How much does Wix cost per month in 2026?

On annual billing, Wix plans cost around $17 (Light), $29 (Core), $36 to $39 (Business) and $159 (Business Elite) per month as of 2026. Monthly billing is higher, and apps, email and domain renewals are billed separately.

Can I transfer my Wix website to another host?

No. Wix says sites built on Wix must be hosted on Wix's servers. You can copy content and export some data such as contacts, but the design and functions have to be rebuilt elsewhere.

No, Wix handles basic SEO well enough for many local businesses. The limits are less control over code, URL patterns and page weight, which matter more in competitive markets.

Is a custom website more expensive than Wix?

Upfront, usually yes. Over 3 or more years the gap often narrows or reverses, because Wix fees and app subscriptions continue for as long as the site exists, while a custom site mainly costs hosting and optional maintenance.

Will I lose my Google rankings if I leave Wix?

Not if you set up 301 redirects from every old URL to the matching new one, keep your content and titles, and submit the new sitemap. Most sites see a short dip and then recover.

When should a small business stay on Wix?

Stay on Wix if the site is simple, you edit it yourself, you do not need connected booking or lead tools, and the subscription is cheaper for you than a rebuild.

Do I own my Wix website?

You own your content, such as text and images, but not the platform code, so you cannot take a working copy of the site with you.

Costs & Comparisons

Wix vs a Custom-Built Website for a Small Business: 2026 Prices, Limits, Ownership and a 3-Year Cost Comparison

By ITCM Team · Updated November 2026

Wix is the better choice if you need a simple site this week, have no budget for a developer and are happy to rent your platform forever. A custom-built website is the better choice if you want to own the code, move hosts freely, add booking or lead tools without stacking apps, and avoid paying rising subscription fees for years. As of 2026, Wix paid plans run from around $17 to $159 per month on annual billing, and a Wix site cannot be exported to another host. Below are the real numbers, the limits and a 3-year cost table.

Key takeaways

Wix 2026 annual-billing prices: Light around $17/month, Core around $29, Business around $36 to $39, Business Elite around $159. Monthly billing costs roughly $7 to $13 more per month.
Wix states that a site built on Wix has to be hosted on Wix's servers. You cannot download the site and move it to another host.
The plan price is rarely the full bill: premium apps, email, email marketing, extra storage and domain renewals add up.
Wix is fine for basic SEO, but you get less control over code, URL structure and page weight than with a custom build.
Over 3 years a mid-tier Wix site often lands between about $1,300 and $2,500 once add-ons are counted, with nothing to own at the end.
Wix wins for hobby projects, event pages, very early test businesses and owners who want to edit every pixel themselves.

How much does Wix cost in 2026?

Wix does not show monthly-billing prices until checkout, so most comparisons quote the annual price divided by 12. The figures below come from 2026 pricing reviews and can vary by country, promotion and tax.

Two points catch people out. First, first-year discounts renew at the regular, higher rate. Second, the free domain voucher only covers year one, after which the domain renews at roughly $15 to $25 a year depending on the extension. If you want a neutral estimate for your own case, our website cost calculator lets you compare builder and custom costs side by side.

Wix plan	Annual billing (per month)	Monthly billing	Main limits
Light	around $17	around $24	2GB storage, no online store, basic forms
Core	around $29	around $36	50GB, store and bookings tools, 5 collaborators
Business	around $36 to $39	around $43	100GB, automated sales tax (capped), advanced shipping
Business Elite	around $159	around $172	Unlimited storage, priority support, larger caps
Enterprise	custom quote	custom quote	For large brands, not typical small businesses

What add-ons and hidden costs come on top of a Wix plan?

The plan is the entry ticket. A plumber, cleaner or salon usually needs a few more pieces, and each is billed separately. Wix's App Market has close to 2,000 apps, and many useful ones charge their own monthly fee, so a site with three or four premium apps can cost more in apps than in the plan itself.

Business email through Google Workspace: around $5 to $7 per user per month.
Wix email marketing beyond the free tier: around $10 to $49 per month depending on volume.
Premium apps (reviews widgets, advanced forms, popups, translation): often $5 to $20 per month each.
Payment processing on Wix Payments: about 2.9% + $0.30 per card payment in the US.
Extra storage if you upload a lot of video: from around $5 per month.
Domain renewal after the free first year: around $15 to $25 per year.

Can you export a Wix site and move it to another host?

No. Wix's own help center says a Wix site is built on Wix's technology and needs to be hosted and operated on Wix's servers. There is no export button that gives you HTML, CSS and a database you can upload elsewhere. Wix also says the content you create belongs to you, which is true, but owning your words and photos is not the same as owning a working website.

In practice you can download your images, copy your text, and export some data such as contacts or store products to CSV. The design, layout, apps, forms and booking setup have to be rebuilt from scratch on the new platform. For a deeper look at what you should own from day one, read who should own my website and domain.

Is Wix good for SEO and page speed?

Wix has improved a lot. You can edit titles and meta descriptions, set redirects, get an automatic sitemap and add structured data. For a local business with a handful of pages and a solid Google Business Profile, Wix can rank in the map pack and for local searches.

