Wix has spent millions convincing small business owners that building a website is easy. And for some use cases, it is. But for a lot of Australian small businesses, it's quietly costing them more than they realise.

Here's the honest comparison.

Side-by-Side: What You're Actually Getting

When Wix Actually Makes Sense

Be honest: Wix is fine if:

  • You're testing a business idea and don't want to spend money
  • You need a basic landing page within days
  • You have a personal portfolio or hobby site
  • You're a designer who wants to prototype quickly

For a legitimate small business competing for local customers? The limitations start showing quickly.

The SEO Problem with Wix

Wix has improved its SEO significantly, but it still has fundamental limitations:

Page speed: Wix sites load slower than custom-built sites. Google's Core Web Vitals score is a direct ranking factor. Most Wix sites score 50–70 on mobile; custom-built Next.js sites score 95+.

Code bloat: Wix includes JavaScript for its editor, animations, and features you don't use. That extra weight slows down every page load.

Limited control: You can't control your rendering strategy (static vs server-side), can't customise schema markup beyond the basics, and can't add custom headers or redirects without workarounds.

For a business competing in a local search like "electrician frankston" or "beauty salon dandenong" — every bit of speed and SEO precision matters.

The Lock-in Problem

With Wix, you don't own your website. If you want to move to a different platform in 3 years, you're starting from scratch. Your content, your design, your SEO progress — all tied to Wix.

With a custom-built site, you own the code. You can host it anywhere, modify it anytime, and take it with you.

The Real Cost Over Time

Let's say you use Wix for 5 years at $33/month:

  • Wix fees: $1,980
  • Plus your time to build and maintain it
  • Plus the revenue lost from slower SEO performance
  • Plus the rebuild cost when you eventually outgrow it

A one-off investment in a custom site with a $50/month maintenance plan = $4,000 over 5 years, with better results, faster loading, and no lock-in.

Our Recommendation

Use Wix if: You're pre-revenue, testing an idea, or genuinely just need a 1-page site this week.

Use a custom web designer if: You're an established business, you care about Google rankings, you want to look professional and unique, or you plan to grow.

Not sure which option is right for you? Talk to CodeQy for 15 minutes — we'll be honest about whether you need us or not.