1&1 vs. Wix (2024)

Alexandra Anderson

By: Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who's contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master's degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

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Editor: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian brings more than 30 years of editing and journalism experience to our team. She has written and edited for major news organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times, and she previously served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Florida. Today, she edits HostingAdvice content for clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement.

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Alexandra Anderson Alexandra Anderson Hosting Expert
“We tested 1&1 IONOS & Wix — The winner is 1&1 IONOS!”

In this host comparison, we’re looking at two reputable providers. Wix is one of the best-known website building platforms on the market. This provider is perfect for small business owners who want to build a website with zero frontend coding skills. On the flip side, 1&1 provides a different kind of service, specializing in true web hosting with plenty of add-on services for every need. Let’s see which host comes out on top.

Overall Rating
4.8/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit 1&1 IONOS »
Overall Rating
4.6/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit Wix »

Disclosure: When you sign up through links on our site, we often earn referral fees from partners. For more information, see our ad disclosure and review policy.

Overall Hosting Comparison

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Born in 1988 — at least a decade before many competitors — 1&1 IONOS has maintained its dedication to making technology easy to understand and use.

The company got its start in Europe but has since expanded to serve more than 8 million global customers and host more than 12 million domain names.

Part of the United Internet Group, 1&1 IONOS relaunched in 2018 after merging with the successful ProfitBricks cloud infrastructure service.

The end result is a web hosting company that's perfectly poised to serve everyone from first-time site owners and small businesses to rapidly scaling corporations in need of powerful virtual and dedicated server options.

Web hosting beginners will especially appreciate the company's dedication to a comprehensive user experience. In addition to affordable shared and WordPress hosting, 1&1 IONOS customers can quickly deploy the company's custom drag-and-drop site builder or eCommerce store creator.

Marketing tools abound to grow your presence, including for a local business listing on online directories, Google Adwords management, email marketing, and search engine optimization.

More experienced customers will find a comfortable hosting home in the various 1&1 IONOS cloud solutions. In addition to somewhat-more-obscure services like S3 object storage, Kubernetes-as-a-Service, or specialized cloud app configurations, the company offers the cloud in managed or unmanaged varieties, plus enterprise-grade Platform-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service options.

Whichever level of hosting you choose, 1&1 IONOS provides you with a personal consultant — a central point of contact available directly by phone, email, or chat who understands your needs. Be sure to consider 1&1 IONOS for your hosting needs.

  • FREE domain and SSL, plus daily backups
  • Drag-and-drop site builder and starter kit
  • Gain exposure with $100-worth of ad credits
  • Packages cater to businesses & personal use
  • FREE custom SEO and marketing tools
  • Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
10 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

As a web builder, Wix is an industry leader when it comes to ease of use, setup time, and available features. The browser-based, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) site-building service is hands down one of the foremost brands in this industry niche, and that's not without just cause.

Getting started and familiar with the platform is a straightforward process, and the resulting websites you can build are in keeping with industry standards, as far as design and customization go.

While you're not going to get the same level of support as you would from a leading web hosting service, the feature set available and included in this free service is a pretty exhaustive list. All it takes to sign up — and said signup is free — is an email or a Facebook account.

Once you're in, you can preview thousands of templates, which are all broken up into categories and then further classified by design or industry type.

For example, choose the Online Store category with the Clothing & Accessories subcategory to start selling your custom-printed t-shirts. Your garage band can showcase your latest performances and let family and friends know of upcoming shows by utilizing the Music and Band categories.

You can browse the most popular templates and check out the newest additions. Once you've made your pick, you may feel a tad overwhelmed at the interface — but that's only because the functionality exceeds that of your typical drag-and-drop builder.

You can manipulate and edit virtually any facet of your new website, until it perfectly matches the picture in your head.

Finally, get your finished creation noticed by search engines (and the millions of web surfers that they send to websites) using the Wix SEO Wizard. Just tell the Wizard the words or phrases you want people to search for and find your site, and Wix will spit back out a full SEO report — so you know where you stand in terms of relevant visitors being sent to your site.

Wix premium plan customers can also benefit from $300-worth of search engine advertising credits, upping the chances of increased site visitors.

Anyone could find themselves wanting a website at some point in their career or personal life. Whether you're a stay-at-home mom with a creative writing habit to share or a serial entrepreneur ready to profit from your next great idea, you don't want building your own website from scratch to be a strain — on your wallet, your time, or your brain.

