Wix vs Shopify: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Wix vs Shopify: entry store plans both cost $29 a month billed yearly, but Shopify is built for selling while Wix is built for websites. Compare fees.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-09T13:28:36+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-09T13:28:36+00:00

Wix vs Shopify is the most common question in online selling. Both build websites. Both take payments. Only one is built for commerce first. Wix is a website builder with a store attached. Shopify is a commerce platform with a website attached.

The short answer is simple. Pick Shopify if selling is the business. Pick Wix if the website is the business and the store is a side job. Price is close at the low end. The gap grows as sales grow.

This comparison uses prices and features from the official Wix and Shopify pricing pages, checked in November 2026. Prices are US list prices. They can change, so confirm them before you buy.

Wix vs Shopify at a glance

Wix vs Shopify pricing

Wix has a free plan and four paid plans. Light costs $17 a month on yearly billing. It cannot take payments. Core costs $29 a month, or $348 a year. It is the first Wix plan with a store. Business costs $39 a month, or $468 a year. Business Elite costs $159 a month, or $1,908 a year.

Monthly billing costs more on Wix. The monthly rates are $24, $36, $46, and $172. Wix often discounts Core, Business, and Business Elite by 50% for the first year. The price renews at the full rate after that. A yearly plan includes a free domain for the first year.

Shopify has no free plan for a full store. Its plans are Basic at $39 a month, Grow at $105 a month, and Advanced at $399 a month on monthly billing. Yearly billing cuts them to $29, $89, and $359 a month. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 a month for large businesses.

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial with no card needed. After the trial, most plans cost $1 a month for the first three months. Standard pricing starts after that. Shopify also lists an Agentic plan at $0 a month, but it only covers selling through AI channels. It is not a full store.

At the entry level, the two platforms cost the same. Wix Core and Shopify Basic both cost $29 a month on yearly billing. The difference is what that $29 buys. Wix Core is a website plan with basic ecommerce. Shopify Basic is a commerce plan with a full store, unlimited products, and checkout tools.

Fees and payment processing

Fees decide the real cost of each platform. Wix charges no platform transaction fees on any plan. You pay only the card processing fee. Wix Payments charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per standard US card payment. You can also use more than 80 other payment gateways.

Shopify charges no platform fee when you use Shopify Payments. Its Basic card rate is also 2.9% plus 30 cents. The fee appears when you use a third-party gateway. On Basic, Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee on every sale. That fee falls to 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced.

A seller who uses PayPal or another gateway pays more on Shopify. A seller who uses Shopify Payments pays the same card rate on both platforms. Check which gateway your customers use before you compare fees.

Both platforms offer sales incentives. Shopify gives 1% back on all sales on Basic, up to $5,000. Wix offers no cashback. That credit can offset the subscription cost for a busy store.

Ecommerce features compared

Shopify is the stronger commerce platform. It includes unlimited products, multi-location inventory, and shipping discounts of up to 87%. It offers abandoned checkout recovery, discount codes, gift cards, and customer segments on Basic. It also includes Shopify Markets for selling in other countries and currencies.

Shopify checkout is a key advantage. Shopify describes it as the best-converting checkout in the industry. It supports Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and other accelerated checkouts. A faster checkout means fewer abandoned carts.

Wix covers the basics well. Core includes payments, customer accounts, and scheduling. Business adds standard ecommerce and marketing tools. Wix supports bookings, subscriptions, and service businesses in the same dashboard. That mix suits a business that sells services as well as products.

Wix caps its store at 50,000 products. That covers most small and mid-size stores. Shopify has no cap. A store with a very large catalog or fast growth will find more room on Shopify.

Dropshipping and print-on-demand work on both platforms. Shopify has the deeper app library for these models. Its marketplace lists far more dropshipping and print-on-demand apps than the Wix App Market. A seller who relies on those apps will find more choice on Shopify.

Apps and integrations

Shopify has the largest app ecosystem in ecommerce. Its app store covers marketing, shipping, accounting, reviews, and subscriptions. Many apps charge a monthly fee. A mid-size Shopify store often pays for several apps on top of the subscription. Budget for that before you commit.

Wix has a smaller app market. It covers the same core needs, but with fewer choices per category. The advantage is simplicity. Wix builds more features into the platform itself. You need fewer paid apps to run a basic store.

Both platforms connect to social and marketplace channels. Shopify sells on social media and marketplaces from the same dashboard. Wix also supports social selling. Shopify has the deeper multichannel tools, including marketplace order syncing on its plans.

Design and ease of use

Wix wins on design freedom. Its drag-and-drop editor lets you place any element anywhere. You see the finished page as you build it. Wix offers an AI builder that drafts a site from a short chat. A business that needs a polished website fast will like Wix.

Shopify uses a theme-based editor. You pick a theme and customize it with sections. It is less free-form than Wix. It is also faster to set up a clean store. Shopify themes are built for selling, with product pages and checkout flows ready to go.

Both platforms are easy to learn. Wix suits a business owner who wants to design the site themselves. Shopify suits a seller who wants to list products and start taking orders the same day.

Point of sale and in-person selling

Both platforms support in-person sales. Wix includes point-of-sale tools on its store plans. Shopify includes POS on Basic, with in-person card rates of 2.6% plus 10 cents. Shopify POS Pro costs $89 a month per location and adds advanced retail tools.

A shop with a physical location should weigh POS carefully. Shopify has the deeper retail system. It covers inventory across locations, staff permissions, and retail reporting. Wix covers the basics for a small shop that sells online too.

Who should choose Wix

Choose Wix if your website matters as much as your store. It suits service businesses, restaurants, portfolios, and small shops. You get a strong website builder, bookings, and a store in one dashboard.

Wix also fits if you want a free plan to start. You can build and publish a site at $0 before you pay anything. You only upgrade when you need a custom domain or payments.

Wix fits if you use a third-party payment gateway. Its 0% platform fee saves money on every sale. A seller who takes payments through PayPal or another gateway will pay less on Wix than on Shopify Basic.

Who should choose Shopify

Choose Shopify if selling is the main job. It suits pure online stores, growing brands, and high-volume sellers. Its checkout, inventory, and app ecosystem are built for scale.

Shopify also fits if you sell on many channels. It handles social, marketplace, and in-person sales from one dashboard. A brand that sells on TikTok, Instagram, and Amazon will find more tools here.

Shopify fits if you plan to grow fast. Its plans scale from Basic to Plus without a platform change. You can add staff, locations, and automation as the business grows.

Bottom line

Shopify wins for serious ecommerce. Its checkout, inventory, and app library are the strongest in the category. It is the better choice when the store is the business.

Wix wins for website-first businesses. Its editor is more flexible. Its free plan costs nothing. Its 0% transaction fees keep costs simple.

If you sell products all day, pick Shopify. If you run a business that also sells online, pick Wix. Start with the trial on Shopify or the free plan on Wix, and test the checkout before you commit.