SiteBuilder and Wix are both powerful website builders with a range of features to offer, such as a no-code editor, pre-made templates, and other web development features. However, they have some distinct differences that make them ideally suited to different types of users.
Wix’s main focus is on providing small to medium-sized businesses with a simple WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) website-building service and built-in SEO and online marketing tools to get a website or eCommerce store online quickly.
Sitebuilder focuses heavily on providing you with tools to make the entire web design process as intuitive and convenient as possible. This way, you can have a full-featured website online in minutes, even with no prior experience.
Read the rest of this Sitebuilder vs Wix comparison guide to get a clear view of each platform’s integrated functionality and toolset so you can decide which web creation tool is right for you.
1. Ease of Use
Website builders are designed to help the average person build and launch their website as quickly as possible without the need to learn code.
Both site builders excel in this regard, but there are some notable distinctions between them that you must be aware of. Let’s take a look.
Sitebuilder:
SiteBuilder is a great website builder powered by Web(dot)com. It comes with an easy-to-use website builder that you can use to create a website or online store with no technical knowledge required.
No need to be a design expert, the simple DIY builder offers an intuitive process to help bring your vision alive.
You’ll find dozens of beautiful templates designed for every industry. Build a website, online store, or portfolio. All you have to do is pick a template you like and click on any of the elements, such as text, images, buttons, etc. to customize colors, layouts, and styles. You can integrate any required elements into your website pages with a single click.
SiteBuilder uses artificial intelligence tools to help you set up and customize your website. The AI feature is one of the highlights of this website-building software which contributes to its extreme ease of use.
The AI tool does all the hard work for you based on the information you provide pertaining to your website, audience, and type of business. It’s ideal for everything from small business websites to online stores, content-based projects, and more.
The entire process is intuitive, and it’s clear to see that the system is created with beginners in mind. And the best part? The web builder comes with an integrated hosting solution which means you don’t have to pay for hosting elsewhere.
Summary of Sitebuilder’s Ease of Use Features:
- Simple website builder with a clean interface, ideal for beginners
- No-frill website hosting plans included
- SiteBuilder’s in-house professionals offer custom-designed websites
- Convenient “Preview” mode for easy editing
- Integrate additional design elements onto pages with one click
Wix:
Like SiteBuilder, Wix offers a range of easy-to-use tools for building and launching a quality website. There is an AI-powered setup tool, Wix ADI, that can build your entire website for you based on your answers to a few short questions.
Alternatively, you can create a website yourself by either starting from scratch using a blank slate or choosing from one of the hundreds of pre-designed templates available on the platform.
The templates are optimized and come with built-in functionality for everything from forms and galleries to video backgrounds, and more. Just choose the appropriate template for your business and industry, and you can get to work customizing it to match your brand and style.
The WYSIWYG editor lets you see any changes you make in real-time, and the dashboard is intuitive and easy to navigate, even for beginners with very little technical skill.
Wix’s App Marketplace lets you extend your website’s structure and functionality with tools for sales, marketing, customer support, and other business management apps and widgets.
Every element you integrate into your Wix website is fully customizable, which means you can change colors, fonts, styles, etc. to end up with a completely different and unique element. This means that you’ll be able to build your website layout to match your actual requirements.
One of the absolute best things about Wix’s editor is that it gives you the option for the absolute positioning of each element. Absolute positioning is a design technique that involves working outside of the “grid” when positioning page elements. This means that you can place elements anywhere you want on the page – at the edges, on top of one another, and so on.
Summary of Wix’s Ease of Use Features:
- 900+ unique website templates available to choose from
- Unstructured drag-and-drop builder for complete design control
- Seamless Wix App integrations for added website functionality
- Limited free plan available to try out the features risk-free
- All-in-one website-building experience, including hosting and domains
Winner: Sitebuilder
SiteBuilders’ easy drag-and-drop technology makes it one of the simplest website builders on the market.
With just a few clicks, you can customize elements like galleries, forms, banners, and many others. The editor also makes it easy for you to drop in images and copy tailored to your brand.
If you’re short on time, you can leave your website building to the platform’s expert designers. The pros will create your custom website, complete with SEO-optimized content.
2. Design and Customization
Design and customization features are absolutely crucial in a website builder. The modern web design market is super competitive, and you want a web builder that comes with a range of attractive, pre-made templates to save you time when creating your own site.
Also, you should be able to customize those templates in any way you want to create a unique look for your site.
Let’s see how Wix and SiteBuilder compare in this regard.
Sitebuilder:
SiteBuilder is a popular website builder with all the tools you need to bring your site online. The platform prides itself on its expertly-designed, fully-customizable templates that make your website stand out.
