Last Updated on March 12, 2023 by Alex Birkett
When it comes to creating a landing page or website, the choice of web builders can be overwhelming. You have platforms like Squarespace, Wix, and Webflow.
All these website and landing page builders claim to be superior in their own way, but which one is truly the best?
In this article, we’re going to look at two of the biggest website/UI platforms — Wix and Webflow. It is an objective review looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each platform, with insights from actual users.
(Also, I’m going to use some affiliate links here so I’ll get commission if you buy the tools listed here.)
Wix vs. Webflow: Overview
| Wix | Webflow | |
|---|---|---|
| Builder | Wix offers users a simple way to create and maintain a website without having to learn HTML or CSS. They have an extensive range of design options, and Wix ADI can create an entire site for you in less than an hour if you don’t want to manage the process yourself. | Webflow is best suited for designers trying to build custom websites for themselves or their clients. It’s probably not the best option for novices – you’ll need to know at least some HTML and CSS to use it effectively – but it gives you much more flexibility in terms of design than you would have with something like Wix. |
| SEO Optimization | Wix has a dedicated Wix SEO Wiz, making it easy for anyone to optimize their site for search engines. | If you want to get technical with your SEO, Webflow might be the better option for you. |
| CMS | Wix has some elements and applications that function as part of a CMS; however, it’s not a “pure” Content Management System. | Webflow’s CMS allows you to create custom post types, build-out taxonomies (such as categories or tags), create dynamic lists based on multiple criteria, and add conditional logic for displaying content based on user input.
It also comes with CMS collections – top-level containers for your website’s content. They’re where you’ll create and manage your dynamic content like blog posts, portfolio items, and products. For a full-fledged CMS system, it would be hard to go past Webflow. |
| Major Pros |
|
|
| Major Cons |
|
|
| G2 Score | 4.2 | 4.4 |
| Export site to another host | No | Yes |
| Freemium Plan | No | Yes |
| Pricing | Starts at $14 per month | Starts at $12 per month |
| Free Trial | 14-day free trial; | N/A |
| Monetize members-only content | Yes | Yes |
Wix vs. Webflow: Detailed Comparison
1. User Interface
Wix:
Wix’s user interface is their bread and butter – it’s what made them famous.
The editor is intuitive and powerful, with tools and settings to help you make a website that fits your requirements.
Create a website using the drag-and-drop interface or pre-made templates for a head start and some extra polish.
The best part?
Wix also has a WYSIWYG (What You Get is What You See) editor, which allows you to see how your website will look in real-time as you’re creating it.
While it lacks some of the advanced features of its competitors, Wix’s intuitive website editor makes it easy for small businesses and e-commerce entrepreneurs to create professional-looking websites quickly.
After signing up, you will be asked to choose the type of website you need to create. You may choose to tackle these steps at a later time if you like.
There are plenty of templates to choose from, and they are all modern and responsive (i.e., they automatically adjust to the screen size).
You’ll just have to select a few options one after another, and before you know, you have a website of your choice. It’s hard not to get wowed by the fresh UI that belongs in the 21st century.
You can either let Wix ADI (more on this later) create a website for you after answering their few questions or choose a template and create one for yourself.
Webflow:
Webflow also provides a powerful and customizable user interface. However, unlike Wix, their user interface is geared towards people who want more control over their website’s design.
While it has drag-and-drop elements like Wix or Squarespace and markets itself as a “no-code platform,” users claim that having HTML and CSS knowledge – at least, the theory behind it – is a plus, especially if you want to understand the cascading part.
Tory Gray – CEO and Principal SEO Consultant at The Gray Dot Company (currently a Webflow website) – argues that “Webflow is really a platform for experienced designers to build a full-fledged website without the help of software developers.”
Gray says,
“No code just means no (mostly backend) development work. It does NOT necessarily mean no HTML or JavaScript. In terms of design options – CSS! – it gets exceedingly granular. So much so that if you aren’t comfortable operating a design program (Illustrator, Photoshop, Sketch, Figma, etc.) on a regular basis, it may be overwhelming.
As Webflow users (and non-designers – we’re a technical SEO team), we also end up doing quite a bit of in-content customization via custom code snippet boxes.
In summary, if you have a strong, senior designer – but not necessarily development resources, Webflow might be a great platform for you. If you don’t have a great designer, however, you might consider exploring other toolsets.”
