Choose Wix if you want a managed website builder and its existing features cover your business needs. Choose WordPress if you need more control over your content, integrations and hosting, and you have a plan for maintaining the site.
Both can support a professional business website. The better choice depends on what customers need to do, who will make changes and what the website will need to handle next year.
This comparison focuses on self-hosted WordPress.org, not WordPress.com, and looks at the costs and practical trade-offs for Canadian small businesses.
WordPress vs Wix: the main difference
Wix combines the builder, hosting and platform management in one service. You create an account, build your pages and select a plan that supports the features you need. You work within Wix’s platform, even when a designer builds the website for you.
WordPress.org provides free, open-source website software. You install it with a hosting provider and choose the theme, plugins and services that run alongside it. You can change hosting providers without changing the underlying platform.
WordPress.com is a separate hosted service with its own plans. Comparing its subscriptions with Wix is a different exercise from pricing a self-hosted WordPress website.
- Wix’s main advantage: fewer separate technical services to organise.
- WordPress’s main advantage: more freedom to change how the website works.
- The trade-off: Wix limits some infrastructure choices; WordPress gives you more choices to maintain.
Which is easier to build and edit?
For a first DIY website, Wix usually offers the simpler starting point. Its visual editor and templates let you assemble a site without arranging separate hosting. AI creation tools can help produce an initial draft, but you still need to check the wording, images, navigation and business details.
WordPress needs more setup decisions. Once the website is built, everyday editing can be straightforward. The WordPress block editor, also called Gutenberg, lets you work with paragraphs, headings, images and reusable layouts without writing code.
The quality of the setup matters. A WordPress site with clear editing patterns can be easier to maintain than a visually complicated Wix site. Conversely, a WordPress build with several overlapping page builders can make a simple update frustrating.
Before choosing, try 3 real tasks: change a service price, replace an image and publish a new page. If someone else builds the site, ask them to demonstrate those tasks using your proposed layout.
Design control and mobile layouts
Both platforms can produce polished websites. Wix provides visual design tools, while Wix Studio adds a professional environment with responsive design controls. Advice that treats every Wix website as having the same editing or mobile limitations can be misleading.
WordPress supports ready-made themes, block-based designs and custom development. Its flexibility is useful when you need unusual page structures or design rules that apply across a growing collection of content.
A practical design brief should describe what visitors need to accomplish. For example, a contractor may need an obvious emergency phone number, project photos and separate service pages. A consultant may need case studies and an appointment request. Neither requirement is solved by choosing a platform alone.
Check the proposed design on a phone: navigation, text size, form labels, keyboard access and the main call to action. A template preview is only a starting point.
What do WordPress and Wix actually cost?
Compare the same scope: a DIY Wix subscription against DIY WordPress running costs, or a professionally built Wix site against a professionally built WordPress site. A platform subscription and a completed business website buy different things.
Wix subscription prices
At our September 12, 2026 check, the official Wix pricing page displayed these USD reference prices for annual subscriptions, paid upfront, before applicable taxes:
- Light: US$17/month, equivalent to US$204/year.
- Core: US$29/month, equivalent to US$348/year.
- Business: US$39/month, equivalent to US$468/year.
- Business Elite: US$159/month, equivalent to US$1,908/year.
Core and higher plans include accepting payments; Light does not. Wix also offers a free plan, but connecting your own domain and removing Wix branding requires an eligible paid plan.
These are not Canadian-dollar quotes. Wix states that prices and currency vary by location. Check your Canadian checkout total, subscription term and renewal price. Paid apps, business email, domain renewals and payment processing can add to the subscription cost. Wix Studio uses separate plans.
WordPress running costs
WordPress software costs $0, but running a business website does not. You need hosting and a domain, and may also pay for plugin licences, email and technical support.
For a small brochure site, an illustrative budget using Maple’s published typical running costs is CAD$150–$300/year for hosting, about CAD$25 for the domain and CAD$100–$200 for plugin licences. That totals approximately CAD$275–$525/year before maintenance, email, taxes and the initial build. These are planning figures, not universal WordPress prices.
Store hosting and specialised extensions can cost more. Compare hosting renewal rates, backup arrangements and support coverage using our WordPress hosting guide.
Professional design is a separate expense
Maple’s custom WordPress sites start at CAD$1,300 for a Starter site and CAD$2,300 for a Business site. Content requirements, integrations and project scope affect the final quote. Our guide to website costs in Canada explains how to compare complete project budgets.
Ask for a 3-year total that separates the build, renewals, maintenance and optional additions. A low introductory subscription can be a poor comparison if the other quote includes content, setup and ongoing help.
Is WordPress better than Wix for SEO?
Both provide tools for search optimisation. Wix supports editable titles and descriptions, canonical settings and redirects through its SEO tools. WordPress offers control through its settings, plugins and development options.
