Wix vs free hosting: real cost comparison for small businesses (2025)

I've had the same conversation five times in the last six months.

"I'm paying €30/month for my website on Wix. Is that... normal?"

Yes, it's normal. It's also unnecessary.

As the founder of Lumina Salud who migrated our own site and helped five other businesses do the same, I've done the math many times. Here's what most business owners don't realize: that €30/month adds up to €1,800 over five years. For hosting. Just hosting.

Meanwhile, Cloudflare Pages offers unlimited bandwidth for €0/month. Same functionality. Actually faster. You own everything.

So why do so many businesses still use Wix? Because they don't know there's a better option. Or they think migration is complicated. Or they assume "free" means "garbage."

Let me show you the real numbers, explain exactly what you get with each option, and help you decide which makes sense for your business.

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The real cost of Wix (not just €15/month)

When you look at Wix's pricing page, you see "Light Plan: €15/month." Sounds reasonable.

But that's rarely what you actually pay.

Here's what happened with the five businesses I migrated:

Restaurant owner: Started at €15/month, now paying €40/month

• Basic plan: €15
• Remove Wix ads: +€10 (forced upgrade to "Core" plan)
• Accept online orders: +€15 (eCommerce plan)
• Actual cost: €40/month = €480/year

Photographer: Started at €25/month, stayed there

• Needed custom domain and more storage for images
• Combo plan: €25/month
• Actual cost: €300/year

Consultant: Started at €20/month, now €35/month

• Business plan for advanced features: €20
• Professional email: +€5 (Google Workspace)
• Forms with more fields: Included but needed business plan
• Actual cost: €35/month = €420/year

Pattern: Everyone pays more than the advertised price.

What's NOT included in basic Wix plans

Here's what gets you to upgrade:

• Remove "Created with Wix" branding → Forced upgrade to €25/month minimum
• Professional email → €5-10/month extra (Google Workspace or similar)
• Accept payments → eCommerce plan €25-50/month
• Advanced SEO tools → Business plan minimum
• Priority support → VIP plan €45/month
• More storage → Forced upgrades for image-heavy sites

5-year total cost of ownership

Let me show you what this actually costs over time:

Year	Wix "Combo" (€25/mo)	Wix "Business" (€35/mo)	Modern Stack (My Service)
Year 1	€300	€420	€512 (€500 + €12 domain)
Year 2	€300	€420	€12
Year 3	€300	€420	€12
Year 4	€300	€420	€12
Year 5	€300	€420	€12
TOTAL	€1,500	€2,100	€560

Savings with migration:

• vs Wix Combo: €940 saved
• vs Wix Business: €1,540 saved

And this assumes Wix never raises prices (they increased 30% in 2023).

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What you actually get with each option

Wix: What works well

Ease of use: The drag-and-drop editor is genuinely good. I used it before building my own site. You can make changes visually without touching code.

Templates: Hundreds of professionally designed templates. Pick one, customize it, done.

Built-in features:

• Contact forms
• Image galleries
• Booking systems (extra cost)
• Blog functionality
• App marketplace

Support: Chat support available (though response times vary).

Wix: The problems

Speed: Every Wix site I've tested loads in 4-6 seconds. Google penalizes slow sites. According to Portent research, a site that loads in 1 second converts 3x better than one at 5 seconds.

The photographer I migrated? Her Wix site took 6.5 seconds to load. Now it loads in 1.1 seconds. That's 5x faster.

Vendor lock-in: You cannot export your Wix site. If you want to leave, you start from scratch. All your content, design, everything—locked in their platform.

One client told me: "I've been thinking about leaving Wix for two years, but the thought of rebuilding everything stopped me."

Price increases: Wix raised prices 30% in 2023. You have no negotiating power. Pay or lose your site.

Performance you can't control: You can't optimize code. You can't modify how images load. You're stuck with Wix's choices, which prioritize their profits over your site speed.

Modern stack (Next.js + Cloudflare): What works well

Speed: All five sites I migrated now load in 0.9-1.5 seconds. Google's Core Web Vitals research shows this directly impacts rankings.

Cost: €0/month hosting. Cloudflare Pages offers unlimited bandwidth on their free tier. Not "unlimited up to X"—actually unlimited.

