Wix vs GoDaddy 2023: Which Is the Better Option for You?

Overall Wix scores 4.8 out of 5 compared to GoDaddy that got a still very decent 4.2 out of 5. Both builders have a lot to offer, so it’s about finding out which one is right for your particular website building needs.

Short on time? Our 5-minute comparison review video has everything you need to know!

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Which Has The Easier Learning Curve?

The Winner

Wix is easier to use than GoDaddy

Wix’s editor is more user-friendly than GoDaddy’s, and people who tested it preferred Wix’s layout However, GoDaddy was praised for just how quick it was – so if you need a speedy option, GoDaddy is your best bet.

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A website builder is an online platform that allows you to build your very own website from scratch. Wix and GoDaddy are two such platforms – but which is easier to use?

GoDaddy saw a slight improvement in its ease of use, but not enough to move up from its overall ease of use score of 4.1 out of 5, which it received last year. Although it didn’t see an increase in its score, we noted an improvement because of its very clear and simple editor – which is a positive sign for the future. 

Also testers found that it would be good for taking the hassle out of building, although the simplicity does raise a question on how scalable the builder is for a website.

Wix, on the other hand, achieves and remains at a score of 4.4 out of 5, making it one of the easiest to use builders on the market. Its score didn’t improve from last year’s rating because it saw a slight drop in the likely to recommend score, with one tester noting: “beginners could become overwhelmed by the level of custom features.”

Both Wix and GoDaddy have a fairly straightforward onboarding process. With Wix, all you need to do is set up your account and choose from one of its many templates, before being launched into the editor (where the fun really starts!).

GoDaddy’s starting process has a little more to it. That’s because it’s an ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) builder, which means it does the majority of the hard work for you, but it needs more information from you first. All you need to do is answer a few introductory questions, and it’ll create a starting website for you!

When it comes to getting to grips with Wix and GoDaddy’s editors, you’ll be pleased to know that both offer a drag-and-drop format, which allows you to click and drag elements around the page as you see fit.

With Wix, you’ll be able to move anything – anywhere you want. This is because it’s considered a ‘pure’ drag-and-drop builder, so there aren’t really any creative limitations.

This might be a bit overwhelming if you’re a complete beginner, but Wix provides helpful hints and tips along the way if you get stuck – just look for the little question mark icons! Alternatively, you can opt to use its ADI builder.

GoDaddy, on the other hand, has a bit more structure to it. Its templates are organized using blocks. These make it slightly trickier to master because you’ll need to work within the pre-set boundaries. In other words, you won’t be able to move things as freely as you can on Wix.

Further Information

• Read our full Review Of Wix
• Learn more with our Review Of GoDaddy
• Find out about the Easiest Website Builders

Which One Looks Better?

The Winner

Wix has better design flexibility

Wix scores 4.6 for design and GoDaddy scores 4.1 out of 5. Wix has a more comprehensive editor, as well as  a choice of over 800 industry-specific templates. In contrast, GoDaddy is more stripped back; editing isn’t difficult, but it is limited. Wix is for creativity, while GoDaddy is for efficiency.

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Design is all about the look and usability of your website. You want something that’s easy on the eye, but also simple to navigate. In our research, Wix performed better than GoDaddy, with Wix achieving 4.6 out of 5 and GoDaddy scoring 4.1. Below, we’ll look into the design functionalities of each.

Wix

Wix has over 800 templates for you to choose from. These are broken down into industries, such as ‘Fashion and Clothing Store‘ or ‘Arts & Crafts‘, and can be previewed and tested before you commit to one.

It has seen a 4.5% increase in its design score since last year, thanks in large part, to a selection of new templates. We particularly love the new Lucia Alma illustrator template, that showcases beautifully how far Wix’s designs have come along.

Wix’s editor then gives you drag-and-drop functionality. Think of this like using Lego – to build your final product, all you have to do is choose your element and pop it into place. In the Wix editor, this means selecting and holding it so you can drag it to wherever you want. When you’ve decided on placement, just release.

And the best part? There are no limitations with Wix, meaning you won’t need to stick to certain blocks or rows. You really can put anything anywhere!

