The ability to build and host a website for free sounds extremely attractive. It explains why Google Sites is popular in the budget or “no budget” segment. However, many people compare Google Sites vs Wix to see if the former can match the latter’s greatness. For a start, both are respectable free website builders; that’s a huge plus!
However, they’re both simple to set up, user-friendly, and quite capable with their various integrations. Whether you pick Wix or Google Sites, you can expect a noteworthy experience, with a few key differences, which may or may not bother you, depending on your needs.
Today’s in-depth Wix vs Google Sites 2026 comparison will highlight these differences through several tests and determine the winner. We’ll be brutally honest, as we’ve tested both providers for a while and are fully acquainted with their pros and cons. Read on.
Wix vs Google Sites: Quick Overview
After a thorough examination, we concluded that Wix is better than Google Sites, hence our recommendation for this website builder. To be brutally honest, as promised, it’s a no-brainer compared to Google Sites and its underwhelming features and functionalities.
The table below highlights the differences between Wix and Google Sites, giving you an overview of their quality. For more details, read the full comparison, which includes important information to help you make an informed choice.
| Wix | Google Sites | |
| Our current ranking 📋 | #1 | / |
| Starting price 💸 | $10/mo | Free |
| AI Website Builder 🤖 | Yes | No |
| Free Domain 🌐 | Yes | No |
| Free SSL 🔐 | Yes | Yes |
| Email marketing 📧 | 5,000 free monthly emails | No |
| Number of templates ⚓ | 900+ | 17 |
| E-commerce price 📉 | Starts at $20/mo (Core) | No e-commerce |
| Items sold 🏪 | 50,000 | / |
| Security 🛡️ | DDoS protection, domain privacy, 2FA, | DDoS protection, always-on site monitoring, disruption prevention |
Website Setup: Wix vs Google Sites
The initial impression of both providers leaves nothing else to be desired.
Both Wix and Google Sites are free of unnecessary complexity, allowing you to register and build a website quickly. But which website builder is easier to start with and, therefore, more beginner-friendly?
How to Get Started With Wix?
If you register a Wix account, you’ll find just how smooth the start is. I mean, once you’re on the site, provide your email address, create a password, and you’re ready to soar. Like Google Sites, Wix lets you build a website for free and you can start once you’re up for it.
This is where things get interesting.
Wix includes an AI, which can build a website for you. You simply answer some questions to ease the process for Wix and boom; the website is made based on your answers. Alternatively, the website builder lets you pick a template and work your way up.
This is one of the first prompts when starting with Wix, simplifying the process further.
We must mention that even if the AI builds the website for you, you can still edit the final product by switching over to Wix Editor. This means the creation isn’t final but rather preliminary, as advanced personalization can be applied.
How to Get Started With Google Sites?
Do you have a Gmail address? If so, we congratulate you for registering a Google Sites account. As you know, Google Sites is part of Google Workspace, which everyone with a Google account has access to. Sorry for spamming “Google” but that’s how it is.
So, to get started with this website builder, you have to go to your Workspace.
From here, navigate to Google Sites and click on it once. The interface you’ll see will be shockingly simple. Above are the templates and underneath are your recent sites. Now, click Template Gallery to expand it and access all website templates. There aren’t many.
Finally, click on the template you find appealing, wait for Google Sites to prepare it, and you can start modifying it. Unfortunately, there’s no AI to “drive” you around and work its magic. It’s all “stick and stones” here but that’s by no means bad, as you’ll soon see.
Given both providers’ hassle-free setups, we can only assign a point to both.
Which One Has Better Templates: Wix or Google Sites?
So we’re now comparing Wix vs Google Sites templates and things are starting to heat up a bit. It’s like a slow-cooking dish that gets hotter and spicier as you go. Luckily for Wix, it’s out of the frying pan bug Google Sites is cooked well given its severe lack of templates.
- Wix offers a whopping 900+ site templates; all are free.
