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Hard to believe that it would take weeks or months to create a website manually a few years ago. Web builders have drastically accelerated the process, and they’re now raising the bar once more thanks to the technology of AI (Artificial Intelligence).
That’s right, after deciding which Netflix show you should watch or what Amazon product to buy, AI is now building websites. Wix were the first web builder to make a push for the technology, but it looks like the whole industry will soon follow suit. In fact, Jimdo launched a similar product called Dolphin, (which, if you must know, we found less impressive than Wix AI). Anyway, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s go over the basics:
Wix AI Vs Wix Editor – An Overview
The main difference between Wix AI and Wix Editor is that ADI uses artificial intelligence to create websites automatically. Enter basic information about your business and online presence, and it presents a website design. It is faster, but less flexible than Wix Editor, which lets you build the website manually and place all your site elements where you want. Wix AI also limits the SEO options and the apps you can use.
What is the regular Wix Editor?
It’s the traditional approach, and the one you’re probably familiar with. You first browse their templates gallery and pick one you like. Then you need to fill in the content, create sections, replace pictures, add your social media URLs, etc…
While most people start with a template, the Wix Editor also lets you start from scratch. In any case, both methods use their “pixel perfect” solution, which means you can position your elements anywhere you like on the page.
What about Wix AI?
This is the new smart option for those who want a quick start. It’s supposed to give decent results in six simple steps. Please note that it’s only available in English at the moment.
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- Select the kind of website you want (blog, ecommerce or other). As you will see in our detailed breakdown below, not all project types are currently supported.
- Add your business name and location.
- The ADI will scan public internet places and pull information automatically (from social media for instance). It then suggests a website design, and you check that you like it.
- After that, you can work on the style selections. ADI smartly bases it on the color of your logo.
- Now is time for ADI’s proposal. This means going over the steps once more or making minor adjustments.
- Finally, the smart assistant roadmap will help you wrap up your site before pushing it live.
And that’s it. Sounds pretty good right? Well let’s break it down even more to see if it makes sense for you to choose Wix AI.
Ease Of Use: Which one is the easiest?
The classic Wix Editor is fairly easy to use, and benefits from tons of help articles. It might take a little bit longer to master, but the learning curve isn’t that steep. (Learn more about how Wix’s editor works here.)
However the Wix AI is almost unbeatable in terms of ease of use. It’s faster and more intuitive thanks to the assistant guide. It also gives you the ability to switch back to the Wix Editor mode whenever you want, but the reverse is a bit harder because you need to save your last ADI version and restore it.
Wix AI smart assistant
Winner: Wix AI. Hard to believe it, but Wix managed to create a tool that makes it even easier to build your first website.
Design And Flexibility
The biggest advantage of Wix Editor is the huge variety of templates available. They look modern and sleek, and they are completely flexible, letting you reposition elements wherever you want. The only two shortcomings are the fact that you need extra work to adapt your design to mobile devices, and you can’t switch the template easily after your initial choice.
The Wix Editor Templates
With Wix AI, some design choices are based on the color of your logo. As you can imagine, it’s hit and miss, but you can always tweak the results manually. The sections also lack flexibility: you can move them up and down but can’t merge them horizontally for instance. The main advantages are that the designs are mobile-friendly out of the box, and you can change the design template after your initial selection.
Winner: We would rather have a bit more control with the Wix Editor. But if you don’t trust your eye for design and are pushed for time, the ADI can be a great help.
Ecommerce and Blog
We just wanted to mention that there’s no difference between the Wix Editor and Wix AI here. In both cases you can add an ecommerce section and a blog to your website once it’s launched, but the system is exactly the same. Only slight difference is that Wix Editor lets you display your ecommerce page(s) with a bit more flexibility.
Winner: none, or both, however you want to see it.
Check our Wix ecommerce review for more information
SEO: Improve your rankings
We’ve written before about how Wix has a bad reputation for SEO. But our thorough tests show that it’s actually one of the better website builders for ranking high in search engines, especially since the Wix Editor fixed its bad way of handling URLs.
Wix AI SEO Options
Unfortunately, Wix ADI doesn’t let you do manage these URLs with as much flexibility, which makes it lose a point. Aside from that, both options are pretty equal, as far as we could tell.
Winner: definitely Wix Editor, for the ability to change the URLs. It’s worth noting that both options integrate the SEO Wiz, which is a handy guide for learning the basics and optimize your site. (And don’t forget our own guide if you need a bit more in-depth knowledge).
Support: Is there any difference?
Winner: quite simply, there is more online material covering the classic Wix Editor. Maybe in a few years this will be more balanced, but right now, Wix AI loses another point here.
App Market: Which one has more apps?
We often comment on how great the Wix App Market is for extending your website’s functionalities. Which is why it’s a real shame to see that Wix AI doesn’t have nearly as many apps available as the standard Wix Editor. You get a few popular ones like Bookings, Hotels, Restaurants, Pro Gallery and Music, but it’s nearly not enough in our opinion.
Winner: another win for Wix Editor, solely based on the number of integrations available.
Wix Prices: How much are they?
Let’s be clear here about the fact that there is no difference in prices between Wix Editor and Wix AI. However, Wix, as a company, offers no less than five different plans, with so many different features that we created a full guide for it here.
Winner: once again, the prices are exactly the same. They only depend on which Wix plan you choose.
Wix Editor or Wix AI: Which One Is Right For You?
We have to admit to Wix AI sounded a bit like a gimmick to us at first. We imagined it would give mixed results, and that the amount of time it’s supposed to save would be offset by the amount of time it takes to tweak the results.
But after playing with Wix AI for a while, we’re pleasantly surprised. The results are not half bad, and if you are a complete beginner who just wants to get on with your website as quickly as possible with decent results, it does a fine job. Just remember that, like driving a Tesla in self-driving mode, it’s a great start, but you still need to be behind the wheel.
With the classic Wix Editor, the results depend on the time you invest and how confident you are with design. If you know exactly how your website should look, or you just want it to be exactly like one of their great templates, no need to bother with the smart assistant. You’ll also get more flexibility, better control, and more ways to expand your website thanks to Wix’s excellent App Market.
> You can try both the Wix AI and Wix editor for free
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