Building a Wix website in 2026: prices, pros and cons, and when a custom site is the better choice

By Erdal, Automationstar · Last updated on 13 October 2026

Wix is an online website builder that lets you create a website without technical knowledge, hosting included. For a business site you need a paid plan: in 2026 that normally costs €14 to €149 per month, excluding VAT. Wix works well for simple sites, but you cannot move your site to another host.

In short

• Wix offers templates for building a business site, web shop or portfolio.
• Connecting your own domain requires a paid plan. Standard prices run from €14 per month (Light) to €149 per month (Business Elite), on an annual subscription and excluding VAT.
• A Wix site has to run on Wix's servers. Your content and your domain stay yours, but you cannot move the site itself to another host, according to the Wix Help Center.
• Wix supports structured data and has a dedicated SEO & GEO section in its dashboard. You have no control over the server or the hosting.

What exactly is Wix?

Wix is a website builder that works in the browser. You create an account, pick a template and adjust the pages in an editor where you drag elements around. Wix handles hosting, security and software updates for you. According to Wix, your site runs on a global network of servers (a CDN), with 99.9% uptime. You can choose from templates for businesses, web shops and portfolios, among others.

Technically, Wix is a SaaS platform: software you rent rather than install. There is nothing to install or update, and your site is online within a few hours. At the same time, Wix decides where and how your site runs. Anyone who builds a Wix website chooses convenience and pays for it with less freedom. Whether that is a good trade depends on what your site needs to do.

How do you build a Wix website?

Building a simple Wix website takes an afternoon to a day. Wix describes six steps itself; with the two steps that matter for a business added in, the process looks like this:

1. Create a free account on wix.com.
2. Choose the type of website: business, web shop, portfolio, blog.
3. Pick a starting point: adapt a template, start from a blank canvas, or let Wix's AI create a first version.
4. Adjust pages and content with drag and drop: text, galleries, videos and buttons.
5. Add business features, such as a web shop, a booking system, a members' area or a blog.
6. Fill in the SEO settings: page titles, descriptions and, where needed, structured data.
7. Choose a premium plan and connect your own domain. Without a paid plan that is not possible.
8. Publish and check the mobile view. Wix makes the site mobile-friendly automatically, but always check yourself that everything looks right.

What does a Wix website cost in 2026?

Wix works with a free plan and four paid premium plans. According to Wix's pricing page, all paid plans include your own domain, no Wix branding on your site and a free domain name for the first year. You pay per year, upfront, and prices exclude VAT. Wix offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Reference prices from the comparison supplied, October 2026. Check the current rates on Wix's pricing page (wix.com/pricing). Prices exclude VAT, on an annual subscription. Temporary discounts and prices can differ per region and moment; check the amount with Wix before you order.

At the standard price, a Wix website on the Core plan costs €900 over three years, excluding VAT. The Light plan costs €504 over the same period.

On top of the plan, extra costs can come in. Some apps in the Wix App Market are paid, and after the first year you pay for the domain name yourself. Also watch the temporary discounts: always compare the standard price, because that is what you pay in the long run.

Is a free Wix website enough for your business?

For a business, usually not. On the free plan, Wix branding appears on your site and you work with a Wix web address instead of your own domain name. The Wix Help Center confirms that connecting your own domain requires a paid plan. An address like yourname.wixsite.com inspires little confidence in business clients, and you build no recognition for your own brand.

The free plan is handy for trying Wix out. You can get to know the editor, test a template and build a first version of your site. Only when you go live do you pick a plan. That way you only pay once you know Wix suits you.

What are the advantages of Wix?

• No technical knowledge needed. The editor works with drag and drop.
• Everything in one place. Hosting, security, SSL and updates are included. You arrange nothing separately.
• Online fast. A simple site goes live within a few hours.
• Plenty of templates. Designs for different kinds of websites.
• Reliable hosting. Wix promises 99.9% uptime and runs sites on a global server network.
• Built-in business features. Web shop, bookings, blog and email campaigns are available, depending on the plan.
• Customer support in several languages on all paid plans.

What are the disadvantages and limitations of Wix?

According to the Wix Help Center, a site built in the standard Wix editor has to run on Wix's servers. The content you build stays yours under the terms of use, and you can manage your domain with another party. You cannot host the site itself anywhere else, though. If you ever want to leave, you rebuild your website on the new platform.