- Google Sites has 17 site templates (we counted them manually!); all are free.
When you think about a website builder, you kind of expect more than 30 or even 50 templates. Squarespace offers 110+, Hostinger Website Builder has 150+, and Shopify has more than 200. Google Sites 17 templates sound like an afterthought. They probably are.
Moreover, Google Sites hasn’t reinvented the wheel with the design, which isn’t only dated but somehow uninspiring. Categorization is poor as well but there’s no point in implementing it when you have a handful of templates. Okay, so what about Wix?
As praised in our recent Wix review, its 900+ templates are a huge bite to take.
You have MANY options to explore but there’s advanced categorization and a search bar to narrow your search. This allows you to find templates that match your business, such as wedding photography, pet walking, construction work, and virtually hundreds more.
Not to mention Wix’s templates are some of the best-looking. Given their outstanding quantities and unparalleled aesthetics, Wix takes this round hands down.
Select a Stunning Wix Template for Your Site
Editing & Site-Building: Google Sites vs Wix
Choosing the template is a starting point but from there, it’s all about the capabilities of the selected website builder. Our best-ranked website builders, among which is Wix, offer plenty of things to play around with. Can Google Sites outperform Wix? Let’s see.
Website Building With Wix
To be able to gauge Google Sites against Wix, we must describe the latter.
We’d say Wix is a perfect blend of ease of use and freedom. Yes, it’s a bit more “convoluted” than Google Sites but that’s ideal. You have a drag-and-drop editor, which allows for a high degree of customization and fully redesigning the selected template.
Your imagination can flourish, as you juggle around different site elements and lock them into place. Wix Editor also doesn’t limit you to so-called sections. You have full freedom to rearrange elements and even edit buttons and their fonts and font sizes.
What struck us was Wix’s inability to swap the template once the website was live. You can replace the current template but you’ll lose all progress. This is offset by the ample freedom the editor comes with, so you can customize every nook and cranny before you click Publish.
It’s also worth noting that you can’t edit the mobile version of your site because Wix uses responsive themes (templates). However, in our Wix vs Google Sites test, we had no issues with mobile optimization, which was always on point design and functionality-wise.
Website Building With Google Sites
Google Sites doesn’t have a drag-and-drop editor. In fact, compared to Wix, it feels noticeably dated.
As you can see, Google Sites houses a menu on the right, which you’ll use to add elements and new sections. Sections are placed from top to bottom on the website page. By clicking on one, you can alter its color and content or remove the section if it’s excess.
The right-hand side menu allows you to quickly add new sections by sifting through multiple templates, also called Content Blocks. Adding buttons and dividers is also possible and there’s the option to insert a Youtube video or fractions of your Docs and Slides documents.
One thing we like is the ability to create a theme or import a new one. Moreover, you can find your page list and edit each of them individually by clicking on them. Google Sites lets you quickly preview the site and see how it looks on a PC or any other mobile device.
I mean, Google Sites works well and there’s nothing “bothering” about it.
However, it’s overly simple and painfully outdated, lacking that “punch” and ferocity of Wix. If you value simplicity and need more of a personal website, Google Sites will suffice. For most people, including us, Wix is a far better and more advanced website builder.
Which Website Builder Is Better for E-commerce?
Google Sites is a free website builder, so you can kiss e-commerce goodbye.
Perhaps these e-commerce website builders will suit you better. Or Wix? Why not?!
Wix is a tremendous pick that can even rival Shopify in most cases. While not better than Shopify for selling online, Wix shares many features with its fierce rival. None with Google Sites. The e-commerce fun begins with the Core plan, which costs a meager $20/mo.
We always recommend the Business plan, which ramps up everything at $29/mo.
This plan includes:
- Multi-channel selling
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Global shipping options
- 80+ payment vendors
- 0% fees (2.3% + $0.30 fees for third-party vendors)
- Gift cards
- Discount codes
- Customer accounts
- Customer reviews, and much more.
