Wix vs Weebly: Which is the Best Website Builder for 2020?

Wix and Weebly are two of the oldest and best website builders on the market. After establishing their brands on offering free websites, they now sport a long list of plans with builders capable of creating a professional website.

In this comparison, we’re going to pit Wix vs. Weebly over five rounds to see which is better. As with many of these comparison pieces, much of what we’ll talk about is personal preference. We’re going to back up our winners with logic, of course, but you should read our thoughts to make up your mind.

If you want to see how we judged these website builders on their own, read our Wix review and Weebly review.

Wix Review

Visit Wix

Setting Up a Fight: Wix vs Weebly

Wix and Weebly made it into multiple rounds of our best website builders guide and rank neck-and-neck in our reviews. It should be an interesting comparison, as both have a lot to offer in terms of features and design at a reasonable price.

We’re going to compare them using the five criteria we use to evaluate website builders in our reviews. We’re going to describe what we’re looking for in a round, give you the pros and cons of each service, provide thoughts on the round and declare a winner. Whichever website builder takes three or more rounds wins.

Since Wix and Weebly are so close in ratings, we’ll have to use some tiebreakers. Most of our reasoning will be in the round thoughts, so make sure you read them before jumping to the winner.

There are multiple rounds where there isn’t a clear cut winner. Round three, for example, will come down to preference.

Honestly, you can’t go wrong with either of the website builders. For the sake of this comparison, though, only one can win. While it’ll likely be by thin margins, we’re still going to find out which is the best.

1. Features

The core function of a website builder is simple. You get a drag-and-drop interface that’s, hopefully, easy to use. For the first round, we’re going to look for features that go beyond the builder itself and allow you to build a website that’s better than the sum of its parts.

Wix

We awarded Wix a perfect score for features, and it’s easy to see why. It’s full of them, from designing your brand to integrating third-party services. Weebly brings much to the table, too, but it’ll have an uphill battle in this round.

Wix has one of the best app stores we’ve seen. Most options are developed by Wix or come from well-known brands. That makes the count lower, but the quality much higher. It covers every area in which you’d need an app without the frustrating process of trying out low-quality options until you find one that works.

Most apps offer a free, restricted version, too. Wix Hotels, for example, has a free and premium version. The free version still allows you to set up a booking system and configure rates, but doesn’t support mobile booking or multiple languages.

The app store sets Wix apart from other website builders. While they also have app stores, few feel as comprehensive as Wix’s. All the apps are high-quality and work with the system Wix has established.

Wix integrates an search engine optimization tool into your website, too. You can set keywords for pages, specify meta descriptions and edit images with alt tags. It provides extensive guides on SEO, as well, which should help you rank higher in Google results.

Templates are a good way to establish a look for your website and brand. Wix goes a step further and provides a logo designer. After answering a few questions, Wix will present you with several logo options that you can edit further. The logo can be integrated into your theme easily without formatting issues.

The logo editor uses the free vector art gallery that comes with Wix. High quality graphics are a costly, but essential, part of a good looking website. Wix’s inclusion of a gallery with any plan saves you money and provides an easy way to add graphics to your website.

Wix offers extras such as an SSL/TLS certificate, ad credits and form builder, too. The options are standard for a good website builder, but the quality is far higher than those of its competitors.

Weebly

Weebly has a stacked feature list, as well. While it can trade blows with Wix well, it lacks the quality of Wix’s app store. Even so, there’s a lot to like and you may find that Weebly’s options are a better fit.

The app store is larger, overall. You’ll find many options for a single purpose, but you may need to hunt for the best tool for you. The app store feels like WordPress’s in that you’ll have to sift through some mediocre apps to find what you need.

Unlike Wix, most of the apps are third-party. There are excellent options, but it adds a level of inconsistency to the app store. Some apps provide free and paid plans, while others don’t even offer a trial.

It comes down to needs and preference. You may find an app with Weebly that works better than Wix’s apps, but that won’t always be the case. Printful, for example, is an excellent fulfillment service that you can integrate for free with Weebly websites. That said, other apps only offer a paid version, such as Appointed, which is a booking app similar to Wix Hotels.

You won’t need the app store for basic website functions, though. Blog and form support are included out of the gate. Wix makes you install the blogging app to access that feature.

