In 2025, pricing structures for SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms like Wix have evolved into tiered subscriptions that can be confusing to navigate. You are not just paying for a builder; you are paying for hosting, access to features, storage limits, and transaction capabilities. For business owners, freelancers, and agencies, understanding the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is vital. You need to know not just what you pay today, but what you will pay as you scale, add functionality, and grow your traffic.

This guide provides an exhaustive analysis of Wix’s pricing landscape, from their entry-level plans to their enterprise solutions. We will peel back the layers on hidden costs—like transaction fees and app subscriptions—that often catch users off guard. Furthermore, we will objectively look at the market to see how other comprehensive platforms, specifically the Elementor ecosystem, compare in terms of long-term value, data ownership, and professional capabilities.

Key Takeaways

  • Tiered Pricing Structure: Wix offers four main premium plans ranging from the “Light” plan at roughly $17/month to the “Business Elite” plan at $159/month (billed annually), with features gated strictly by tier.
  • The “Free” Plan is Limited: While a free plan exists, it includes Wix branding, advertisements on your site, and does not allow for a custom domain, making it unsuitable for professional business use.
  • Hidden Costs Accumulate: The base subscription is just the start. You must budget for domain renewals (~$15-20/year), Google Workspace email accounts (~$6/user/mo), and premium third-party apps which can range from $5 to $50+ per month.
  • eCommerce Gatekeeping: To accept payments or sell products, you must upgrade to at least the “Core” plan ($29/month). Lower tiers do not support transaction processing.
  • Data Ownership vs. Renting: Wix is a closed platform. You are essentially “renting” your website. If you stop paying, your site goes offline. This contrasts with open platforms like WordPress and Elementor, where you own your content and data.
  • Scalability Constraints: Storage and video hours are capped on lower tiers, forcing growing sites to upgrade to significantly more expensive plans like “Business Elite” to remove these limits.
  • The Elementor Alternative: For creators seeking a balance of SaaS convenience and open-source freedom, Elementor Hosting provides a managed infrastructure with pixel-perfect design control often at a more competitive price point for the value delivered.

The Short Answer: Wix Pricing at a Glance

If you are looking for the quick numbers before we dive into the deep analysis, here is the current landscape of Wix’s premium pricing for 2025. Keep in mind these prices typically reflect an annual billing cycle; paying month-to-month is usually more expensive.

  • Light Plan: ~$17 / month (Best for portfolios and personal sites, no eCommerce).
  • Core Plan: ~$29 / month (Entry-level eCommerce, basic analytics).
  • Business Plan: ~$36 / month (Standard eCommerce, more storage, automation).
  • Business Elite: ~$159 / month (Unlimited storage, priority support, advanced developer tools).
  • Enterprise: Custom Pricing (Starts at ~$500/month, for large-scale organizations).

While these numbers give you a baseline, the real story lies in what is—and isn’t—included in each tier.

Deep Dive into Wix Pricing Plans

To truly understand the value proposition, we need to dissect each plan. Wix has structured its offerings to encourage upgrades. Features that many professional developers might consider standard—like advanced analytics or the ability to accept payments—are often locked behind higher paywalls.

1. Wix Light Plan

Cost: Approximately $17 per month (billed annually).

The Light plan is the entry point for removing Wix branding and connecting a custom domain. It is positioned for personal projects, portfolios, or very simple brochure websites that do not need to process transactions.

What You Get:

  • Custom Domain: You can connect your own web address.
  • No Ads: The floating Wix banner is removed.
  • Storage: Limited to 2GB.
  • Video Hours: Limited to 30 minutes.

The Analysis: For a professional freelancer or a hobbyist, this plan works for a CV or a simple gallery. However, the 2GB storage limit is quite restrictive in the modern web environment where high-resolution imagery is standard. If you are a photographer or a designer showcasing a large portfolio, you might hit this cap faster than expected. Crucially, this plan has no eCommerce capabilities. You cannot sell a product, book a paid appointment, or accept a donation.

2. Wix Core Plan

Cost: Approximately $29 per month (billed annually).

This is the gatekeeper tier for anyone wanting to make money online. If you are a small business owner, this is likely the minimum plan you can consider.

What You Get:

  • Accept Payments: This unlocks the ability to use Wix Payments, PayPal, and other gateways.
  • eCommerce Platform: You can add up to 50,000 products.
  • Storage: Increased to 50GB.
  • Video Hours: Increased to 5 hours.
  • Basic Analytics: Access to site traffic data.
  • Collaborators: Up to 5 accounts.