There are over 150 professionally-designed templates for a wide range of industries and business types. There’s also a variety of pre-made content blocks that you can use to enhance your website design and functionality.
Choose any creative design that appeals to you and use the drag-and-drop editor to customize it to meet your goals.
The convenient preview mode allows you to see how your website looks at any stage of your website’s development prior to publishing. This saves a great deal of time when making edits since you don’t have to save each change before you can preview it.
Each site you build on SiteBuilder comes with a unique domain name, built-in web hosting, SSL certificate, and expert support. This way, you don’t have to go looking elsewhere for any tool or support to build your website. Everything you need is available right there on your dashboard.
In addition, SiteBuilder offers one hour of free website design support for anyone who needs it.
Summary of Sitebuilder’s Design and Customization Features:
- Dozens of professionally designed templates for different industries
- Pre-made content blocks to enhance website design
- Simple drag-and-drop editor for easy customization
- Preview mode to see website edits before publishing
- Templates with built-in functionality for sales and marketing
Wix:
Wix is an undeniable leader in the website building space and with good reason. The platform comes with over 900+ premade templates, all expertly designed for modern use.
You get a myriad of customization options to build stunning projects, including websites, blogs, eCommerce stores, portfolios, and landing pages.
You can add extra functionality to any of your pages by integrating tools and apps from the Wix App Marketplace. You don’t even need to be a pro to get all the different tools working together. Integration is as easy as clicking a button, and all the tools will work seamlessly together to provide you with a full-featured website.
All in all, Wix takes an all-in-one approach to website building and provides you with everything you need to design, create, launch, and promote your website from a single place.
The software also offers an outstanding web design environment suited to users of all skill levels.
In addition to the Wix artificial design intelligence which builds websites in just seconds, users can choose between three different editors according to their technical expertise. The first is a simple drag-and-drop editor that lets you click on different elements to drag them onto a page so you can create your own unique layouts.
Wix also has an unstructured editor that allows you to place elements anywhere on the page as opposed to a pre-determined grid that sets out the layout for you.
Finally, advanced users can use Wix code to dive deep into the weeds and make changes to their website without any limitations.
Summary of Wix’s Design and Customization Features:
- Editor X page builder for responsive websites
- Robust customization options
- 100% customizable templates and themes with built-in marketing features
- Free logo creation tools
- Huge library of royalty-free images, icons, and vector art
Winner: Wix
SiteBuilder has an impressive range of beautiful, industry-specific templates. There are also millions of free stock images, YouTube and Vimeo embeds, and various other elements to enhance your designs.
However, Wix surpasses Sitebuilder in terms of templates. The platform has significantly more (and better-looking) templates in a wider selection of categories.
If it’s important to you to have a broad variety of themes to choose from, then Wix is the best SiteBuilder for you. Also, Wix’s web design approach far surpasses that of its competitor thanks to the endless design and customization options that allow you to create a unique website with the exact appearance and functionality you require.
3. eCommerce Capabilities
eCommerce features are a crucial consideration if you intend to sell products online. The right eCommerce website builder will provide you with all the tools to list your products, conduct marketing campaigns, accept payments, communicate with customers, and more.
Here’s what each web builder offers in this department.
Sitebuilder:
SiteBuilder has a robust eCommerce store solution with all the built-in tools you need to turn your site into an online store and start selling your products and services right away.
The easy online store builder lets you create beautiful web shops using an intuitive drag-and-drop editor. There are dozens of pre-designed building blocks to choose from, as well as custom code blocks and over 2 million stock photos to help you create unique layouts.
In addition to selling on your own website, you can also sell your products in places where your ideal customers already shop, such as Amazon, Facebook, and Etsy.
Choose from hundreds of pre-made design layouts perfectly optimized to showcase your products and content for your target customers. The platforms suite of eCommerce features includes:
- A drag-and-drop online store builder
- Online marketplace selling tools for Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and more.
- Simple shipping solutions
…and much more.
You’ll also find a range of other features designed to help you grow your business, including an appointment scheduling tool that lets you set custom availability, booking policies, etc. for your online store.
SiteBuilder also has a QR code generator and an eCommerce reporting feature that lets you get powerful insights into your visitors, page views, and sales performance. You’ll be able to stay on top of all your online store information, including which are your top-selling items, filter by the cost of goods sold, and more.
You also get bulk editing tools that allow you to update your product and listing information in bulk. Pre-built templates with customizable formats allow you to make changes to your products quickly and easily.