This will particularly appeal to the more creative-minded amongst you, but it can get a bit confusing at times. The editor is pretty crowded and busy, so don’t worry if it takes you a while to find your feet.

GoDaddy

Out of all the builders we’ve analyzed, GoDaddy has made the second lowest improvement in terms of design since our last round of testing. Its new score of 4.1 out of 5 which is 5.8% lower than its old one. This is because they haven’t kept up with what the market is offering in its templates, alongside not being quite as mobile responsive as competitors.

Its ADI function builds your website for you, so a lot of the aesthetic details are out of your hands. However, we don’t think you’ll be disappointed by how polished and professional its designs look.

Despite how easy it is to build a website with GoDaddy, customizing it is another matter entirely. Unlike Wix, you won’t have full free reign over your website’s design due to GoDaddy’s block-based layout.

You can resize images, and move them around in a limited area, as well as add extra elements or pages, but that’s about it. Because of this, all of GoDaddy’s websites naturally look quite similar, making it hard to stand out from the crowd.

How Do The ADIs Compare?

It’s important to note that Wix also has an ADI product – Wix ADI. This works in a similar way to GoDaddy, but you don’t get the same level of editing control you do with Wix’s main editor.

With an ADI option, customizable templates, and an option to code your site from scratch, Wix caters to a wider range of people looking to build their website, whereas GoDaddy prefers to stick to the simplest and fastest solutions. 

We spoke to a group of web design experts, who agreed Wix has the better templates. They thought they were more aesthetically pleasing, and much easier to customize to reflect your unique brand.

Further Information

• Wix Templates Review – our review dedicated to Wix’s design

Which One Offers Better Bang For Your Buck?

The Winner

GoDaddy offers better value for money

GoDaddy’s plans are more affordable and still come with a ton of great features, making it an ideal choice if you need to keep an eye on your budget. It comes with a free plan, too! Wix does offer more for your money, but you’ll need to be willing to pay a higher monthly premium.

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Wix has a completely free plan, then four paid plans ranging from $16 to $159/ month, when paid annually – the three highest plans allow online sales.

GoDaddy has four plans and a one month free trial, with prices ranging from $9.99 to $24.99 per month (when billed annually).

Cheap prices always go down well, but we like to look beyond that and really see what you get for your money. Before we get into all that though, are there any freebies?

Well, Wix has an entirely free plan. No, you heard us right – you can literally build and publish your website at no cost. Of course, this does come at the expense of having tacky Wix ads on your site, and even in your subdomain too (e.g. “https://carnagelucy.wixsite.com/lucyscupcakes”).

GoDaddy also has a free plan, so if you prefer the thought of using ADI, you can still get online without spending a cent. You’ll still have to contend with ad banners, and you won’t have access to all features – particularly advanced SEO tools – but, similar to Wix, it’s a great starting point.

Wix Pricing

Wix has four plans, with three offering ecommerce features. They range in price from $16 to $159 per month. Wix like many other builders, has seen a price increase over the last year. That coincides with its value score decrease of -11.8%.

When compared against its competitors, Wix only achieved a mediocre score of 3 out of 5 for value for money. Its starting plans are much pricier than GoDaddy’s, but it does pack a punch with its extensive library of features and extra apps. It might be more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Naturally, the more you pay, the more you get. All premium plans come free of Wix advertising, give you your own personal domain, and promise a minimum 1GB of bandwidth.

GoDaddy Pricing

In addition to its free plan, GoDaddy has four pricing plans, only one of which gives you ecommerce functionality. These range from $9.99 to $16.99 per month, and are tailored for different needs.

It sounds obvious, but if you just want a personal site, GoDaddy’s Basic plan is ideal. If you’re a budding business, you’ll want to look at either the Standard or Premium plans. These plans give you more generous features, such as more social posts and email marketing campaigns per month. 

All of GoDaddy’s plans include a marketing tool called GoDaddy Insight, which uses data to provide you with constant advice on how you can keep improving your online presence. This comes built-in to your GoDaddy plan, alongside essential features such as SSL security.

In our research, GoDaddy scored 4.1 out of 5, and this is because even its most expensive plans are still super affordable. In fact, GoDaddy’s plans, on average, are among the cheapest out there.

