You need a website for your business in Spain, and the same two names keep coming up: Wix and WordPress. With Wix you rent a complete tool where everything is taken care of. With WordPress you use open-source software, with the freedom and the upkeep that brings. Here is what each costs over three years, what it asks of you and which kind of business it suits. All prices were checked on the official websites on 26 September 2026, as displayed to a visitor in Spain.
What is the real difference between Wix and WordPress?
Wix is an all-in-one website builder: the editor, hosting, security and updates all come from Wix, in exchange for a subscription. Its own help centre puts it plainly: Wix is a SaaS solution, so your site must run on Wix's servers.
WordPress comes in two forms. WordPress.org is open-source software released under the GPL licence, which you download at no cost and install with the hosting company of your choice, paid for separately. WordPress.com is a service that hosts WordPress for you on paid plans, which makes it closer to Wix.
How much does Wix cost in 2026?
Short answer: from €14 to €149 a month excluding VAT, on a one-year plan paid upfront (prices checked on wix.com on 26 September 2026). Light costs €14 a month, Core €25, Business €34 and Business Elite €149. VAT is not included: it is added at checkout based on your billing address. Paid month by month, with no yearly commitment, the same plans cost €19, €30, €42 and €159 a month excluding VAT.
Light is enough for an ad-free site on your own domain, with the domain free for the first year. Online payments, however, only come with Core: if you want to sell or take deposits through your site, budget at least €25 a month excluding VAT on a yearly plan (price checked on wix.com on 26 September 2026).
The free plan exists and needs no card, but it shows a Wix banner ad and uses a wixsite.com address. To remove the banner and connect your own domain, Wix requires a paid plan. It is fine for trying the tool, not for presenting a business.
How much does WordPress cost in 2026?
Short answer: the software is free, but a WordPress website is not, because it needs hosting.
With WordPress.com, which takes care of the hosting, ad-free plans start at €4 a month with Personal, then €8 for Premium, €25 for Business and €45 for Commerce on a yearly plan, or €9, €18, €40 and €70 paid monthly, all excluding VAT (prices checked on wordpress.com on 26 September 2026). The paid plans accept plugins, and Business adds real-time backups.
With WordPress.org, you pay a hosting company. At OVHcloud Spain, the Personal plan costs €2.99 a month plus VAT for the first year (€35.88 plus VAT for twelve months), then €5.99 a month plus VAT on renewal, with a free domain for the first year (prices checked on ovhcloud.com on 26 September 2026). At Raiola Networks, a Spanish host with data centres in Madrid and support in Spanish, the Hosting Inicio para WordPress plan is listed at €8.95 a month excluding tax, with WordPress pre-installed (price checked on raiolanetworks.com on 26 September 2026). Watch out: what you pay in year one is not always what you pay afterwards.
What budget do you need over three years?
Short answer: over three years, WordPress entry plans cost less in subscriptions than Wix's, but self-hosted WordPress asks for more of your time.
The maths, excluding VAT, with the prices checked on 26 September 2026: Wix Light on a yearly plan, €14 × 36 months = €504. Wix Core, for online payments, €25 × 36 = €900. WordPress.com Personal, €48 a year × 3 = €144. WordPress.org on OVHcloud Personal, €35.88 in the first year and €71.88 in each following year, €179.64 in total. WordPress.org on Raiola Networks Hosting Inicio, €8.95 × 36 = €322.20.
In every case, add the domain, which you pay for from the second year. With self-hosted WordPress you may also add a paid theme or plugins, and above all your own time. Wix's fee already includes hosting and technical maintenance, but you keep paying it for as long as the site exists.
| Wix | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of tool | All-in-one website builder, hosted by Wix | Open-source software: WordPress.org with the host of your choice, or WordPress.com, which hosts it for you |
| Free plan | Yes, with a Wix banner ad and a wixsite.com address | Free software but paid hosting; WordPress.com free plan with ads |
| Entry plan without ads | Light: €14 a month on a yearly plan, €19 paid monthly | WordPress.com Personal: €4 a month on a yearly plan, €9 paid monthly; OVHcloud Personal: €2.99 a month in year one, then €5.99 |
| Selling online | From Core: €25 a month on a yearly plan | WooCommerce (free core) or WordPress.com Commerce: €45 a month on a yearly plan |
| Updates and security | Handled by Wix | Your job if self-hosted: core, themes, plugins, backups |
| Moving to another host | Not possible: the site only runs on Wix's servers | Possible: content export, files and database can be transferred |
| 3-year budget (excl. VAT and domain renewal after year one) | Wix Light: €504 | WordPress.com Personal: €144; WordPress.org on OVHcloud Personal: €179.64 |
Prices checked on 26 September 2026 on wix.com, wordpress.com and ovhcloud.com as displayed in Spain, excluding VAT. Yearly plans paid upfront unless marked as paid monthly.