Ownership: You own all the code. Can modify anything. Can hire any developer. Can move to any host. No vendor lock-in.

SEO: Faster sites rank better. Proper technical SEO. Clean code. All five sites I migrated saw improved Google rankings within 2-3 months.

Editing: With Tina CMS, clients get an admin panel at yoursite.com/admin. They edit content, add blog posts, upload images—no coding needed.

Modern stack: The challenges

Initial setup required: You can't do it yourself in an afternoon (unless you're technical). It requires:

• GitHub account and repository
• Next.js setup
• CMS configuration
• Deployment pipeline
• DNS configuration

This is why hiring someone makes sense. I charge €500, it takes me 5-7 days, then you're done forever.

Small learning curve: Editing is easy (similar to WordPress), but it's not quite as visual as Wix. You edit in a form, not directly on the page.

Most clients adapt in 10-15 minutes. The cultural association I migrated told me: "Actually easier than Framer."

Technical issues need technical help: If something breaks (rare), you need someone technical. On Wix, you contact support. With your own site, you contact me or another developer.

Though in six months across five sites, I've had zero emergency issues. Modern stacks are stable.

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When to stick with Wix

I'm not here to bash Wix. It works well for specific situations:

Use Wix if:

1. You need to launch today
   • Can't wait 5-7 days for migration
   • Urgency trumps cost savings
2. Your site changes constantly
   • Redesigning every few months
   • Visual experimentation is core to your business
   • You need that drag-and-drop flexibility
3. Budget isn't a concern
   • €300-500/year doesn't matter to your business
   • Convenience worth the cost
4. You plan to switch platforms soon anyway
   • Testing a business idea for 6 months
   • Temporary site until you get funding for custom build
   • Not worth migrating if you'll change again
5. You absolutely cannot learn anything new
   • Zero capacity for even minor learning
   • Need 100% hand-holding forever

If you check 3+ of these boxes, Wix might make sense for you.

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When migration makes sense

Migrate to modern stack if:

1. You're keeping your site for 2+ years
   • Break-even point is ~17 months at €30/month
   • Long-term savings are substantial
2. Site speed matters to your business
   • E-commerce (every second affects conversion)
   • Service business where first impression matters
   • Competing in crowded market
   • Mobile traffic is significant
3. You're frustrated with limitations
   • Want features Wix doesn't offer
   • Paying for apps that should be free
   • Hitting storage or bandwidth limits
4. €300-500/year bothers you
   • Running lean
   • Every euro matters
   • Prefer one-time cost over subscription
5. You want ownership and control
   • Don't like being locked in
   • Want ability to modify anything
   • Future-proofing your business

If you check 3+ of these boxes, migration probably makes sense.

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Real business impact: The numbers that matter

Let me show you what faster sites actually mean:

Restaurant (6.5s → 1.1s load time)

Before migration:

• 1,000 visitors/month
• 6.5-second load time
• 70% bounce rate (people leave before seeing menu)
• ~300 people actually viewing content

After migration:

• Same 1,000 visitors/month
• 1.1-second load time
• 25% bounce rate
• ~750 people viewing content

Impact: 2.5x more potential customers actually seeing the menu and booking system.

If just 2% book (15 extra bookings/month) at average €40 per person = €600/month extra revenue.

The €500 migration paid for itself in the first month.

Photographer (6.5s → 1.1s load time)

She told me: "It is the first time I get a client through my website. Before I only got clients through wedding venue partnerships."

Portfolio sites live or die by first impressions. A slow-loading gallery kills credibility before they see your work.

Consultant (5s → 1.5s load time)

Better Google rankings = more organic traffic = less dependence on paid ads.

He estimated saving €200/month on Google Ads because organic traffic improved.

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The break-even calculation

Most people ask: "When does the €500 migration pay for itself?"

At €25/month Wix cost:

• €500 migration / €25 saved per month = 20 months
• Break-even at month 20
• Year 3: €100 ahead
• Year 5: €700 ahead

At €35/month Wix cost:

• €500 migration / €35 saved per month = 14 months
• Break-even at month 14
• Year 3: €560 ahead
• Year 5: €1,400 ahead

Plus the intangible benefits:

• Faster site = better conversions (hard to quantify but real)
• Better SEO = more organic traffic (compounds over time)
• Ownership = freedom to modify anything
• No fear of price increases

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What about other platforms?

