Modern website builders make it possible for anyone with access to a computer and the internet to create their own online presence. Wix and Weebly have long been two of the world’s most popular and best website builder platforms, and they both host tens of millions of sites across the world.
But giants can rise and fall quickly in the digital world, so our Wix vs Weebly comparison aims to shed some light on both platforms. We compare their user interface, prices, main features, and more to help you decide which (if either) is the top website builder for your needs.
Wix
Wix: top builder for customisation and flexibility
Wix provides users with advanced tools, the biggest template library in the sector, an exceptional choice of editors offering customisable site creation, and great support. The full builder is included with the free package; paid upgrades remove ads and add extra features, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Weebly
Weebly: easy-to-use ecommerce leader
Weebly focuses on beginner-friendly site creation, with vibrant designs and high-level ecommerce tools. Those with little experience can create attractive ecommerce sites with top-notch templates and some of the best online features available.
Wix vs Weebly: What we compared
- User interface and setup
- Pricing
- Ecommerce
- Templates
- Marketing tools
- App marketplaces
- Developer tools
- Which is best for me?
- What our reviewers said
- Alternatives to Wix and Weebly
User interface and setup
To get started with either Wix or Weebly, you will need to create a free account and select a plan. Or go with a free trial if you’re not quite sure which platform to use.
Wix provides two site creation options when you begin. The first, Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), will direct you to a short questionnaire, and develop a template based on your answers. You can then edit the template and populate it with your own content, but design flexibility is limited.
The second option, Wix Editor, offers more extensive drag-and-drop website editing, although it is also based on a template that you choose yourself. The user interface can feel a little cluttered at times, but the sheer editing power on offer is excellent. You will have access to pixel-perfect customisation, so you can create exactly the look you’re going for.
Weebly only has a basic section-based editor. A few years back, it was one of the best around. However, many other platforms have since eclipsed it, and it’s somewhat confusing and limiting compared to many competitors. It’s easier to use than Wix, but even Wix ADI offers better customisation options.
Pricing
Both Wix and Weebly offer free-forever plans that can be used to test their respective editors. But both have constraints, including the inability to connect a custom domain, restricted storage and bandwidth, and limited features.
Wix's pricing plans
Wix has four website plans ranging from £4 to £21 a month. These are great for standard websites that don’t need online selling capabilities. It also boasts three specialised business and ecommerce plans, which cost from £15 to £27 a month. Custom enterprise-level solutions are available for larger businesses with more advanced requirements.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Price per month | Price per year |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free | Free |
| Connect Domain | £4 a month | £48 a year |
| Combo | £7.50 a month | £90 a year |
| Unlimited | £11 a month | £132 a year |
| VIP | £21 a month | £252 a year |
| Business Basic | £15 a month | £105 a year |
| Business Unlimited | £20 a month | £240 a year |
| Business VIP | £27 a month | £324 a year |
Weebly's pricing plans
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Price per month | Price per year |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free |
| Connect | £4 a month | £48 a year |
| Pro | £9 a month | £108 a year |
| Business | £18 a month | £216 a year |
| Business Plus | £28 a month | £336 a year |
Unlike Wix, Weebly has no enterprise-level solutions. Its three premium plans range from £9 to £28 a month. All three come with decent ecommerce tools. Weebly is clearly cheaper than Wix, but Wix’s plans are much more inclusive and offer better value for money.
Ecommerce
Both Wix and Weebly offer some level of ecommerce support. Weebly enables online selling with all of its plans, and it’s known as one of the best online store builders available. It’s now owned by leading payment processor Square, which should give you confidence in its payment gateways.
You will have access to a range of tools, making ongoing management simple and hassle-free. For example, even the free plan comes with a built-in shopping cart, inventory management tools, an automatic tax calculator, and Square gift card functionality. With a higher-end plan, you will have access to everything from product reviews to discount coupon and abandoned cart email tools.
Wix’s online store tools are certainly functional, but they just can’t compare to Weebly’s. You will have to pay at least £15 a month to access even basic ecommerce tools, which is almost as much as Weebly’s most expensive plan.
On top of this, all Wix plans come with limited storage space (20GB to 50GB), which could restrict the size of your store. Automatic sales tax is only available with a maximum of 500 transactions per month, and product reviews are only available via a third-party app.
Weebly clearly takes the points here.
Templates
With pre-designed online templates, you can create a new website in a matter of hours. All you need to do is tweak the layout and populate it with your own content.
Wix offers loads of templates, with more than 800 different designs in its theme library. These are heavily categorised, enabling you to pick one that’s suited to your exact industry. For example, there are templates for different types of educational establishments, online stores, businesses, and portfolios.
Weebly, on the other hand, only has 40 or so themes. However, these are professionally built and continually updated to incorporate modern design principles.
Wix’s large template library is excellent and just gives it the lead here, but Weebly’s designs are nothing to be laughed at either.
