify. However, these suggestions are based on the theme’s current layout. If you change the layout, you’ll have more options to transform the design.
Wix provides capabilities to design images using AI. However, it’s not very useful since AI image generation in Wix struggles with accuracy. I gave a prompt, “Create an image to show a woman holding a yellow lipstick from Blush & Lush.” But I got a picture with a yellow face cream rather than lipstick.
.png?width=600&height=294&name=AI%20image%20generator%20(Wix).png)
Currently, Shopify does not have an AI image generator, but it does have a library of stock images that you can use.
Overall, both platforms do a fairly good job with their design capabilities. Wix is more intuitive than Shopify, probably because Wix uses more icons to display design functionality, while Shopify displays more text. Technical design-related text can confuse a beginner if they’re not from a design background. I found the customizability of both platforms similar. I tested for basic customization. If we implement more sophisticated design customization, the opinions can vary.
Winner: Tie
*Wix offered AI capabilities in addition to the usual design and customization functionality. However, it’s not accurate, making no qualitative difference.
3. E-commerce integration
Wix offers different automations to manage an e-commerce store and increase its sales. Shopify also offers automation, but it’s not available in the free trial. To test the automation fairly, I upgraded to a paid plan on Shopify.
With Wix, it was comparatively easier to set up automation due to its intuitive interface. I was able to configure them seamlessly. With Shopify, I was expected to install a few apps, like Shopify Email, to set them up. This is possible because Shopify caters to a large scale of target audience and requires more robust features when it comes to email or workflow automation.
Setting up abandoned cart email automation on Wix
Shopify does a decent job when it comes to inventory. It allows transfers (moving inventory between different locations), making it easier to manage inventory across different business locations. Wix doesn’t offer this feature.
Moreover, Shopify offers point-of-sale (PoS) support for online and offline channels, making it easier to manage your retail business. It helps you prevent constant bouncing between different platforms to manage different sales channels.
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Wix offers the feature “categories” that allow you to group bestselling products, shoppers’ favorites, etc. Shopify achieves the same through the “collections” feature. Wix’s interface and ease of use are slightly better than Shopify’s. However, functionality-wise, Shopify does a better job at e-commerce, especially when it scales to several products at different locations.
This makes Shopify a winner for its inventory management features and ability to scale e-commerce. The platform provides detailed documentation on managing inventory effectively, which I found super helpful.
Winner: Shopify 🏆
4. SEO
Visibility is key for an e-commerce platform. When it happens organically, it directly reflects profitability. Features related to SEO are necessary for the brand’s organic growth, making them a critical element for a web builder platform. Both platforms do reasonably well in terms of delivering SEO features.
Wix offers a complete SEO checklist and guides you through it to make necessary optimizations before you take the store live.
SEO checklist on Wix
Shopify encourages users to modify the search engine listing when creating a new product. The platform allows users to optimize on–page elements like title, meta description, uniform resource locator (URL) slug, and the product’s complete description in one place, helping store owners maintain uniformity.
Shopify’s search engine optimization for a product
Shopify also offers social sharing features, where users can modify how they wish to show their product (title, description, and image) when the audience shares product links with others. You get a similar feature on Wix, too.
Both Wix and Shopify offer decent ways to optimize for search engines. Wix does that slightly better, as it delivers a complete checklist, which is very useful for business owners unfamiliar with SEO. For this reason, Wix is a winner in terms of SEO performance.
Winner: Wix 🏆
G2 user ratings: Which tool offers better SEO capabilities?
- Wix has an 88% satisfaction rating on G2 based on 84 reviews.
- Shopify has an 82% satisfaction rating on G2 based on 2961 reviews.
The ratings are close, but slightly higher for Wix, making it a suitable platform for search engine optimization.
5. Pricing
Wix offers a free plan, but Shopify doesn’t. The latter lets users try the e-commerce experience for a 3-day free trial. However, it’s a short window, so Shopify charges $1 for the first month.
Below are the different plan options available with Wix.
- Lite: $17/month
- Core: $29/month
- Business: $36/month
- Business Elite: $159/month
You get a basic e-commerce store in the core plan. If you’re starting from scratch, you get a free domain with the Wix premium plan. For the templates, if you choose a paid one, that’s $1 to $70 extra. When running an e-commerce store, you’ll be paying a transaction fee if you’re using a third-party payment provider, like a payment gateway. Wix doesn’t charge a transaction fee if you’re using Wix Payment. The same is true with Shopify when you’re using Shopify Payments.
Shopify offers the following plans:
- Starter: $5/month
- Basic: $39/month
- Grow: $89/month
- Advanced: $399/month
Third-party transaction fees apply if you use a third-party payment provider that allows you to accept payments online. Shopify charges a small fee for in-store payments made via Visa or Mastercard, depending on your plan. The transaction fees can range between 2.4% plus 10¢ to 5% plus 30¢, depending on your plan and mode of purchases (online or in-person).
Winner: It was a split decision. Wix is best for early-stage business owners, and Shopify is best for establishing a scalable retail or e-commerce business.
