Designing a website used to be a tricky business.
To put together a professional site you either had to have serious coding skills, or had to hire someone who spoke HTML. Not only that, but managing, tweaking and updating your site also used to require a similar level of code knowhow. Essentially, the whole process was difficult for the vast majority of founders and solopreneurs.
These days however, that’s all changed — thanks to no code platforms.
No code web development platforms use a visual environment and drag-and-drop tools, allowing anyone to build beautiful, professional looking sites. Users don’t need any coding experience or knowledge whatsoever.
No code platforms allow founders, start-ups and entrepreneurs to quickly build and launch their businesses. We are going to look at Webflow vs Wix to find out which platform you should go for when building your next no code site.
Wix and Webflow are both website builders, offering different functionality and tools to appeal to a different audience of users. Wix is world-famous, largely down to how easy it is to use, as well as the high quality design of its templates, and its reasonable cost. Webflow is a little more complex, combining both website design and CMS functions, but as a result offers a fuller experience, and can deliver more feature-heavy websites.
But which one works best for you? Read on, and discover exactly what the pros and cons for each platform are, and whether Webflow or Wix will work best for your next project.
The main idea of no code web development is simplicity — to make web dev accessible to anyone, regardless of their technical prowess. Usability is therefore a huge part of a platform’s appeal.
Wix is easy and intuitive to use at every stage of the process — designed specifically to be usable at any level. It works through a simple drag-and-drop control panel which allows you to choose templates, move elements around and make changes without any trouble. Everything is clearly explained and logical, and the customer support is top notch if you do run into any difficulties. It is easy to go back and edit pages once you’ve designed them, and you can see previews of everything before it goes live.
Webflow is a far more complicated platform, full of extra features but requiring a little more expertise and a lot more time to get your head around how it works. The platform gives you access to far more design and development tools and customization options, but as a result it takes longer to master — particularly if you don’t have a background in web design. The interface is logical, but complicated, and you will need to learn how to use it. This is not a platform to just ‘have a go’ with! Luckily the Webflow University offers a range of invaluable tutorials and teaching materials to help you get started.
Designed with true beginners in mind, Wix has the edge when it comes to usability. Webflow offers more control, and some truly impressive features, but does require a level of expertise to build something beautiful.
Whether you choose Webflow or Wix, you can be guaranteed an immensely flexible, versatile platform, albeit designed for very different audiences.
Wix has an extraordinary library of design templates, with over 550 themes each fully customizable and designed with a specific use or category in mind. Each template is designed to be responsive to screen size and device, and Wix’s Editor makes it easy to tweak the design to your heart’s content, or even select a blank theme and start from scratch.
With Wix you can also design and launch fully-featured blogs, and small digital stores using their e-commerce and blogging features. It is as simple as picking a template, making your own modifications, picking the features and functions that you want, then publishing. In particular the e-commerce engine allows you to sell both digital and physical products, which isn’t always the case.
As mentioned before, Webflow does require a little more expertise, and is really aimed more at established web design pros. However once you know how to use it, it offers almost unlimited flexibility. The collection of Webflow templates is not quite as extensive as that of Wix, but still provides a very decent selection to choose from.
Where Webflow really shines is with its high-end customization tools and features that focus more on CMS than just basic website building. You can add parallax scrolling, multi-step animations, and micro-interactions to your site, and even include SEO tools and website management features. With a little bit of web design experience (no coding required) you can create something extraordinary.
Due to its impressive list of features and functions, Webflow is the more flexible platform — once you have got to grips with how it all works. Wix offers a wonderful array of design templates however, and is far more user friendly. It all depends what you need.
Wix offers a staggeringly affordable platform for web design, allowing everyone from total beginners to established businesses to create the site they want and need. The basic version of the platform is completely free, allowing you to test features and functionality and work out exactly what you require from your website. Of course, if you are taking your business seriously you will most likely want to upgrade to a paid plan. But even these will not break the bank — starting at $13/month. Business and e-commerce customers will pay more, but overall Wix is great value for money.
Webflow also offers a starter plan that is completely free — a great way to get to grips with the slightly more demanding platform and find out if it is right for you. Their paid-for plans are around the same level as Wix, starting at $12/month. Team plans start at $35 per person per month, and e-commerce subscriptions are somewhat pricier.
Overall, both platforms offer great value for money, with a range of plans and subscriptions to suit every budget.
When it comes to no code platforms, customer support is vitally important. Plenty of people who design their sites using a no code platform won’t have a vast backlog of web design experience, and will need advice and support as they go.
Wix provides quick, accessible support by email, and the platform itself is full of hints, tips and guidance to help you through the process of designing and building your site. The forum and support center also provide answers to all sorts of problems and issues, as well as step-by-step video tutorials.
Similarly, Webflow’s customer support options are flexible and helpful. They have a blog and a user forum designed to help with common issues, around-the-clock tech support via email and live chat. There’s also the fantastic Webflow University, which offers video tutorials and a rich self-help library covering almost every issue you might encounter.
When it comes to customer support, there really isn’t much to choose between these two platforms.
When trying to decide between Webflow vs Wix, the biggest question is about your level of expertise. Wix is definitely the most usable platform, and allows you to get started on your website project right away with very little previous experience. Webflow is designed with web design professionals in mind, offering greater functionality and versatility, but with greater complexity. Both platforms offer great customer service, and affordable plans.
Looking for more advice on web dev? We’re happy to help. As a design-led technology agency, the Blackcreek team has been through our fair share of digital projects. Get in touch today.
