Wix vs WordPress for a South African business website

Wix vs WordPress comes down to two questions: who will build and run the site, and whether it may ever have to move. Wix is a website builder you rent by subscription. You build the site yourself, and it runs on Wix’s servers. WordPress is open-source software that runs on hosting you choose, so the site can be moved, extended and handed to another supplier. If you want a simple site you can build yourself this month, Wix does the job. If the site has to grow with the business, WordPress is the better fit.

We are a Johannesburg studio that has built websites and business systems since 2001, and today we build on WordPress. So every fact about Wix below comes from Wix’s own pages, with a link, and we say plainly where Wix is the right choice.

Wix vs WordPress at a glance

What is the difference between Wix and WordPress?

Wix is a service and WordPress is software. With Wix you pay a subscription, build the site in Wix’s editor, and Wix hosts, secures and updates it. WordPress is free, open-source software that you or your supplier install on hosting you choose. That leaves you in charge of the site, and responsible for its upkeep.

Wix’s help page on exporting a Wix site describes Wix as cloud-based software as a service. The same page names the limit of that model: the site must run on the provider’s own servers.

WordPress works the other way round. WordPress.org’s features page says you are free to extend or modify the code and use it for commercial projects without any licensing fees. It is widely used: WordPress.org’s About page calls it the platform of choice for over 43% of all sites across the web (as at 2 October 2026).

One name causes confusion. WordPress.com is a hosting service that runs the same software. WordPress.com’s guide to WordPress.com and WordPress.org says the main difference is hosting: WordPress.com includes it, while with WordPress.org you find and manage your own. In this article, WordPress means the software from WordPress.org.

Is Wix easier to use than WordPress?

Yes, if you are building the site yourself. Wix is made for that: you start from a template or a prompt, change things in a drag-and-drop editor, and the hosting is set up when you publish. WordPress asks more of you at the start, because it needs hosting, a domain and somebody to install and design it.

Wix’s plans page lists more than 2,000 templates and an AI builder that makes a site from a prompt (as at 2 October 2026). There is one catch. Wix’s help page on switching your site template says it is not possible to switch to a different template for a site you have already created. You start a new site on the new template and bring elements, pages and media across.

WordPress.org’s download page offers two routes: download and install it yourself, “for anyone comfortable getting their own hosting and domain”, or set up with a hosting provider, “for anyone looking for the simplest way to start”.

So the real question is who does the work. On Wix, you are the designer, the writer and the person who keeps the site current. When we build a WordPress site, the design is made for your business on a theme called Blocksy. We don’t use paid themes or off-the-shelf templates, and our Business package includes a handover video.

What does each one cost?

Wix charges a subscription for as long as the site is live. WordPress costs nothing to license, but it has to be hosted, and somebody has to build it. So the fair comparison runs over several years, with Wix’s plan fees on one side and a build plus hosting on the other.

Wix’s plans page showed five plans when we opened it from Johannesburg on 2 October 2026: Free, Light at US$17 a month, Core at US$29, Business at US$39 and Business Elite at US$159. The page says the displayed prices are for yearly subscriptions, paid in full at the time of purchase, and do not include applicable taxes.

Two details change what you need. The page says a paid plan is what lets you connect your own domain and remove Wix branding from the site. And the Light plan’s feature list does not include accepting payments, while Core, Business and Business Elite list it (as at 2 October 2026).

With us, a WordPress site for a business is our Business package, at R15,000 (ZAR) incl. VAT for up to 8 pages, typically ready in two weeks. Managed hosting is R450 a month incl. VAT. Our website pricing page sets out what each package includes. We don’t compete with a builder on price.

We leave the sums to a separate article. What a Wix website really costs over three years takes Wix’s published plan prices and works through the cost of a Wix site over three years. For what studios charge and why, see how much a website costs in South Africa.

Can you move a Wix or WordPress site to another host?

A WordPress site can move to another host, and a Wix site can’t. Wix’s help centre says a Wix site needs to be hosted and operated on Wix’s servers, though the content you build belongs to you. WordPress has an export tool, and the software runs on any host that meets its requirements.

