Should you pick WordPress or Wix?
Pick Wix if you run the business alone, want to change your own text and photos on a Sunday night, and can live inside a hosted builder's limits. Pick WordPress if you expect the site to grow: more service pages, Thai and English versions, a blog that brings in searches, booking forms, or a shop later on.
Both are real options for a Bangkok business. The difference shows up after the first year, when you want a feature the builder does not offer, when the monthly plan renews, or when you want to take the site elsewhere. Wix rents you a complete, working package. WordPress gives you software you own and run on hosting you choose, which means more freedom and more responsibility. If you are unsure which of those you want, the questions in the sections below usually settle it within a few minutes.
We build on WordPress, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to be fair, and there is a whole section on when Wix is the better answer. If you are still at the very start, a step-by-step build guide walks through the decisions that come before choosing a platform.
WordPress vs Wix at a glance
The table below compares the two on the points Thai business owners ask us about most. It describes a typical Wix plan against a typical self-hosted WordPress site; your own case may differ on details.
| Factor | Wix | WordPress (self-hosted) |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Monthly or yearly plan to Wix | Domain, hosting and upkeep, plus the build |
| SEO control | Good basics inside Wix settings | Full control of URLs, schema, speed and code |
| Thai text | Wix fonts or uploaded ones; uploads not usable in Wix Blog | Any Thai web font, tuned line height and breaking |
| Thai and English pages | Wix multilingual tools, within its structure | Separate language URLs with hreflang, set as you like |
| Design freedom | Template and editor limits | Any layout a developer can build |
| Who edits | You, in the Wix editor | You, in the WordPress editor, once trained |
| Security and updates | Handled by Wix | Handled by you or a maintenance provider |
| Leaving later | Limited export; usually a rebuild | Move files and database to any host |
Wix vs WordPress for SEO
The old line that "Wix is bad for SEO" is out of date. Wix now lets you edit titles, meta descriptions, URL slugs and redirects, and a small site can rank on it. Google's own SEO starter guide cares about useful content, clear structure and crawlable pages, not the brand of the builder.
The gap is in how far you can go once the basics are done.
Where WordPress gives you more control
- URL structure. On WordPress you decide the whole path, for example /th/services/ and /en/services/, with no fixed prefixes added by the platform.
- Structured data. A developer can write the exact schema each page needs: LocalBusiness with your Bangkok address, FAQ, Service, Article. Builders tend to give you preset options.
- Speed. A lean custom theme loads only what the page uses. On a builder, every site carries the platform's own scripts, and you cannot remove them.
- Content scale. Categories, tags, custom post types and internal linking make a large blog or a big service catalogue easier to organise.
Speed also depends on how the WordPress site is built. A theme stuffed with page builder add-ons can be slower than Wix, which is why we explain the trade-off in Elementor vs a custom theme. On our Business package, our custom WordPress development uses a hand-built theme with no page builder for this reason, plus keyword mapping and schema markup.
Thai and bilingual pages
Thai is where generic reviews of these platforms say nothing, and where Bangkok sites often look wrong. Thai script has tone marks and vowels stacked above and below the line, so a font or line height chosen for English can clip them or make paragraphs feel cramped. Thai also has no spaces between words, so browsers need help to break lines in sensible places.
Typography
On Wix you choose from the editor's fonts, including its language fonts, or upload your own, although Wix notes that uploaded fonts cannot be used in the Wix Blog and some apps. That is fine for headings, but you have less say over line height per language or how long Thai paragraphs wrap on a phone. On WordPress we load a Thai web font such as Noto Sans Thai or Sarabun alongside the English one and set spacing separately for each language, so Thai body text reads comfortably on a small screen.
Two languages, two sets of pages
A bilingual site works best when the Thai and English versions are real pages with their own addresses and hreflang tags telling Google which is which. Wix has its own multilingual feature, and it works within the structure Wix sets. On WordPress you choose the structure, write different titles for each language, and let the Thai pages target Thai searches rather than translated English ones. Our wider notes on WordPress in Thailand cover hosting, fonts and plugins that suit Thai sites.
Cost over three years
Compare the two over three years, not one month. Wix looks cheaper at the start because there is no build fee if you design it yourself. WordPress costs more up front if someone builds it for you, then less each month. Which one wins depends on how long you keep the site and how much of your own time the DIY route takes.
What you pay on Wix
- A premium plan, billed monthly or yearly. Plan names and prices change and differ by region, so check the current figures on the Wix premium plans page at the time of writing rather than trusting any number quoted in a blog.
- Paid apps from the Wix App Market for features the plan does not include, such as some booking or review tools.
- Your own hours, or a freelancer's, to design and update pages.
What you pay on WordPress
- The software itself is free and open source, available from WordPress.org.
- A domain name and hosting, paid yearly to providers you choose.
- The build: our Starter package starts from THB 10,000 and the Business package, with English and Thai pages, from THB 30,000. These are indicative one-time prices; your written quote sets the final figure.
- Upkeep: updates, backups and security checks, done by you or through a maintenance arrangement priced per site.
Write your own three-year totals for both columns before deciding. The full breakdown of what goes into a WordPress quote is on our WordPress site pricing page.
Leaving each platform later
Ask how you would leave before you commit. It is the question owners forget, and it matters most when a business outgrows its first site.
A Wix site lives on Wix. You can take your domain with you and copy out your text and images by hand, but Wix says a site cannot be exported to another host and blog posts cannot be exported to other platforms, so the design, layout, posts and app features stay behind. In practice, moving off Wix means rebuilding the site somewhere else. That is not a scandal; it is how hosted builders work, and it is part of the price of convenience.
A WordPress site is a set of files and a database. You can move it to another host, hand it to another developer, or run a copy on a test server, and it keeps working. Nobody can switch it off because a subscription lapsed, as long as you control the hosting and domain accounts. Make sure those accounts are in your company's name from day one.
If you are already on Wix and have decided to move, the practical steps, including redirects so you do not lose Google traffic, are in our guide to Wix to WordPress migration.
When Wix is the better choice
We would tell you to use Wix, and not hire us, in these cases:
- You are testing an idea, such as a pop-up food stall or a weekend class, and may close it within a year.
- You need three or four pages in one language and have no plans for a blog or shop.
- You enjoy designing, have time to do it, and do not want to pay anyone.
- Nobody in the business wants to think about updates, backups or plugins at all.
Editing and security
That last point deserves weight. Wix patches its own platform, so security is largely out of your hands in a good way. WordPress needs core, theme and plugin updates, and a neglected site is a target. Editing on WordPress is not hard once someone shows you the editor, but it is a different tool from a drag and drop canvas.
When to move to WordPress
Hire a WordPress developer when the site must carry a Thai and an English version, when search traffic is part of your plan, or when you need booking or enquiry flows that a plan does not cover. If you are also weighing a design-led builder, see our take on Webflow web design, and for a quick three-way scorecard read WordPress vs Squarespace and Wix. Owners comparing more systems, Joomla and Drupal included, will find a wider view in our guide to the best CMS for Thai businesses. When you are ready, send us your page list on WhatsApp or by email for a written quote.
Further reading
Sources
- Wix: Premium plans
- WordPress.org: Download WordPress
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide
- Wix Help Center: Exporting or embedding your Wix site elsewhere
- Wix Help Center: Exporting blog posts to other platforms
- Wix Help Center: Uploading and using your own fonts
Builds and ranks the websites: the systems behind the 17 client sites whose Search Console numbers we publish. This guide was written by the Website Development Bangkok team. More about us