SiteBuilder’s robust security solutions keep your eCommerce website safe online. This includes SSL certificates and SiteLock daily scans to protect your site from malware and other vulnerabilities.
Additionally, the platform conducts regular website backups so you can restore your site easily if it ever becomes necessary.
Summary of Sitebuilder’s eCommerce Capabilities:
- eCommerce analytics and reporting features
- Secure payment options, including PayPal and Stripe
- Purchase order management tools
- Advanced SEO features to boost your online store’s visibility
- Expert eCommerce website design with product setup included
Wix:
Wix comes with powerful eCommerce functionality that you can realize by connecting and customizing a Wix Store widget. You can run a small-medium-sized online store and get access to a range of tools, such as product galleries, SEO tools, store analytics, discounts and special offers, and much more.
The intuitive web builder guides you every step of the way to create an eCommerce store to suit any niche. You can choose from dozens of templates and customize them using toolsets available in the Wix App Market.
Add goods to your Wix store by product ID, quantity, special characteristics, and other factors. You can also adjust payment options and synchronize with Amazon right from your dashboard.
A standout feature of Wix eCommerce is the point-of-sale (POS) tool that lets you sell your products both online and offline. You will receive notifications whenever customers place their orders offline.
You can sync your inventory and if you run out of stock on any product, you will be notified instantly. Additionally, Wix store owners have access to the Apply/Remove Coupon feature that lets users add or remove coupons from their shopping cart as required.
These are just a few of the powerful eCommerce features that give Wix an edge over SiteBuilder.
Summary of Wix’s eCommerce Capabilities:
- Dozens of eCommerce templates are available to choose from
- Powerful point-of-sale system to sell online and offline
- Product sync feature for easy stock management
- Apply/Remove Coupon feature
- Multiple payment options available to cater to different customers
Winner: Wix
SiteBuilder offers a comprehensive digital marketing platform. You can use the built-in marketing tools to grow your business online. Create your brand identity, enhance your web presence, and build better relationships with your customers through targeted emails, social marketing, and built-in eCommerce tools.
However, as great as SiteBuilder is, Wix has more robust eCommerce tools that are comparable to some of the leaders in the eCommerce industry, such as Shopify and WooCommerce. It certainly has a lot more to offer compared to SiteBuilder which is why it’s the winner here.
4. Blogging Tools
A blog is crucial to help you share your expertise, establish trust, and attract targeted customers to your website. It gives you the opportunity to provide readers with content that’s relevant to their needs and helps you position yourself as an authority in your space.
For these reasons, you need a website builder with the tools to help you build a successful blog. Let’s see how SiteBuilder and Wix compare.
Sitebuilder:
On SiteBuilder, you can build a beautiful blog in just minutes. The blogging functionality is quite basic, and you’ll be able to quickly create a simple blog for your site that caters to the most basic needs. But if you want to build a content-focused site, then this may not be the best option for you.
To build a blog on SiteBuilder, simply navigate your dashboard, click “Create blog”, and give a title to your new blog. You can then choose a blog template and manage the settings according to your unique requirements.
Add content, upload cover images, media files, etc. and once you’re ready, click “Publish” or schedule your post for later. You can edit your blog permalink to make it more user-friendly.
Your blog will be hosted on the platform and you get reliable support whenever you need it. You’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that your online presence is secure with Sitebuilder’s website hosting solutions with an uptime of 99.9%.
SiteBuilder also comes with an AI copywriting tool that helps you create unique, SEO-optimized content for your blog. This is a super helpful feature that’ll make it easier for you to enhance your web presence by publishing fresh blog posts on a consistent basis.
You’ll also be able to drive traffic with the platform’s user-friendly marketing tools, including email marketing, social scheduling, and design tools to help you create more powerful visuals for your website.
Summary of Sitebuilder’s Blogging Tools:
- Create a simple blog for your website
- Leverage social sharing tools for more views
- Schedule posts for publication at a later date
- High uptime of 99.9% so your blog is always available online
Wix:
Wix has a powerful blogging engine that lets you create a full-featured blog on the website. You can access an extensive set of tools to customize your blog and add more functionality for maximum performance.
For example, you can add comments to each blog page to engage your readers. Users can even react to your blog posts with emojis and GIFs for more interactivity. Add forms to increase your blog email subscribers.
Like SiteBuilder, Wix has a range of blog templates for you to choose from. Customizing the templates doesn’t require any coding knowledge. Even non-technical users will be able to set up a blog and change colors, text, and images to create a unique blog page that’s aligned with your brand.
You also have the option of using the Wix ADI tool to create your blog for you. Upload new posts, edit existing content, integrate media files, and adjust blog parameters to suit your needs.
