Wix vs Weebly: We Scored It 3-2 in Favor of …

They both sell similar web design and eCommerce products. They both spatter the internet and TV channels with ads. They even both start with “W.” If you’ve done any research on DIY website builders, you’ve probably wondered about the differences between Wix vs Weebly.

But now it’s time to get to the bottom of which stands out overall.

In this article, we’ll compare Wix vs Weebly by taking a deep dive into the features, ease of use, pricing, design, and customer support.

Keep reading to see our in-depth comparison of Wix vs Weebly!

An introduction to Wix vs Weebly

Even visiting the Wix and Weebly sites makes them look so similar, from their branding to colors, and their buzzwords to theme design examples. Yet, there are plenty of stark differences to make them unique in their own ways.

Wix

Wix began as one of the simplest solutions to build websites, way back in 2006. There wasn’t anything in terms of complicated features such as subscriptions, eCommerce tools, or accounting integrations. As the years passed, Wix remained attached to its focus on simplicity, but also expanded upon the original mission by providing a wide range of other features.

Here’s how it works with Wix:

1. You create a free account with Wix, not even having to type in a credit card.
2. Wix walks you through a startup wizard to design something specific such as an online store, portfolio, or blog.
3. You choose which pages and features to add such as events, blogs, pricing plans, and forms.
4. You either let the Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence) tool build an entire website for you, or opt to choose a WIX template yourself.
5. Use the drag-and-drop page builder to customize the entire site.
6. Customize settings such as portfolio elements, payment processors, and email marketing.
7. Add a custom domain and choose a payment plan.
8. Pay for your site and launch it for the world to see.

Weebly

Weebly also came into existence in 2006, but it began as an intuitive way for non-coders to make personal websites. New releases added features such as multi-language capabilities, ad monetization, and eCommerce offerings.

Eventually, in 2018, the payment processing company Square acquired Weebly, integrating the website builder with its payment processing and point of sale suite. The acquisition has improved its eCommerce functionality quite a bit, but there are now some limits on your design potential.

Overall, creating a website on Weebly works like this:

1. You make a free Weebly account without having to type in a credit card number.
2. Weebly asks if you’d like to make a personal website or a business website.
3. The business website choice sends you to Square Online, which combines Weebly and Square tools for making branded websites and selling online.
4. The personal website choice mainly runs with original Weebly tools, but with some Square payment processing. This is for making portfolios or blogs, when you don’t plan on selling much online.
5. You choose a theme.
6. You design the entire site with the Weebly editor.
7. Select a domain name, pay for your account, and launch the site.

In short, both Weebly and Wix give non-coders and coders ways to develop all types of websites with in-browser, drag-and-drop editors. Not to mention, each one sells as a SaaS (software-as-a-service) where you pay a flat monthly fee for everything.

Now that we know the basic similarities and differences, let’s compare Wix vs Weebly in the most important categories below.

Wix vs Weebly compared for 2021: the main criteria

To give you a stronger idea of which website builder to choose, we’ve handled the nitty-gritty research. Here’s what we’ll cover in this post:

1. Features
2. Ease of use
3. Pricing
4. Design
5. Customer support

1. Features

When examining features between Wix vs Weebly in a list, they appear rather similar.

However, we need to take a closer look to understand where each one excels.

For instance, Wix and Weebly each have essentials such as a drag-and-drop builder, blogging, backups, and eCommerce functionality.

Yet, the drag-and-drop builder from Wix is far more versatile than Weebly’s. Don’t get us wrong, the Weebly builder allows you to edit just about anything on the page, but it sticks to a section-based design structure, whereas Wix lets you move content blocks to any location on the page.

Here are the main takeaways from our feature analysis:

• Wix has a more flexible page builder.
• The eCommerce functionality from Weebly is more advanced due to its ownership by Square (point of sale, advanced reservations, rapid payment processing integrations).
• Weebly offers site backups but doesn’t match up to Wix’s regular, automated backup log.
• Neither are great for importing or exporting content.
• Weebly has more apps.
• Wix has more templates.

Wix vs Weebly: Which has the best features?

Wix.

It’s a close call, but users will be more impressed by the quality of Wix’s builder and its quantity of templates.

2. Ease of use

When we think about ease of use, we take into account guidance provided in building a website, the simplicity of the web builder’s tools, and the ability for all users to make a beautiful website.

Wix is certainly no slouch in the ease of use department.

It offers an artificial intelligence feature to help you create a site based on your answers to a handful of questions. That’s incredible, but we found the results are hit or miss.

You can also manually choose from many templates and then adjust every aspect of the design from the Wix page editor.

You can choose blocks from the quick access side menu and manage all other elements of your website including pages, backgrounds, apps, and media.

One downside of the Wix user interface is how eCommerce store owners are sent to an entirely different dashboard for managing products, shipping, and other online store features. The screen becomes cluttered with popup-like windows, and it’s hard to figure out how to revert back to the general site editor.