You won’t get some extras, though. Weebly doesn’t include ad credits, website review, SEO services or a vector art gallery. Since the art gallery is one of our favorite features on Wix, the omission of it hurts Weebly in this round.

While you can’t pay Weebly to fix your SEO, you can edit it. The same options are available, including keywords, meta descriptions and alt tags. There are a few guides, but they don’t feel as comprehensive as Wix’s. That isn’t too much of a gripe, though, as there’s a lot of SEO information online.

Weebly has a good app store and useful features such as blogging built in. The SEO tool is nice, too. Overall, the experience is good and worthy of consideration, but it’s not on Wix’s level.

Round One Thoughts

You get an excellent app center with either website builder. The Wix offering integrates neatly with the rest of the service, but may lack the customization that a third-party app can provide. On the flipside, Weebly caters to that niche market, but at the cost of usability and, sometimes, quality.

The app store that will fit your needs comes down to preference, though, so it’s worth it to check out both. The distinction for this round is the vector art gallery. That is a massive addition to Wix’s services and Weebly’s omission of it is enough to lose the round.

Round: Features
Point for Wix

	Visit Wix	1
	Visit Weebly	0

2. Pricing

Price is important when choosing a website builder. Wix and Weebly have many plans, but the inexpensive ones come with limited storage space and bandwidth. To get the full experience, you’ll have to start at the middle of the curve.

Wix

Since its release in 2006, Wix has been a go-to option for free websites. The current lineup has more plans, but the free one is still at the core. As long as you can deal with the “.wix.com” domain extension, there are few other ways to build a great looking website for free.

Wix Free Domain Name	FREE
Connect Domain .5 GB Storage Space 1 GB Bandwidth 1 Domains Domain Name	$ 5.00/ month
Combo Free domainRemove Wix ads Details 3 GB Storage Space 2 GB Bandwidth 1 Domains Domain Name	$ 11.00/ month
Unlimited $300 ad voucherSite Booster appForm Builder app Details 10 GB Storage Space Unlimited GB Bandwidth 1 Domains Domain Name	$ 14.00/ month
Ecommerce Online store Details 20 GB Storage Space Unlimited GB Bandwidth 1 Domains Domain Name	$ 17.00/ month
VIP VIP supportProfessional site review Details 20 GB Storage Space Unlimited GB Bandwidth 1 Domains Domain Name	$ 25.00/ month

The free plan has its downsides, not the least of which is the domain extension. There are also non-intrusive Wix ads placed in the footer of your website. The free plan is best for trying the service and building your website. You can upgrade to a paid plan afterward and remove the restrictions without starting over.

Wix offers a plan that connects your domain to the Wix builder. We don’t recommend it, though. While the plan is cheap, you’ll still have to deal with Wix ads. It also only gives you 500MB of storage and 1GB of bandwidth.

The first “real” plan is Combo which comes with 3GB of storage and 2GB of bandwidth. Wix includes a free domain and removes all ads from your website, too. For most users, this is the plan you should use.

That said, to get more storage and remove bandwidth restrictions, you need to upgrade to Unlimited. The $3 premium is well worth it, not only for the storage space and bandwidth, but also for the $300 in ad credits included. The plan is the same as Combo, otherwise.

Neither Unlimited nor Combo let you run an online store, though. E-commerce plans cost another $3, but go beyond simply adding a store to your website. Wix includes calculated shipping rates, discounts and automatic email reminders for free. You also get twice the storage space as Unlimited.

At the top of the lineup, the VIP plan offer everything the E-commerce plan does, except with the addition of a professional website review and priority support. For nearly $10 extra per month, though, it doesn’t seem worth it.

The low-end of plans are confusing. Connect Domain and Combo don’t make much sense, especially when an upgrade to Unlimited is so cheap. There are three plans you should look at: Free, Unlimited and E-commerce. Depending on your needs, one of those plans will suit you without breaking the bank.

Weebly

Weebly is cheaper across the board and introduces online stores at a lower tier, but the features of the online store aren’t on Wix’s level. There’s no mid-tier e-commerce plan, which may force an upgrade if you need e-commerce features.

The core of Weebly, as with Wix, is its free plan. You’ll still have to display nonintrusive Weebly ads on your website and use a “.weebly.com” domain extension, but you get full SSL/TLS encryption, live chat and email support and access to free SEO tools.