Marketing tools
Wix offers a small selection of native marketing tools. Its email marketing tools, for example, enable you to create custom emails with a drag-and-drop editor. There are a few automation tools, and everything is tracked with the integrated email campaign analytics.
It also provides tools to help you design social media graphics. You can integrate your Facebook marketing account, and Wix will recommend the optimal settings for your website. The blogging tools are functional, but don’t expect too much more on the marketing front without an extension.
Weebly’s marketing tools are comparable to Wix’s. Its email builder works in a similar manner, and the integrated Weebly Promote platform enables you to track your campaigns. As with Wix, you can add extra functionality by installing an extension from the Weebly App Center.
App marketplaces
Both Wix and Weebly have excellent app marketplaces with hundreds of extensions. These are useful, as they enable you to add extra functionality to your website. Many are free, but both platforms have a large selection of premium options as well.
The Weebly App Center, for example, contains 380 different apps. Some of these have been developed by the Weebly team, but many come from third parties. The apps are cleverly grouped to help you find what you want.
For example, the top of the App Center contains obvious links to app bundles for driving sales, boosting your socials, or growing your audience. Weebly will even recommend a selection of useful apps for your site.
Wix also has hundreds of apps in its App Market. These aren’t grouped as cleverly as those in Weebly marketplace, but it’s still quite easy to find relevant options. For example, you could use the search bar at the top of the page. We tested it, and a simple search for “bookings” threw up 36 excellent results, and it would have been hard to choose among them.
It’s hard to separate Wix and Weebly here, as both have excellent app marketplaces.
Developer tools
The standard Wix Editor comes with loads of developer tools, including the ability to add your own custom code if required. You can also create your own custom web apps through Wix’s Velo development platform, deploying them to your website as required.
Weebly enables you to add custom HTML code, but there are few other developer tools. Wix clearly stands out here, but Weebly’s lack of developer tools won’t be a problem for the average website builder user.
Which website builder is best for me?
Wix and Weebly are two extremely popular website builders, but they are far from equal. Wix stands out on almost every front, although Weebly’s affordability and excellent ecommerce features are attractive.
For starters, both of Wix’s website building interfaces are more powerful than Weebly’s. Wix Editor provides excellent design flexibility, while Wix ADI is great for those with less experience. Wix also has a much larger template library and advanced developer tools. However, when it comes to marketing and app marketplaces, it’s hard to separate the two platforms.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly online store builder, Weebly could be a good option. But we’d recommend using Wix for virtually any other sort of website.
Wix and Weebly features
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Wix | Weebly |
|---|---|---|
| UI and setup | Versatile and powerful | User-friendly |
| Pricing | Expensive, but loads of included features | Very competitively priced |
| Ecommerce | Functional and secure | Great for stores of all sizes |
| Templates | 800+ themes | 40+ themes |
| Marketing tools | Basic email marketing and others | Basic email marketing and others |
| App marketplaces | Hundreds of apps | Hundreds of apps |
| Developer tools | Advanced options | Very few |
What our reviewers said
Wix
“Wix is perfect for creatives, small businesses, and beginners alike. It uses a drag-and-drop interface, so you don’t need any coding skills, and with Wix ADI, getting a site up and running is child’s play. Templates come with dummy text and images in place, and all you need to do is replace them with your own personalisation.”
- Score: 4.5/5
Weebly
“Weebly is easy to use, so we’d recommend it to beginners. The WYSIWYG interface is simple to understand … If you can make a PowerPoint presentation, you can make a Weebly website … Weebly offers most things you could want from a website builder, and it’s easy to use. But some other website editors offer more features and better designs for a similar price.”
- Score: 3.5/5
Alternatives to Wix and Weebly
Wix and Weebly are both decent options, but they can both be a little difficult to use, and both have their flaws.
If ecommerce is your main focus, we’d suggest considering Shopify. It’s arguably the world’s most popular online store builder, and it comes with loads of tools that beginners can take advantage of. There’s an excellent 14-day free trial, but its premium plans are quite expensive when compared to most other alternatives.
Another great option is Bluehost’s WordPress website builder. This is only compatible with WordPress, but it’s great for those with a little more technical knowledge that would like to take advantage of the platform. It’s also very affordable, with prices starting from just a few pounds per month. There are loads of attractive templates, and it’s one of the most beginner-friendly options we’ve seen.
Speaking of beginner-friendly options, it’s hard to look past GoDaddy when it comes to ease of use. This web industry giant offers a basic but very intuitive builder. It doesn’t even come close to Wix in terms of design flexibility, but it enables you to get online in just a few hours if you’re in a hurry.
Further reading on website builders and web hosting
If you would like to find out more about free alternatives to Wix and Weebly, read about the best free website builders on the market. You might also be interested in our guides to the best ecommerce website builders, and the best small business website builders.