Squarespace: €12-40/month

Similar issues to Wix:

• Slower than custom sites
• Vendor lock-in
• Recurring costs
• Better design templates than Wix though

5-year cost: €720-2,400 Savings with migration: €160-1,840

Webflow: €14-39/month

More powerful than Wix, but:

• Still recurring costs
• Still locked in (though better export than Wix)
• Better for complex sites

5-year cost: €840-2,340 Savings with migration: €280-1,780

WordPress.com: €0-45/month

Free tier exists but:

• Ads on your site
• Limited features
• No custom domain on free

Business plan (€25/month) more comparable.

WordPress.org (self-hosted): This is closer to what I offer. You can host WordPress cheaply (€5-10/month).

But WordPress has its own issues:

• Security vulnerabilities (needs constant updates)
• Plugin bloat (slows sites down)
• More complex to maintain

Modern stack (Next.js + Cloudflare) is faster and more secure.

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The migration process (what actually happens)

People worry migration is complicated. Here's what actually happens:

Week 1: You reach out

You send me your Wix site URL and tell me what you need. I confirm it's a good fit (3-15 pages, not e-commerce, standard features).

Week 1, Day 2: I audit and plan

I analyze your site, create migration plan, share timeline. You approve.

Week 1, Days 3-6: I build

• Extract all content from Wix
• Rebuild in Next.js with similar design (or improvements if you want)
• Set up Tina CMS for easy editing
• Add contact forms, galleries, whatever you need
• Test on multiple devices

Week 1, Day 7: You review

I show you staging site. You request changes. I adjust.

Week 2, Day 1: We launch

• Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
• Configure DNS (I guide you through this)
• Train you on CMS (15-minute Loom video)
• Go live

Weeks 2-3: Support period

I answer questions, fix any issues, help with first content updates.

Beyond: You're independent

You update content yourself. €0/month. You own everything.

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Common questions

"Will my site look different?" I recreate your current design (unless you want changes). Most clients can't tell the difference visually, except it loads way faster.

"What about my domain?" Stays exactly the same. yoursite.com keeps working. Email keeps working.

"Will I lose my Google rankings?" No. With proper 301 redirects, rankings transfer. Usually improve due to speed.

"Can I still edit my site?" Yes. You get an admin panel at yoursite.com/admin. Edit content, add blog posts, upload images—no coding needed.

"What if something breaks?" In six months across five sites: zero emergency issues. But if needed, I'm available for support.

"Is €0/month hosting really real?" Yes. Cloudflare Pages is genuinely free with unlimited bandwidth. The only cost is domain registration (€10-15/year), which you already pay.

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My recommendation for different business types

Restaurants / Cafes

Migrate. Speed matters when hungry people are looking. Menu updates should be easy. €300/year saved pays for ingredients.

Photographers / Creatives

Migrate. Portfolio sites need to be fast. Images need to be optimized. First impressions are everything.

Consultants / Service Businesses

Migrate. SEO matters for lead generation. Blog functionality helps with content marketing. Professional appearance matters.

E-commerce Stores

Don't use my service. Stick with Shopify or WooCommerce. E-commerce needs specialized features I don't offer.

Hobby Sites / Personal Blogs

Maybe DIY instead. If the site isn't for business and you have time, try building it yourself. Less pressure, good learning experience.

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Ready to make the switch?

I've migrated five sites successfully. All still running smoothly six months later. €1,500/year saved collectively.

If you want me to handle your migration:

Complete migration for €500:

• 5-7 day delivery
• Matching design (or improvements)
• €0/month hosting setup
• Easy content editing (Tina CMS)
• Training included
• 2 weeks support

👉 See my service on Fiverr →

Still researching?

Read my case studies: I migrated 5 websites from Framer to free hosting

Or learn DIY approach: How I built this website for free

Have questions?

Contact me. I'm happy to discuss your specific situation.

The five businesses I've helped are saving over €1,500/year combined. Their sites are faster. They have more control. They're happy with the decision.

Maybe you'll be next.