In this Google Sites vs Wix duel, we were impressed with the latter’s efficiency for smaller businesses. However, most people rely on Wix to sell online even on a mid-sized online store. Wix is pretty easy to set up as well, so starting an online shop shouldn’t be an issue.
You can add products, product descriptions, and, for example, shipping choices while making sure you plug in quality product photos and everything else. Wix also offers ready-made e-commerce templates, allowing you to forge your shop quicker than usual.
Since Google Sites lacks the horse for this race, Wix wins this round with a casual stroll.
Sell Products Online Using Wix
SEO & Marketing Features
When the website goes live, your journey has just begun and it’s going to be a rocky one if SEO and marketing aren’t your priorities. So, which website builder is superior in these categories, Wix or Google Sites? You’ll find your answers below.
SEO: Wix vs Google Sites
You’d expect Google to include a variety of SEO tools given its ownership of the largest search engine.
But no. It doesn’t.
The basics are covered, though, so you can still customize image alt tags, page titles, URLs, etc. Good news; Google Sites works with Google Analytics, which is fantastic for tracking website performance or even rank-tracking, which is essential to be on top of your game.
Can you generate XML sitemaps or access your robots.txt file? No.
But you can do that in Wix! For a website builder, Wix gives its competition a run for its money, with a crafty SEO Checklist, which recommends steps to improve your SEO. Not only that! You can perform advanced SEO operations like XML sitemap generation.
Apart from simple editing of alt tags, H1 titles, and other fluff, Wix supports Semrush and Google Search Console integrations for even greater leverage over its rival. Semrush, as detailed in our review, is one of the top SEO tools, so it’s nice to feel its presence in Wix.
Not to mention Wix’s marketplace, which houses dozens of other SEO tools and add-ons you can implement and improve your odds on the market drastically.
Marketing
Again, Google Sites won’t impress you with its marketing features. There are none.
Wix, however, plays a different tune. One far from somber, cry-inducing chords of Google Sites. To prove this, we’ll mention Wix’s free email marketing, which allows you to send 5,000 monthly promotions without cost. Pay a few bucks more and send unlimited—voila!
As mentioned in this Google Sites vs Wix test, the latter offers an app marketplace. You’ll find plenty of marketing-friendly tools not just related to email but also social media. Building a valid audience on social media is key, as it helps drive more organic traffic to your site.
So, Wix covers you on both fronts—email and marketing. Google Sites covers you on none of these, making Wix the winner of yet another vital round.
Wix vs Google Sites Price Comparison
Google Sites belongs to Google Workspace, which offers a premium version. Wix is a premium website builder. Both offer a free plan; just to remind you.
This Google Sites vs Wix review will compare their prices and see how much you’ll pay and/or save on both.
Here are the costs for all Wix’s premium plans:
Wix’s Light plan kicks off the game at $10/mo. The entire roster goes up to $149/mo for the Business Elite plan if you want more. As said earlier, Wix Business at $29/mo is the most popular deal, plus, it offers almost everything you can fathom from this provider.
A free domain spans all plans and the Business plan sports a plethora of e-commerce tools and website analytics. On top of that, you can enjoy a whopping 100 GB of storage space and add 10 collaborators, making the plan suitable for a smaller company.
As for Google Sites, it’s free and there’s no option to upgrade to a premium plan. Actually, there is but only as part of Google Workspace, whose paid plans are displayed above. The issue is that you get no features related to the website builder; check the screenshot.
Most of Google Workspace features have to do with advanced AI tools, security tools, video meetings, etc. The only upgrade is storage space, which ranges from 30 GB in Business Starter to 5 TB in Business Plus and Enterprise.
Google offers a great cloud storage service but is not a great website builder. It has every right to be free, especially compared to Wix, which is brimming with features.
Which Website Builder Is Cheaper in 2026?
