Publishing a personal website was once expensive and complex. But not any longer. User-friendly platforms such as WordPress and Wix allow you to post online for free—you might not even require to spend for hosting. They offer you everything you need to develop and populate your site, maintain it, and interact with users. It’s evaluated that almost half a billion websites are created using Word Press, while upward of 200 million individuals utilize Wix.
Suppose you like to get started for free. In that case, WordPress allows you to host a site as a subdomain of WordPress.com, which means you don’t need to be concerned about configuring databases or keeping your site up to date. The downside is that by default, your website lives within a subdomain, such as http://yoursite.wordpress.com. Suppose you want your own domain to point to a WordPress.com-hosted site. In that case, you need to pay $48 per year (or $4 per month) for the Personal plan. This also lets you dismiss WordPress.com ads, collect fees, execute basic design customization, and benefit from unlimited email support.
If you already have a domain, you can run WordPress there. Numerous web hosts offer one-click deployment of WordPress. They can take care of tracking and installing updates to the WordPress software, along with any themes and plugins you’ve installed. If your host doesn’t offer this, you can upload and configure WordPress yourself. All you require is a server running PHP 7.4 or later, plus either MySQL 5.7 or later or MariaDB 10.2 or later, which few hosts will have trouble with.
Wix also presents free hosting, though you end up with a more complex URL address. It utilizes both a subdomain based on your username and a directory based on your website name. So, if your username is myusername and your site is mysite, your about page is located at http://myusername.wixsite.com/mysite/about.
Although you can’t download the Wix source code and host it on your own domain, you can use your own domain name; this costs $16 a month and gets you 2GB of space and 24/7 customer care. If you aim to use your domain, that’s much more than the $4 per month WordPress demands.
Suppose you choose to host your website at Word Press.com. In that case, you’re stepping through a three-stage procedure that involves providing your email address, selecting a domain (either a free subdomain or paid domain), and opting for a plan. The link to “start with a free site” is shown at the top of the page, above the more prominent charged-for alternatives.
Going Live
If you’ve signed up for a paid program, you can begin designing your site or building an online store. Your main job is to pick a theme; a ton of recommended templates are offered, and you can preview what each one will look like when live. As soon as you’ve chosen one, you’re introduced to a live placeholder site that you can edit and publish. Then, when you’re satisfied, just click through a few pages, and your website is live.
The approach with Wix is identical. First, the platform walks you through screens that assist you in defining your site’s goals, then integrate elements such as blog pages, chat, and forms. More advanced tools, such as music streaming, taking food orders, and selling memberships, are also available. Be alerted—it may not be apparent, but some of the features presented need to be paid for.
Once you’ve picked your elements, you can begin assembling your site using the Wix Editor, which shows large thumbnails and full-screen previews to give you an actual appearance of what the finished outcome will look like. Alternatively, you can also take advantage of the new Wix ADI, which uses Al to develop a suitable design.
Both WordPress and Wix offer dashboards featuring a broad range of tools for managing, monitoring, and maintaining your site, but their procedures are different. For example, WordPress differentiates between ‘pages’ —the permanent fixtures such as about and contact pages—and posts, which are more direct and equal to blog entries.
Both platforms let you go past the basics by extending their core components. The Wix App Market is neatly organized and quickly searched with a complete report of every app. There’s a ton of free content and a fair number of commercial add-ons that don’t always have a free plan or trial. A dynamic reviews system lets users convey their opinions and allows developers to reply to comments.
When you add an app to your site, Wix cautions you on which elements of your code and content it will have access to; once incorporated, an app has similar controls to the rest of the editing interface, so it can easily be moved by dragging and tweaked using floating control panels.
WordPress also presents a mix of free and paid plugins through the dashboard. However, if you choose to host your website at WordPress.com, all plugins require a Pro subscription at $15 per month, even for those paying for a Personal plan. For self-hosting, no such constraint involves. You can install plugins from the dashboard or upload them to your server manually. As with the Wix App Store, a dynamic community of users rates plugins in the library. This can be convenient because multiple plugins usually do similar tasks.
WordPress offers apps for Android and iOS, which let you manage sites on the go. For example, you can upload photos from your mobile, publish posts or pages, and track your blog statistics. In addition, there are corresponding desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Not everyone is in a position to operate their own site, of course. If you’re looking for a hosted solution, WordPress.com may initially look like the obvious choice, as it’s free. However, the fact that you can’t install plugins without a costly subscription means it could well hold you back once you like to expand your site.
It’s worth mentioning that Wix isn’t ideally suitable for large projects. Officially, Wix sites are restricted to 100 pages. However, Wix alerts that adding pages can impact performance and loading time even if you’re within the limit. There are workarounds, such as creating dynamic pages that pull content out of a database but by design, WordPress is a better fit for large sites.
Clearly, your preference for the site platform is nuanced. If you like to self-host, WordPress is your only choice, and it promises easier opportunities for future expansion. However, for a smooth all-around experience, Wix shines. The interface is gorgeous and easy to use, making it a more robust choice for less skilled users or anyone who feels comfortable using page layout software for print.
In the end, you need to decide—once you’ve created a site in Wix or WordPress, there’s no easy way to relocate it to the other platform. However, as they both present free accounts, you can test the available tools and features and upgrade to a paid-for service once you’re ready to commit.