Wix vs WordPress.com
We give Wix a 2.8 GPA and WordPress.com a 3.4, out of 4.0. WordPress.com grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Wix
Drag-and-drop website builder with an AI agent and business apps
WordPress.com
Hosted WordPress with themes, plugins and a free plan
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAWixGood | 3.4GPAWordPress.comVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CLight is $17 a month for one site on yearly billing, with your own domain, no Wix ads and 2 GB, so it sits mid-range for this category. But it can't take payments or bookings, and Wix's own blog points small businesses to Core at $29, where this category's dearest tenth starts. | APersonal is $4 a month for one site on yearly billing ($9 monthly), with your own domain, no ads and plugin installs. That's under 60% of this category's cheapest quarter ($5.40). Payment buttons need Premium, which is still only $8. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's a free plan with the full editor and the AI agent, but it runs on a Wix address with Wix ads and 500 MB of storage. Fine for trying ideas, not for a business. Paid plans have no trial, just a 14-day money-back guarantee. | CFree for good with unlimited pages and posts, but it's on a wordpress.com address with 1 GB of storage, WordPress.com ads shown to your visitors and no plugins. Fine for a hobby blog, not a business. |
| Features | AThe widest set of built-in business tools in this category: a store, bookings, events, restaurant orders and hotel reservations, an AI agent called Aria, an app market and a headless developer platform. Few rivals come close. | AEvery paid plan can install any of more than 60,000 plugins, which no other builder here matches. Add themes, the block editor, WooCommerce on Commerce, and SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments on Business, and it covers the whole job and then some. |
| Ease of use | B4.58 from about 16,800 App Store ratings. Thousands of templates and Aria drafting sections from a sentence make the start easy, though with this much in it there's more to find your way around than in a simpler builder. | B4.62 from about 22,300 App Store ratings. The AI builder gets a site going through a chat, but with plugins and themes in the mix there's more to choose and set than in a closed builder. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with an app market of Wix and outside apps such as QuickBooks Online and TikTok Ads, plus an API and Wix Headless. No desktop app, so not an A. | AWeb, iPhone and Android, plus WordPress Studio on Mac, Windows and Linux for building sites locally. Plugins connect it to almost anything, alongside WooCommerce, Jetpack, PayPal, Stripe and GitHub. |
| Best for | business sites with bookings, events and a shop | WordPress without running your own server |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Wix and WordPress.com. How we grade
Price against what you get
Wix starts at $17 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. WordPress.com starts at $4 a month and scores 3.7.
WordPress.com scores higher and starts $13 a month lower. Of the other website and landing page builders on the chart, 1 scores higher than Wix for less, and none scores higher than WordPress.com for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Wix starts at $17 per site / month, billed yearly (Light). WordPress.com starts at $4 per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly).
- Only WordPress.com lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Wix also covers AI agents.
- WordPress.com also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Wix | WordPress.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $17 per site / month, billed yearly (Light) | $4 per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Build and publish on a wixsite.com address with Wix branding, 500 MB of storage and 500 MB of bandwidth. A custom domain needs a paid plan. | a wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB of storage, unlimited pages and posts and 7 days of basic stats. Visitors see WordPress.com ads, and plugins need a paid plan. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Wix.com, Inc. | Automattic Inc. |
| Price read from | wix.com | wordpress.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Wix
- Beginners who want to start free and upgrade when the site is ready
- Small businesses that take bookings, sell tickets or run a small store
- People who want an AI agent to draft pages they can still edit by hand
WordPress.com
- Bloggers and writers who want WordPress without running a server
- Sites that need a specific WordPress plugin or theme
- Developers who want SSH, WP-CLI and Git on managed hosting
Worth knowing
Wix
- Light has no online payments; selling anything needs Core at $29 a month or higher.
- Monthly billing exists, but Wix's pages show only yearly prices, and monthly plans come without the free domain voucher or premium apps.
- Each plan upgrades a single site, so running several sites means buying a plan for each.
- There is no free trial of paid plans; Wix offers a 14-day money-back guarantee instead.
WordPress.com
- The free plan shows WordPress.com ads to visitors and cannot use a custom domain or plugins.
- Monthly billing costs more than double the yearly rate on Personal and Premium and does not include the free first-year domain.
- Backups, developer tools and priority support start on Business at $25 a month billed yearly.