It’s easy to conclude the round by saying Google Sites is cheaper simply because it’s free. However, if we look at its Google Workspace Premium, we’ll see not-so-affordable prices. Wix’s prices are far from the most affordable but they’re not expensive either.
Yet, for the price, Wix seems to offer more for website building. While Google Sites capitalizes on more storage, this doesn’t mean much when you can’t create robust and business-oriented sites in the first place, making storage useful for other things instead.
So yeah, if you’re looking NOT to pay, Google Sites is a good option. If you’re ready to pay to get the most out of the website builder, Wix is a far greater choice.
Which Website Builder Performs Better? (Speed Tests)
Can a free website builder beat a paid one performance-wise? We’ll very soon answer that in this Wix vs Google Sites speed test. As website builders don’t prioritize speed, we limited ourselves to GTmetrix and testing on this website’s Canadian server in Vancouver.
After performing extensive testing, we found that Wix and Google Sites are quite similar, with minor differences that don’t provide any conclusive evidence.
Here’s how Wix performed in our tests:
Here’s how our Google Sites website performed:
We can notice that Google Sites seems faster in some aspects; in some, it’s slower.
- FCP is 243 ms in Wix and 377 ms in Google Sites.
- TTI is 2.3 s in Wix and 2.4 s in Google Sites
- LCP was 851 ms in Wix and 673 ms in Google Sites
- FLT was 5.2 s in Wix and 4.9 s in Google Sites
With so mixed results, it’s hard to tell which provider performs better. We noticed that our Google Sites website loads up slightly faster but that can be attributed to the simpler website design. Also, LCP, or Largest Contentful Paint seems to be lower in Google Sites.
On the flip side, Wix outperforms Google Sites in FCP or First Contentful Paint but with a marginal difference. So, as said, these results don’t lead us to a specific conclusion. The fastest web hosts are speedier than these two, which consequently show similar results.
If you need translation, this round is a tie.
Customer Support
The Wix vs Google Sites duel approaches its end and the victory smiles for the former.
We’d be crazy to think Google Sites can turn the tide, especially in customer support, for which Google is often criticized. As a large company with tons of products and millions of users, Google isn’t particularly fast to respond. The free version’s support is subpar.
You can opt for the community forum or sift through countless help guides on the site. If you pay, Google Sites unlocks 24/7 live chat support, email support, and even a phone line, which should be used for more complex issues. Wix has more support channels.
For example, its knowledge base is boiling with helpful articles, FAQs, and guides, all aimed at tackling your burning issues. The chatbot is a gateway to its 24/7 live chat support, which can be used to contact Wix’s representatives if the said chatbot can’t help.
Other than that, you can rely on email support, a callback service, and other on-site resources. Beware that all of these are available even in the free version, so Wix keeps things more generous than you’d expect. Unlike Google whose generosity never truly shines.
Perhaps because it’s absent. Nevermind. Wix takes even this round.
Summary: Pick Wix Over Google Sites
The Google Sites vs Wix duel for 2026 is a simple one. You saw the result from a mile away but we’re sure you wanted to know just HOW much Wix is better. In our tests, we found it to be way better in all aspects, from interface and templates to marketing, SEO, and more.
Wix is a compelling option whose rather inexpensive plans cover all your needs. Do you want to build a blog? You can do it. Do you want an online store? You can do it as well and not break the bank. Google Sites is extremely confined with no leeway for scalability.
Yes, it works well and offers a nice website editor. Nothing will irritate you specifically. But it lacks e-commerce tools, doesn’t offer a premium version, and won’t let you use a custom domain, making it impossible to forge a professional-looking website. Okay, let’s stop here.
We can bash Google Sites all day long but we’ll simply choose to say that you should pick Wix over Google Sites. If you’re willing to save (and why wouldn’t you be?!), you can drop its price by 10% through our Wix coupon code. Pick it up now and don’t look back!