There’s an awkward plan for connecting your domain like Wix’s, too. It has the same storage space, but unlimited bandwidth, and costs a dollar less per month. We’re still not fans of this kind of plan, though.

Starter is where the lineup begins to shine. The plan, and all those that follow, has unlimited storage and bandwidth. It’s the same as Wix’s Unlimited plan, but nearly half the cost. You get a free domain, no Weebly ads, SSL encryption and access to an online store, though the feature set is limited. You’re also restricted to 10 products.

The Pro plan is essentially the same, but add a few features. You get password protection for certain areas of your website, for example. That is useful for setting up a membership area and only allowing users with the password access. It come with support for video backgrounds, too. Pro plans allow up to 25 products and 100 registered members.

For twice the price of Pro, you can get a Business plan. That is the plan we recommend for e-commerce outlets. The product limits are removed and you’re charged no transaction fees. Additional tools, such as product reviews and a shipping calculator, are included, too.

While the Business plan is worth it, we can’t help feel the lack of an e-commerce plan to bridge the gap between it and the Pro plan. While Starter and above come with support for an online store, Business is the only one that caters to dedicated e-commerce outlets.

Round Two Thoughts

Weebly is cheaper than Wix across the board. Both offer a similar lineup of plans, including a free one and an awkward one for connecting your domain. There are also expensive plans that come with a slew of additional features, mainly for e-commerce outlets.

While we’re missing a middle-of-the-road e-commerce plan on Weebly, the value is undeniable. Most users will choose a Pro plan at Weebly or an Unlimited plan at Wix. Weebly does it for much cheaper, though, making the winner clear for this round.

Round: Pricing
Point for Weebly

	Visit Wix	1
	Visit Weebly	1

3. Design and Tools

The core of any website builder is the builder itself. In this round, we’re going to  look at how you can build your website with one of these tools. This is where we’ll talk about the power of the builder and the tools you’re provided to create your website.

Wix

Wix’s builder has a lot of power, almost to its detriment. It’s clear a lot of thought has been put in to organizing the tools for maximized workflow. The number of options can’t be ignored, though, and that may be a deterrent if you want to start building your website without a learning curve.

The theme selection is the same way. It can be overwhelming, simply because there are so many options. Wix provides templates for everything from portfolios to online stores, with subcategories in each. There are a good range of usable templates that don’t fall into the overzealous traps that website builder templates often do.

The templates do most of the legwork. You’ll get a functioning website with Wix’s dummy content from the start. After that, it’s a matter of replacing what’s there with your content, adjusting fonts, changing colors, etc.

While the interface is complex, the built out templates provide a roadmap for how to learn it. That is one of Wix’s strongest points — the ability to start with a theme and learn the interface as you go. We’re going to talk more about that in the next round.

The tools at your disposal are excellent. Wix includes a full suite of text, media and dynamic element tools. You have quick access to the vector art gallery, too, which is a major plus for making your website look professional.

While not astounding on their own, the combination of multiple Wix apps can create something great. For example, you could use Blogs, Forum, Chat and Hit Counter to turn your blog area into a social experience.

The abundance of tools presents a few hurdles to ease of use. That said, everything is a win for this section. Wix gives you powerful tools to build your website, no matter what your goal is.

Outside of the dynamic elements that build out the many templates Wix offers, you’re left to configure your website with the app store. Most of the apps are simple and broad. For example, you can download Wix Forums and Wix Hit Counter.

Weebly

Weebly has a smaller selection of templates than Wix, but it’s still enough to get you started. Most are focused on visual appeal as they should be for a website, but to a fault. You’re going to have a hard time finding a straightforward look if you want it.

The templates aren’t as interactive as Wix’s, either. Most are flashy, resembling the look of Squarespace (read our Squarespace review). While we like Squarespace’s templates for certain websites, as well as Weebly’s templates, Wix covers a larger area with its selection.

Weebly embraces the “drag-and-drop” ethos that most website builders adopt. The interface is interactive, meaning you can literally drag elements onto your page, not just rearrange them. That leads to an intuitive experience that isn’t fancy, but gets the job done.

A sidebar holds all the elements that can be added to your page. Clicking on one of them and dragging it to the position you want is all you need to do. The elements that appear in the sidebar are page specific, too. For example, you’ll have a small section of blogging elements on your blog page.