On its page about exporting a Wix site, Wix explains that the site uses Wix’s own technology and relies on Wix’s services to operate. You can buy and manage your domain with another provider and connect it to the Wix site, but the site stays where it is. If you leave Wix, your words and pictures come with you, and the pages are built again on the new platform.

WordPress.org’s guide to the export screen says that if you are moving to a new host, or want a copy of your site’s data, exporting is the answer. WordPress.org’s requirements page lists what a host needs in order to run it.

A site you can move is a site you can take to another supplier if yours lets you down. Our position on this is short: your website and its content are yours, and you can move them wherever you like. Custom code we write stays our copyright, and you are licensed to use it on your own site.

Which is better for an online store in South Africa?

Both can run a South African store, and they get there differently. Wix includes its store tools in the plans that accept payments, and connects to the payment providers on its list for South Africa. WordPress uses WooCommerce, an open-source store plugin, where you choose the payment gateway, the host and the features.

Start with payments. Wix’s overview of accepting payments says you must upgrade to a plan that supports payments. Wix’s own payment service is not offered here: Wix’s page about Wix Payments lists 15 countries, and South Africa is not among them (as at 2 October 2026).

South African stores on Wix therefore use an outside provider. Wix’s list of payment providers by country names seven for South Africa: PayPal, Yoco, Paystack, Peach Payments, DPO Group, Payflex and iKhokha (as at 2 October 2026). The same page says you can’t connect more than one provider to process credit card payments. Check that your provider is on the list before you build.

On the WordPress side, WooCommerce’s home page describes it as the open-source commerce platform for WordPress, with “any payments, any features, any host”. WooCommerce’s features page counts 140 region-specific gateways (as at 2 October 2026). We compare the local ones in payment gateways in South Africa.

Our Professional package, from R25,000 incl. VAT, can include a WooCommerce store with up to 50 products loaded, a payment gateway and one shipping method. We built the online store for Thrive Raw Food For Dogs in 2025. For the wider decision, read building an online store in South Africa.

Is Wix or WordPress better for SEO?

Both give you the settings a search engine works with. Wix’s SEO page lists editable meta tags, page addresses, 301 redirects for old addresses and a sitemap that Wix maintains. WordPress.org’s features page says WordPress is optimised for search engines out of the box, with SEO plugins for finer control. On either platform, writing pages worth finding is your work.

Google’s SEO Starter Guide says that if you use a content management system, you might not need to do anything technical to your titles beyond writing good ones.

Phones matter on both. Google’s guide to mobile-first indexing says Google uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking. Wix’s guide to its mobile editor says Wix automatically creates a mobile-friendly version of your site, and hides elements that aren’t optimised for mobile. Check what was hidden. Every site we build is fully responsive, and a display problem on a phone is fixed free.

On our Business package, an SEO plugin is set up so each page has its own title and description in Google, and Google Analytics and Search Console are connected. WordPress SEO: what your site should already be doing goes through the rest.

Who looks after security, updates and support?

On Wix, Wix does. Wix’s help page on exporting a Wix site says Wix monitors security around the clock, hosts the site and runs software updates automatically. On WordPress, the project secures the core software, and whoever runs your site keeps it updated, backed up and safely hosted. That is you, or a supplier you pay.

WordPress.org’s security page says its Security Team identifies and resolves security issues in the core software. Only the latest version of WordPress is officially supported, though the team also backports fixes to older versions as a courtesy. Themes, plugins and hosting are outside that, so a WordPress site needs somebody to keep it current.

Support differs in the same way. Wix’s page on contacting Customer Care offers a chat at any hour, and says you can ask for a Customer Care Expert to step in. For English, it lists callbacks at any hour and expert chat from Monday to Friday, in US Eastern time (as at 2 October 2026), and says availability may change with your time zone, language and issue. Wix does not charge for that support. WordPress.org’s features page points to support forums where volunteers answer. Beyond that, help comes from whoever built or hosts your site.