The limits show up when you compete harder. Wix pages carry a fair amount of platform JavaScript you cannot remove, blog and product URLs follow Wix patterns, and you cannot fine-tune server caching, image delivery or code output the way you can on a custom site. A custom build can ship only the code a page needs, which usually makes it easier to pass Core Web Vitals on mobile. You can test any site, Wix or custom, with our free website health check.

Wix vs custom website: side-by-side comparison

Factor	Wix	Custom-built website
Time to launch	Hours to days	Days to a few weeks
Upfront cost	Low	Higher (varies a lot by provider)
Ongoing cost	Subscription for as long as the site exists	Hosting plus optional maintenance
Ownership of code	No, platform-locked	Yes, if your contract says so
Move to another host	Not possible, rebuild needed	Yes
Booking, CRM, lead tools	Apps and plan upgrades	Built in to fit your workflow
Speed control	Limited	Full
Who edits content	Owner in the Wix editor	Owner in an admin panel, if one is built

When is Wix the better choice?

Being fair: there are many cases where Wix is the smarter, cheaper option, and paying for custom work would be wasted money.

You are testing a business idea and may close it within a year.
You need a one-off event, wedding or portfolio page.
You genuinely enjoy designing and want to drag every element yourself.
Your site is a digital business card that will never need booking, quotes or a client area.
Your total budget is under a few hundred dollars and cash flow matters more than long-term cost.

When does a custom website make more sense?

A custom site pays off once the website becomes a working tool rather than a brochure. A cleaning company that needs instant quotes, a clinic that needs online booking with staff calendars, or a contractor that wants every lead tracked from form to job usually ends up paying for several Wix apps that still do not talk to each other.

We regularly replace spreadsheets with small custom CRMs, and the same logic applies here: one system built around your process beats five rented tools glued together. If that sounds like you, our guide on lead management for small business websites shows what a connected setup looks like.

Wix vs custom website: total cost over 3 years

Here is an honest 3-year view for a typical local service business (for example a plumber or a salon) with a 6 to 10 page site, a booking form, Google Workspace email for one user and two premium apps. Numbers are rounded estimates as of 2026.

Cost item (3 years)	Wix Core	Wix Business	Typical custom build
Plan or build	around $1,044	around $1,300 to $1,400	around $1,500 to $5,000 once (market range)
Premium apps (2 x ~$8/month)	around $576	around $576	Usually not needed
Business email (1 user)	around $200 to $250	around $200 to $250	around $200 to $250
Domain renewals (years 2 and 3)	around $30 to $50	around $30 to $50	around $30 to $50
Hosting	Inside the plan	Inside the plan	around $150 to $600
Approximate 3-year total	around $1,850 to $1,950	around $2,100 to $2,300	around $1,900 to $5,900
What you own at the end	Content only	Content only	The full site and code

How to migrate from Wix to a custom website

Because nothing exports cleanly, a migration is really a rebuild with careful SEO handling. Done in the right order, you keep your rankings and your phone keeps ringing.

Crawl your Wix site and list every URL, title and meta description.
Download images and copy text, then export contacts and products to CSV where Wix allows it.
Build and test the new site on a staging address before touching DNS.
Map every old Wix URL to its new URL with 301 redirects, including /post/ and /product-page/ paths.
Point the domain to the new host, then check SSL with our SSL and security headers checker.
Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and watch for crawl errors for 4 to 6 weeks.
Cancel the Wix plan only after the new site is live and redirects are confirmed.

How ITCM builds a custom website instead

ITCM builds the website and an installable app (PWA) first, at no cost, and shows you three finished design options. If you are happy, you pay $150 one-time. If you are not, you pay nothing. The $150 covers the website, the installable app, 24/7 online booking, lead management, an admin panel where you edit your own content, and the three designs. Anything beyond that gets a fixed quote before any work begins, and an optional care plan starts from $100 per month.

That model removes the main reason people pick Wix, which is the fear of paying a developer upfront for something they have not seen. You can see how it works on our web development page.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Wix cost per month in 2026?: On annual billing, Wix plans cost around $17 (Light), $29 (Core), $36 to $39 (Business) and $159 (Business Elite) per month as of 2026. Monthly billing is higher, and apps, email and domain renewals are billed separately.
Can I transfer my Wix website to another host?: No. Wix says sites built on Wix must be hosted on Wix's servers. You can copy content and export some data such as contacts, but the design and functions have to be rebuilt elsewhere.
Is Wix bad for SEO?: No, Wix handles basic SEO well enough for many local businesses. The limits are less control over code, URL patterns and page weight, which matter more in competitive markets.
Is a custom website more expensive than Wix?: Upfront, usually yes. Over 3 or more years the gap often narrows or reverses, because Wix fees and app subscriptions continue for as long as the site exists, while a custom site mainly costs hosting and optional maintenance.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I leave Wix?: Not if you set up 301 redirects from every old URL to the matching new one, keep your content and titles, and submit the new sitemap. Most sites see a short dip and then recover.
When should a small business stay on Wix?: Stay on Wix if the site is simple, you edit it yourself, you do not need connected booking or lead tools, and the subscription is cheaper for you than a rebuild.
Do I own my Wix website?: You own your content, such as text and images, but not the platform code, so you cannot take a working copy of the site with you.

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