- The desktop app, WordPress Studio, is for building sites locally; site management on the go uses the Jetpack mobile app.
Key features
Wix
- Wix Harmony editor and Aria
- The editor mixes drag-and-drop layout with Aria, an AI agent that turns a written idea into sections, pages or custom components you can then edit. It is included on every plan, free included.
- Templates and design tools
- Start from thousands of templates or from AI, then adjust the design without code. Paid plans remove Wix branding and connect your own domain.
- Payments and online store
- Core and higher plans accept payments and run a store, with standard and advanced commerce tools on Business and Business Elite. Light cannot take payments.
- Bookings, events and restaurants
- Scheduling and services come with Core and higher. Further business solutions cover ticketed events, online programs, restaurant orders and hotel reservations.
- App market
- Add marketing, accounting, social and store apps from Wix and other developers, such as QuickBooks Online, TikTok Ads and Instagram feeds.
- Developer platform and headless
- Business Elite adds the advanced developer platform, and Wix Headless lets a custom front end run on Wix's back end and business tools.
WordPress.com
- Themes and the block editor
- Sites are built from free and premium themes in the WordPress block editor, with unlimited pages, posts and users on every plan.
- Plugins on every paid plan
- Personal and above can install any of more than 60,000 plugins from the marketplace or upload one directly. The free plan cannot.
- AI site builder and assistant
- A guided builder creates a site through a chat, within usage limits. Business and Commerce add the WordPress AI Assistant for content, design and site management.
- Managed hosting and security
- Every plan includes a global CDN, SSL, a firewall, malware removal and managed updates. Real-time backups and one-click restores start on Business.
- Developer access
- Business and Commerce add SFTP and SSH, WP-CLI, Git commands and GitHub deployments. WordPress Studio, a free desktop app, runs WordPress sites locally.
- WooCommerce store
- Commerce bundles WooCommerce extensions for unlimited products, upsells, bulk discounts and inventory, and accepts 135+ currencies.
Plans
Wix
Free$0
A Wix subdomain, Wix branding on the site, 500 MB of storage and bandwidth, the full editor and templates.
Light$17
per site / month, billed yearly
Custom domain, free domain for a year, no Wix ads, 2 GB of storage, a light marketing suite and 2 collaborators. No online payments.
Core$29
per site / month, billed yearly
Accept payments, basic online store, scheduling and services, 50 GB of storage and 5 collaborators.
Business$39
per site / month, billed yearly
Standard online store and marketing suite, 100 GB of storage and 10 collaborators.
Business Elite$159
per site / month, billed yearly
Advanced store and marketing tools, the advanced developer platform, unlimited storage and 100 collaborators.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom plans and pricing on request for large organizations.
WordPress.com
Free$0
A wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB of storage and basic stats, with WordPress.com ads shown to visitors.
Personal$4
per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly)
6 GB of storage, no ads, all premium themes, plugin installs and the AI site builder. $2.75 a month if paid every 3 years.
Premium$8
per site / month, billed yearly ($18 billed monthly)
13 GB of storage, premium stats with UTM tracking, PayPal and Stripe payment buttons and video uploads. $5.50 a month if paid every 3 years.
Business$25
per site / month, billed yearly ($40 billed monthly)
50 GB, priority support, SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments, real-time backups, VideoPress and email marketing to 500 subscribers.
Commerce$45
per site / month, billed yearly ($70 billed monthly)
Everything in Business plus WooCommerce store extensions, abandoned-cart emails and selling in 60+ countries with no transaction fee.
EnterpriseCustom
WordPress VIP hosting for large organizations, priced through sales.
Ways to pay less
Wix
- Other savings
Free domain for a year with a yearly plan
Yearly premium plans include a voucher for one year of free domain registration. Monthly plans do not include it.
WordPress.com
- Annual discount
Pay yearly to save 35% to 55% over monthly
Personal is $4 a month billed yearly against $9 monthly; Premium $8 against $18; Business $25 against $40; Commerce $45 against $70.
- Other savings
Pay every 2 or 3 years for a lower monthly rate
Paying every 3 years brings Personal to $2.75 a month ($99), Premium to $5.50 ($198), Business to $17.50 ($630) and Commerce to $31.50 ($1,134).
- Other savings
Free domain for the first year
Yearly and multi-year paid plans include a custom domain such as .com, .net or .org free for the first year. Monthly plans do not.
