Introduction

If you’re a small business owner in Western Sydney looking to create a website, you’ve probably heard of WordPress and Wix. They’re two of the most popular platforms for building websites, but they take very different approaches.

Choosing the right platform is an important decision. It affects how easy your website is to build and maintain, what it costs, and how it can grow with your business. This guide provides an honest comparison to help you decide which is right for your situation.

The Fundamental Difference

Before diving into specifics, understand the core difference:

Wix is an all-in-one website builder. You sign up, choose a template, drag and drop elements, and publish. Everything is handled for you in one place.

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that you install on web hosting you purchase separately. It’s more flexible but requires more setup.

Think of Wix like renting a furnished apartment. WordPress is like buying a house and furnishing it yourself.

Ease of Use

Wix: Designed for Beginners

Wix’s biggest strength is simplicity. You can have a website live within hours without any technical knowledge.

The drag-and-drop editor lets you:

  • Move elements anywhere on the page
  • Add text, images, buttons, and forms by clicking
  • Choose from hundreds of pre-designed templates
  • See changes instantly as you make them

For a Hills District bakery owner who wants to build their own website on a Saturday afternoon, Wix makes this possible.

Wix Learning Curve: Minimal. If you can use PowerPoint, you can use Wix.

Ease of Use Infographic

WordPress: More Powerful, More Complex

WordPress has a steeper learning curve. You need to understand concepts like:

  • Hosting and domains
  • Themes and child themes
  • Plugins and updates
  • The difference between posts and pages
  • Basic dashboard navigation

However, WordPress is still learnable for non-technical people. Millions of small business owners manage their own WordPress sites successfully.

WordPress Learning Curve: Moderate. Expect to spend time learning, but extensive tutorials exist.

Verdict: Ease of Use

Wix wins for pure simplicity. If you want the easiest possible experience, Wix is the clear choice.

Design Flexibility

Wix Design Capabilities

Wix offers 800+ templates across various industries. You can customise:

  • Colours and fonts
  • Layout and spacing
  • Images and graphics
  • Animations and effects

The drag-and-drop editor gives you precise control. You can place elements exactly where you want them.

However, Wix templates aren’t interchangeable. Once you choose a template and start building, switching to a different template means starting over.

WordPress Design Capabilities

WordPress has thousands of themes (templates), both free and paid. Premium themes from developers like Elegant Themes, StudioPress, and ThemeForest offer professional designs.

Beyond themes, WordPress gives you:

  • Complete control over your site’s code
  • Ability to customise anything with CSS
  • Page builder plugins (Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder) for drag-and-drop editing
  • Access to custom development for unique features

For businesses needing a specific look or functionality, WordPress can accommodate virtually any design requirement.

Verdict: Design Flexibility

WordPress wins for maximum flexibility. Wix is sufficient for most small businesses, but WordPress can do more.

Features and Functionality

Wix Features

Wix includes built-in features for:

  • Contact forms
  • Image galleries
  • Video backgrounds
  • Social media integration
  • Basic SEO tools
  • Email marketing (Wix Ascend)
  • Online booking
  • E-commerce (with Wix Stores)
  • Blog functionality

Most small business needs are covered out of the box. The Wix App Market offers additional functionality, though it’s more limited than WordPress.

WordPress Features

WordPress core is relatively basic. Its power comes from plugins. Over 50,000 free plugins exist, plus thousands of premium options.

Popular plugins add:

  • Contact forms (Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms)
  • SEO optimisation (Yoast SEO, Rank Math)
  • E-commerce (WooCommerce)
  • Security (Wordfence, Sucuri)
  • Performance (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache)
  • Backup (UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy)
  • Page building (Elementor, Divi)

This extensibility means WordPress can grow with your business needs. Need a complex booking system? There’s a plugin. Want to integrate with specific software? There’s probably a plugin for that too.

Verdict: Features

WordPress wins for sheer capability. If you need advanced functionality or specific integrations, WordPress is more likely to have a solution.

SEO Capabilities

Wix SEO

Wix has improved its SEO capabilities significantly. You can now:

  • Customise page titles and meta descriptions
  • Add alt text to images
  • Create clean URL structures
  • Submit sitemaps to search engines
  • Access basic SEO tools and guidance

Wix sites can rank well in search engines. Google has confirmed there’s no inherent disadvantage to using Wix.

However, advanced SEO customisation is limited. You can’t control everything that SEO professionals might want to adjust.

WordPress SEO

WordPress, especially with plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, offers comprehensive SEO control:

  • Complete control over meta tags
  • Advanced schema markup
  • XML sitemap customisation
  • Redirect management
  • Page speed optimisation (through various plugins)
  • Full control over site architecture

Many SEO professionals prefer WordPress because of this granular control. For competitive industries where every SEO advantage matters, WordPress has the edge.

Verdict: SEO

WordPress wins for advanced SEO capability. For basic local SEO (which is often sufficient for small businesses), both platforms work well.

Cost Comparison

Wix Costs

Wix pricing (as of early 2021):

  • Free plan: Wix branding, Wix subdomain, very limited
  • Connect Domain ($6/month): Use your own domain, still has Wix ads
  • Combo ($11/month): No ads, suitable for personal sites
  • Unlimited ($17/month): Good for small businesses
  • Business Basic ($23/month): Online payments, e-commerce basics
  • Business Unlimited ($32/month): Full e-commerce features

These prices include hosting and the platform. Domain registration is extra (around $20/year).

