Shopify and Wix both let a UK business build a shop, but they aim at different people. Shopify is a serious commerce platform built around selling, with the tools to run and scale a real store. Wix is an easy drag-and-drop builder where anyone can place elements anywhere on the page and get a small store online fast. The right pick comes down to whether you want maximum selling power as you grow, or the simplest, most flexible way to put a shop on the web.
Pricing and plans compared
Both platforms bill UK customers in pounds, so this is a straight pound-for-pound comparison with no exchange rate to worry about. They land close at the entry level, but they buy different things. Wix bundles a flexible, easy-to-build website and light commerce into its plans, so much of what you pay for is the builder and design freedom. Shopify is built around selling, so its tiers buy deeper commerce tools and lower payment-processing rates as you climb.
That makes the value question one of how much selling you do. For a small, simple shop, Wix can give you more site and ease for the money; for a store that needs to scale, Shopify's commerce tooling earns its tiers. Payments differ too: Shopify includes its own processing and adds a fee on third-party gateways, while Wix structures its commerce and processing differently. The comparison table on this page shows each platform's current plan pricing in pounds, so you can match the plan to how you sell rather than judging on the headline rate.
Who each one is for
Shopify is for businesses that take selling seriously and expect to grow. If you have a real or growing catalogue, need solid inventory, shipping and multichannel tools, and want a platform that scales without you outgrowing it, Shopify's commerce-first design and large app store are built for exactly that. It suits owners who want the most capable selling engine, not just a website with a shop attached.
Wix is for beginners and small businesses who want a flexible site online fast. If you are new to building websites, value placing things exactly where you want them, and run a small to mid-sized shop, Wix's drag-and-drop editor makes the whole process approachable and quick. It suits sole traders, side projects and small brands who prioritise ease and design freedom over heavyweight commerce tooling.
Ease of use and design freedom
This is where Wix shines. Its drag-and-drop editor lets you place any element anywhere on the page, which makes building feel intuitive and gives enormous creative freedom, ideal for a beginner who wants control without code. Shopify is also approachable, but it is organised around selling, so its editor surfaces commerce structure first, which is a strength for running a shop and a slightly steeper feel for someone who just wants to lay out a simple page. For pure beginner-friendliness and freeform design, Wix wins; for the discipline of running and scaling a store, Shopify's structure pays off. Neither is difficult to learn.
AI and integrations
AI is a fast-moving point of difference. Shopify has built AI into the platform with Sidekick, an assistant that helps set up the store, write product and marketing copy and answer questions about your shop, and it has opened a Storefront MCP so AI agents can interact with your store as agentic commerce develops. Wix has leaned heavily into AI on the building side, with tools that can generate a whole site, write content and assist with design, fitting its beginner-friendly, get-online-fast positioning. On integrations, Shopify's curated app store is the deeper of the two by a wide margin, with thousands of vetted add-ons for shipping, marketing and operations that matter as a store scales. Wix offers its own app market with a solid range of add-ons suited to small and mid-sized sites. The pattern holds: Shopify's AI and app layer is built around running and growing a shop, while Wix's is built around getting an attractive site live quickly.
UK considerations
For UK businesses the billing is simple on both: Shopify and Wix each charge in pounds, so you get a fixed pound invoice every month with no exchange-rate movement. Both provide the tooling to stay compliant with UK GDPR and PECR, including consent capture and privacy controls, and both connect to the UK payment methods and gateways British shoppers expect. The real UK decision is about fit rather than currency: an easy builder for a small shop versus a commerce platform built to scale. Both are well established with UK users, so help and local resources are easy to find for either.
Pros and cons for this matchup
Shopify wins on commerce depth, inventory, shipping and multichannel tools, its own payments, the largest curated app store and AI built for running a shop. Its trade-offs are a slightly more commerce-focused interface for a very simple store and an extra fee on third-party payment gateways.
Wix wins on ease of use, freeform drag-and-drop design, native pound billing and AI that gets a site built fast. Its trade-offs are lighter commerce tools and a ceiling that small to mid-sized shops rarely hit but larger, fast-scaling catalogues can.
The verdict
If you are serious about selling and expect the store to grow, Shopify is the stronger pick: it is commerce-first by design, with the deepest selling tools, its own payments and an AI and app layer built for running a shop. Wix earns its place when ease and design freedom matter most and the shop is small to mid-sized: its drag-and-drop editor and AI building tools get a flexible, attractive store online faster than anything, all billed cleanly in pounds. It comes down to one question: do you want maximum selling power as you scale, or the simplest, most flexible way to get a shop online? Answer that and the choice is clear.