# Wix review for Canadian small businesses (2026) > An honest Wix review for Canadian businesses: a free plan, drag-and-drop and bookings, against template lock-in, first-term pricing and no site export. Canonical: https://canadianwebmaster.ca/reviews/wix Last updated: 2026-10-22 Wix is the easiest place to start a website: a free plan, a drag-and-drop editor and bookings built in. It's also the hardest to leave. Here's what it does well, where it bites, and who should pick it. Prices and facts checked October 22, 2026 ยท by Shane Heyworth. About: Wix. > How this review works: every claim links to the platform's own pricing page or help centre, checked on the date above. There are no star ratings, because we haven't collected reviews from users; a score would be made up. We build websites for a living, mostly on WordPress and Shopify, so we have a bias. We've tried to say plainly where each platform beats paying someone like us. ## The short version Wix suits a business owner who wants to drag things exactly where they want them, take bookings or payments without extra tools, and expects to stay on Wix. It suits less well anyone who might want to change their design later, move the site, or keep costs flat over several years. **Good** - A real free plan for trying the editor before paying. - Billed in CAD for Canadian customers, from $21 a month on a yearly plan ([plans](https://www.wix.com/plans)). - Payments, eCommerce, scheduling and services from Core ($33/month regular price). - Wix Payments in Canada: 2.9% + $0.30 per card payment, Interac at point of sale for $0.15 ([fees](https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-payments-processing-fees-7668440)). - A 14-day money-back guarantee on Premium plans. **Watch out for** - You can't switch the template of a site you've already built; you start a new site and copy things over ([help centre](https://support.wix.com/en/article/switching-your-site-template)). - A Wix site runs only on Wix: it [can't be exported or hosted elsewhere](https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-or-embedding-your-wix-site-elsewhere). - Headline prices are often first-term sales; renewals are at the regular price. - The cheapest paid plan (Light) has no payments, store or bookings. - The free plan shows Wix branding and has no custom domain. ## What it costs Regular yearly prices are $21 a month for Light, $33 for Core, $44 for Business and $165 for Business Elite. When we checked, Core and up were 50% off for the first term only. The monthly-billing price shows at checkout. The full breakdown, with real yearly costs for a service site and a small shop, is on our [Wix pricing page](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/pricing/wix). ## Design and editing Wix gives you more freedom on the page than Squarespace: you can place elements almost anywhere. That freedom cuts both ways. It's easy to end up with a desktop layout that falls apart on a phone, and because the template is fixed once the site exists, a redesign later means a new site. ## Selling and bookings This is where Wix is strongest for small service businesses. Scheduling and services come with Core, alongside payments, a product catalogue, abandoned-cart recovery and pre-orders. Business adds automated sales tax on up to 100 transactions a month. Memberships (Wix Pricing Plans) carry a transaction fee of 4% on Core and 2% on Business. ## Leaving Wix Wix is clear that your content belongs to you, but the site itself can't leave. You can export contacts as a CSV, up to 50,000 at a time ([help centre](https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-your-contacts)), and products as a CSV ([help centre](https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-stores-exporting-products)). Pages, design and blog posts have to be rebuilt or copied by hand on the new platform. If you bought your domain through Wix, you can [transfer it out](https://support.wix.com/en/article/transferring-your-wix-domain-away-from-wix-2477749). Our [guide to moving off Wix](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/switch-from/wix) has the full list. ## Who should pick Wix - **Pick it** if you want to build it yourself, need bookings or simple payments, like placing things freely, and plan to stay on Wix for years. - **Skip it** if you expect to redesign, might hand the site to a developer, want something you can move, or need predictable multi-year costs. Still deciding? Compare it with [Squarespace](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/wix-vs-squarespace) and [WordPress](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/wix-vs-wordpress), or see the [Squarespace review](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/reviews/squarespace) and [WordPress review](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/reviews/wordpress). ## Sources Each checked October 22, 2026. Platforms change prices often; their own page is the final word. - [Wix: Premium plans (CAD when viewed from Canada)](https://www.wix.com/plans) - [Wix Help: Wix Payments service fees (Canada)](https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-payments-processing-fees-7668440) - [Wix Help: Switching your site template](https://support.wix.com/en/article/switching-your-site-template) - [Wix Help: Exporting or embedding your Wix site elsewhere](https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-or-embedding-your-wix-site-elsewhere) - [Wix Help: Exporting your contacts](https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-your-contacts) - [Wix Help: Wix Stores, exporting your product list](https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-stores-exporting-products) - [Wix Help: Transferring your Wix domain away from Wix](https://support.wix.com/en/article/transferring-your-wix-domain-away-from-wix-2477749) ## Keep comparing - [Pricing: Wix pricing](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/pricing/wix) - [Comparison: Wix vs Squarespace](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/wix-vs-squarespace) - [Comparison: Wix vs WordPress](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/wix-vs-wordpress) - [Switching: Moving off Wix](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/switch-from/wix) - [All platform pricing, reviews and comparisons](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/compare)