All the tools you require are right at your fingertips. Once your articles are created, you can publish them right away or schedule them for any time in the future.
Summary of Wix’s Blogging Tools:
- Versatile blog marketing tools
- Powerful content management features
- Fully mobile-responsive blog
- Advanced integrations to drive more blog traffic
- Powerful SEO features, including automated XML and HTML sitemaps
Winner: Wix
Both Wix and SiteBuilder have integrated blogging engines to help you create a functional blog. SiteBuilder’s AI copywriting tool gives it an edge over Wix because it allows you to create AI-generated blog posts, social media copy, emails, and more.
This saves you a lot of time and money and keeps you off the content creation hamster wheel that many bloggers find themselves on.
There’s also an image editing and filtering tool to help you create beautiful images for your blog.
These are all amazing features, but Wix offers pretty much the same features – and more. In short, you get a more versatile set of blog creation tools for successful blogging projects which makes Wix the better option for serious bloggers.
5. Search Engine Optimization Tools
Another important factor to consider before choosing your website builder is the built-in search engine optimization features.
There are multiple elements regarding SEO in web design. Here’s a quick look at what each website builder offers so you know which one will make it easier for you to gain visibility for your new website.
Sitebuilder:
Each site comes with built-in web hosting for faster loading pages and reliable backup tools.
You also get an SSL certificate to remind your website visitors that their data is safe and secure on your website.
SiteBuilder has a range of SEO tools to make it easy for your customers to find your online store on Google and other search engines, as well as in local directories. You’ll find a suite of easy-to-use tools such as SEO actions, Health Check, and advanced SEO filters.
You can adjust baseline SEO settings on your dashboard. Fill out things such as titles, meta-tags, descriptions, keywords, etc. for each of your website pages.
However, SiteBuilder doesn’t offer advanced SEO features in the same way that Wix does. It only has the basics, but these are enough to help you achieve a good position in Google and other search engines, provided you are building a simple blog.
Summary of Sitebuilder’s Search Engine Optimization Tools:
- Easy SEO setup
- Health Check feature for in-depth website analysis
- SEO Actions for specific keyword use suggestions
- Easy SEO guide with recommended SEO tasks
- Advanced reporting to see how your site is performing
Wix:
Wix not only provides you with the tools to launch a professional website at an affordable price, with zero coding skills, but the software also ensures that your website can be found online thanks to powerful built-in SEO tools.
These include meta-tags, code links, header tags, redirecting tools, and Google Analytics parameters.
Wix also has an SEO wizard, an AI-powered tool that guides you in setting up the essential SEO parameters for your website and blog. The wizard provides a detailed checklist of all the optimizations you need to perform to get your website visible online.
This is a super helpful feature that beginners will love. You won’t have to work hard trying to figure out ways to boost your site’s visibility. Simply implement all the suggestions given for your particular website, and you’re good to go.
Summary of Wix’s Search Engine Optimization Tools:
- SEO Wiz Tool integration for easy SEO setup
- Detailed checklist and guidelines for website SEO best practices
- Advanced SEO apps and widgets from the Wix App Marketplace
- Built-in website promotion tools for enhanced online visibility
- Add brand names to product attributes to boost brand recognition
Winner: Wix
Wix is the clear winner in this category. Its sheer number of SEO features allows it to prevail quite noticeably over SiteBuilder and many other platforms, such as the GoDaddy website builder, Weebly, and Zyro.
Wix is an SEO-friendly website builder that makes it easy for you to optimize your website for search engines. It has an SEO wizard tool to guide you through the entire SEO optimization process for your new website.
Not only does it come with built-in SEO tools for both basic and advanced users, but the software also offers an impressive uptime rate and high page loading speeds for maximum performance. You can also integrate third-party tools like Google Analytics for more effective search engine optimization.
6. Community and Support
Sitebuilder:
SiteBuilder has robust customer support designed to help you find online success each step of the way.
You can get in touch with the support team via 24/7 chat, email, or phone. You’ll also find a range of easy-to-follow guides on the website’s knowledge base. These make it easy for you to find answers if you prefer the self-help option.
Either way, you are well-equipped to build and grow your online business with SiteBuilder. You’ll also get one hour of website design and setup support from the platform’s expert designers.
Wix:
Like SiteBuilder, Wix also has reliable customer support that you can access in a number of ways, including live chat, email, and phone support.
The Wix help center is well-stocked with general help tech support guides and how-tos. There’s also a helpful FAQ section and a getting started page with all the basics of using the web development system.