• You cannot move your site. Design, styling and features stay behind at Wix. Your texts and images come with you, but you rebuild.
• Recurring costs. As long as your site is online, you pay the subscription: €168 to €1,788 per year, excluding VAT.
• Limits per plan. Light offers 2 GB of storage and 4 lead forms, and accepting online payments only starts from Core.
• No control over the server. Wix manages hosting, caching and server settings. You cannot optimise them yourself.
• Dependence on one vendor. If Wix changes its prices or terms, you have little choice.

Is Wix good for SEO and for AI search engines?

Wix offers extensive SEO settings. You can set page titles and descriptions, Wix generates a sitemap, and according to the Help Center you can add structured data (JSON-LD) yourself via the SEO settings. For blog posts, Wix generates that structured data automatically with AI, and product pages from Wix Stores get markup by default. The dashboard has a dedicated SEO & GEO section.

The limitation sits deeper in the technology. Because you have no access to the server, you cannot tune the hosting, caching and load speed yourself. For most small sites that is no problem. If your site grows, or you compete on search terms where every technical optimisation counts, you will notice that boundary.

For AI search engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI, content weighs more heavily than the platform. Clear service pages, short answers to your clients' questions, your region and contact details in plain text, and structured data: all of that is possible on Wix. The difference comes from the content and the structure of your site, and you decide those on any platform.

Wix, WordPress or a custom website: which suits you?

Wix is handy if you want to build a simple site yourself, quickly. WordPress gives the most freedom, but requires you to keep up with updates and security yourself, or to hire someone. A custom website is built around your services, your region and the way you follow up on enquiries, without you having to do anything technical.

Who is Wix a good choice for?

• Starters without a budget for a web designer. A simple Wix site is better than no site.
• Temporary projects. An event, a pop-up shop or a campaign site that disappears after a few months. The moving problem does not apply there.
• Portfolios. Photographers, designers and artists who mainly want to show their work and can put Wix's visual templates to good use.
• Anyone who enjoys doing it themselves. If you like building and adjusting things yourself, Wix is one of the most accessible tools.

When is a custom website the better choice?

A custom site pays off as soon as your website has to become a steady source of enquiries. That is the case when you want to be found for your services in specific municipalities, when enquiries have to land in your mailbox or CRM automatically with a confirmation for the client, or when your site has to grow along with new services, languages or regions. Anyone without the time to build and adjust a site themselves is also better off with someone who does it for them.

At Automationstar, for example, a custom website starts at €500 and is usually online within 5 to 7 working days. The site gets a page per service and per municipality, is prepared for AI search, and forms immediately start a follow-up. You discuss domain and hosting upfront, so you know what comes in annually.

How do you move from Wix to another website?

Because you cannot export a Wix site, a switch always means a new build. Prepare it well and you limit the risk of losing visitors and search positions.

1. Make a list of all your current pages and URLs. That is your basis for the redirects.
2. Save your content. Copy your texts and download your images.
3. Build the new site and improve the structure right away: one page per service, clear answers, faster load time.
4. Set up 301 redirects from every old URL to the new page. That way visitors land on the right page and you help Google recognise the new addresses.
5. Move your domain or adjust the DNS settings, so your domain name points to the new site.
6. Check after launch in Google Search Console whether any pages with a 404 error show up.

Which trends apply to website builders in 2026?

Website builders are leaning more and more on AI. Wix already lets AI create a first version of your site and generates structured data for blog posts automatically. In the dashboard, Wix has added a dedicated SEO & GEO section. At the same time, websites are linked to other systems more often: an enquiry on the site triggers a confirmation, a task or a reminder. For simple sites, AI makes building faster. For businesses that use their site as a sales channel, following up on enquiries becomes as important as the site itself.

Frequently asked questions about Wix

Your next steps

• Day 1: decide what your site should deliver: visibility, enquiries or sales.
• Day 2: try Wix for free and see whether the editor suits you. At the same time, ask for a quote for a custom site.
• Week 1: compare the costs over three years: the Wix subscription versus the build price plus hosting.
• Week 2: choose, gather your texts and photos, and put your site online.

Sources

• Wix, premium plans pricing page (wix.com): prices, storage, lead forms and payment features per plan. Accessed October 2026.
• Wix, homepage (wix.com): templates, uptime and features. Accessed October 2026.
• Wix, About us: information about the company.
• Wix Help Center, "Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere": hosting on Wix's servers, ownership of content and domain. Accessed October 2026.
• Wix Help Center, "Adding Structured Data Markup to Your Site's Pages": structured data and the SEO & GEO section. Accessed October 2026.
• Automationstar, "Having a professional website built in Antwerp" (automationstar.be): price, timeline and case in practice. Accessed October 2026.

Read next: Having a professional website built in 2026