Wix vs Wix Studio
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Wix is free tier available, Wix Studio is from $16/mo.
- How to start: Wix is free tier available, Wix Studio is from $16/mo.
- Where they differ: on what we checked they match — both offer public api and mobile app.
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. How we score tools.
What Wix is
What Wix isWix is a pioneer in 'drag-and-drop' website creation with over 200 million users. It lets anyone build a professional, mobile-responsive site with zero technical knowledge. Its AI-driven ADI can even design a site for you based on a few questions. Its App Market adds features like bookings or e-commerce easily. It's the most popular 'all-in-one' choice for both simple portfolios and complex business sites.
What Wix Studio is
What Wix Studio isWix Studio is the advanced evolution of Wix, specifically designed for agencies and high-end designers. It combines the ease of a visual editor with the power of modern coding. With a focus on high-fidelity, responsive design, Wix Studio allows you to create pixel-perfect websites that look stunning on any screen. It features innovative AI tools for responsive layouts, full custom CSS support, and a dedicated developer mode for building complex web applications. It is the premier tool for professionals who need speed without sacrificing design quality.
Who it is for: agencies and freelance designers who build sites for clients and want a visual editor with responsive behaviour that does not need to be rebuilt per breakpoint. The client-management side is the real differentiator over plain Wix: multiple sites under one workspace, role-based access, and billing that can be handed to the client once the project ships.
Where it falls short: the site lives inside Wix. There is no code export, so a client who later wants to move to another platform starts again. Custom code is possible through Velo, but it is Wix-specific and not portable. Compared with Webflow, the design freedom is similar and the learning curve lower, but Webflow exports cleaner HTML and has a larger developer ecosystem. Pricing is per published site, so a studio with many client sites should model the annual cost before committing.
Side by side
| Wix | Wix Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Design | Design |
| How to start | Free tiernot a monthly price | $16/moverified |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Open source / self-hostable | No | No |
| SSO (SAML) | No | No |
| Visit | Wix ↗ | Wix Studio ↗ |
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What Wix is built to do
- Wix Editor
- The world's most popular visual editor with total pixel-level control.
- Wix Bookings
- A system allowing your customers to book appointments and pay online.
- Ascend by Wix
- A suite including email marketing, live chat, and CRM for business management.
- Editor X
- A specialized version for designers with advanced responsive design capabilities.
What Wix Studio is built to do
- Advanced Responsive AI
- Automatically convert fixed designs into fully responsive web layouts with one click.
- Full CSS Support
- Total control over every element's style using professional CSS code.
- Agency Dashboard
- Manage all your clients, projects, and team members from one central hub.
- Developer Mode
- A full-stack environment for building custom logic and complex web apps.
Choose Wix if
- Building a site with no budget — the free plan includes hosting and the full editor
- Small sites moving up gradually: Light is $17.77/mo billed annually
- People who want templates and drag-and-drop rather than a developer
Skip Wix if
- You need your own domain — that comes with a paid plan, not the free one
- You are comparing on price alone; Business Elite is $159.77/mo
- You may want to move the site off Wix later; it cannot be exported
Choose Wix Studio if
- Agencies building client sites: the Studio workspace itself is free, you pay per published site
- Designers who want a visual editor alongside custom CSS and a developer mode
- Trying a plan with low risk — Wix gives a 14-day full refund on a first Studio plan upgrade
Skip Wix Studio if
- You may need to move the site off Wix later; Wix sites cannot be exported to another host
- You want one flat platform fee — cost scales with the number of published client sites, not seats
- You only need a simple site; Studio is markedly more complex than the standard Wix editor
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
Wix Studio
Official sources reviewed · reviewed 2026-09-07
Wix: pros & cons
- Max Design Freedom: Place any element exactly where you want it with pixel precision.
- All-in-One: Hosting, domain, and design are all bundled into a single bill.
- Huge Library: Over 800 modern, ready-made templates for every possible sector.
- Velo by Wix: Allows developers to add custom JavaScript functions to their sites.
- Template Lock: Once you build a site, you cannot easily move its content to a new template.
- Site Speed: Sites can become slow if overloaded with too many animations or widgets.
- No Transfer: You cannot move your Wix site to another hosting provider.
Wix Studio: pros & cons
- Responsive AI: Let AI automatically adjust your layouts for every screen size.
- Custom Code: Write your own CSS and JavaScript to unlock infinite design options.
- Collaboration: Built-in tools for large teams and agencies to work together smoothly.
- High Performance: Optimized infrastructure ensures your sites load exceptionally fast.
- Steep Learning Curve: Much more complex than the standard Wix editor.
- Pricing: Higher cost of entry compared to basic site builders.
- Platform Lock-in: You cannot export your site to another hosting provider.
Our verdict on Wix
The standard choice for those wanting to build the fastest and most visual site with zero tech skills.
Our verdict on Wix Studio
Fits agencies shipping custom client sites at scale; plans are per-site, starting at $16/mo. Skip it for simple one-page builds.
Published plans, side by side
Every figure below was read from the vendor's own pricing page and is shown with the sentence it came from. Where a vendor publishes no plan prices, we say so rather than guess.
Wix
- Free$0/mo
Free $0
- Light$17.77/mo billed annually
Light $17.77/month, Core $29.77, Business $39.77, Business Elite $159.77, billed annually
- Core$29.77/mo billed annually
Light $17.77/month, Core $29.77, Business $39.77, Business Elite $159.77, billed annually
- Business$39.77/mo billed annually
Light $17.77/month, Core $29.77, Business $39.77, Business Elite $159.77, billed annually
- Business Elite$159.77/mo billed annually
Light $17.77/month, Core $29.77, Business $39.77, Business Elite $159.77, billed annually
Wix Studio
No published plan prices verified. Wix Studio either quotes on request or renders its prices in a way we could not read from the pricing page.
Wix vs Wix Studio: common questions
- Does Wix or Wix Studio have a free plan?
- Wix has a free tier with limits, while Wix Studio has no free plan listed.
- What is the difference between Wix and Wix Studio?
- On the criteria we check, on what we checked they match — both offer public api and mobile app. The table above lists every criterion side by side.