And the features it offers are pretty great, too. Sure, there’s no app store – and if you want advanced SEO functionality, you’re going to need to opt for the Standard plan at the very least. But still, GoDaddy comes with a wealth of tools that – considering the price – are ideal for smaller sites or online businesses.

Further Information

• Best Free Website Builders – find out what other free platforms are out there
• Wix Pricing – take a more detailed look at what you get in each pricing plan

What Will Your Site Be Able To Do?

The Winner

Wix has better tools and features

Wix takes the crown for this category by a healthy margin, having the best features we’ve tested so far. No matter what type of website you’re trying to build, Wix has the features to support you; whether in-built, or via an app. It’s hard for any other builder to compete with that!

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Features are what really separate the average platforms from the elite. What you can and can’t do on each platform is crucial to your final decision.

Let’s get straight to the point: Wix is unrivaled in this category. It scored a near-perfect score of 4.8 out of 5, while GoDaddy only scored 3.1 out of 5. GoDaddy dropped in score by 6.7% since last year, because although it has a faster server response time than Wix, its features don’t quite compare.

For example, GoDaddy doesn’t provide as many blogging features like writer profiles or a search bar. GoDaddy also doesn’t provide unlimited storage on its plans like Wix does, instead it is limited to 1000GB on the Platinum plan.

Below, we’ll dig a bit deeper into a few different areas to see the reasoning behind these scores, and unveil what separates the two.

Further Information

• Wix eCommerce Review
• GoDaddy eCommerce Review
• Blogging Platforms

Which One Has The Tools To Help You Rank Higher?

The Winner

Wix has better SEO tools

No matter what plan you’re on, Wix has plenty of SEO (search engine optimization) tools to help your website rank higher in search results, and its SEO Wiz and extra SEO apps are particularly useful for beginners. GoDaddy has a similar SEO Wizard, but it’s only available on the more expensive plans, meaning everyone else is stuck with a basic offering.

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The strength of your website’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) will determine how highly you rank on search engines like Google. The higher you rank, the more eyes will be on your site. Simple, right?

Wix

Wix helps your site’s SEO by putting you in control. It allows you to edit things that will have an impact on SEO, such as meta titles and descriptions, URL slugs, and header code. Wix received a 5/5 for its SEO tools, as it now comes with:

• An Semrush integration
• A keyword support SEO checklist, where you can add 5 keywords
• SEO Wiz now offers the ability to try and edit keywords

If you’re struggling to know where to start, don’t worry. Wix offers keyword support through its SEO Wiz, and various apps, such as Site Booster, where you can track your website’s SEO performance.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy’s SEO has seen some major improvements in scoring since last year, an increase of 33.33% to be exact. Bumping it up to an SEO score of 4 out of 5, just below Wix’s 5 out of 5. That is because it incorporated customer headers and URLs, it also now has SEO prompts and keyword support.

The level of SEO support you receive with GoDaddy largely depends on your pricing plan. For those of you on the Standard, Premium, or Ecommerce plan, you’ll have access to its advanced SEO tools, including its SEO Wizard website optimizer. Although excellent for SEO newbies, it’s not accessible for those of you on the free or standard plans. You’ll have to make do with just the basics.

By ‘basics’, we mean that you’ll still have control over your meta titles and descriptions, URL slugs, and image alt tags, but will have to do without canonical tags or SEO best practice prompts.

Further Information

• Wix SEO Review

Help and Support

Which One Lends A Better Helping Hand?

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Which One Lends A Better Helping Hand?

The Winner

Wix offers better help and support

Wix has a wider range of support options to choose from, and you can get personalized help around the clock. Not only that, but its help center and on-page assistance are among the best. GoDaddy, on the other hand, offers fewer ways to get in touch, and its knowledge center isn’t as clear.

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Wix takes the lead by a large margin with a help and support score of 4.8 out of 5, while GoDaddy has a score of 4.3 out of 5. Interestingly Wix’s score has increased by 10.5% since last year. Wix and GoDaddy both come with a wealth of support options for when you find yourself in a fix.