Our basic care plan is R975 a month incl. VAT. It includes the hosting, updates tested on a staging copy first, and Wordfence security monitoring, with a reply within one business day. Our sites run on hardened servers, from locked-down file access to bot protection. The website maintenance page lists both care plans.

What if the site has to do more than show pages?

Both platforms can add bookings, a store or a members’ area. The difference shows when the feature has to fit the way your business already works. On Wix you choose from what Wix and its app makers offer. On WordPress, a developer can write a plugin for the job, because the code is open.

Wix’s plans page lists scheduling and services on its Core, Business and Business Elite plans (as at 2 October 2026), and the Wix App Market groups its apps by job, from bookings to online stores. Whatever you add runs on Wix.

WordPress.org’s plugin directory lists over 74,000 free plugins, and its theme directory over 15,000 free themes (as at 2 October 2026). WordPress.org’s features page says that if you want to build an application, WordPress can help with that too. Most of our newer work includes some custom plugin development. For FCRMC, a financial crime risk management consultancy and a client since 2009, the latest rebuild in 2025 added a learning platform and a custom plugin that matches their clients and suppliers using AI. GiftBucks, a client since 2003, runs a gift-card platform that we rebuilt as a custom WordPress plugin.

Our custom work starts from R65,000 incl. VAT, quoted after a free first discovery, with detailed scoping included in the build price. The business systems page explains how it works.

When is Wix the right choice, and when is WordPress?

Wix is the right choice when you will build and run the site yourself and it only has to present the business. WordPress is the right choice when the site has to be designed around your business, connect to other software, or stay yours to move.

Choose Wix if:

• you want to build the site yourself, and you have the time to do it;
• the site is a few pages that say who you are and how to reach you;
• you have no supplier and want hosting, security and updates done for you;
• you accept that the site stays on Wix for as long as it lives.

Choose WordPress if:

• you want the site designed around your business, not fitted into a template;
• you need custom plugins, or connections to the software you already use;
• you want to be able to change host or supplier without rebuilding;
• you want one team accountable for the site after launch.

If you are between the two, ask what the site must do in three years’ time. A site that will stay small can stay on Wix. A site that will take on a store, a booking system or a client login is easier to start on WordPress than to move later.

Moving from Wix to WordPress: what it involves

A move from Wix is a rebuild on the new platform, and the order of the work matters:

1. List every page and its address. The addresses are what Google and your old emails link to.
2. Bring the content across. The words and images are yours. Wix’s exporting page says so.
3. Export the products, if you sell. Wix’s guide to exporting your product list says products export to a CSV file, up to 5,000 rows per file, and that digital products can’t be exported (as at 2 October 2026).
4. Build and test the new site on a staging copy, on a phone as well as a desktop.
5. Redirect the old addresses to the new pages, then point the domain at the new site.
6. Cancel the Wix plan last, once the new site is live and checked.

Moving a website without losing traffic covers the redirects and the checks in detail. With us, moving an existing site’s content across is quoted separately on the Business package, and the Professional package includes migration from the existing site.

The next step

Tell us what the site has to do. Our web design service in Johannesburg covers the design, the build and the care afterwards, from one team. Get a quote. We reply to new enquiries on the same business day.

Frequently asked questions

What are the disadvantages of Wix?

Three, from Wix’s own help pages. A Wix site has to be hosted on Wix’s servers, so it can’t move to another host. You can’t switch to a different template once the site is created. And Wix’s own payment service isn’t offered in South Africa, so a store here uses one of the outside providers on Wix’s list (as at 2 October 2026).

Is it better to use WordPress or Wix?

Use Wix if you will build and look after the site yourself and it only needs a few pages. Use WordPress if you want the site designed for your business, expect it to grow into a store or a system, or want to be free to change supplier. The deciding question is who will do the work, now and in three years.

What is the #1 website builder?

We can’t point you to an official ranking, so treat any page that names a winner as that page’s opinion. What can be checked is each platform’s own account of itself. WordPress.org says WordPress is the platform of choice for over 43% of all sites across the web (as at 2 October 2026). WordPress is software, though, and Wix is a builder, so compare what each one does for you.