Although Wix and GoDaddy are two of the industry’s biggest hitters for building websites, they differ in a variety of ways while offering different sets of strengths and weaknesses – but which one is better overall?
Both website builder providers are remarkably beginner-friendly, feature-rich, and provide plenty of bang for your buck for your efforts. Although one of these solutions will give you more creative control over your site while the other will make up for the lack of control by making building an online presence much easier for regular users.
One is better for e-commerce websites, while the other is more suitable for startups with a smaller budget. One offers a variety of plans to choose from while the other doesn’t have many options but offers a pocket-friendly plan without any strings attached – and the differences don’t end here.
To help you decide which of the better known website builders is the best bet for your business website, we’ll compare their key features, ease of use, templates, and overall design flexibility. Additionally, we’ll check pricing and customer support, both of which are among the priorities for newcomers.
While there are some distinct differences between Wix and GoDaddy, deciding which is better comes down to personal preference — so, let’s break down and find out which one is right for you.
The main similarities and differences
Since both GoDaddy and Wix are leading lights in the website building industry, it’s no surprise that they have a similar audience in mind — hobbyist bloggers, small to mid-sized businesses, and ecommerce stores.
Accordingly, their website building solutions are created to make the task of site building simple, free of web magic, and budget-friendly. Also, both providers offer several customer support channels to their users at no additional cost, which is always a good thing.
While GoDaddy has been around for more than two decades, their website builder launched in 2017, and the latest upgrade called Websites + Marketing entered the stage this year. In contrast, Wix’s website builder has been around since 2006 and the company has wasted no time expanding its product line including Ascend, Dine, and Editor X.
Also, since both website building solutions are well-rounded and suitable for creating all kinds of websites, it can sometimes be difficult to find what sets them apart and choose the right one for your online project.
Features compared
Wix comes packed with great built-in features that cover everything from fully customizable forms, data analytics, and member area features to social media tools, email marketing, and a well-stocked app store — and everything can be easily dragged and dropped from the sidebar to your site.
GoDaddy, on the other hand, offers a more modest yet solid set of built-in features (such as additional options designed for specific industries) that are ideal for beginners, simpler sites, and small businesses. Unfortunately, GoDaddy does not currently provide an app store.
Ease of use
Thanks to its drag-and-drop editor, the Wix website builder is very easy to use, even for non-technical people. It also offers fast ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) that allows almost anyone to customize a site in one go – give ADi information about the site you’ve imagined and within minutes, Wix will create a custom site for you.
Additionally, Wix offers a classic Wix editor that comes with a higher level of customization options – however, there’s a bit of a learning curve, so it’s better suited to users with some technical knowledge.
With the GoDaddy site builder, you only get one editor and one that has compromised flexibility for simplicity’s sake. While it’s still a great option for newcomers who want to build custom sites in no time (the ADI setup is incredibly quick and simple), it doesn’t offer the same level of customization as Wix Builder.
pricing
The good news is that both providers offer free trials, which means you can try them out for yourself without spending any money — they last 14 days with Wix and 1 month with GoDaddy.
In terms of selection, Wix offers more plans (three out of six are configured specifically for ecommerce sites) but they also come at a higher cost — their cheapest plans start at $4.50 per month (which is too limited to be taken seriously) and the most expensive at $35. dollars for one month.
While GoDaddy offers fewer plans (there are four in all), they’re priced between £4.99 ($6.05) and £13.99 ($16.95) per month – making the premium and e-commerce plans much cheaper and more competitive than those that you can get with Wix.
We should also note that the cheapest plan with GoDaddy comes with severe feature limitations (no SEO, no e-commerce tools, no recurring online appointments). At the same time, with Wix’s entry-level plan, your site will have to use its own subdomain and display its ads.
Templates and overall design comparison
In terms of selection, Wix crushes GoDaddy without a hitch — there are over 900 templates to choose from within 17 major categories, most of which are industry-specific. After choosing one, you can use the drag and drop editor to place the elements wherever you want and create a more unique look.
While Wix doesn’t offer mobile-responsive templates, all of the templates come with a second, mobile-focused version for a seamless smartphone experience. Also, once you choose a template, the only way to switch it to another one is to start creating a new site from square one.
On the other hand, GoDaddy offers a meager amount of 22 themes, which is one of the most disappointing flaws in their website builder. In addition, the level of customization is very low, in particular the lack of options for mobile users. However, to be fair, it is well designed, modern, and mobile responsive.
Alternatives to Wix and GoDaddy
If you want something similar to Wix (but not Wix), your best bet is its solid competitor Squarespace — it offers an equally intuitive interface, advanced customization options, and stunningly beautiful templates, but no app store or add-ons.
If Squarespace doesn’t blow your fancy, you should check out Weebly — it’s simpler than Wix but offers a free plan, built-in SEO tools, and excellent e-commerce features. Another cheap and convenient alternative to Wix is Webnode – it uses a simple interface and a very easy-to-use editor, but falls short when it comes to customization.
GoDaddy is loved by many, but not by all – so, if you fall into the latter category, don’t fail to check out Site123, a delightfully cheap and straightforward site builder that unfortunately suffers from a severe lack of customization options – you can’t even choose your own template your.
Jimdo is another fast and simple GoDaddy alternative that is aimed at self-employed business people – so, if you are planning to build a portfolio, startup website, or small online store, Jimdo could be a good choice. And if you want to start a thriving e-commerce business soon, Shopify should be your best choice for a website builder – it’s also an all-in-one e-commerce platform.
customer support
In terms of types of support, Wix and GoDaddy are on the same level — they both offer a 24/7 phone line, 24/7 live chat, and an email ticket support system.
If you prefer to remain self-sufficient, you will find a knowledge base filled with easy-to-follow guides with both providers.
The only advantage Wix has over GoDaddy is having on-page prompts in the site editor, which will save you time and energy. While GoDaddy provides fairly detailed descriptions for most items, there is no on-page support as there is with Wix.
final thought
All things considered, there’s no denying that Wix comes in as a stronger candidate — it’s easier to use than GoDaddy, offers superior design flexibility, and offers a well-stocked app marketplace.
However, if you don’t care much about customization, GoDaddy’s most pocket-friendly plan won’t force annoying ads onto your site (which isn’t true of Wix) and will give you everything you need to quickly put a site together.
So, if you want more creative control – Wix is the way to go; If you want a combination of ease and efficiency – GoDaddy is an excellent choice.
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