With Wix, you can be your own web designer, developer, and marketer. The interface is easy to use and the end designs are up to snuff with industry standards. When it comes to code-free website building, Wix is a leader and an innovator.

  • FREE signup with email or Facebook
  • Drag-and-drop designing is super easy
  • 1-year domain free with most plans
  • Up to $300-worth of ad credits
  • Access to 1,000s of templates and additional tools in the App Market
  • Get started on Wix now.
Money Back Guarantee
14-day FREE trial
Disk Space
2 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Hosting Comparison

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

#4 out of 10 in Cheap Hosting reviews

If budget is the main factor on your mind when searching for your next web host, search no more.

1&1 IONOS has an impressive range of robust web hosting and website building packages for what may be the best price we've ever seen in the world of hosting.

Even better, there are no hidden fees or upsells at checkout — finally, a place in the web hosting world where "what you see is what you get" doesn't apply to just site builders.

All 1&1 IONOS plans come with a free domain name registration, or existing site transfer, with permissions to use (essentially) as much storage space and databases as you need.

While some hosting shoppers may view the lack of "truly" unlimited features to be a knock on 1&1 IONOS, we actually prefer that the host is upfront about exactly what resources are available — and, trust us, you'll have plenty of resources to work with.

Starting a 1&1 IONOS website from scratch is simple. With the 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite Builder and eCommerce store creator, you can easily choose a template, drag and drop various elements of your site, and customize it to your brand or personal preference.

For a bit more control, the company gives you more than 70 cloud applications that can be installed with just one click. For cost-conscious customers, whether you're looking for a website builder, WordPress host, or a place to launch your online store, you can't go wrong with one of the 1&1 IONOS budget-friendly plans.

The company includes all of the web hosting essentials and makes it simple to upgrade at any time, with expert support available to help at every step along the way.

  • $1/month for 12 months
  • No hidden fees, pay just $12 at checkout
  • Easy setup and 24/7 expert support
  • FREE domain or transfer, plus FREE SSL certificate
  • Unlimited storage and databases with most plans
  • Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
10 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Wix is known as a web-leading site builder service that's one of the most affordable — because getting started is absolutely free and about as easy as processes get.

You can log in via Facebook or your Gmail account and be editing your new web property within minutes. All but the most basic of plans include a free domain name voucher for your first year of service, and with Wix comes the wealth of templates to be customized within the Wix Editor.

This interface is extremely intuitive, once you take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with it. Once you're comfortable, you'll find yourself dragging and dropping images, text, menus, sliders, and more — all without any code — and feeling like a full-fledged web designer extraordinaire.

All of the template designs are up to the latest industry standards, including parallax layouts, a mobile display editor, and responsive designs, and there are thousands of themes to browse.

If you've read our reviews and seen the multitude of features that can be had for a mere few dollars a month, you've probably realized that Wix is not the cheapest on the list. With Wix, you're paying for the user-friendliness of the no-tech-skills-needed platform, as well as the speed at which you can get your new site up and running.

You're paying for accessibility, so to speak. That doesn't mean you're not getting a lot for the price.

Premium plan holders, in particular, can benefit from $300-worth of ad vouchers, free apps for building forms and boosting your site's SEO status, and even priority support.

Bottom line: There is tremendous value in the offerings of Wix plans. Things like 24/7 expert phone support, stellar uptime rates, and mega-powerful servers are not features they tout, but that's intentional. Wix is an awesome website builder service, and if that's what you're looking for, you've come to the right place.

  • Start designing for FREE
  • FREE domain with most plans
  • Drag-and-drop templates, specific to industry
  • Exhaustive knowledgebase of articles
  • Huge app market available
  • Get started on Wix now.
Money Back Guarantee
14-day FREE trial
Disk Space
2 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Dedicated Hosting Comparison

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#2 out of 8 in Dedicated Hosting reviews

If you need blazing-fast speed, optimum uptime, top-notch flexibility, and full control over the fate of your website the dedicated servers from 1&1 IONOS have you covered.

The company offers an assortment of entry-level, performance-focused, and business-class server options. 1&1 IONOS currently operates more than 90,000 servers within 10 geo-redundant datacenters, and the hardware features top-notch Intel Atom and Xeon processors.

The company's hands-on approach to perfecting datacenters ensures high levels of uptime and supremely reliable server networks, boasting up to 1 Gbit/s connectivity, unlimited traffic, and HTTP/2 support.

