Is Wix Free Or What?
Wix is 100% free to use and all you need to do is sign up for an account, pick a template, build your site, and then publish to go live to the world.
But if you plan on having a custom domain name for your business, accepting payments online, or removing the Wix branding from your site then you will need to pay for a premium Wix account.
Nowadays an online business will lose all credibility if you do not have a custom domain name so to use the 100% free Wix account is really more of a test to see if you like the platform or a fun project you need a site for.
So what else do you get with the free account and what other benefits do you receive with a premium upgraded account?
What's Comes With A Free Account?
You are able to create a free account with Wix as long as you have an active email account.
When you sign up for this free account you are able to pick out any template that Wix provides.
Wix doesn't offer premium templates on their platform although there are a couple of different areas I recommend if you are interested.
Once you pick out a template you can edit any part of your site to add your content and branding.
Wix allows all free accounts 500MB of storage and bandwith for photos or videos.
You are not allowed to accept online payments, connect Google Analytics, and every page of you site will include a banner above your header that displays Wix Ads.
The absolute only way to remove the Wix branding is by paying for a premium account.
You also will not be able to add your own custom domain name without a premium account.
These last two points are foundational anchors for websites to earn the trust of an audience.
So if you're asking "Is Wix free?" then the answer is yes, but not really if you are trying to run a business online.
You are able to receive submissions through a simple contact form as well but these numbers are very limited.
Should You Use Free Wix?
There are several reasons why using the free version of Wix could be useful like if you need a school project, creating a template of a site to see how you like the look, testing out the platform, or for a one time event.
You should probably never use the free version if you are starting your own business.
There aren't many people who would consider your online business legitimate if you did not have a custom domain name (www.yourbusiness.com) but instead had a Wix provided domain name (www.raulmercado.wixsite.com/mywebsite).
There are also limitations on certain apps from Wix when you don't have a premium plan and certain areas in the dashboard will be unavailable.
Overall you will want to use the free version for simple projects, temporary projects, or testing.
What Happens When You Upgrade?
Depending on which premium account you upgrade to, you will be able to accept online payments and use more of the Wix apps, remove Wix branding from your site, and connect tracking programs for site data.
You will also be able to add your own custom domain name that you have purchased to be able to brand your site appropriately and legitimize your online business.
Once you have your own premium account you will be able to upgrade your Wix Ascend which can help automate your business systems for client management and organization.
Upgrading your premium account or Wix Ascend gives you more of an opportunity to keep everything in one place.
Because if there is one thing Wix is trying to accomplish it is being the easiest and most helpful website building experience on the market.
So they have built several applications for businesses to make your life easier like easy to manage CRMs, messaging, automations, project management, social posting, and more.
Signing up for a free Wix account is a good way to see if you can build a website yourself but it's also a great opportunity to see what's under the hood of the Wix platform.
Peak around the Dashboard and think about if your business could use the different tools that Wix has built.
And remember that a lot of these tools can talk to each other to create automated actions so that your website can work for you.
Conclusion
Is Wix free? Yes. All you need is a proper email account and you can sign up for free, pick a template and start building your site. You can publish and show it to the world.
But your site will come with Wix branding on every page, you can only use the domain name they provide, and you can't do much on it.
But it's a great way to look under the hood to see what Wix is capable of and get an idea of how you can use this tool for your business.
Do you think Wix makes it clear enough on what their pricing is or what comes with upgrades?
If you have any thoughts or feedback comment below because I feel the pricing aspect takes some deep research to figure out on Wix. Different app upgrades separate from Ascend upgrades separate from premium account upgrades...
If there is a lot of feedback I will do some deep researching through contacting Wix to create a document about differences. Maybe something visual to help understand.
Like or share so if you enjoyed the post please! It always helps me along the path of writing more and more to feel some connection with whose reading.
Contact me if you need any help with your setting up a Wix site or fixing any issues you may have!