Winner: Tie
Both SiteBuilders offer a number of convenient options for getting in touch with support. They also provide opportunities to find answers through well-curated knowledge bases and help centers. With such versatility of support options, you’ll be able to solve any problems you encounter in no time.
7. Pricing
Pricing should never be the only consideration when choosing the best website builder. However, it’s still important to choose a platform that has all the tools you need at a price you can afford.
Fortunately, both Wix and SiteBuilder have multiple growth-focused plans that you can choose from according to your requirements.
Sitebuilder:
SiteBuilder comes with a range of website plans for different budgets. Here’s a look at the platform’s pricing structure and what you get with each plan.
- Website Plan: $4.95/Month: This is the most basic plan which comes with all the features you need to get your website or blog online. This includes the website builder, free domain name, privacy, and business email. All plans come with an SSL certificate and you get an hour’s worth of expert design support.
- Website + Marketing Plan: $7.95/Month: This plan has everything in the Website plan, as well as tools for social marketing, email marketing, and appointment scheduling. You’ll be able to sell services without integrating additional tools. There’s also an AI copywriting tool, a new feature that will help save you time when creating content for your website.
- Online Store Plan: $13.95/Month: This plan offers the best value. It has everything in Website + Marketing and comes with a built-in online store with secure checkout. You also get tools to sell on Facebook and Instagram.
- Online Marketplaces: $19.95/Month: This plan contains everything in the Online Store plan, as well as the ability to sell on additional online marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and many others. You also get bulk editing and automation tools to simplify your website/business management processes.
Wix:
Wix offers a range of plans to suit different needs. Here’s what each premium plan entails:
- Wix Free Plan: Wix has a free forever plan that lets you build a simple website. The plan includes free web hosting and a sub-domain (e.g. YourSite.wixsite.com). This is an ad-supported plan, which means Wix ads will be shown on every page and favicon in the URL. You get up to 500 MB of storage and bend with. Unfortunately, this plan doesn’t include customer support, Google Analytics, or online payments. You’ll have to upgrade to one of the premium plans to unlock these and other features.
- Combo Plan: $15/Month: This plan is ideal for personal use. It comes with a custom domain, a free SSL certificate, and 2GB of storage space and you can host up to 30 minutes of video. You can sign up for a free trial on any of the premium plans to get access to the core features before deciding whether or not this SiteBuilder is right for you.
- Unlimited Plan: $22/Month: The Unlimited plan comes with everything in the Combo plan + 5GB of storage space, one hour of video, and a visitor analytics app. This plan is ideal for entrepreneurs and freelancers and comes with a Google Ads budget to help promote your business.
- Pro Plan: $27/Month: The Pro plan is ideal for complete online branding. It comes with all the features in the Unlimited plan, as well as 50GB of storage space, two hours of video, an events calendar app, and over 40 different sizes of your logo ready to use on various social media channels.
- VIP Plan: $45/Month: This plan has everything in the Pro plan, as well as 100GB storage space, 5 video hours, and priority customer care. If you value first-priority support, then this plan is ideal for you.
Winner: Wix
With regard to value for money, Wix is the clear winner. It has the best pricing structure that allows different users to choose plans that are relevant to them.
Whether you want to build a website for eCommerce or personal use, or if you want a comprehensive set of tools for complete online branding, you’ll be able to choose the right plan for you. Additionally, Wix offers a free plan whereas SiteBuilder does not.
Final Thoughts
I hope this Wix vs Sitebuilder comparison has helped you determine the strong and weak parameters of each website builder to make it easier for you to make your choice.
Overall, Wix is the more powerful website builder with advanced functionality and exceptional design tools that let you create any type of website you want. However, because of its many built-in tools and customization options, it comes with a somewhat steeper learning curve compared to SiteBuilder.
For this reason, users may choose one over the other depending on their level of expertise.
Choose Wix if you want a powerful, yet easy-to-use platform to launch a professional and functional website. Despite its powerful nature and advanced features, Wix’s design process is intuitive and smooth. The platform does a great job of merging high-end functionality with simple website creation tools for flexibility and ease. All the built-in features and tools work together seamlessly, and you can integrate additional apps from the Wix App Marketplace to further expand your website’s functionality.
Choose SiteBuilder if you want a simpler web-building solution to help you establish your online presence fast and with virtually no learning curve. The software has a drag-and-drop editor that simplifies the entire website creation process. No coding knowledge is required, and there is even an integrated AI engine that makes it perfect for beginners with little to no web design experience.
If you still aren’t sure which platform is right for you, you may want to consider reading about other Wix Alternatives.