The Analysis: The jump from Light to Core is significant in terms of functionality. You gain the ability to transact, which is essential for business. The 50GB storage is generous for most small shops. However, the analytics are still labeled as “Basic,” meaning you might miss out on deeper insights regarding customer behavior that are standard in other dedicated analytics tools.

3. Wix Business Plan

Cost: Approximately $36 per month (billed annually).

Wix markets this as their “Recommended” plan for growing brands. It is designed for stores that are seeing consistent traffic and sales volume.

What You Get:

  • Storage: Increased to 100GB.
  • Video Hours: Increased to 10 hours.
  • Sales Tax Automation: Automated tax calculations for 100 transactions per month.
  • Advanced Shipping: more granular control over shipping rates.
  • Collaborators: Up to 10 accounts.
  • Standard Marketing Suite: More lead capture forms and automations.

The Analysis: For an extra $7 a month over the Core plan, the value add here is primarily in the automated sales tax and expanded storage. If you are selling digital products or have a content-heavy site, the extra storage is a safety net. The automated sales tax is a nice-to-have, but with a cap of 100 transactions, scaling businesses will quickly outgrow it and may need to pay for third-party tax software integration anyway.

4. Wix Business Elite Plan

Cost: Approximately $159 per month (billed annually).

This is a massive price jump. We move from $36 to $159, pushing this plan into a category where users expect premium, agency-level performance and support.

What You Get:

  • Unlimited Storage: No caps on files or media.
  • Unlimited Video Hours: Host as much video content as you need.
  • Priority Support: You skip the line in the support queue.
  • Advanced Developer Platform: Access to more code-level capabilities.
  • Collaborators: Up to 15 accounts.

The Analysis: The “Business Elite” plan is positioned for high-traffic sites that cannot afford downtime or storage limits. The priority support is the key selling point here for businesses that lack an in-house technical team. However, at nearly $2,000 a year, one has to ask if the proprietary nature of the platform is worth the cost compared to an open-source solution where “unlimited” storage is often a standard feature of much cheaper hosting packages.

5. Wix Enterprise

Cost: Custom Pricing (typically starting around $500/month).

For large organizations, Wix offers an Enterprise solution. This includes a dedicated account manager, custom contracts, enterprise-grade security audits, and specialized deployment. This is meant to compete with enterprise DXP (Digital Experience Platforms) but remains within the Wix infrastructure.

Beyond the Subscription: The Hidden Costs

The sticker price is rarely the final price when building on a proprietary SaaS platform. To run a fully functional, professional business website, you will almost certainly incur additional costs. These are often overlooked in the initial budgeting phase.

1. Domain Name Registration and Renewal

Most annual Wix plans come with a voucher for a “free domain for one year.” This is a standard industry perk. However, it is important to look at the renewal rates.

  • Renewal Cost: After the first year, you will pay the standard renewal rate, which can range from $15 to $25 per year depending on the TLD (.com, .net, .io).
  • Privacy Protection: Keeping your personal info off the WHOIS public database usually costs an extra $9.90 per year.
  • The Trap: If you register your domain through Wix, transferring it out later can be a bureaucratic process. Many experts recommend keeping your domain registrar separate from your website host for better control.

2. Professional Email (Google Workspace)

Wix does not host email inboxes natively. Instead, they resell Google Workspace (formerly G Suite).

  • Cost: Approximately $6.00 per user / per month.
  • Impact: If you have a team of 5 people, that is an extra $30/month (or $360/year) on top of your website builder subscription. While Google Workspace is an excellent product, purchasing it through a reseller ties your email infrastructure to your website billing, which can complicate things if you decide to migrate your site later.

3. The App Market (Functionality Gaps)

This is where costs can truly balloon. Wix’s core features are robust, but they aren’t exhaustive. If you need specific functionality—like a complex loyalty program, advanced SEO tools, specific dropshipping integrations, or pop-ups beyond the basic—you will head to the Wix App Market.

  • Freemium Models: Many apps are free to install but require a monthly subscription to unlock essential features.
  • Cost Examples:
    • Loyalty Programs: Can cost $20-$50/month.
    • Advanced Search: Can cost $9-$15/month.
    • Reviews/Testimonials: Premium display widgets often carry a monthly fee.
  • The Reality: A “Business” plan site ($36/mo) can easily become a $100/mo site once you add three or four essential premium apps.

4. Transaction and Processing Fees

If you accept payments, you are paying processing fees. This is standard across the eCommerce industry, but it is a cost that eats into your margins.

  • Wix Payments: Typically charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for US cards.
  • Third-Party Gateways: If you use a different gateway, the fees vary.
  • Currency Conversion: If you sell internationally, be aware of potential currency conversion fees that may apply depending on your payout settings.