Wix vs. Shopify: Head-to-head comparison table
Here’s a table showing the web builder software that wins.
| Functionality | Winner | Why it won |
|
User friendliness and flexibility |
Wix 🏆 |
Wix has a user-friendly and intuitive interface, making it easier for beginners to navigate the platform. |
|
Design features and capabilities |
Tie |
Both have strong design features. Wix has AI to help design graphics, but it’s not as accurate yet as it should be. |
|
E-commerce integration |
Shopify 🏆 |
I felt Shopify had more to offer functionality-wise. It facilitates inventory transfers and much more, catering to the extensive inventory management use case in e-commerce. |
|
SEO |
Wix 🏆 |
Both platforms offer clear ways to optimize for search engines. However, Wix goes a step forward by offering a clear, guided checklist that makes it easy for anyone to ensure all on-page elements are optimized. |
|
Pricing |
Split |
Wix offers an affordable, value-added plan for business owners starting an e-commerce store. Shopify also offers an equally affordable starter plan. Its high-priced plan (mid-tier or top-tier) justifies the value it delivers in selling. |
Key insights on Wix vs. Shopify from G2 data
I also looked at review data on G2 to find strengths and adoption patterns for Wix and Shopify. Here’s what stood out:
Satisfaction ratings
- Wix excels in ease of use (91%), ease of setup (91%), and ease of doing business (86%).
- Shopify has strong ease of use ratings (89%) and solid satisfaction ratings for ease of setup (88%).
Top industries represented
- Wix dominates in marketing and advertising, computer software, IT services, design, and graphics.
- Shopify has a strong presence in retail, apparel and fashion, marketing and advertising, consumer goods, and the internet.
Highest-rated features
- Wix excels in visualization tools (88%), template library (89%), and content elements libraries (86%).
- Shopify stands out for payment processing (89%), security (89%), and performance and reliability (88%).
Lowest-rated features
- Wix struggles with hypertext markup language (HTML) and CSS editors (76%), marketing tools integrations (78%), and WYSIWYG editor integration (86%).
- Shopify struggles with SEO (82%), business-to-business (B2B) (82%), and decoupling (82%).
Frequently asked questions on Wix vs. Shopify
Still have questions? Get your answers here!
1. How much do Shopify and Wix take per sale?
Shopify charges 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction, along with payment processing fees if you’re not using Shopify Payments. Wix doesn’t charge a separate transaction fee, but standard payment processing fees still apply depending on your provider (like PayPal or Stripe). Both platforms allow you to avoid extra fees by using their in-house payment systems — Shopify Payments or Wix Payments.
2. If you have a multi-product e-commerce website, should you choose Shopify or Wix?
Shopify may be better equipped for businesses with a wide range of products. It supports up to 2,000 product variants, bulk editing, and more advanced inventory tools. Wix works well for smaller stores, especially those with simpler product catalogs. If you’re managing a large or complex inventory, Shopify is generally more scalable in the long run.
3. How do you migrate from Wix to Shopify?
Migration can be handled manually by exporting your products from Wix to a CSV file, then importing them into Shopify. For a more streamlined process, you can use tools like Cart2Cart, which help move products, content, and customer data automatically. Shopify also offers setup guidance and migration support through its partner ecosystem.
4. Which platform is better for mobile optimization: Wix or Shopify?
Both platforms offer mobile-responsive design, but Shopify is a bit more consistent out of the box. Its themes are built with a mobile-first approach, which helps ensure your store looks great on smaller screens. Wix gives you more visual control over the mobile layout, but it may require extra manual adjustments to fine-tune your design.
5. Does either platform support dropshipping?
Yes, both support dropshipping. Shopify integrates with a wider range of dropshipping apps, like DSers, Spocket, and Zendrop, making it easier to manage suppliers and products at scale. Wix also supports dropshipping, mainly through Modalyst, but its ecosystem is smaller. If dropshipping is central to your business, Shopify may offer more flexibility.
6. Can I use my own domain with Wix or Shopify?
Yes. Both Wix and Shopify allow you to connect a custom domain. Wix includes a free domain for one year with many of its paid plans. Shopify lets you purchase a domain or connect an existing one, but doesn’t include one by default. Either way, managing your domain is straightforward on both platforms.
Wix or Shopify: My final verdict
Go with Wix if you want an all-in-one website builder with limitless flexibility and simple e-commerce tools. It’s super easy to use, and you can work with the Wix AI to give prompts and have it build a stunning website for you. Wix is suitable for creatives, service-based businesses, and anyone in retail starting small with a limited product range.
If you intend to run an online store, and that’s your goal, go with Shopify. Initially, you might go through a short learning curve. But there are tonnes of resources available to help you out. In the long run, it will be a profit-sum game. You’ll get advanced features to manage extensive inventory and assist in online and physical store sales.
Want more options for a website builder platform? Check out Wix and Shopify alternatives and see which best suits your use case.
This article was originally published in April 2025 and has been updated with new information.