Wix

Wix has a strong support offering, which is why it scored 4.8 out of 5 in our help and support category. It offers phone support 24/7 (for English- and Spanish-speaking customers), and during the day for most other languages.

If you’d rather not pick up the phone (and we don’t blame you), you can reach Wix via live chat and social media, too. It also has a helpful forum and the best help center of any website builder.

Wix’s Help Center is an online resource where you can search for guides and tutorials. Think of it a bit like a Wix-only search engine – you type in a query, and a list of search results will pop up that will be able to help you.

Having tested Wix’s help center thoroughly, we’re confident in its ability to help you out. It even lets you know if you’ve searched for help on something Wix doesn’t provide!

GoDaddy

GoDaddy’s help and support score came out lower than Wix, scoring 4.3 out of 5 in this round of testing. However, this isn’t because the support it offers isn’t as good.

Like Wix, GoDaddy offers a 24/7 phone line, as well as live chat, email, video tutorials, and support via social media. Its big drawback is its knowledge center. It’s not as comprehensive as Wix and, when we tested it, we found it hard to find accurate answers to all of our questions. The good news is all of GoDaddy’s support is available from its cheapest plan.

On-Page Help

Wix has one more ace up its sleeve, though – its in-editor help. If you encounter a problem while editing your site, you can simply click on the question mark bubble and find the answer, without having to leave the editor!

As you know, Wix and GoDaddy aren’t the only website builders on the market. There are many out there for you to choose from. If neither Wix or GoDaddy are ticking your boxes, check out any of the below for alternative options.

Squarespace

If you’re after stunning designs along with a builder that wins for best value for money, then you won’t find better than Squarespace. It has the best quality templates on the market, with great quality features to match. Prices start at $16 per month, and it’s worth every cent! It’s just as easy to use as Wix, but will take longer to set up than GoDaddy.

Further Information

• Squarespace Review
• Squarespace Pricing Review
• Wix vs Squarespace
• GoDaddy vs Squarespace

Shopify

If it’s ecommerce you’re after, you can’t get better than Shopify for selling online! It’s a great alternative to Wix if you want a bit more oomph for your online store. That does mean a higher price tag, starting at $29 per month, but it’s a worthy investment. Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform rather than a website builder, and comes jam packed with specialized features to help you get started and set you up for success.

Further Information

• Shopify Review
• Shopify Pricing Review
• Wix vs Shopify

Jimdo

Jimdo is a great alternative to GoDaddy because it too uses ADI to build a website from scratch. Similar to GoDaddy, that makes it ideal if you’re in a rush and you want a professional-looking website – without all the hard work!

Jimdo’s website features aren’t quite as developed as those of Wix and GoDaddy – although the builder does still offer excellent value for money.

Further Information

• Jimdo Review

It was a great showing from two top platforms, but in the end, Wix emerged victorious. As we said, you simply get more with Wix: greater features, better control, and more expansive help and support. This is reflected in Wix’s higher overall score of 4.8 out of 5, compared to GoDaddy’s 4.2 out of 5 score.

Wix is a more powerful builder than GoDaddy, offering complete creative control and providing better quality features and more scalable plans. It’s more expensive, though, and its wealth of customization options can make it overwhelming for beginners.

GoDaddy, on the other hand, is more limited when it comes to features, but offers fantastic speed due to its effortless ADI builder, and site speed for your visitors. Not only that, but it’s made some strides in improving its ease of use.

We Recommend Wix if…

… You want total control over your design, but you don’t want to spend ages surfing a steep learning curve. Wix delivers websites that can grow with you, and it’s great if you want to start selling, too. Wix is also better if you’ve got more money to spend, as its average pricing plan is more costly than its competitors.

We Recommend GoDaddy if…

… You want to get online with a polished website fast. GoDaddy’s ADI builder takes the hard work out of building a website, which is great if you don’t have time to devote to designing. It’s also much cheaper than Wix, so better if you need to keep an eye on your budget!

Both of these builders are worth consideration, but, overall, we’d recommend Wix to anyone who isn’t in a mad rush to get their website up and running. Put a bit more time into design, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful website that you can keep customizing with cool and exciting features.