Why I Don’t Recommend Wix for Businesses
Written by Jessica Freeman, Web Designer and SEO Strategist since 2011 • Post Last Updated September 2026
I don’t recommend Wix for business owners for two reasons: fully responsive design requires a separate, more expensive Wix Studio plan, and Wix sites can’t be exported, so leaving means rebuilding from scratch.
You’ll hear plenty of designers point to Wix’s SEO limitations or page speed problems. Those are real, but they show up on Squarespace and WordPress too, usually because of how a site was built rather than where it was built.
Why does Wix charge extra for a fully responsive website?
Full CSS-grid responsiveness on Wix requires Wix Studio, a separate product line with its own plans starting at $19/month billed annually, compared to $17/month for the standard Light plan.
The two dollars aren’t the problem. The problem is that responsive design is being sold as an upgrade in 2026. Standard Wix plans still run on the older drag-and-drop editor, which uses absolute positioning instead of reflowing content, so layouts can overlap or drop elements at screen sizes you never previewed. The separate mobile editor doesn’t fix this. It gives you a second fixed layout, not a fluid one.
Every visitor on an unfamiliar screen size is forming an impression of your business. A broken layout on a tablet or an ultrawide monitor reads as sloppy, even when everything else you do is careful.
Can you export your website from Wix?
No. Wix states in its own support documentation that sites built in the Wix Editor can’t be exported or hosted anywhere else, because the platform runs on proprietary infrastructure.
There is partial data export: you can pull Content Manager collections out as CSV, along with product lists, contacts, and invoices, and your blog has an RSS feed. What you can’t export is the site: pages, layouts, design, navigation, forms, member areas, or page-level SEO settings like titles, meta descriptions, and redirects.
So “your content belongs to you” is true, and Wix’s terms say that. It just doesn’t come with a way to take it anywhere.
What does it actually cost to leave Wix?
The cost is time, and more of it than most people expect.
I have over 300 posts, videos, and podcast episodes on my own site. When I moved from Squarespace to WordPress, that was an export file and a few clicks. If that same library lived on Wix, I’d be copying every post by hand, rebuilding every layout, and rewriting every meta description, or paying someone else to do it.
Migration quotes I’ve seen at that scale run $500 to $2,000 and up, with no guarantee on formatting or retained metadata.
Businesses change platforms. I’ve watched it happen for 15 years as tools change and needs shift. Wix’s architecture means that when your turn comes, you have to start over.
Wix vs. Squarespace vs. WordPress
| Wix | Squarespace | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full responsiveness | Requires Wix Studio, a separate plan | Included on all plans | Theme-dependent; most modern themes are fully responsive |
| Site export | Not available; site can’t be moved off Wix | Site export available (limited for blog-heavy sites) | Full database and content export |
| Content export | Partial: CMS collections, products, contacts as CSV; blog RSS | XML export of pages and posts | XML export, plus one-click migration tools |
| Page-level SEO settings | Not exportable | Partially portable | Fully portable |
| Lock-in risk | High | Low to medium | Low |
| Best for | Single landing pages, temporary sites, hobby projects | Service businesses that want ease of use | Businesses with content libraries and long-term plans |
What should you use instead of Wix?
Use Squarespace if you want something simple. WordPress if you have a content library or intend to build one.
If Wix appeals to you because WordPress sounds like a lot, here’s what I’d want you to know: most frustration with WordPress turns out to be frustration with one specific theme. The core platform is minimal by design, and swapping to a better-built theme (I work mostly in Kadence and Divi) tends to resolve the friction on its own.
Squarespace has a bit of learning curve of its own, but the content comes with you when you go!
Is Wix ever the right choice?
Sure. A single landing page, an event site, a hobby project you don’t expect to move. If a site’s whole job is to exist for a season, lock-in costs you nothing.
The math changes the moment you start publishing. Every post you add raises the price of leaving, and by the time you notice, that price is measured in weekends.
