Creating a website on your own can be daunting, especially if you’re unsure which platform best suits your needs and skill level. Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress are three of the most popular website-building platforms, each with its own strengths and unique features. 

If you’re in the beginning stages of creating a website, this blog is for you! Here, we’ll provide an overview of each platform, highlight how they differ from one another, and make recommendations on the skill level required for each. PLUS, we’ll reveal which platform our designer’s favorite is!

Wix

Overview: Wix is a user-friendly website builder that allows users to create websites through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Founded in 2006, it has become one of the most popular platforms for individuals and small businesses looking to establish an online presence without extensive technical knowledge.

Wix’s Key Features:

• Drag-and-Drop Interface: Wix’s intuitive editor allows users to customize their sites without coding. Elements can be dragged and placed anywhere on the page, making page design a breeze.
• Templates: With over 800 designer-made templates, users can find designs that suit various industries and personal styles.
• App Market: Wix offers a wide range of add-ons and applications to extend the functionality of your website, from e-commerce tools to marketing solutions.
• Wix ADI: The Artificial Design Intelligence tool can create a personalized website based on your preferences and needs by answering a few simple questions.

Wix’s Differentiators:

• Ease of Use: Wix is often considered the easiest to use among its competitors due to its intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
• Flexibility: Unlike Squarespace, Wix offers more freedom regarding positioning elements and design customization.
• Wix ADI: This feature sets Wix apart, providing a unique, automated way to build websites.

Pricing: Wix offers several pricing tiers, starting from a free plan with limited features and displaying Wix ads on your site. Their premium plans range from around $14 to $39 per month (billed annually).

Skill Level: Wix is ideal for beginners who don’t have a lot of website development skills. Its user-friendly interface and extensive support make it a great choice for those looking to create a professional-looking website quickly and easily!

Squarespace

Overview: Squarespace, launched in 2003, is known for its sleek and modern design templates, making it a favorite among creatives, including photographers, artists, and designers. It offers a comprehensive platform for building websites, managing content, and selling products.

Squarespace’s Key Features:

• Design Quality: Squarespace templates are highly regarded for their aesthetic appeal and responsive design, ensuring they look great on any device.
• Built-in Features: Squarespace includes robust blogging, podcasting, and e-commerce tools, providing a comprehensive all-in-one solution.
• SEO and Analytics: The platform offers strong SEO tools and detailed analytics to help users optimize their websites and understand user behavior.
• 24/7 Customer Support: Squarespace provides round-the-clock live chat and email support, ensuring users can get help whenever needed.

Squarespace’s Differentiators:

• Design-Centric: Squarespace stands out for its visually appealing templates and design-focused approach, which is less flexible but more polished than Wix.
• Integrated Features: Unlike Wix, which relies heavily on third-party apps, Squarespace offers a wide range of built-in features, reducing the need for external add-ons.
• E-Commerce: Squarespace’s e-commerce functionality is more advanced than Wix’s, with better inventory management and integration options.

Pricing: Squarespace also has different pricing tiers, with plans starting around $12 to $40 per month (billed annually). They offer a 14-day free trial, after which you’ll need to choose a paid plan to continue using the service. Squarespace’s plans include hosting, domain registration, and SSL security.

Skill Level: Squarespace is best suited for users with some technical skills and an eye for design. While it is still user-friendly, its design-centric approach may require more time to master than Wix’s.

WordPress

Overview: Established in 2003, WordPress is the most powerful and flexible platform among the three. It powers over 40% of all websites on the Internet, ranging from small personal blogs to large corporate sites. WordPress comes in two forms: WordPress.com (a hosted version) and WordPress.org (a self-hosted version).

WordPress’s Key Features:

• Customization: WordPress offers unparalleled customization options with thousands of themes and plugins.
• Scalability: WordPress can handle small blogs to massive e-commerce sites with thousands of products.
• Control: Users have full control over their website’s functionality, performance, and security.
• Community: An extensive community of developers and users provides comprehensive support, tutorials, and plugins to extend the platform’s functionality.

WordPress’s Differentiators:

• Flexibility: WordPress is significantly more flexible than Wix and Squarespace, allowing for extensive customization through coding.
• Plugins: With over 58,000 plugins, WordPress can be tailored to meet any need, from SEO and social media to e-commerce and security.
• Learning Curve: WordPress has a steeper learning curve and requires more technical knowledge, especially if you opt for the self-hosted version.

Skill Level: WordPress is best suited for users with at least intermediate technical skills. While WordPress.com can be easier for beginners, WordPress.org is more complex and requires web hosting, domain names, and basic coding knowledge.

Pricing: WordPress is free to use, but you’ll need to pay separately for web hosting and a domain name. The cost of hosting can vary widely depending on the provider and the plan you choose, but it typically starts around $3 to $10 per month for basic shared hosting. Domain registration can cost around $10 to $15 per year.

Now that you’ve reached the end of our blog, can you guess what platform our designer’s favorite is? WordPress! Here’s why our Senior Brand Designer, Erin, prefers WordPress:

“WordPress is my favorite platform for building websites for a number of reasons! The first that come to mind are SEO superiority, ease of use, and range of customization.

WordPress has multiple ways to build SEO, including plugins and blogs. These tools allow you to customize SEO to the audiences you’re trying to reach.

Ease of use is another important factor in WordPress. Many clients who come to us for new site designs note, “My last site was a challenge to edit.” WordPress has backend builders that make building and teaching clients how to use sites a much more seamless experience.

While the site is easy to use and teach, there are still options for customization, which is unique among web platforms. Our developers can use a wide range of tools to customize the code on our websites, adding intricate animations and functionalities that other sites cannot.” 

Our Recommendations

1. Beginners: If you’re new to website building and looking for an easy-to-use platform, Wix is the best choice. Its drag-and-drop interface and extensive template library make it easy to create a professional site without any coding knowledge.
2. Intermediate Users: Squarespace is ideal for those with some technical skills and a strong focus on design. Its beautiful templates and built-in features make it a great choice for creatives and small businesses.
3. Advanced Users: WordPress is perfect for those needing maximum flexibility and website control. It’s the best option for larger projects, those with specific functionality needs, or users comfortable with technical aspects like hosting and coding.

The best website platform depends on your specific needs, technical skills, and the level of control you want over your site. Whether you choose Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress, each offers unique features to help you create a captivating online presence.