Most Wix and WordPress comparisons count templates, apps and plugins. This page compares what lasts longer than a feature list: who keeps the site running, what you could take with you if you left, and who holds the accounts. It names no winner, because the answer depends on your business.
Every statement about Wix or WordPress below comes from that platform's own documentation, linked so you can check it. Where an answer depends on your host, theme, plugin or the person doing the work, the page says so rather than guessing.
Which WordPress this page means
Here, "WordPress" means self-hosted WordPress: the open-source software from WordPress.org, installed on hosting your business chooses. WordPress.com is a different, hosted service built on the same software, and in how it runs it has more in common with Wix. It is covered in our guide to website builders.
When Wix fits, and when self-hosted WordPress fits
These are conditions, not preferences. Most businesses will recognise themselves more in one list than the other.
Wix fits when
- Nobody you employ or pay will maintain server or platform software, and you are prepared to export or otherwise preserve any important data that Wix Site History does not restore.
- A template and the apps in Wix's App Market cover what the site has to do.
- You are content for the site to run only on Wix for the foreseeable future.
- You want the platform, the hosting and their security handled by one company.
Self-hosted WordPress fits when
- The business needs to be able to move the whole site to another host, or to another professional, without rebuilding it.
- The site needs plugins, themes or custom code that a hosted platform does not offer.
- Someone -- you, your host or a paid provider -- is clearly assigned to updates, backups and fixing things when they break.
- The business can hold the hosting account, the domain and an Administrator login in its own name.
If neither list fits, the guide to choosing a website solution compares the wider range of options, including hiring someone to run the site for you.
Wix and self-hosted WordPress side by side
| Question | Wix | Self-hosted WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Where the site can run The answer that is hardest to change later. | Only on Wix. A Wix site must be hosted and run on Wix's own servers. Source for Where the site can run, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | On any host that meets WordPress's published requirements: PHP, a MySQL or MariaDB database, and HTTPS support. Source for Where the site can run, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress.org) |
| Who keeps the software and its security up to date | Wix runs the platform and its security, including monitoring, vulnerability scanning, firewalls and DDoS protection. Source for Who keeps the software and its security up to date, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | Varies — whoever you assign: you, the host or a maintenance provider. By default WordPress installs minor core releases itself; plugin and theme auto-updates are switched on one by one. Source for Who keeps the software and its security up to date, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress Developer Resources) |
| Backups and restoring | Site History restores an earlier saved version, but content in apps such as Stores, Blog and Bookings, CMS collections and SEO settings does not revert. Source for Backups and restoring, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | Varies — on the host and on any backup plugin. Restoring needs copies of both the database and the files. Many hosts provide backup tools; WordPress does not take backups by default. Source for Backups and restoring, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress Developer Resources) |
| Moving the whole site to another host | Not supported. The site cannot be hosted outside Wix. Source for Moving the whole site to another host, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | Documented: copy the files and the database to the new server. Changing the domain or URLs at the same time takes further steps. Source for Moving the whole site to another host, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress Developer Resources) |
| What the built-in export contains | Contacts as a CSV file, up to 50,000 at a time, by the site owner only. Store products have their own export, described under Ownership and moving below. Source for What the built-in export contains, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | An XML file of posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, tags and users, for import into another WordPress site. A full move uses the files and database instead. Source for What the built-in export contains, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress.org Documentation) |
| Handing the site to a new owner | The site itself can be transferred to another Wix account; for a Premium site, the plan and the domain can go with it. Wix also offers a different handover, a copy of the site, described under Ownership and moving below. Source for Handing the site to a new owner, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | WordPress documents Administrator control inside the site. Editorial assessment: the hosting account and the domain sit outside WordPress and must be handed over separately. Verify who controls all three. Source for Handing the site to a new owner, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress.org Documentation) |
| Giving a professional access | Collaborators are invited with a predefined or custom role and removed to revoke access. Collaborator limits depend on the plan. Source for Giving a professional access, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | WordPress roles, from Administrator to Subscriber, control access inside the site. Access to the hosting account, files and database is separate. Source for Giving a professional access, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress.org Documentation) |
| Adding functionality and custom code | Apps from the Wix App Market, made by Wix or by third parties, and code snippets added in the site's settings once it is published with a connected domain. Source for Adding functionality and custom code, Wix (opens Wix Help Center) | Plugins and themes, from the WordPress Plugin Directory or elsewhere, and any code you or a developer write. Directory plugins vary in quality. Source for Adding functionality and custom code, Self-hosted WordPress (opens WordPress.org Documentation) |
A caution marks something that commonly surprises people later.
Evidence: Official source Last verified
Each cell reports what Wix's or WordPress's own documentation says, and links to it. "Varies" means the answer depends on your host, or on whoever you assign the work to. A note marked "Editorial assessment" is our reading, not the linked documentation. Plans and procedures change; check the linked page before you rely on a cell.
Two rows decide most cases. On Wix, the platform does the upkeep and the site stays on Wix. On self-hosted WordPress, the site can move, and the upkeep belongs to whoever you assign. In our editorial assessment, neither is the safer choice in general: Wix removes work that a small business may never get round to, and self-hosted WordPress removes a dependence on one platform. Which of those matters more depends on who will be looking after the site.