Weebly stands out as an ease of use leader as well, even more so than Wix. Weebly offers fewer content blocks, but that’s what makes it so intuitive. The page editor is so clean and simple that you don’t ever feel like you’re lost in a sea of links, overlaying popups, or content blocklists like you often do with Wix.

Much like Wix, the Weebly eCommerce builder is separated from the general website editor, but it’s easier to navigate in Weebly. It’s a different interface, but Weebly does a wonderful job of slimming down the process of making an online store, while also seamlessly combining Square and Weebly features.

Wix vs Weebly: Which has the best ease of use?

Weebly.

This is a tough one because Wix is more flexible in its design functionality. However, we factored that into the Design section further down in this article.

3. Pricing

Both are affordable, but with their own unique plans.

In the following table, we compare the most similar pricing plans from Wix and Weebly, while also factoring in that Wix has more plans than Weebly.

Keep in mind that Wix has more pricing plans than Weebly. This chart compares the closest types of pricing packages between Wix vs Weebly, yet some of the comparisons ask you to either choose a standard website plan or a business/eCommerce plan.

Wix also offers Enterprise plans starting at $500 per month.

Here are other pricing features to consider:

• Both offer money-back guarantees: 14 days for Wix and 30 days for Weebly.
• The table above shows pricing based on yearly payment plans. The pricing goes up if you pay on a monthly basis.
• Some plans offer free custom domains, but that’s usually only for the first year.

Wix vs Weebly: Which has the best pricing?

Weebly.

There’s no question about this one. Weebly’s pricing is lower across the board, and you’ll even notice some odd limitations in Wix’s higher-tiered plans, such as no unlimited storage and the need to completely switch plans for any eCommerce functionality.

4. Design

The Wix page editor boasts an incredible number of drag-and-drop blocks including these options:

• Container boxes.
• Social buttons.
• Decorative shapes.
• Menus and anchors.
• Contact forms.
• Bookings.
• Events.
• Member pages.
• Login bars.
• Interactive slideshows.
• Much more.

You also gain access to over 840 modern templates with Wix.

All of the Wix templates integrate perfectly with the editor, are responsive, and let you move elements anywhere within the theme, unlike the preset block sections from Weebly.

The Weebly editor has simplicity written all over it. That’s definitely an advantage, but the design potential doesn’t stack up compared to Wix. We love the beautiful, responsive templates, but there are only a little over 60 of them.

The same situation remains with content modules: they’re functional, easy to access, and beautiful when implemented, but Weebly doesn’t have nearly as many content blocks as Wix, giving you less control of the overall design.

Both allow you to edit code on the front and backend interfaces and offer header customization. So the rest of the design potential is similar. However, there’s also the fact that the Wix page editor lets you place modules anywhere on the page, whereas Weebly only has preset sections, minimizing your flexibility.

Wix vs Weebly: Which has the best design elements?

Wix.

Template designs are equally responsive and modern from the two, but Wix has more templates, more content modules, and a far more flexible editor.

5. Customer support

Wix customer support includes a Customer Care page that links you to the right article or customer support expert based on your situation.

Wix offers support in nine different languages including English, French, and Japanese. Callback hours vary based on your language. For instance, English callback hours are 24/7, but Russian hours are Monday-Friday, 8 AM-5 PM GMT+1.

That leads us to the types of contact options available. The most helpful for getting in touch with a real person is the phone callback line, where you put in a request, then Wix calls you. It’s not as good as a real phone support line but does the trick.

You can also send in an email ticket or use the chatbox. The chatbox starts with a bot that will try to push you towards the help articles, but you can get in touch with a human customer care expert in certain locations.

In terms of online resources, Wix offers:

• A Help Center page.
• A blog.
• A Status page.
• A Wix Community.
• Several social media pages including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

Weebly customer support offers direct contact options including a phone line that’s available Monday – Sunday, 6 AM-6 PM US Pacific Time. There’s no need to make a callback request like with Wix. Furthermore, Weebly provides a live chatbox with a combination of human and bot support, along with an email ticketing system.

Weebly’s online resources include:

• A Help Center knowledge base.
• A community forum.
• A Contact page.
• A blog.
• An Inspiration Center page.
• A Developer Documentation page.
• Social media pages including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

Wix vs Weebly: Which has the best customer support?

Weebly.

Wix has its advantages, such as multi-language support, but it falls behind Weebly in chat and phone support.

Our conclusion on Wix vs Weebly in 2021

In general, Wix can be the better option for people who need advanced features and design options (and are willing to pay for them), while Weebly provides all the features most people need at a budget-friendly price.

If you feel like Wix is better for you, we have a full step-by-step Wix tutorial to help you get started, as well as a guide on how to make a website with Wix.

Wix and Weebly also aren’t your only options. To see some other code-free website design tools, check out our full roundup of the best website builders.

Still have any questions about our Wix vs Weebly comparison? Let us know in the comments!