Table of Contents
Show more
Show less
Thanks to easy-to-use solutions like Wix and GoDaddy, it’s never been easier to create a professional-caliber website. However, figuring out what to look for in a website platform can be confusing, especially for those who’ve never built a website.
Both Wix and GoDaddy offer all-in-one website builders that give you all that you need to create your website, though there are several analytical differences in how these two solutions work. In this Wix vs GoDaddy comparison, Forbes Advisor India gives you an in-depth look at the two providers to help you choose the best tool for your business.
Wix vs. GoDaddy: At a Glance
How Wix and GoDaddy Stack Up
GoDaddy and Wix are similar in many ways. Both providers offer paid plans that include a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, search engine optimization (SEO) tools, website analytics and a basic booking tool. The Wix Video Maker feature lets you create four free videos; upgrade to the Wix Ascend business tools plan to create more videos. GoDaddy’s plans also come with a video creation tool that lets you make unlimited videos.
Wix offers a tool that designs a free logo with the option for a professional service, while the fee for GoDaddy’s logo design is around INR 24,884. All paid plans of GoDaddy come with a professional email and along with an email marketing feature. But with Wix, you’ll need to create your professional email through a third-party vendor, such as Google Workspace; you will also need to acquire separate email marketing services.
Design Options
Both Wix and GoDaddy have artificial design intelligence (ADI) tools that walk you through website design. Answer a few questions about your site, your audience and your design preferences, then the ADI creates your website design for you. The designs created by the ADI are often fine the way they are, but you can also edit them to accommodate your personal preferences.
You don’t have to use the ADI editors—many people don’t. The other way to create a website on either GoDaddy or Wix is to select a design template and then customize it. Templates offer less customization flexibility than coding a website from scratch but allow DIYers with limited design and technical skills to create attractive websites quickly and easily.
Wix offers over 800 design templates in various categories, including business, travel and tourism, health, style, fashion, events, education and nonprofits. Use the Wix drag-and-drop editor to tailor your site for your business needs. One downside to Wix is that you can’t switch design templates after your site is published; however, Wix allows you to create multiple websites using different templates.
The GoDaddy website builder offers 100 plus design templates in a wide variety of business categories, including beauty and fashion, health, home services, real estate, professional services, photography, travel, food and nonprofits. Also, it has a drag-and-drop editor, it works a little differently than Wix’s editor. With GoDaddy, you have a lack of freedom on where and how you can place certain elements on your site.
GoDaddy’s structured-grid editor limits design customization, which may be frustrating for design-savvy users but favors those with less design prowess. The editor’s limitations can prevent you from over-editing your website appearance so much that it lacks visual appeal.
Ease of Use
GoDaddy’s simple editor and intuitive dashboard make it the perfect tool for beginners, especially those with any level of tech phobia. Virtually anyone can create a website quickly and easily with GoDaddy.
Wix is also built with easy to use foremost in mind. The primary reason why Wix is more difficult to use than GoDaddy is simply that Wix offers more choices for you to choose. More design templates and more website features require you to answer more questions about what they want their site to look like and what features they want to utilize.
Wix also has a vast AppMarket that lets you add even more functionality to your site by tapping into the power of 300+ third-party apps. Again, more choices mean more decisions for website creators. GoDaddy does not have an app center, so software integrations are minimal.
Free Plans
Both Wix and GoDaddy offer free plans with limited features. Neither free version lets you sell products or services; you also can’t have a custom domain.
GoDaddy’s free plan offers you a few more tools, such as social and email marketing and basic analytics. Signing up for a free account is an exceptional way to get a first glimpse at the differences between the two platforms’ website-creation dashboards and editors.
Wix vs. GoDaddy: Free Plan Comparison
While opening a free account will give you a sense of what to expect from Wix vs. GoDaddy, the features available are quite limited. If you want to get a deeper sense of what to expect from each platform, we recommend signing up for a free trial. Wix offers a 14-day free trial for all its plans, while GoDaddy has a 30-day free trial.