Although experienced dedicated server customers might prefer a large cloud environment with root access enabled, rookies and busy entrepreneurs who would prefer to spend their time elsewhere will appreciate the intuitive 1&1 IONOS control panel included with each machine; no server admin is required, meaning you can focus on your projects instead of monotonous maintenance.

Users can monitor their dedicated server performance through a web browser, but we also love how 1&1 IONOS offers mobile access to the control panel via apps for both iOS and Android.

Unlike many other dedicated server providers, 1&1 IONOS gives customers per-minute billing options.

Offering a wealth of dedicated server options to meet any budget or performance needs, 1&1 IONOS customers benefit from easy system management, and top-notch security, and personalized support — basically everything you can hope to get from a dedicated server provider.

  • Explore server deals to find the best rates
  • High powered modern AMD and Intel processors
  • Unlimited traffic and 1 Gbit/s network connectivity
  • 8-minute deployment with full API control
  • Auto backups, DDoS protection, and RAID-1 storage
  • Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
480 GB SSD - 2 TB HDD
Domain Name
New or Transfer

Dedicated Rating

N/A

Wix does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

VPS Hosting Comparison

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

#5 out of 9 in VPS Hosting reviews

For an all-star player in the game of web hosting flexibility, look no further than the low-cost options from 1&1 IONOS.

The company's vServers are a powerful VPS option that includes dedicated resources and unlimited traffic. Customers will receive generous allotments of memory, computing cores, and high-speed SSD storage for rates much lower than many competitors.

We appreciate the company's flexibility in offering a wide range of Linux and Windows operating systems, along with the root access to completely control applications and other configurations. Users can use the Plesk Onyx control panel to manage server operations securely and efficiently.

The 1&1 IONOS VPS network is powered by VMware virtualization and redundant SAN storage, backed by Intel Xeon E5 processors and SSDs.

For those looking for other virtualized hosting options, 1&1 IONOS boasts numerous managed and unmanaged cloud services. Ranging from object storage to container orchestration, we especially appreciate the pre-configured environments that are optimized to specific application performance needs.

Want your WordPress or Magento site to fly? Look into 1&1 IONOS cloud hosting. Experienced developers comfortable with root access will enjoy hourly-billed IONOS Cloud environments, while cloud hosting newbies will prefer the managed, Platform-as-a-Service option.

Large companies can build customized, future-proofed environments via the 1&1 IONOS Infrastructure-as-a-Service package. No matter your selection, 1&1 IONOS smooths the on-ramp for cloud services adoption, promising that servers will launch in just 55 seconds.

In addition to the ridiculously low introductory prices, keep an eye out for additional discounts for your first month that enable you to sample upgraded tools without a long-term commitment.

  • Affordable VPS hosting with no hidden fees
  • Try it FREE via 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Full root access and API
  • 10GB to 240GB SSD, Linux or Windows
  • No throttling or traffic restrictions, ever
  • Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
10 GB NVMe - 640 GB NVMe
Domain Name
New or Transfer

VPS Rating

N/A

Wix does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

WordPress Hosting Comparison

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

You're not alone if you're looking for fine-tuned optimizations and security enhancements specifically tailored around WordPress.

Hundreds of hosts are clamoring to offer the best services for the world's most popular content management system, and 1&1 IONOS is among the select group leading the way.

The company offers all the essentials you would expect from a provider that emphasizes shared hosting simplicity, while still including the features that particularly resonate with more technical WordPress users.

First, a setup assistant gets you started with just a few clicks, offering countless options to customize and grow your WordPress site through theme and plugin suggestions.

From there, the company's powerful infrastructure — boasting NGINX web server, SSD storage, modern PHP, and 2GB of guaranteed memory — delivers your site with speed.

1&1 IONOS secures WordPress sites by automatically updating the CMS for you, along with providing DDoS protection and optional SiteLock security.

The managed platform takes care of all tedious management tasks, and site owners will appreciate the personal consultant that is on standby to answer any WordPress questions via phone, email, or chat.

All in all, starting and sustaining a WordPress site with 1&1 IONOS couldn't be easier. From a free domain and simple startup to the company's robust support systems, the company offers everything you need to launch a WordPress website with ease.

  • Just $1/month for 12 months
  • Free domain registration and up to 500 email accounts
  • Setup wizard helps with installation, suggests themes, and installs plugins
  • FREE automatic WP updates and DDoS protection
  • SSD drives, NGINX, and guaranteed RAM for page load speed
  • Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
25 GB SSD - 75 GB SSD
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

WordPress Rating

N/A

Wix does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

Site Builder Hosting Comparison

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

#2 out of 9 in Website Builder Hosting reviews

If you're in need of a one-stop shop for designing and launching a website, you should be pleased to hear that 1&1 IONOS offers its own custom website building tools for both desktop and mobile devices.