Is Wix Worth the Price? A Value Analysis

When we look at the pricing objectively, Wix offers a polished, curated experience. You are paying for convenience. You are paying for a closed ecosystem where the hosting, the builder, and the security are managed by a single entity. For a user with absolutely no technical inclination who wants a “set it and forget it” brochure site, the Light or Core plans offer a viable path.

However, the value proposition becomes complicated as you scale.

The “SaaS Trap” of Renting The most critical factor to understand about Wix—and similar platforms like Squarespace—is that you are renting your website. You do not own the code. You cannot download your Wix site, put it on a USB drive, and upload it to a different hosting provider.

  • Lock-in: If Wix raises their prices (which SaaS platforms historically do), you have two choices: pay the higher rate or rebuild your entire website from scratch on a new platform.
  • Data Portability: Migrating away from Wix is notoriously difficult. You can export product CSVs and blog posts, but the design, the layout, and the intricate site structure you spent hundreds of hours building are tied to their proprietary software.

Limitations on Customization While Wix allows for “drag and drop” anywhere, you are limited to the widgets and code capabilities they allow. If you need a highly specific custom feature that isn’t in their App Market, you are often out of luck or forced to hire a Velo developer to attempt a workaround within their walled garden.

The Alternative: Elementor as a Comprehensive Platform

For web creators who want the ease of a visual builder but refuse to compromise on ownership and flexibility, there is a powerful alternative: Elementor.

Elementor has evolved from a “page builder” into a complete Website Builder Platform. It operates on WordPress, the open-source software that powers over 40% of the web. This distinction is crucial. With Elementor, you get the visual design power of a SaaS tool, but with the data ownership and limitless extensibility of WordPress.

The Elementor Ecosystem: Creating a “Best of Both Worlds” Solution

Elementor effectively bridges the gap between the closed “walled gardens” (like Wix) and the open (but sometimes fragmented) world of WordPress. It does this through a suite of integrated products that cover every stage of the web creation lifecycle.

1. Elementor Hosting: The Optimized Foundation

One of the historical arguments for Wix was “I don’t want to manage hosting.” Elementor Hosting solves this. It is a managed WordPress hosting solution that comes pre-installed with Elementor Pro.

  • Performance: Built on the Google Cloud Platform with Cloudflare Enterprise CDN included. This is enterprise-grade infrastructure that ensures pixel-perfect designs load instantly.
  • Security: Elementor Hosting handles the security, backups, and SSL, removing the technical headache usually associated with WordPress.
  • Value: It bundles the hosting and the pro builder into one price, often costing less annually than comparable SaaS plans while offering superior performance.

2. The Visual Builder: Design Without Limits

The Elementor Website Builder is the creative engine. Unlike some SaaS builders that restrict you to rigid templates, Elementor offers true pixel-perfect control.

  • Flexibility: You can design every header, footer, archive page, and product page.
  • Hello Theme: Elementor provides the Hello Theme, a lightweight, blank canvas designed specifically for the builder. It ensures your site is fast and carries no “bloat,” giving you complete design freedom.
  • WooCommerce: Through the WooCommerce Builder, you can custom design every aspect of your online store. You are not stuck with a generic checkout page; you can brand the entire buyer journey.

3. Intelligent Tools for Growth

Elementor has expanded its platform to include tools that replace many of the “paid apps” you would need on other platforms:

  • Elementor AI: A native integration that helps you generate text, code, and images directly inside the editor. It can act as a copilot, helping you write CSS or create layouts.
  • Image Optimizer: A tool that automatically compresses and optimizes your media to ensure your site remains fast, crucial for SEO and user experience.
  • Site Mailer: This solves the WordPress email deliverability issue, ensuring your transactional emails (receipts, form fills) actually hit the inbox without complex SMTP setups.
  • Ally by Elementor: An integrated accessibility tool to help ensure your site is compliant and usable by everyone, mitigating legal risks.

Pricing Comparison: Elementor vs. Wix

Let’s look at the long-term value.

Scenario: A growing eCommerce store needing 50GB+ storage, custom design, and email marketing features.

  • Wix Path: You would likely need the Business Plan ($36/mo) or Business Elite ($159/mo) depending on traffic. You create the site. Two years later, you want to move. You cannot. You have paid thousands in subscription fees and own zero assets.
  • Elementor Path: You choose an Elementor Hosting plan (often starting around $10-$25/mo depending on the promotion). You get the industry-leading builder included. You build on WordPress. Two years later, you want to move? You export your entire site (database, media, design) and move it to any host in the world. You own the asset.

