Wix vs Google Sites: free and simple, or paid and powerful?

Google Sites is a free page maker inside Google's productivity apps, built for teams, classes and simple information sites. Wix is a commercial website platform. They overlap only at the simplest end.

Sign up free: 3 template sites on a we.inc address. AI building from $20/mo.

Is Google Sites enough, or do you need Wix?

Google Sites costs nothing beyond a Google account and can use your own domain: its help center says a site owner can connect up to five custom domains after verifying ownership in Google Search Console. For an internal wiki, a class page, an event page or a one-page business card, that is often all you need.

Wix becomes worth paying for when the site has to sell, take bookings or look distinctly yours. Its paid plans are $17 Light, $29 Core, $39 Business and $159 Business Elite a month billed yearly, and Core is where payments and scheduling begin.

Somewhere between the two sits We.Inc: describe the business and it builds a full site you can keep editing. You can try its templates on up to three sites for free, and having the AI build for you costs from $20 a month.

Cost, domains and capabilities compared

WixGoogle SitesWe.Inc
Price$0 plan; paid tiers $17 to $159 a month yearlyFree with a Google accountFree templates; AI from $20/mo
Custom domainPaid plans, with a 1-year voucher for a new Wix domainUp to five per site, verified in Search Console, must include a subdomain such as wwwStarter and up, one CNAME record
Selling and bookingsPayments, eCommerce and scheduling from CoreNot built for sellingStore panel using your own Stripe
Design rangeFree-form canvas plus AI generationA small set of themes and layoutsAI-built pages, editable by click, chat or code
Who can edit2 to 100 collaborators by planShared like a Google DocCollaborators on projects
Getting data outCSV for products, contacts, CMS itemsGoogle Takeout via Drive, including drafts and published sitesFull project ZIP on any plan

Wix and We.Inc prices as of October 2026 from their pricing pages, in US dollars per month (Wix on yearly billing, varying by country); Google Sites details from Google's help center, all linked in sources.

Pros and cons

Wix

Best for: A business that has outgrown a free page and needs to sell, book or brand properly

Price: Free plan; when billed for a year, $17 Light, $29 Core, $39 Business, $159 Business Elite each month (October 2026, local currency and tax may differ)

Pros: Payments, eCommerce and scheduling built into Core and above; Far more design freedom than Google Sites' themes; Marketing and SEO tools on every paid tier

Cons: You pay every year, while Google Sites is free; More to learn than a page maker that feels like Google Docs

Google Sites

Best for: Teams, schools, clubs and simple information pages that need to be free and quick to share

Price: Free with a Google account (October 2026)

Pros: No cost, including your own domain on up to five addresses; Lives in the same Google account as your Docs and Drive files; Editing and sharing work like other Google files

Cons: Not designed for an online store or appointment booking; Limited themes make sites look alike

We.Inc

Best for: Someone leaving Google Sites who wants a proper business site without learning Wix

Price: Free plan: up to 3 template sites on a we.inc address, no AI. AI building from $20/mo (Starter, 250 credits). Pro $49/mo, Max $99/mo.

Pros: Writes the pages from a plain description of your business; Built-in SEO panel with titles, descriptions, sitemap and structured data; Contact forms that email you and store entries in a Contacts list

Cons: Free plan is templates only, unlike Google Sites' unlimited free use; No link with Google Docs or Sheets files

Connecting your own domain to each

Google's help center sets out the Google Sites steps: open Settings, choose Custom domains, start setup and enter the domain, then follow the on-screen instructions for your registrar. If asked to prove ownership, you add a TXT record from Google Search Console to your DNS. Only the site owner can connect a domain, the address must include a subdomain such as www, and changes can take up to 48 hours. Work or school accounts go through their administrator.

Wix connects a domain you already own on paid plans, or gives a one-year voucher for a new domain bought through Wix. We.Inc connects a domain from Starter with one CNAME record and issues the HTTPS certificate automatically.

When Google Sites is all you need

Your audience is colleagues, students, members or volunteers, and the job is to share information, documents and dates. You want everyone in your Google account to edit easily. You have no budget, or the site is temporary, such as an event or project page. Here Google Sites is the better choice and Wix would be money spent on features you will not use.

When Wix earns its price

Customers need to pay, book or buy from you online. The site represents a brand and needs to look different from the next one. You want marketing tools such as email campaigns and an SEO suite managed in one place. These are the points where a free page maker stops fitting and Core at $29 a month on a yearly plan starts to make sense.

Moving from Google Sites to Wix or another builder

Google's Sites help center explains that you export site data through Google Takeout, the same tool that exports Docs and Drive files. The archive includes draft and published sites, themes, navigation and attachments, but no other builder imports it, so treat it as a backup and a source for copying text and images. Wix, in turn, offers CSV exports for CMS items, store products and contacts, and none for blog posts.

Rebuild the pages on the new platform using the same page addresses where you can, so links people saved still open the right page. When the new site is ready, remove the custom domain in Google Sites settings and point the DNS at the new host.

We.Inc can rebuild from the published address of a site you own, giving you an editable version with the same structure and content to refine. Ask it to keep the paths your Google Site used.

Start from a template

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Sites really free?

Yes. Google Sites is included with a Google account at no charge, and you can connect your own domain without paying Google for the site. You still pay your domain registrar for the domain itself. Workspace accounts may have admin rules about who can publish and which domains can be used.

Can Google Sites use a custom domain?

Yes. In the site's Settings, open Custom domains, start setup and follow the registrar instructions. You may need to verify ownership with a TXT record from Google Search Console. Google allows up to five custom domains per site, they must include a subdomain like www, and changes can take up to 48 hours.

Can I sell products on Google Sites?

Google Sites has no store or checkout of its own. People usually link out to a payment page or embed a form from another service. If selling is central, Wix's Core plan at $29 a month on yearly billing adds payments and basic eCommerce, and We.Inc's Store panel takes payments through your own Stripe account.

Can I move a Google Sites site to Wix automatically?

No. Google Takeout gives you an archive of the site, but Wix cannot import it. You copy the text and images into new Wix pages, then switch the domain. Alternatively, We.Inc can rebuild an editable copy from the address of a site you own and keep the same page paths.

Is Google Sites good for SEO?

It can be indexed and found, and connecting a domain through Search Console helps. It offers fewer controls than Wix over page titles, descriptions and structured data. For a business that wants to rank for local or service searches, a builder with a full SEO toolset gives you more to work with.

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