WordPress Costs

WordPress itself is free, but you pay for:

  • Hosting: $5-30/month for shared hosting suitable for small businesses
  • Domain: $10-20/year
  • Premium theme (optional): $50-200 one-time
  • Premium plugins (optional): $0-200+/year depending on needs

A basic WordPress site might cost $10-20/month total. A site with premium themes and plugins could cost more.

If you hire a developer for setup or customisation, expect to pay $500-5000+ depending on complexity.

True Cost Consideration

Wix’s pricing is predictable and all-inclusive. WordPress costs vary based on your choices and whether you do things yourself or hire help.

For a DIY small business website with basic needs, Wix and WordPress can cost similar amounts. WordPress becomes more economical at scale or when you need features that Wix charges extra for.

Verdict: Cost

It depends. Wix is more predictable. WordPress can be cheaper or more expensive depending on your specific situation.

E-commerce Capabilities

Wix E-commerce

Wix Stores (included in business plans) offers:

  • Product catalogues
  • Shopping cart
  • Secure checkout
  • Multiple payment gateways
  • Basic inventory management
  • Shipping options
  • Abandoned cart recovery (higher plans)

For a small Western Sydney business selling a modest number of products, Wix E-commerce is capable and easy to use.

Limitations appear with larger catalogues, complex products, or specific integration needs.

WordPress E-commerce (WooCommerce)

WooCommerce powers over 30% of all online stores. It offers:

  • Unlimited products
  • Extensive customisation
  • Thousands of extensions
  • Multiple payment gateway options
  • Complex shipping rules
  • Subscription products
  • Membership sites
  • Bookings and appointments

WooCommerce can handle everything from a small gift shop to a major retailer. However, complexity increases with capability.

Verdict: E-commerce

WordPress (WooCommerce) wins for serious e-commerce or complex requirements. Wix wins for simple online stores where ease of use matters most.

Maintenance and Security

Wix Maintenance

Wix handles all technical maintenance:

  • Software updates are automatic
  • Security is managed by Wix
  • Backups happen automatically
  • Hosting performance is managed

You don’t need to worry about technical tasks. This is a significant benefit for busy business owners.

WordPress Maintenance

WordPress requires ongoing maintenance:

  • WordPress core updates (regular)
  • Theme updates
  • Plugin updates (frequent)
  • Security monitoring
  • Regular backups
  • Hosting management

Updates are usually straightforward but occasionally cause conflicts. Security requires attention. Many small business owners hire someone for maintenance or use managed WordPress hosting that handles some of this.

Verdict: Maintenance

Wix wins for hands-off simplicity. With WordPress, you or someone you hire needs to handle maintenance.

Portability and Ownership

Wix Lock-in

With Wix, your website exists on Wix’s platform. You can’t take your Wix site and move it elsewhere. If you outgrow Wix or Wix changes its terms, you’d need to rebuild your site on another platform.

You do own your content (text, images) and can export some data, but not your design or site structure.

WordPress Portability

With WordPress, you truly own your website:

  • Export your entire site
  • Move to different hosting providers
  • Take your site if your web developer relationship ends
  • Keep full control of your data

This ownership can be important for long-term business considerations.

Verdict: Portability

WordPress wins clearly. You own and control everything.

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Wix If:

  • You want to build the website yourself with minimal technical learning
  • You need a site quickly and easily
  • Your requirements are straightforward
  • You’re not planning complex functionality
  • You prefer predictable monthly costs
  • You don’t want to worry about maintenance

Choose WordPress If:

  • You need maximum flexibility and customisation
  • SEO is critically important for your business
  • You’re planning serious e-commerce
  • You want full ownership of your website
  • You’re comfortable learning or hiring help
  • You anticipate significant growth or changing needs

For Western Sydney Small Businesses

Many local small businesses in Parramatta, the Hills District, Blacktown, and surrounding areas do well with either platform.

A local cafe, retail shop, or service provider with basic needs? Wix is perfectly capable.

A growing business, professional services firm, or anyone anticipating complex requirements? WordPress provides room to grow.

Making Your Decision

Consider these questions:

  1. Who will build the site? (DIY suggests Wix; professional builder suggests WordPress)
  2. How important is SEO? (Highly competitive = WordPress edge)
  3. Do you need e-commerce? (Simple = either; complex = WordPress)
  4. What’s your technical comfort? (Low = Wix; medium or higher = either)
  5. What’s your budget? (Tight but predictable = Wix; flexible = either)
  6. How might your needs grow? (Significantly = WordPress)

There’s no universally “better” platform. The right choice depends on your specific situation, skills, and goals.

Getting Started

Whichever platform you choose, the most important thing is to start. Both Wix and WordPress offer free trials or free versions where you can explore before committing.

Try building a few pages. See how each platform feels. The one that clicks with you and serves your needs is the right choice for your business.

Need help deciding or building your website? Cosmo Web Tech works with both WordPress and Wix to create effective websites for Western Sydney businesses. Contact us for a free consultation.

A website is a cornerstone of your digital strategy. Ash Ganda writes about building cohesive technology strategies that drive real business growth.

Cosmos Web Tech operates under the Ganda Tech Services umbrella, delivering end-to-end technology solutions for Australian businesses.