Tyler Hakes, Strategy Director and Principal at Optimist, echoes the sentiment,
“I’m not a regular Webflow user, but in my own case, we also found that you had to do a reasonable amount of (at least) semi-technical tinkering to get stuff exactly how you want it.”
That said, not everything requires coding know-how. For instance, you can create custom layouts and styles for your website without coding.
Again, the user interface can be daunting for beginners, and it may take some time to get used to it.
That said, they assist you every step of the way.
As soon as you sign up, they’ll ask you questions like “How comfortable are you with HTML and CSS” to help you get started based on your experience level.
Once you’re inside the Builder, they’ll give you directions as you work your way through the application.
While not as smooth as Wix, Webflow’s user interface is pretty easy to use for a developer. It’s easy to sign up, access their dashboard, add new sites, drag and drop “containers,” and start with a pre-made responsive template.
Winner: Wix
With Wix, you get a modern user interface and easy-to-use scrolling elements. That said, someone with more website building experience might prefer Webflow.
Ruben Gamez, Founder & CEO of Signwell, sums it up,
“Whether you go for Wix or Webflow will depend a lot on your coding ability. The interface of Webflow is a little more complex but allows for more flexibility for custom code and, therefore, control over the design of your website (but, of course, more potential to break your site!).
Wix has a drag-and-drop interface and hundreds of templates, which means it’s not as flexible, but it is simpler to use for those with little-to-no experience building sites.”
2. Website/ Landing Page Builder and Templates
Wix Website Builder:
Wix is one of the most popular website and landing page builders, with hundreds of templates to choose from and an easy drag-and-drop interface.
While it lacks some of the advanced features of its competitors, Wix’s intuitive website editor makes it easy for small businesses, freelancers, bloggers, and e-commerce entrepreneurs to create professional-looking websites quickly.
Wix has a selection of 800 pre-designed templates that are ready for you to customize however you want. It’s easy to add text and images, change your layout, and more.
Most of these templates are modern and responsive, and they’re updated regularly. You can even sort the templates by your business goals, use cases, and popularity.
The drag-and-drop nature of the website builder makes it easy to use and create a website within minutes. It also lets you change the structure of your site by rearranging elements and adding new pages.
Just pick a template, add your content and elements, customize the colors, and you’re good to go.
The structure of the website builder looks like this irrespective of the template you select:
On the left side of the page, you will find tabs from where you can add different elements like text, image, button, list, box, and much more.
To add an item to your project, search for it in the search box, and drag it to the place you’d like it to be.
Besides elements, you will also get a Site Design option, where you can customize the global color and text theme, page background, and page transitions.
Push the limits with advanced design features. Add your own fonts and bring your site to life with video backgrounds, parallax scroll, zoom in or fade in scrolling, scroll effect, etc.
Next, you have the “Add Apps” tab, which will lead you to the marketplace like WordPress plugins.
These apps enhance the functionality and help you add advanced elements to your site and landing pages, including polls, surveys, comment boxes, contact form builders.
Adding media files is also straightforward with Wix.
In addition, Wix’s website builder comes with:
- A free domain name
- 50 GB of cloud storage
- Libraries of free visual content, custom animations, and vector art
- 2-step verification
- 24/7 website security monitoring
- Mobile-optimized templates
- Built-in accessibility tools like keyboard navigation
- Free SSL certificate
All the features you need to take your business online for the first time!
Aside from the standard drag-and-drop builder, Wix has two more options.
First is the Velo editor by Wix, which is a full-stack website development toolset to enable professional web developers to build production-ready, high-performance web applications.
And if you need to get online fast, you can use Wix ADI, a solid AI website builder. Just answer a few simple questions, and Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) will build a professional website for you in under 10 minutes.
Webflow Website Builder:
Webflow is a visual development tool for web designers and developers. It’s more freeform than a traditional website builder, and as you build your site visually, Webflow generates the HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript code.
To get started, you can either choose one of the free Webflow templates or start from scratch if you want absolute control over the design and layout of your website. Webflow has a directory of multiple HTML5 responsive business, portfolio, and blog templates.
