Is Wix better than Shopify for building an online store?
The answer depends on your specific business needs and goals. Both platforms excel in different areas, making them suitable for different types of businesses.
When Wix Is the Better Choice
Wix shines as a versatile website builder that includes e-commerce capabilities rather than being purely focused on online selling. It's ideal for early-stage businesses, service providers, creatives, and small stores where selling is secondary to content and design.
The platform offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes it easier for beginners to create visually stunning websites without technical knowledge. You'll have greater creative control over your site's appearance, and the built-in SEO wizard provides helpful guidance for optimizing your pages.
For small businesses selling under 50,000 products (Wix's limit), the platform provides all essential e-commerce features including customizable checkout, secure payment processing, and basic inventory management. It also offers superior blogging tools compared to Shopify, making it excellent for content-driven businesses.
Learn more about Wix's e-commerce features
When Shopify Is the Better Choice
Shopify is purpose-built for e-commerce and clearly dominates when selling is your primary business function. The platform allows unlimited products on all plans, compared to Wix's 50,000 product cap, making it the obvious choice for scaling retail operations.
Shopify provides superior multichannel selling capabilities, letting you sell across TikTok Shop, Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, and physical retail locations through integrated POS systems. All sales data synchronizes in one dashboard, giving you complete visibility across channels.
With over 8,000 e-commerce-specific integrations (compared to Wix's 800+), Shopify offers far more flexibility for specialized needs like dropshipping, advanced inventory management, and customer retention tools. The platform also loads faster (averaging 1.3 seconds), which directly impacts conversion rates.
International selling capabilities are significantly stronger on Shopify, supporting over 130 currencies and providing localized checkout experiences. The platform also offers shipping discounts up to 88% through carrier partnerships.
Key Differences at a Glance
Design Flexibility: Wix wins with more creative customization options and easier visual editing.
E-commerce Power: Shopify dominates with unlimited products, better inventory management, and advanced selling features.
Ease of Use: Wix is slightly more beginner-friendly with its drag-and-drop interface.
Scalability: Shopify is built for growth and can handle businesses of any size.
Pricing: Both start at $29/month when billed annually, though feature limitations differ between tiers.
Making Your Decision
Choose Wix if you're building a content-rich website with some selling functionality, prioritize design flexibility, run a small store with limited products, or want the easiest possible site-building experience.
Choose Shopify if e-commerce is your core business model, you plan to scale significantly, need multichannel selling, manage extensive product catalogs, or require advanced business analytics and integrations.
For serious online retailers with growth ambitions, Shopify is generally the stronger choice. For small businesses, creatives, and service providers who want a beautiful website that also sells products, Wix offers the perfect balance of design freedom and e-commerce functionality.