While the template selection is smaller, the app selection is larger. You can browse the app store by using the top toolbar on the page you’re editing. It’ll open a window to the app store, which is cleanly laid out.

If you purchased an e-commerce plan, there are many useful tools. Products can be listed as physical goods, digital downloads or services and each product has SEO settings built in. If you opted for a Business plan, you can also set up automatic inventory tracking, manual tax exemptions and badges for low stock, out of stock and products that are on sale.

Weebly has a clean user interface that’s intuitive if it’s the first website builder you’ve used. It has many options, no matter the purpose of your website, and a large app store, to boot. We wanted to see straightforward templates in addition to the eye candy, but everything else works well.

Round Three Thoughts

Wix and Weebly excel with their builders. Wix has a more complex interface that rewards exploration, while Weebly manages most of the power with a streamlined appearance. No matter which you choose, though, you should be able to achieve your goal.

The difference comes down to dynamic elements and template selection. Both builders provide enough to choose from, but you’re going to have a hard time finding a straightforward look with Weebly. Because of that, Wix takes the win in this round.

Round: Design and Tools
Point for Wix

	Visit Wix	2
	Visit Weebly	1

4. Ease of Use

Website builders exist for their ease of use. The power is welcome, of course, but the concept of interacting with your webpage as it appears online is what makes website builders shine. We’re going to look at how easily you can create a beautiful looking website with Wix and Weebly next.

Wix

Wix has a complex builder that, surprisingly, doesn’t get in the way of ease of use. The templates, while dense, provide a roadmap for learning the interface. In the cleanest sense of the phrase, you learn by doing with Wix.

Once you’ve selected your template, you’ll be taken to the editor, which displays your webpage and five to eight button on the left side. The number of buttons depends on your template and the additional apps you have installed. Every website will have “menus,” “background,” “add elements,” “add apps” and “uploads.”

Many of the buttons have subcategories. For example, “add elements” allows you to add text, images, boxes, videos, music and much more. The segregation makes the button approach shine. There is no overlap between the buttons, which means, for example, that all your elements will be added using the “add elements” button.

You make changes in the editor. There isn’t a back end interface like WordPress has. When a change is made on your website, you’ll see it in real time.

After everything is configured, you can use the drag-and-drop interface to move elements around on your website. When you select an element, you’ll also see buttons for editing it. For example, you can change the site of a text box or edit the font and color without placing another text element.

By dragging around elements, you can place them exactly where you want. Wix uses Photoshop-esque markers for lining up everything on your page. It’ll allow you to freely move elements and snap them into place when they’re close to another one.

You don’t have to design your website, though. Wix Artificial Design Intelligence will build your website automatically. As with the logo designer, you answer a few questions about the purpose and look of the website, and ADI sets it up for you.

ADI is meant for online stores, in particular. It’ll ask what you’re selling, keywords for your brand and the color scheme you prefer. The process doesn’t take more than a few minutes and you can make slight changes to your website once it’s done.

As you might expect, the designs are rudimentary. You’re not going to get the dynamic elements or niche design choices you you would with the main editor. For making a website in under 10 minutes, though, we can’t complain.

Wix manages its power with a complex interface that’s surprisingly easy to learn. You’ll still need to learn it, though. Dynamic elements can clog up the workspace and make moving things a nightmare. Still, Wix is easier to use than some other website builders, such as  1&1 Website Builder, which has a nice feature set you can read about in our 1&1 Website Builder review.

Weebly

Weebly has a streamlined interface that makes it excellent for building your website quickly. It can take a while to get used to, though, especially if you’re coming from another website builder. That said, its drag-and-drop experience makes tasks that are complex on other website builders simple.

You can select an element from the left-side toolbar and drag it onto your page. Weebly uses markers to show you where the element will land and adjusts the surrounding elements to accommodate it.

It works like a puzzle, for which you choose the pieces. Even with little design experience, everything on the page will line up. During our testing, we tried breaking Weebly’s editor by adding as many elements as we could to a section. While the result didn’t look good, Weebly managed to make everything fit.

The elements you can add depend on which page you’re editing. For example, you’ll only have access to the blogging elements while editing your blog. You won’t have to worry about adding an element to a page that could break it.

It adds restriction and confusion during design, though. We had to hunt for the blogging tools only to realize they’d appear while editing the blog. You don’t have full control over your design like you do with Wix.