Pricing
With seven paid plans available, Wix pricing is a bit complicated. Plan prices range from INR 199 per month for the basics to INR 1,599 per month for the Business Elite plan.
The first decision you need to make with Wix is whether you intend to sell anything on your website or not. If you don’t plan to sell products or services, you’ll want to select one of Wix’s four basic website plans. If your site needs to be e-commerce-ready, then go with one of Wix’s three business and e-commerce plans. The two charts below show the key differences among the different Wix plans.
Wix Basic Website Plans
Wix Business and E-commerce Plans
If you want to open an online store or accept payments with Wix, you’ll need to choose from one of three business and e-commerce plans. At INR 1,599 per month, the Wix Business Elite is twice the price of GoDaddy’s e-commerce plan, which has a standard rate of INR 999 per month and offers a native payment gateway. The benefit that you gain by going with Wix for e-commerce is more built-in features, such as multiple currencies and access to the Smile.io loyalty program.
GoDaddy Website Builder Plans
GoDaddy’s pricing model is simpler than Wix’s. GoDaddy offers four plans, and only one of these offers full e-commerce functionality. The key differences among GoDaddy’s plans are shown below.
Unlike Wix, GoDaddy does not offer a free domain with its website builder. You can register a custom domain on GoDaddy or a registrar of your choice. GoDaddy charges as low as INR 499 for a domain.
Most website builders charge a separate fee for email marketing functionality, but GoDaddy is unique in that this feature comes with every paid plan. However, additional add-on fees apply if you need to expand beyond the basic parameters included in your website plan.
Customer Support
The online Wix Help Center offers an extensive knowledge base that addresses the most frequently asked questions about Wix tools and features. Wix does not provide direct phone support to its users, though it does offer a call-back service plus email support tickets.
Wix customer support is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese from Monday through Friday. In English it’s available 24/7. Response times for customer queries are typically handled within 24 hours, except on weekends. Wix does not offer online chat.
GoDaddy offers 24/7 phone and online chat support. Few other website platforms deliver this high level of service responsiveness.
Bottom Line
The competition is close, but GoDaddy ranked above Wix in our comparison of the best website builders based on how affordable and simple it is to create a website with GoDaddy. Its 24/7 phone and chat support, intuitive drag-and-drop editor and unlimited storage give the website builder a slight edge over Wix. Extra built-in features such as email marketing and appointment scheduling add additional value you won’t find elsewhere.
If you want more flexibility in your website design or more e-commerce features, you may want to go with Wix. The Wix App Market comes with 300-plus third-party integrations that let you add custom features to your site that simply aren’t available through GoDaddy. More than 800 design templates and a true drag-and-drop editor make for greater site customization. Plus, Wix’s advanced e-commerce tools can help you create a more streamlined experience for your website customers.
Further reading: Wix Alternatives.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Which is cheaper: Wix or GoDaddy?
GoDaddy is more competitively priced than Wix, with premium plans starting at INR 249 per month (INR 329 per month upon renewal), as opposed to Wix at INR 199 per month.
Does Wix include a free domain name?
No, Wix plans do not come with a custom domain name (e.g., yourbusinessname.com). Instead, Wix plans include a Wix subdomain, such as yourbusinessname.wix.com. However, you can purchase a domain directly through Wix if you want to simplify the process of connecting your domain to your Wix website. Alternatively, you can purchase a domain from a registrar, such as Domain.com or Google Domains. Learn more about the best domain name registrars.
Is it possible to use Wix and GoDaddy at the same time?
There is a scenario where if you wanted to use GoDaddy to register your domain name but build your website using Wix, then you could use both providers. After creating your website, you would then need to obtain the name servers from Wix and use them to update your GoDaddy account noting that Wix is your domain name server (DNS) hosting site.
Are SEO tools included with website builders?
Yes, many leading services offer tools to help you boost your site’s visibility on search engines. Most builders are designed with an infrastructure that helps search engines easily find information. Additionally, many platforms come with tools to customize your site’s meta descriptions, automated data markup and easy social media integration to help share your content across platforms.