Webflow vs. Wix : Differences, Pros and Cons in 2024
Webflow vs. Wix: Unravelling the Best Website Builder for Your Project
Going digital has never been so important and easy! According to Macro Trends, Wix earned an incredible total of $1.3 billion in revenue in 2022. According to Forbes, Webflow hit $4 billion in valuation in 2022. This rapid growth in revenue comes at a time when many companies of all sizes are turning digital to capture an online presence. With no-code website building platforms, companies don’t have to be engineers or hire many. Just like we have the age-old debate of Marvel vs DC, the tech world is debating on Webflow vs Wix and whether Wix or Webflow has more website-building superpowers. In this article, we break down Webflow vs Wix across several key categories to crown the superior no-code solution. Factors like ease of use, customizability, SEO optimization, pricing plans, and e-commerce capabilities will help determine which platform is best suited for different users’ needs.
Before diving straight into the Webflow vs Wix debate, let’s first understand what these platforms can do for you:
What is Webflow?
Webflow was founded in 2012 by the brothers Vlad Magdalin (CEO), Sergie Magdalin, and co-worker Bryant Chou (founding CTO) and its popularity has kept surging in the past years. According to My Codeless Website, Webflow’s user base grew twice from 2021 to 2022, increasing to 200,000 in 2022. With Webflow, you can create, construct, and publish responsive websites with knowing little to no code. It offers many pre-made templates with high flexibility to customize the templates according to your website needs.
What is Wix?
Compared to Webflow, Wix was founded earlier in 2006 in Israel by Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami, and Giora Kaplan. It has more than 220 million users globally and its market share comes third after WordPress and Shopify. Similar to Webflow, Wix is a no-code website-building platform that is ideal for beginners as it offers a simple and intuitive drag-and-drop functionality to design websites. Users of Wix do not need to know any code and can select from a wide range of pre-made templates to design and launch their website.
User-Friendly
The user flow of Wix is clear where users are first asked a few questions about the platform they are building, given a control panel from which they can choose the edit feature to design on a selected template. It has simple drag-and-drop functionality and if you don’t feel like building the website by yourself, you can take the help of Wix Artificial Design Intelligence. In Wix ADI, your website will be built automatically after you respond to a few questions.
Even though Webflow is pretty straightforward in its user experience, Webflow is generally recommended for developers or users with technical knowledge. This is because knowing some HTML and CSS can help in superior customization of the website. Further, Webflow takes its users directly to the editor after registration which can be confusing for some people. So who is the winner here in the Webflow vs Wix debate?
Winner: Wix.
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Templates
Wix offers more than 800 templates in comparison to Webflow which offers more than 500 templates. Additionally, most of the templates in Webflow are paid, the amount ranging between $20 to $100.
While the winner here may seem obvious, Webflow templates offer more flexibility and customization. Further, in Wix, you cannot transfer content from a template already created. So is Webflow better than Wix? Even though there are less quantity of templates offered, the flexibility in Webflow is unmatched.
Winner: Webflow
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SEO
Both Webflow and Wix allow users to add basics of SEO requirements like adding headings, modifying page titles, including meta descriptions, including alt text, editing URLs, and creating 301 redirects. However, Google prefers mobile responsive designs which Wix doesn’t offer as it creates separate versions of the platform for mobile and website. Webflow also uses clean coding which helps search engine robots do a thorough check and find information. Wix code can sometimes be bloated or non-semantic, making things slightly tougher for search engines. Although Wix does a good job of meeting the fundamental technical SEO needs, Webflow goes above and beyond to create websites that are responsive, have high-quality code, and are flexible enough to target keywords that consumers use. Webflow is the best SEO option for businesses where rich, customized experiences and organic traffic are essential. So is webflow better for SEO?
Winner: Of course, Webflow.
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Pricing
Coming to one of the crucial factors in determining which platform is better, Wix and Webflow both have free plans. The Webflow pricing can range from $14 to $212 per month depending on the plans and features. On the other hand, the subscription fees for Wix can range from $16 to $59 per month. Both come with web hosting, however, Wix outshines Webflow because of the number of features they offer for e-commerce websites such as sales channel integration, abandoned cart recovery, secure online payments, etc. Additionally, Wix also has its own AI design assistance. So who wins the Webflow vs Wix battle here?
Winner: Of course, Wix.