The Webflow editor includes a set of design tools that can be used to visually design a responsive website. For instance, there are styling tools for typography, colors, grid layouts, flexbox layouts, and more. These tools can also be used to create custom animations and interactions without code.
The website builder overall is also more complicated than that of Wix. Let’s dissect it a bit.
Similar to Wix, the left side of the Webflow’s website builder consists of elements, symbols, navigator, pages, Webflow CMS, a separate section for eCommerce sites, assets, and settings.
The right side is unique. Here, you will find technical options such as CSS, code exporting, and the like.
Add text, images, the call-to-action text, buttons, and more to your landing page and web pages.
Webflow also allows you to add dynamic content—messaging, CTA buttons, testimonials—that can be changed as your business’s marketing goals change and target audience.
You will also find an interaction tab where you can create Element Trigger and Page Trigger – not directly offered by Wix.
Some of Webflow’s high-end design features include:
- Parallax scrolling
- Animations
- Multi-step animations
- Micro-interactions
Since I am somewhat of a novice at web designing, I found Webflow’s website builder to be a lot more confusing and frustrating. And as mentioned earlier, despite the claims that state otherwise, you need to know some coding to use the builder effectively.
Of course, this won’t be a problem if you already have some coding experience. And if you can get the coding part sorted, look no further than Webflow.
A particularly scathing review on Quora by Erica Kensho, an entrepreneur, suggests that anyone who understands how websites work, builds sites for a living, or knows how to write HTML or CSS, would have no second thoughts about Webflow.
According to Kensho, “Wix is geared towards allowing people who understand absolutely nothing about websites. It uses a fairly intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes it hard to screw things up, but it doesn’t really allow you to do anything that would “break” the website.”
Erica uses an interesting analogy to put her thoughts into perspective.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to make a landing page on your own, you can simply clone someone else’s landing page – or even hire a Webflow expert to create a landing page for you.
Winner: Depends on your coding ability.
Wix is a solid choice for anyone looking to build their own site quickly, especially if you’re not confident in your web design abilities and just want something straightforward. So, if I were to choose between Wix and Webflow solely based on my technical skills or lack thereof, I would go with Wix.
However, it lacks the flexibility of Webflow. If you are well versed with CSS and HTML, then Webflow’s website builder would be a better option.
Webflow sites are also truly responsive; the code is clean, allowing you to build your site however you like. But you will need to spend time learning the interface, reading the tutorials, and learning fundamental coding.
3. Customization and Design Flexibility
Wix:
One of my favorite things about Wix is that you can select from an array of templates and manipulate them the way you like. Customize your website’s fonts, colors, and backgrounds, and add your logo and images to match your branding.
For example, I recently created a website for a friend who wanted to use a specific shade of green. I was able to easily customize the background, text, and other elements to match her branding with a couple of clicks.
You can customize all the basic elements of your website without any coding skills from your side.
But it has some serious limitations.
As Payton Smith, a freelance web designer points out in his YouTube review, Wix doesn’t leave much room for website alignment. For instance, as you close the screen of your Wix site to make it smaller, you’ll notice that the images and the text just go off the screen rather than shrinking with it.
Unfortunately, Wix doesn’t let you do much about it since you don’t have any control over your website.
Next, Payton hopped on to his Webflow website, which you’ll notice is a lot more clean and professional. And as you make the size smaller, the viewport and the elements realign themselves with the shrinking size of the page.
Webflow:
At the risk of repeating myself, Webflow is the OG website builder when it comes to design flexibility.
You don’t have to rely solely on the drag-and-drop builder to add and customize web page elements. With Webflow, you can add custom code to your website’s CSS or HTML files to change the look and feel of any element or the entire web page.
For every template, there will be pre-built categories, but you can delete the existing sections and add your own sections.
Just click on elements and change its shape and size, style its background, add effects, add states, style its borders, and more.
You can also create your own custom fonts or use fonts from Google’s free font library.
The page builder comes well equipped with almost all the elements that one can need while crafting a website. For instance, embeddable third-party elements like social media feed, surveys, Google Docs and Sheet, live chat, and more.
However, it’s not as easy to use as Wix.
You need to know how to code in order to customize your website’s design.
Unlike Wix, adding elements in Webflow is also somehow complicated because it offers too many options. Of course, diverse options are always welcome, but for a complete novice like yours truly, it can be an issue.
Winner: Webflow.
