Ecommerce Platform Comparison
Wix vs Shopify — Real Cost Comparison
Wix and Shopify both offer hosted ecommerce with no infrastructure to manage. Wix bundles design + CMS + commerce into one fee. Shopify is ecommerce-first with the largest app ecosystem in the industry. The cost difference depends entirely on your store size, payment processing choice, and growth ambitions.
This is the real 3-year cost breakdown for a typical small ecommerce store on each platform — based on projectcostestimator.com's data from 600+ real projects.
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Wix
- Build cost$1,500 – $5,000
- Plan/mo$27 – $159
- Apps/yr$200 – $800
- Transaction fee0%
- 3-year total$3,500 – $14,000
Shopify
- Build cost$2,500 – $25,000
- Plan/mo$39 – $399
- Apps/yr$600 – $2,400
- Transaction fee0% – 2%
- 3-year total$5,500 – $35,000
3-Year Total Cost — Real Numbers
Comparing for a typical small ecommerce store: 30–100 products, $150K/year revenue, 3 essential apps. Numbers are typical-case midpoints.
| Cost Category | Wix Business | Shopify Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Initial build (one-time) | $2,500 | $3,500 |
| Theme / template | $0 | $0–$350 |
| Platform fee (3 yrs) | $972 | $1,404 |
| Apps subscriptions (3 yrs) | $900 | $1,800 |
| Transaction fees (3 yrs, $150K/yr, Shopify Payments) | $0 | $0 |
| Maintenance (3 yrs) | $600 | $1,200 |
| Domain (3 yrs) | $45 | $45 |
| 3-Year Total (typical) | $5,000 | $8,000 |
Wix wins for small stores by ~$3,000 over 3 years. Shopify wins on capability — bigger apps ecosystem, better at scale, faster checkout.
Pick Wix When…
- ✓Store is small (under 100 SKUs, under $100K/year revenue)
- ✓You want a single tool for the whole site (not just store — about pages, blog, contact)
- ✓You want to build it yourself with the visual editor, no developer needed
- ✓Budget is tight and you can live with limited integrations
- ✓Your store is service-oriented (bookings, lessons, restaurants) — Wix has stronger booking tools
Pick Shopify When…
- ✓You are serious about ecommerce — store is your business, not a side feature
- ✓You expect to grow past $100K/year and need infrastructure that scales
- ✓You sell on multiple channels (Amazon, TikTok, Instagram, retail POS)
- ✓You need specific integrations or apps that Shopify has and Wix lacks
- ✓Checkout conversion optimization matters — Shopify checkout is industry-leading
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wix or Shopify cheaper for ecommerce?
Wix is cheaper for very small stores (under 50 SKU and under $50K/year revenue) at $27–$59/mo on the Business and Commerce plans. Shopify is cheaper for serious ecommerce — Shopify Basic at $39/mo gives you proper inventory management, shipping integrations, and an apps ecosystem that Wix cannot match. Most stores doing $100K+/year save money on Shopify long-term.
What is the biggest cost difference between Wix and Shopify?
Wix bundles design tools, hosting, and CMS into one fee with no per-transaction charges. Shopify charges a platform fee plus 0–2% transaction fee unless you use Shopify Payments. For a $250K/year store using non-Shopify Payments on Shopify Basic, you pay $5,000/year in transaction fees — making Wix Business Elite at $159/mo ($1,908/year) actually cheaper. But Shopify with Shopify Payments has zero transaction fee, flipping the math the other way.
Can Wix really compete with Shopify for serious ecommerce?
Wix has improved significantly in 2026 with Wix Studio for designers and dropshipping integrations. But it still trails Shopify on (1) inventory and order management at scale, (2) checkout customization, (3) third-party integrations (Shopify has 8,000+ apps vs Wix's ~500), (4) multi-currency and multi-language, and (5) developer ecosystem. For stores under $100K/year revenue, Wix is a reasonable choice. Above that, Shopify almost always wins.
How much does it cost to build a Wix or Shopify site with a designer?
A designer-built Wix site costs $1,500–$5,000 for a typical ecommerce store. A designer-built Shopify store costs $2,500–$8,000 for similar scope. Shopify is more expensive to build because Shopify themes need Liquid templating skill, while Wix uses pure visual editing. The gap closes when you need custom features — Shopify's app ecosystem often eliminates custom dev that Wix would require.
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