Why the platform choice matters more than the design
When people debate Wix vs Squarespace vs WordPress vs Shopify, they usually argue about which one looks nicest. That is the least important question. A good designer can make any of the four look excellent. What actually matters is where each platform quietly traps you as your business grows: monthly costs that creep up, features locked behind upgrades, or an SEO ceiling you only discover once you are ranking.
Your platform is a long-term commitment. Migrating a live site later means rebuilding pages, redirecting old URLs and risking your Google rankings for weeks. Choosing well the first time saves you that pain. So instead of asking which is prettiest, ask which one fits how you sell, how technical you are, and how big you plan to get.
Wix: fast to launch, harder to leave
Wix is the friendliest of the four for a complete beginner. Its drag-and-drop editor lets you place anything anywhere on the page, and the AI setup tools get a basic site live in an afternoon. For a small service business that needs a brochure site with a contact form, it is genuinely capable and the templates have improved enormously.
The catch is freedom in, freedom out. That same drag-anywhere editor produces heavier code than the alternatives, which can drag page-speed scores down on mobile. More importantly, you cannot export a Wix site and move it elsewhere. If you outgrow Wix, you rebuild from scratch. Plans typically run from around £10 to £30 a month, and the cheapest tiers show Wix branding or limit storage.
- check_circleBest for: solo traders and small local businesses wanting a quick, tidy brochure site
- check_circleWatch out for: no site export, code bloat that can hurt mobile speed, ads on free plans
- check_circleTypical cost: roughly £10–£30/month depending on features
Squarespace: the designer's default for content sites
Squarespace wins on taste. Its templates are consistently elegant, the typography is well chosen, and it is hard to make a Squarespace site look cheap. For portfolios, restaurants, photographers, consultants and editorial-style brands, it is often the cleanest route to a professional result without hiring anyone.
It is more structured than Wix — you place content into defined sections rather than dropping it anywhere — which keeps designs consistent but frustrates people who want pixel-level control. Its built-in blogging and basic shop are solid, though its e-commerce is lighter than Shopify's. Plans generally sit around £14 to £40 a month. As with Wix, you cannot export the site to host elsewhere.
- check_circleBest for: visual brands, portfolios, consultants and content-led sites
- check_circleWatch out for: limited layout control, e-commerce weaker than Shopify, no true export
- check_circleTypical cost: roughly £14–£40/month
WordPress: the most powerful, the most responsibility
WordPress (the self-hosted .org version, not WordPress.com) powers a large share of the web for good reason: it can become anything. With plugins you can build a blog, a booking system, a membership site, a directory or a shop, and you own the files outright so you are never locked in. For SEO it is the most flexible of the four — every title, URL, schema markup and redirect is under your control.
That power is also the cost. WordPress needs maintaining: hosting, updates, security and the occasional plugin conflict are your responsibility, or your agency's. Get hosting and a few plugins wrong and the site is slow and fragile; set it up properly and it is fast, scalable and cheap to run. Budget roughly £5–£30 a month for decent hosting plus any premium plugins, but factor in time or a maintenance retainer.
- check_circleBest for: businesses wanting full control, serious SEO, content scale or custom features
- check_circleWatch out for: maintenance and security are on you, quality depends heavily on the build
- check_circleTypical cost: £5–£30/month hosting plus plugins and upkeep
Shopify: built for selling, and only for selling
If your business is primarily selling products online, Shopify is the specialist. It handles inventory, variants, shipping rules, tax, abandoned-cart recovery and secure checkout out of the box, and its checkout is one of the highest-converting in the industry. The app store fills almost any gap, from subscriptions to reviews.
Shopify is less suited to content-heavy or pure brochure sites — its blogging and page-building are basic compared with WordPress or Squarespace. Costs add up too: plans start around £25 a month and rise, plus transaction fees if you do not use Shopify Payments, plus paid apps. For a real shop that revenue easily justifies; for a site that only sells occasionally, it is overkill.
- check_circleBest for: dedicated online shops, especially with many products or growth plans
- check_circleWatch out for: weak content/blogging, app and transaction fees stacking up
- check_circleTypical cost: from ~£25/month plus apps and possible transaction fees
How they compare on SEO and page speed
All four can rank, but they do not give you the same control. WordPress is the most SEO-flexible: clean URLs, full schema control, granular redirects and unlimited content depth. Shopify is strong technically for product SEO but its URL structure is rigid and its blogging is limited. Squarespace and Wix have closed the gap and handle the basics well, yet you are working within their rules rather than your own.
Speed is where platform choice shows on mobile. Heavily visual builders can ship more code than they need, and Google now judges your site largely on its phone version. None of the four is automatically slow, but WordPress and Shopify give a skilled build the most room to optimise, while Wix and Squarespace trade some performance headroom for ease of use.
How to actually choose
Match the tool to the job rather than the hype. If you want a tidy site live this week and you will never touch code, Wix or Squarespace are sensible — Squarespace if looks matter most, Wix if you want to nudge every element yourself. If you are building a serious online shop, start on Shopify and do not look back. If you want maximum control, the best SEO ceiling, room to add features and no lock-in, WordPress is the long-game answer.
The honest summary: there is no single best platform, only the best fit for your situation. The most expensive mistake is picking on appearance, outgrowing the platform in a year, and paying to rebuild and migrate. Decide on cost, control, sales model and growth plans first — the design will follow whichever you pick.
Frequently asked questions
Which platform is cheapest overall?expand_more
WordPress is usually cheapest to run long-term because hosting can start around £5 a month and you own the software, but it costs time or a maintenance fee. Wix and Squarespace bundle everything into one predictable monthly fee, which feels simpler even if it works out higher over a few years. Shopify is the priciest once apps and transaction fees are added, but a working shop earns that back.
Can I move my site to a different platform later?expand_more
Only easily from WordPress, where you own the files and can migrate hosts or rebuild while keeping your content. Wix and Squarespace do not let you export a working site, so leaving means rebuilding from scratch. Shopify lets you export product and customer data but not the storefront design. This lock-in is a big reason to choose carefully at the start.
Is WordPress too technical for a non-technical owner?expand_more
Day to day, no — editing pages and writing posts is straightforward. The technical part is the initial setup, hosting choice, security and updates, which is exactly what an agency handles for you. Many owners run their content happily once a designer has built and configured everything properly, often on a small monthly maintenance plan.
Do I need Shopify if I only sell a few products?expand_more
Probably not. For a handful of products alongside a content or service site, the basic shops in Squarespace or a WordPress plugin like WooCommerce are cheaper and keep everything in one place. Shopify earns its cost when selling is the core of the business, you have many products, or you need advanced inventory, shipping and checkout features.