Who Should Choose What? A Persona-Based Guide

To help you decide, let’s map these options to specific user needs. As digital marketing expert Itamar Haim often notes, choosing your platform is a foundational business decision, not just a technical one.

1. The DIY Hobbyist or Portfolio Creator

If you are building a resume site or a simple portfolio and have zero interest in technical details, Wix Light is a reasonable choice. It is fast, easy, and looks good.

  • Alternative: The Hello Theme with Elementor Free is a zero-cost path (minus hosting) that offers a professional resume site with more layout control.

2. The Scaling eCommerce Brand

If you are building a brand that you intend to scale to hundreds of products and thousands of customers, Elementor + WooCommerce is the superior strategic choice.

  • Why: Wix Stores is great for starting out, but as you grow, you may run into limitations with payment gateways, international shipping logic, or custom checkout flows. WooCommerce is open source; if you can dream it, you can build it. The WooCommerce Builder in Elementor ensures it looks professional without needing code.

3. The Digital Agency or Freelancer

For agencies, “handing off” a site to a client is critical.

  • Wix: You are handing off a subscription. If the client stops paying Wix, the site dies. You are also limited in how much you can customize the backend for the client.
  • Elementor: You can use the AI Site Planner to rapidly prototype wireframes and get client buy-in. You can build a fully custom site on Elementor Hosting and hand off a finished asset that the client owns. You can also use Send by Elementor to manage their marketing automation, creating recurring revenue for your agency.

Conclusion

So, how much is Wix? The answer is “more than the monthly fee.” It is the cost of the subscription, plus the apps, plus the transaction fees, plus the opportunity cost of building on a rented platform that you can never truly leave.

Wix is a formidable tool with a highly polished user interface. For users who prioritize convenience above all else and have a budget that can absorb rising subscription costs, it delivers a solid experience.

However, for web creators, business owners, and agencies who view their website as a long-term asset, the Elementor ecosystem offers a more compelling value proposition. It combines the ease of a visual builder with the power, ownership, and flexibility of WordPress. By choosing a platform that empowers you to create pixel-perfect designs while retaining full control of your data, you are investing in the future of your business, not just renting a space on someone else’s server.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there a truly free version of Wix? Yes, Wix offers a free plan. However, it is not suitable for professional use. It forces you to use a Wix subdomain (e.g., https://www.google.com/search?q=username.wixsite.com/site), displays prominent Wix ads on every page, and offers very limited storage and bandwidth. It is best used only for testing the editor.

2. Does Wix take a percentage of my sales? Wix does not charge a commission fee on the sale itself (like some platforms used to), but you will pay processing fees. If you use Wix Payments, the standard fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. This is comparable to Stripe or PayPal standard rates.

3. Can I move my Wix website to WordPress later? Not easily. Wix uses a proprietary codebase. You cannot export your template or design. You would have to manually copy-paste your text and images to a new WordPress site and rebuild the design from scratch using a tool like Elementor.

4. How does Elementor Hosting compare to Wix pricing? Elementor Hosting generally offers a lower entry point for a fully managed experience. While Wix Business plans can climb to $36 or $159 per month, Elementor Hosting plans bundle the Pro builder and enterprise-grade cloud hosting often for less, providing a higher value-to-cost ratio for professional features.

5. Do I need to pay for hosting if I use Wix? Yes, hosting is included in the Wix subscription price. You cannot separate the hosting from the builder. This is part of the “closed ecosystem” model.

6. Are Wix apps free? Some are free, but many essential apps for business (like advanced reviews, loyalty programs, or booking systems) require a monthly subscription. These costs can add up quickly and appear as separate line items on your credit card.

7. Is Elementor harder to use than Wix? Elementor has a slight learning curve compared to Wix’s ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), but it is a visual, drag-and-drop builder that requires no coding. With the AI Site Planner and Elementor AI, the barrier to entry has been lowered significantly, allowing beginners to create professional sites quickly.

8. Which platform is better for SEO, Wix or Elementor? Both platforms have improved their SEO capabilities. However, Elementor (running on WordPress) offers deeper SEO control. You have access to advanced plugins like Yoast SEO or RankMath, and full control over your schema markup and site speed optimizations via tools like the Image Optimizer.

9. Can I use my own domain name with the Wix free plan? No. To connect a custom domain (like www.yourbusiness.com), you must upgrade to at least the “Light” plan.

10. What happens to my site if I stop paying Wix? If you cancel your premium subscription, your site will revert to the free version (showing ads and the Wix subdomain). If you cancel your account entirely, your site is deleted. With a self-hosted WordPress site built with Elementor, you have the option to move your files to a different host if you are unhappy with your provider, preserving your site.