Webflow is superior in terms of design flexibility, but Wix is easier to use. Webflow websites are also more responsive than Wix websites.
4. SEO Features
Wix:
The Wix SEO Wiz tool takes you step-by-step through a series of questions about your business and the keywords you want to target.
At the end of the process, it gives you a personalized list with everything you need to do to optimize your site for search engines — from customizing page titles and writing meta descriptions to improve image alt tags and submitting sitemaps.
Add keywords, title tags, and descriptions to your website, and more – and Wix will automatically optimize them for you.
Besides, Wix offers a number of additional features and add-ons that help you improve your website’s ranking on search engines. For example, Wix’s site booster tool helps you optimize your website for Google and other search engines.
Similarly, there are many other SEO add-ons that you can download from the Wix App Market to enhance the SEO capabilities of your site.
Webflow:
Webflow also has a number of built-in SEO features – from site-wide metadata to dynamic meta tags for each page or blog post – to help you get the most out of your design, content, and traffic.
Here’s what it’s all about:
- Adding meta tags to your site
- Add and edit schema markup
- Adding dynamic meta tags to your pages
- Defining meta titles and descriptions
- Indexing and sitemap control
- 301 redirect managements
- Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console
- Simple alt tag editing
The best part? Rooted in HTML and CSS, Webflow focuses on clean, semantic code that search engine crawlers can easily index and parse.
Winner: It’s a Draw.
Both Wix and Webflow offer comprehensive SEO features. However, while Webflow offers more flexibility, Wix is easier to use.
5. Ecommerce Tools
Wix:
Wix offers a wide range of features to make it easy for you to build a functioning ecommerce site. You can choose from over 500 templates designed with ecommerce in mind, making it easy for you to set up a shop and start selling.
Add all elements you need to start selling online: a customizable shopping cart, secure checkout, coupons and discounts, real-time shipping calculation, taxes, currency converter, and more.
Other ecommerce features include:
- Add coupons, discounts, and automatic tax calculations.
- Take payments through debit cards, credit cards, and PayPal, Stripe, among other payment gateways.
- Multichannel inventory management and store management.
- Handle marketing and SEO from a centralized platform.
- Manage all your orders in one place.
- Store analytics and business in
- Sell on Facebook, Instagram, and Google Shopping, so your products reach more customers on the channels they use every day.
All in all, Wix has all the basics to help you create, manage, promote, and run your online store.
Webflow:
While many other ecommerce platforms are designed for either developers or non-developers, Webflow features an intuitive drag-and-drop builder that is accessible to anyone.
Design your store and products, add your payment gateway, manage your inventory and fulfillment services, build your marketing campaigns, and more — all from one integrated platform.
Webflow contains all the features of Wix – and even surpasses it in many areas. For instance, Webflow allows you to modify the checkout forms, chat with customers in-store, and manage inventory.
Mathias Ahlgren, the founder and CEO of Website Rating, has used both Wix and Webflow and prefers Webflow for its flexibility and ecommerce features.
“I would say that Webflow is more flexible and better for ecommerce.
Webflow’s flexibility comes from their dynamic lists. It makes it easy to connect multiple pages that share similar content.
For example, you could make a list of products with descriptions, images, etc. Then, you could easily update the information in one place and propagate the change across all of your product pages.”
Winner: Webflow
Wix is good for individuals or small businesses who want an online store with limited features and wants it to look very professional.
On the other hand, Webflow is designed for businesses that want to go beyond the basics of Wix and have more control over their website’s design, features, and functionality. So, for eCommerce purposes, Webflow is the better builder.
6. Supported Platforms and Integrations
Wix:
Wix is designed to be used by anyone, regardless of their technical skills.
Because of this, Wix has a wide range of integrations and platforms that it supports.
The Wix App Market provides over 250 apps that can be added directly to your site with just a single click, including social media plug-ins, contact forms, online booking tools, Zapier, Google Analytics, etc.
This includes the ability to create websites compatible with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify and Magento, social media integrations that allow you to connect your website with popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and more.
Webflow:
Webflow also has a dedicated directory where you can find plugins and widgets to embed in your site.
It also integrates with prominent ecommerce platforms (like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix) and social media platforms (like Facebook and Twitter).
However, the available integrations are more robust and allow for more customization than Wix’s integrations.