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Customer Support
Customer support can make or break the website-building experience, especially for non-technical users relying on the platform’s assistance along the way. Both Wix and Webflow offer multiple support channels to help users troubleshoot issues. While Wix has helpful customer support that you can reach out to any time via email and receive timely responses, Webflow has a forum with an active community to whom you can always reach out to solve queries. This creates a robust knowledge base covering both basic and complex scenarios. Webflow also offers Webflow University — a library of several tutorial videos breaking down website building, e-commerce, interactions, animations, and more that make your website-building journey seamless. Between videos and forums, most users find answers quickly without having to open individual support tickets. Both these platforms have robust customer services, but Webflow provides more self-service troubleshooting via forum access and Webflow University. With video learning content and a bustling community supporting all users, Webflow makes it easier for novices to find information independently. This makes Webflow to be one step ahead and win the Webflow vs Wix competition.
Winner: Webflow.
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E-commerce
A growing number of companies are searching for effective ways to create and run online stores in response to the explosive growth of e-commerce. Two of the most well-liked no-code solutions for rapidly and seamlessly building e-commerce websites without knowing any coding are Wix and Webflow. Wix and Webflow both provide drag-and-drop shop builders and a variety of predefined themes for different niches that make setting up an online store very easy. When it comes to pre-built templates and beginning an e-commerce site from scratch, Wix triumphs over Webflow. It provides copy, photos, and product listings that may be easily added to any of the hundreds of industry-specific templates that are available. All of the necessary e-commerce functionality that you would need from an e-commerce development platform is included in Wix and Webflow. This covers product listings, inventory management, shipping and tax computations, and payment processing.
However, Wix is equipped with more sophisticated selling tools, such as pre-installed discounts and coupons, cross-selling capabilities, automatic sales tax computations, client groups, and the ability to plan sales. In the e-commerce plans in Wix, users get access to unlimited products, recurring payment collections, and abandoned cart recovery. On the other hand, Webflow does not offer unlimited products but provides superior support for tiered navigation and intricate product customization.
Winner: Wix
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Animations and Interactions
Animations and other interactive features that give pages life are frequently needed to create captivating websites. According to the NN group, “When animation is used in a subtle way, it can help users build mental models about how the system works and how they can interact with it.” Animations and micro-interactions not only make websites visually appealing but are useful in the overall user experience of the website. While Webflow and Wix both have certain tools for adding these dynamic elements without coding, Webflow’s features to add animations and interactions are significantly more sophisticated and user-friendly. You can develop rich motion designs using Webflow’s animation tools, which enhances the immersiveness of product presentations and browsing. With Webflow, complex multi-step interactions may also be implemented for menus, pictures, and other elements utilizing the “states” capability. E-commerce business owners may offer interesting UX with microinteractions customized to their items and branding thanks to their adaptability.
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In summary. here are the pros and cons of Webflow and Wix:
Webflow:
Pros:
- Extremely flexible and customizable templates.
- Generates clean, optimized code automatically for better SEO rankings.
- Robust animation and interaction tools to easily add engaging effects.
- Responsive sites and seamless mobile experience.
- Active user community forum and university tutorials to help learning.
Cons:
- Has a learning curve for complete beginners compared to Wix’s drag-and-drop simplicity.
- Pricing plans are more expensive than basic Wix packages
Wix:
Pros:
- Very simple visual editor and process ideal for no coding skills.
- Hundreds of templates to choose from across industries.
- Built-in AI design features can create sites automatically.
Cons:
- Limited customization flexibility once the template is selected.
- Code produced can be messy which can affect the SEO impact.
- Sites not responsive require expensive add-ons.
- Support and community are not as extensive as Webflow’s forum.
Conclusion
Overall, Webflow emerges as the winner in comparison to Wix. However, for smaller personal projects, simple online stores, or basic business sites, Wix is likely the better option. Its sheer ease of use through the intuitive drag-and-drop editor allows complete beginners to put together a quality website relying on premade templates. With strong built-in e-commerce capabilities, blog functionality, and a ton of customization through the Wix App Market, it can handle most simple use cases.
However, for more complex websites, especially for creative agencies, developers, and enterprises, Webflow pulls ahead. The levels of design customization possible along with the flexibility to add custom code make Webflow extremely versatile for large, scalable websites. Advanced users can truly build anything on Webflow without restrictions. Integrations with CMS platforms allow for managing enterprise-scale content efficiently. Webflow also enables superior animation capabilities and intricate interactions that bring sites to life better. Lastly, Webflow generates clean, semantic code that helps complex websites meet critical SEO needs.
So while Wix excels for simplicity, Webflow shines when sophisticated capabilities are required. For enterprise websites where custom design, animation, heavy content loads, and organic reach are key, Webflow emerges as the superior platform. Evaluate your specific goals, timeline, budget, and target audience when choosing a platform. For advanced users handling complex web projects at scale, however, Webflow is likely the strongest no-code option today.
