Wix
Ranked 6 of 14 AI app builders by recommenders
Drag-and-drop site builder that non-technical people use to get a polished site online quickly. Critics say sites look generic, monthly fees add up, and control over files and URLs is limited.
Drag-and-drop site builder that non-technical people use to get a polished site online quickly. Critics say sites look generic, monthly fees add up, and control over files and URLs is limited.
44 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 26
- approval share
- 41%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy for non-technical users
“It's also idiot-proof enough that I sent a tech illiterate estate agent friend there”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Have a Fucking Website” “Any of these would be better than vibe coding for a non-tech person.”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Claude Sonnet 4.6 System Card” Quick to get set up
“That's why Squarespace and Wix exist. You have 30 minutes.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Have a Fucking Website” “It's never been easier or cheaper.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Have a Fucking Website” Suggested default for simple sites
“Resist the urge to make your own anything. Just use Squarespace or Wix!”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “How do I make $10k (What are you guys doing?)” “They're probably better off on Wix or Squarespace.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “WordPress: Unauthenticated path traversal leading to conditional RCE” Full features out of the box
“if you want all the bells and whistles on a platter: Squarespace, Wix, etc.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: Is WordPress the best way to create new websites for beginner” “Wix installer for anything bigger/more enterprisey.”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Nullsoft, 1997-2004 AOL kills off the last maverick tech company (2004)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lock-in and loss of control
“you are completely locked into their ecosystem”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “Web Builders in 2026” “Wix and Shopify both have stupid designs that remove control over a URI from a Web author”
Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: CommerceTXT – An open standard for AI shopping context (like llms.txt)” “both Shopify and Wix should let the user edit those files”
Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: CommerceTXT – An open standard for AI shopping context (like llms.txt)” - Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: CommerceTXT – An open standard for AI shopping context (like llms.txt)”
Sites look generic and cheap
“obviously just use a squarespace or wix template feel so cheap”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “OpenJev” “only valid if you like shitty template websites”
Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “Web Builders in 2026” “you get just another Wix that people will laugh at”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “The rise of industrial software” - Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in “Free static site generator for small restaurants and cafes”
Not as easy as advertised
“the number of clients coming from Wix or Squarespace is surprising—especially considering those platforms are marketed as “easy.””
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “How do I make $10k (What are you guys doing?)” “Even WIX needs some level of tech savviness, usually beyond 90% small business owners.”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Have a Fucking Website” “The issue with the Wordpress and Wix is that the site stay polished for approximately 1 second after it has been initially published.”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Sites in ChatGPT” Ongoing monthly fees
“I don't think stuff like Wix and SquareSpace are valid competitors as I don't want to pay a monthly fee.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “I've used WordPress for 20 years, and I've stopped recommending it” “paying a few hundred a year to Wix for a basic single page, static site”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Hugo Static Site on Cloudflare”
Other AI app builders people recommend
The four most recommended other AI app builders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lovable | 73 | 77 | 49% | 11 | — | — |
| Replit | 51 | 39 | 57% | 11 | 9 mo3 owners | — |
| Squarespace | 23 | 23 | 50% | 11 | — | — |
| Bolt.new | 20 | 14 | 59% | 9 | — | — |
| WixThis page | 18 | 26 | 41% | 10 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 44 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I don't think stuff like Wix and SquareSpace are valid competitors as I don't want to pay a monthly fee.”
“The issue with the Wordpress and Wix is that the site stay polished for approximately 1 second after it has been initially published.”
“In 6mo~1yr it's unmaintainable pile of dogshit that is easier to redo from scratch.”
“I quickly realized I could set up an Eleventy site, customize it and host it way faster.”
“got bogged down and frustrated enough to quit”
“Polished and easy to use website builders have been around for a long time, from Wordpress all the way to Wix.”
“They're probably better off on Wix or Squarespace.”
“obviously just use a squarespace or wix template feel so cheap”
“Instead of paying Squarespace/Wix/WordPress anything per month”
“Wix, framer and WordPress can do it easily”
“Afaik they are for only static/marketing sites”
“They are designed for closed-source and binary-distribution first.”
“if you want all the bells and whistles on a platter: Squarespace, Wix, etc.”
“every existing tool (Wix, Squarespace, even Linktree) assumes you want to "design" something”
“Wix installer for anything bigger/more enterprisey.”
“responsible for unleashing Wix”
“seems like a Wix / Canva knock-off?”
“I'm tracked with cookies, sent analytics to Google”
“shed both Wix which is 1999 SEO”
“Even WIX needs some level of tech savviness, usually beyond 90% small business owners.”
“sadly also looks vibe coded nowadays”
“That's why Squarespace and Wix exist. You have 30 minutes.”
“It's also idiot-proof enough that I sent a tech illiterate estate agent friend there”
“such offerings aren't stable - they change, fail, or enshittify over time”
“both would handle the domain and ssl for them”
“It's never been easier or cheaper.”
“Any of these would be better than vibe coding for a non-tech person.”
“you are completely locked into their ecosystem”
“only valid if you like shitty template websites”
“the number of clients coming from Wix or Squarespace is surprising—especially considering those platforms are marketed as “easy.””
“Resist the urge to make your own anything. Just use Squarespace or Wix!”
“you get just another Wix that people will laugh at”
“I support platforms like Shopify and Wix because they empower 80% of independent merchants to exist online”
“both Shopify and Wix should let the user edit those files”
“Wix and Shopify both have stupid designs that remove control over a URI from a Web author”
“Their file managers block hidden directories (starting with a dot).”
“they all have a learning curve”
“The horrible Wix sites most restaurants end up using are likely less accessible than a PDF.”
“WIX is a really cheap company, no loss.”
“paying a few hundred a year to Wix for a basic single page, static site”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.