For example, with Webflow, you can create custom checkout flows that are unique to your website.
Similarly, you can customize the look and feel of your social media integrations to align them with the design of your website.
Winner: It’s a draw.
7. Website Speed and Performance
I individually checked the speed and performance of each on Google Page Speed Insights and GTMetrix. And to avoid any possible bias, I installed lightweight templates and created a dummy website on both Wix and Webflow.
Here are the results:
Wix in Google Page Speed Insights:
Wix in GTMetrix:
Webflow in Google Page Speed Insights:
Webflow in GTMetrix:
From the above analysis, it is clear Webflow easily outperforms Wix in terms of speed and performance.
However, there still remains a sliver of skepticism on this analysis.
One of the obvious ones is that the difference in page scores happened because of the different templates and different elements loaded in them.
However, Nadin Dunnigan, a WordPress designer and photographer, had a similar experience. She examined over 1200 websites and found that Wix websites do not feature in Google much in the top ten results.
Nadin says,
“I’ve developed my photography website in Webflow and loved the process. I am a WordPress designer normally, but a few years ago wanted to try out Webflow as they promised faster server speeds for photo-heavy websites, and that’s totally true, although it does require some experience, especially if you’re looking for CSS amendments across the board.
I’d never touch Wix because I have rescued many businesses from the platform as it’s simply not flexible enough.”
Winner: Webflow
As Wix is designed for users with little to no technical skills, it is not as fast and responsive as Webflow. Webflow is the better choice for users who want a website that is fast and performs well. Plus, Webflow appears to be well-coded without any clutter and superfluous extras.
8. Pricing
Wix Pricing:
Wix offers four premium plans:
- Combo ($14 per month) – Suitable for personal use
- Unlimited ($18/month) – Ideal for Freelancers & Entrepreneurs)
- Pro ($23/month) – Suitable for complete online branding
- VIP ($39/month) – With first priority support
If you need an eCommerce store with all the essentials, Wix has a separate stack of Business & ecommerce plans for that – starting from $23 per month.
Webflow Pricing:
Webflow has a completely free version (they call it Starter) where you get access to 50 CMS items, 1 GB bandwidth, but with a restriction to a domain name with the extension – webflow.io.
Next, it offers four paid plans:
- Basic ($12/month) – Essentials to launch a simple site.
- CMS ($16/month) – Suitable for a blog or other content-driven site.
- Business ($36/month) – Ideal for a high-traffic marketing site.
- Enterprise (Quoted-based) – For advanced features like enterprise-level security, compliance, and scalability.
Similar to Wix, Webflow offers separate website and ecommerce plans, with ecommerce plans starting from $42 per month.
9. Customer Support
Wix:
Wix’s support team can be contacted by email, phone, or online chat.
Wix also offers a handy knowledge base that includes user guides, getting started guides, and frequently asked questions (FAQs).
With its 24/7 live chat and phone support, Wix is always there to help you with any question or problem you may have.
Webflow:
Webflow offers customer support through blogs, forums, FAQs, and email.
Although Webflow lacks important support channels like live chat and phone calls, Webflow University provides profound tutorials on the basics of the platform and specific design-related questions.
Winner: Wix
Wix offers better customer support than Webflow, with live chat and phone support available 24/7.
Webflow vs. Wix: What do Professional Web Designers Use?
Both Wix and Webflow are two of the best website builders.
They both offer drag-and-drop design tools, built-in search engine optimization features, ecommerce features, extensive integration options, digital marketing tools, reasonably priced website plans, content management systems, and more.
If you’re looking for a website builder that offers more flexibility and control over the look and feel of your website, Webflow is the website builder for you.
But if you’re just dabbling in web design and don’t need all the bells and whistles that come with an advanced website builder, Wix will be more than enough.
But keep in mind that Wix doesn’t let you integrate custom HTML codes like Webflow or make structural changes to your site, so if you want anything more advanced than what Wix templates let you do (and they do have a lot), then you’re out of luck.
Takeaway: Wix is great for small businesses, startups, or a personal website. Webflow is better for design-oriented people and complex projects.
Both Wix and Webflow have their fair share of pros and cons. When deciding, do your due diligence to ensure you are selecting the best website builder. You might also want to evaluate them against other website builders on the market.