WordPress gives a technical team more room to customise templates, content structures and server behaviour. That flexibility can matter when a site has complex publishing requirements. It does not make an unhelpful page useful or guarantee higher rankings.
For a typical local business, evaluate whether the proposed build supports:
- A clear page for each distinct service customers search for.
- Useful supporting articles connected to relevant service pages.
- Editable metadata, sensible URLs and redirects when URLs change.
- Readable mobile layouts and accessible navigation.
- Reliable enquiry tracking and working contact forms.
Do not switch platforms solely because someone says Wix cannot rank. First establish what is holding the current site back. Thin service pages, unclear offers and weak internal links still need fixing after a migration.
Blogging, content growth and integrations
Both platforms support blogs. For a business publishing occasional updates, either can be sufficient. WordPress becomes particularly useful when content needs custom fields, reusable templates, different editorial roles or connections to other systems. Its publishing and extension features provide the foundation, although specialised requirements may need plugins or development.
Wix also offers business tools, apps and development options. The useful question is whether your exact workflow is supported at an acceptable cost.
For example, “connect a CRM” is too vague. Ask whether a quote request can pass the service selected, location, uploaded files and consent choice to the correct sales pipeline. Test those details before committing to either platform.
If you need multiple languages, test a complete customer journey in each language, including navigation, forms and confirmation messages. Check translation costs and layout requirements as part of the scope.
Wix Stores vs WordPress with WooCommerce
Wix can suit a store whose product, shipping and checkout requirements fit its available features. It combines store management with the rest of the website in a hosted environment.
On WordPress, WooCommerce adds ecommerce. The WooCommerce core platform is free; hosting, payment processing, extensions and development are separate expenses. That flexibility is valuable when the store needs customised product options or connections to inventory and fulfilment systems.
Evaluate the checkout you actually need: product variations, shipping rules, local pickup, payment methods, refunds and Canadian tax configuration. Verify support for your business location and payment provider, rather than assuming a feature advertised internationally is available in your setup.
Maple’s ecommerce website design starts at CAD$3,300 for a Starter store. That is a professional build price, separate from ongoing platform and operating costs.
Maintenance, security and performance
Wix manages its hosting infrastructure and platform updates. You still need to protect account access, review permissions and confirm that forms, bookings and payments work after you make changes.
With WordPress, someone must take responsibility for updates, backups, security and compatibility. Managed hosting can cover part of this work, but check exactly what the provider handles when a plugin or checkout breaks.
Maple’s website care plans are CAD$95/month for business sites and CAD$165/month for WooCommerce stores. Include maintenance in the comparison if you do not intend to manage it yourself.
Neither platform is automatically faster. Large images, unnecessary scripts, heavy layouts and third-party apps can affect either one. WordPress adds hosting quality and plugin choices to that equation. Test representative service and product pages, including the mobile experience, rather than comparing empty demonstration sites.
Ownership and moving away later
With self-hosted WordPress, you can move your files and database to another compatible host. Changing a proprietary theme or page builder may still require design work, so portability does not mean every future change is effortless.
Wix states that Wix sites must run on its infrastructure. Moving to WordPress generally means rebuilding the design and functionality, with content and business data transferred through the methods available for each content type. A domain transfer is not a website migration.
For either platform, keep your domain, primary account and analytics access under your business’s control. Ask what files, licences and documentation will be handed over if you change providers.
Should you move an existing Wix site?
Consider moving when a specific limitation prevents a valuable improvement, or when the cost of working around it exceeds a sensible rebuild. Staying can be the better decision when the site performs well and its features still meet your needs.
A migration should inventory existing URLs, preserve useful content, map changed addresses to relevant replacements and test forms and checkout before launch. Search visibility can fluctuate; no responsible migration promise removes that possibility.
Maple’s full website redesign service starts at CAD$2,900. Migration scope and data requirements need to be assessed for the individual website.
Which platform fits your business?
- A solo professional building a simple site: start by testing Wix if its standard tools cover your needs and you want to manage it yourself.
- A service business investing in a growing website: consider WordPress when you need flexible content structures and integrations, with a named person responsible for maintenance.
- A retailer with specific operational requirements: choose only after demonstrating the required product, payment and fulfilment workflows.
- A business with a working website: identify a concrete problem before paying to change platforms.
Still considering other platforms? Compare our recommended website builders for small businesses, including AI tools.
At Maple Web Design, we build custom WordPress websites. We recommend that approach when its flexibility serves the project and the ongoing responsibilities are understood. For a straightforward DIY site, Wix can be a sensible choice.
If you want help planning a WordPress build, see our web design services in Vancouver. Bring your current website, required features and budget so the discussion starts with what your business needs the site to do.