Do you need technical skills?
Short answer: not for Wix, a little for WordPress.com, and noticeably more for WordPress on your own hosting. Wix uses a drag-and-drop editor and templates you customise: you move blocks, change text and photos and see the result straight away. WordPress can also be run without coding thanks to its block editor, but it involves more decisions (theme, plugins, settings) and, if you host it yourself, the installation and configuration. Nothing impossible, but expect to spend time learning.
Who looks after maintenance and security?
Short answer: with Wix, Wix does; with self-hosted WordPress, you do, or whoever you hire. Wix hosts sites on its own infrastructure, applies software updates itself and provides SSL protection.
For WordPress.org, the official documentation is clear: you need to keep WordPress up to date, because older versions no longer receive security fixes. Minor and security updates to the core can install automatically, but major versions, plugins and themes need your attention. The same documentation recommends backing up your database and files regularly, and always before an update. WordPress.com, for its part, manages the server for you, which lightens this load.
What about ranking on Google?
Short answer: both let you handle the essentials; WordPress gives you more control, Wix more simplicity. Wix includes its own SEO tools for your page titles and descriptions, which is enough for a brochure site. Self-hosted WordPress lets you choose the host, the theme and the structure of your page addresses, and accepts plugins dedicated to SEO: an advantage if you publish often. But no tool ranks you on its own: what matters is useful content, clear pages about your services and the area you cover, and a site that loads quickly on mobile. If your clients search in both English and Spanish, plan for both languages from the start, whichever tool you pick.
Can you switch tools later?
Short answer: with WordPress, yes; with Wix, you will have to rebuild. Wix explains this in its help centre: a Wix site runs on Wix's proprietary technology and cannot be hosted with another provider. Your text and images are yours, but if you ever want to leave, the site has to be rebuilt and the content moved across. Your domain, however, can be managed with another provider.
WordPress, by contrast, is built to move: its export tool creates a file of your content to import into another WordPress site, WordPress.com offers the same export and, if you host it yourself, your files and database can be copied to any compatible host. If your site is likely to grow over the coming years, this point carries a lot of weight.
Online shop or blog: what does each offer?
To sell online, Wix builds in eCommerce from the Core plan (€25 a month excluding VAT on a yearly plan, checked on wix.com on 26 September 2026), with no plugins to install. On WordPress, a shop means WooCommerce, an open-source plugin whose core is free, or the WordPress.com Commerce plan at €45 a month excluding VAT on a yearly plan (checked on wordpress.com on 26 September 2026). WooCommerce is very flexible, but needs more upkeep.
For a blog, WordPress started life as a publishing tool. Wix has a blog too, perfectly adequate for a few articles a month. If content sits at the heart of your strategy, WordPress has the edge.
Wix or WordPress: which suits your situation?
Choose Wix if you want to build the site yourself, quickly and without wrestling with technology, if your site will stay simple (a few presentation pages and a contact form) and if you accept paying a fee for as long as the site exists, with no plan to change tools.
Choose WordPress.com if you want WordPress without managing a server, with a lower entry cost than Wix and the option to export your content later.
Choose WordPress.org with a hosting company if you want full control, an active blog, a WooCommerce shop or the freedom to move, and if you have the time for updates and backups, or the budget to hand them over.
There is no winner for everyone in the Wix or WordPress debate: Wix sells you peace of mind, WordPress gives you freedom. Work out the cost over three years and ask yourself how much time you want to spend on your website. If you have time for neither, there is a third way: have it done for you. At WebAutonomos it costs €15 a month with no set-up fee and no lock-in, or €349 paid once, with the same services either way: design, copy we write from your real business details, hosting, SSL certificate, daily backups, technical maintenance, legal pages and one change a month after launch. Your personalised demo is ready in under 24 hours, and you only pay once you have approved it.