What each costs, in structure
This page gives no prices. Figures change and are kept, with their dates and sources, in our website cost guide. The structure differs:
Wix: a Wix plan, which is needed to connect your own domain; the domain itself; and any premium apps, some of which have free and paid versions. HTTPS is included at no extra cost.
Self-hosted WordPress: the software is released under the GPL licence. What a business pays for is hosting, a domain, any paid themes or plugins, and the upkeep -- in its own time, or in a provider's fees. That last line is the one most often left out of a comparison.
Setting up and running each
On Wix, you create a Wix account, build the site in Wix's editor and choose a plan. Wix hosts the site and generates the security certificate for your domain itself.
On self-hosted WordPress, you choose a host that supports what WordPress requires -- PHP, a MySQL or MariaDB database and HTTPS -- install WordPress or have the host do it, choose a theme and add plugins. Whether the host installs WordPress, arranges the certificate or sets up backups varies from host to host. Ask before you sign up.
Day to day, both are edited in a web browser. What differs is everything around the editing: on Wix the platform is Wix's to run; on self-hosted WordPress somebody has to keep the software, the theme and the plugins current.
Adding what your business needs
Forms, booking, a shop or a newsletter are added differently.
On Wix, through apps from the Wix App Market. Some are made by Wix, such as Wix Stores and Wix Blog, and others by third parties. Custom code snippets can be added from the site's settings once the site is published on a connected domain, but Wix does not support technical problems with third-party code.
On self-hosted WordPress, through plugins and themes from the WordPress Plugin Directory or other sources, or code written for you. WordPress.org's own documentation describes directory plugins as varying in quality, and a plugin not updated for the latest WordPress release may be incompatible. Each plugin is another thing to keep updated.
Both can run an online shop. The questions that decide it -- payment processing, fees, and what happens to orders and customers if you move -- deserve their own comparison, and the export rows in the table above are the place to start.
Ownership and moving
On Wix, the site cannot be hosted elsewhere. Wix documents exporting contacts and store products as CSV files, transferring the site itself or a copy of it to another Wix account, and transferring a domain bought from Wix to another provider. If you left Wix, you would take that data and the domain, and rebuild the site somewhere else.
On self-hosted WordPress, the site is a set of files and a database that can be copied to another host, and the built-in export file carries the content to another WordPress site. But "you own a WordPress site" is true only if the business holds the hosting account, the domain and an Administrator login. If a designer or agency holds any of them, they control that part of the site.
Website Ownership Check
Nine areas to check on either platform.
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Area 01. Domain registration
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Area 02. DNS control
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Area 03. Website platform or hosting account
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Area 04. Website files and portability
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Area 05. Business email
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Area 06. Analytics and Search Console
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Area 07. Copy, photography, graphics and design
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Area 08. Customer and operational data
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Area 09. Cancellation, export and handoff
Maintenance, security and support
On Wix, Wix monitors, scans and protects its own platform. Your part is the account: who can log in, whether two-factor authentication is switched on, and who has collaborator access. Site History can restore an earlier version of the site, but content in apps such as Stores, Blog and Bookings does not go back with it.
On self-hosted WordPress, WordPress installs minor core releases by itself on existing sites, while automatic updates for plugins and themes are switched on one by one, and a host can disable them. Restoring a site needs copies of both the database and the files. WordPress.org's own security guidance draws the line plainly: hosts are often responsible for the server infrastructure, not for the application you install. Help comes from the host, the WordPress.org support forums, or a professional you pay.
Caution: Caution: On self-hosted WordPress, get it in writing who applies updates, who keeps backups, how often, where they are stored, and who restores the site when something breaks. The host's answer and your designer's answer may not be the same.
What that work involves, whichever platform you use, is set out in what website maintenance includes.
Documented limits
Wix: the site runs only on Wix. Custom code needs a published site on a connected domain, is deleted if a different domain is assigned, and since December 2025 some snippets may be blocked by Wix's security measures. A Site History restore leaves app content, CMS collections and SEO settings as they are.
Self-hosted WordPress: many practical limits depend on the host, theme and plugins -- what the hosting plan allows and whether each extension remains compatible with current WordPress releases. Those vary, and the host and each extension's maker are the ones to ask.
Four situations
These are illustrative and editorial, not a recommendation for any real business.
A service business that wants to update its own pages and nothing more. Wix takes the hosting, platform security and certificates off its hands. What it gives up is the ability to move the site as a whole; check the export rows above so you know what you would keep.
A business that wants to keep the option of moving host or changing professional. Of these two, only self-hosted WordPress documents moving the whole site to another host. That option is real only if the business holds the hosting account and an Administrator login, and if someone is assigned to the upkeep.
A business whose designer already runs a WordPress site for it. Before deciding anything else, secure the hosting account, the domain and an Administrator login in the business's name, and find out where the backups are. That holds whether the site stays on WordPress or moves.
A business that sells online. Both platforms can do it. Decide by what you would need to take with you -- products, customers and orders -- and by who will look after the shop's add-ons, and compare the fees on the cost guide.
How this comparison was made
Every platform statement on this page comes from Wix's or WordPress's official documentation, listed below with the date each page was read. We did not test either platform hands-on, so the page makes no claim that either is easier, faster, more secure or better for search. It ranks nothing and has no affiliate relationship with either platform. Plans, procedures and requirements change; follow the source links before you rely on a detail.