In addition to a free domain and email address, along with unlimited storage space, the 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite platform includes all the essentials for starting a site from scratch.

With MyWebsite packages, you can quickly and easily create a custom website — without any coding or programming knowledge.

As if the low introductory rate wasn't impressive enough, 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite packages come with a free 30-day trial period so you can be certain that this easy-to-use solution is the right one for you.

The company's drag-and-drop site editor features tons of high-quality, customizable templates. Your site will automatically be optimized for smartphones and tablets, and 1&1 IONOS offers apps to integrate interactive, professional elements into your site, including photo galleries, online scheduling, customer reviews, social media widgets, and maps.

For those who are more pressed for time, you can quickly spin up a one-page website or employ 1&1 IONOS design experts to create up to five custom pages with images and SEO-optimized text.

Somewhat interestingly, 1&1 IONOS redirects customers to a separate website builder if they're looking to sell products online. The company's eCommerce builder easily integrates with Amazon, eBay, and Google, covering a wide range of integrated payment and shipping methods.

That being said, we are quite enamored with the comprehensive features included in these plans.

  • No coding skills necessary with MyWebsite Creator
  • Free domain name or transfer your existing site
  • FREE social media and marketing widgets
  • Pro templates with pre-filled text and images
  • Multilingual support and tools for SEO
  • Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
10 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#1 out of 9 in Website Builder Hosting reviews

Website building is where Wix shines. The thousands of templates, the intuitive editor, the industry-leading designs that cater to a variety of specific fields and use cases — all these facets represent a platform that excels at facilitating easy web design for the non-tech-savvy user.

Sign up with your Facebook account or email address and get started for free. I'll admit, the Wix Editor may appear daunting when you first meet it, but get to know the interface.

Once you familiarize yourself with the environment, you'll realize that what first comes across as overwhelming is actually empowering — the customization functionalities to be had are many, and they're awesome.

There's no need for coding of any kind. Just drag and drop elements of your new site and BAM: What You See Is What You Get (i.e., Wix is a WYSIWYG website builder!). You don't have to design your website from scratch with Wix, though blank templates are available.

There are thousands of templates, each one categorized by design need and further classified into industry niches, and the site's look can be molded to match your brand or personality very easily.

Layout and design options include parallax themes (where the viewer scrolls down the screen and one page rolls seamlessly into the next), custom sliders, multiple columns, mobile-specific and mobile-responsive displays, and tons of button and menu navigation tricks.

While Wix isn't our favorite host in terms of expert support or top-of-the-line hardware, it's an industry-leading platform for website building.

It's popular for many reasons: the simple startup process, the ease of use, the array of customization options, and the WYSIWYG results, as examples. Its reputation precedes it, and we can totally see where the rave reviews are coming from.

  • No coding skills needed with drag-and-drop builder
  • 100s of templates with niche-specific designs
  • Add features via the App Market and Wix Events
  • Easily create ecommerce functionality easily
  • Great way to build small sites on a budget
  • Get started on Wix now.
Money Back Guarantee
14-day FREE trial
Disk Space
2 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
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1&1 IONOS vs. Wix - Our Conclusion

Alexandra Anderson Alexandra Anderson Hosting Expert
“We tested 1&1 IONOS & Wix — The winner is 1&1 IONOS!”

Each of these providers excels in its own space. You can’t go wrong with Wix for building your next website with an easy drag-and-drop platform. If you already have a site and are looking for a reliable web host, our friends at 1&1 have covered you. At the end of the day, the host you choose will depend on your specific needs. Now go forth with confidence as you choose your next web host — you’ve got this.

Overall Rating
4.8/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit 1&1 IONOS »
Overall Rating
4.6/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit Wix »

About The Author

Alexandra Anderson’s interest in website administration was sparked in her teens, priming her for a fast-paced career in managing, building, and contributing to online brands, including HostingAdvice, Forbes, and the blogs of prominent hosting providers. She brings firsthand experience reviewing web hosts, perfecting website design, optimizing content, and walking site owners through the steps that add up to a successful online presence. With a master's degree in information technology from Virginia Tech, she combines her extensive writing experience and technical understanding to unpack some of the most complex topics that daunt novice website owners, as well as the subjects that excite veteran technologists within the HostingAdvice readership.
Alexandra Anderson