You’re also missing out on ADI. Jimdo, a website builder we took kindly to in our Jimdo review, offers a similar service to ADI called Jimdo Dolphin. Given the rest of Weebly’s service, we’d expect it here, too. Unfortunately, there’s nothing of the sort.

Weebly has an excellent interface, though. For most websites, it’s easier to use than Wix. That said, it has limitations in design and there’s no automatic tool on offer. If you want to build a simple website, though, Weebly works wonders.

Round Four Thoughts

This round was difficult because Weebly is easier to use, but it has limitations because of that, which makes Wix look more attractive overall. If you’re focused purely on a simple design experience, Weebly should be your choice.

Wix isn’t overly complex, though. It’s more complex than Weebly, but time and common sense will make you proficient. Given its power and the ability to design a website automatically, Wix has to take this round.

Round: Ease of Use
Point for Wix

	Visit Wix	3
	Visit Weebly	1

5. Support

Support isn’t as important as other areas for a website builder. The interface should work and, if it doesn’t, support isn’t going to solve the issue. Because of that, most website builders skimp on it. We’re looking for Wix and Weebly to go above and beyond for their customers, despite their tools not needing much support.

Wix

Wix focuses its support around a help center, which makes sense given how streamlined the builder is. While direct support is available, you have to go through an annoying process in the help center to find it.

The help center has articles covering 34 topics. When we went through them, we noticed they broke down into two categories: FAQs and tutorials. Wix doesn’t categorize them like that, though.

The FAQs contain just about anything you could dream up, even the most basic questions. We found a dedicated article for Wix Logo automatic payment renewal that simply said Wix Logo is a one-time fee. While most people would know that, it’s not hard to imagine someone having that question.

Tutorials account for a larger number of articles in the help center. The walkthroughs come with step-by-step instructions, without unnecessary copy on why you’d want to do something. Simple tutorials, such as changing the header design, come with a video, too.

Wix offers direct support over phone and email. It’s clearly intended to be used after you’ve consulted the help center, though, as the process for finding the contact forms is infuriating.

You have to find an article in the help center, select “no” under the “did this answer your question?” section, go through an automated help system and then you’ll be taken to the contact page.

The support is offered, but it’s hard to find. That said, we like the help center a lot. It should be able to answer most questions. If you need to contact support, though, good luck going through the process.

Weebly

Weebly’s support structure is similar to Wix’s, with a help center at the core for answering most issues. Unlike Wix, Weebly has a direct route to contacting support, though. There are more contact options, too.

The help center is broken up into six topics, including e-commerce, building your website and email marketing. There are subtopics within each topic, so you can find what you need from the main screen. There’s a search bar at the top, as well, if you want to bypass the hierarchy entirely.

The articles are well written, outfitted with step-by-step instruction and large screenshots, but the instructions aren’t labeled. That makes the articles difficult to scan if you’re stuck on a particular step in the process. Video tutorials would help on that front, too.

Weebly provides a community forum, which is one of the strongest areas of support. It is easy to get around and plenty active. During our observation, an admin replied to most posts within a hour.

If you need to contact support, you can do so from anywhere in the help center. Weebly offers email, phone and chat support. Like Wix, Weebly will push you toward the help center first, but it feels more like a nudge than a shove.

Support is about options and it’s clear that Weebly understands that. If you need help from a representative, or want to have a go at it yourself, there are tools for you. Compared to Wix’s difficult process, things are looking good for Weebly this round.

Round Five Thoughts

Neither Wix nor Weebly has bad support. You can find nearly anything you need in their help centers and direct support is available if you look for it. While the quality is on par, the ease is not. Weebly has a streamlined support system that presents all the options out front, which is enough to win this round.

Round: Support
Point for Weebly

	Visit Wix	3
	Visit Weebly	2

6. The Verdict

Wix and Weebly are our two highest rated website builders, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that the comparison was close. You can’t go wrong with either one, but,, when put against each other, it’s clear that Wix has the advantage in power, usability and features.

Weebly has decent power and an easy to use interface, but it shines with its price point and support. If you’re trying to save a few bucks, it’s a great choice. You’ll have to sacrifice in design decisions, though.

Thankfully, you can try both for free to see which is better for you.

Winner: Wix

Have you used Wix or Weebly? Which one do you like better? Let us know in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.

Wix Review

Visit Wix