Shopify is a hosted commerce platform with a built-in checkout. Wix is a hosted website builder with its own apps for bookings, stores, restaurants and events. The better choice depends on what your site has to do and who will run it.
With Shopify: app costs and app overlap add up as features are added. and product and collection URLs use fixed /products and /collections paths.
With Wix: blog content does not export to another platform, so a later move means rebuilding it. and taking payments and bookings online needs a paid plan.
List the jobs the site must do, such as bookings, a store, listings or member logins.
Check each job against what each platform has built in, through add-ons or as custom work.
Decide who will update the site day to day, and how often.
Check what you could take with you if you move later.
| Criterion | Shopify | Wix |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and upkeep[1][3] | Hosting is included with every Shopify plan. | Hosting is included with Wix plans. |
| Selling online[7][2][8] | Products and checkout are built in and managed from the Shopify admin. | Wix Stores sells physical and digital products, subscriptions and gift cards. |
| Custom code[9][10][11] | Theme files, including Liquid templates, can be edited in the code editor. | Velo adds page code and backend code, and custom snippets can go in the site head or body. |
| Adding features[12][4][5][6][13][14] | Many features, such as bookings, come from apps in the Shopify App Store. | Wix's own apps cover bookings, restaurants, events, donations and memberships. |
| Moving away later[15][16][17] | Products export to CSV, but the export leaves out product images. | Blog posts cannot be exported to other platforms, while CMS collections export to CSV. |
Products export to CSV, but the export leaves out product images. Any move should map every old address to its new page with permanent redirects.[15][18]
Blog posts cannot be exported to other platforms, while CMS collections export to CSV. Any move should map every old address to its new page with permanent redirects.[16][17][18]
Yes. Shopify is one of the platforms we build on, and we recommend it when it suits the jobs your site has to do. If another platform fits better, we say so. We customise and improve existing Wix sites. If your site needs more than Wix offers, we recommend a platform that fits and plan the move.
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