We’ve had many people ask so what’s the difference between you and Wix? Or, are you better than Squarespace? How platforms compare is a common question when it comes to choosing how to build a website for your business.
The best way to describe Zibster is quality. We’re a smaller company, but we have the spirit of the larger guys. Each and every customer means something to us, sure you have an account number, but you are never just a number to us. Our platform is sharp, our tools are easy to use, and it comes packed with award-winning customer care. Now let’s dive in to see how we compare.
Pricing
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Squarespace |
Wix |
Zibster |
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All three platforms have similar pricing; the differences lie in the features that are included, such as ecommerce. To unlock all of the features in Squarespace and Wix you have to pay at least $40/month, however, with Zibster you access to all of our tools for $19/month, including our ecommerce tools which are commission-free.
Our affordable DIY plan is $19/month when paid monthly. While it does not include phone support, you do get unlimited email support and support articles are available.
Our We Do It For You plan is $29/month. It includes access to our phone support, plus when you first sign up we will load your content into your site for you and optimize it for search.
The level of support you can get from other website platforms varies significantly. Squarespace only has online support through how-to articles and live chat -- sometimes. No phone support at all. Wix on the other hand has phone support but it is based on how much you are willing to spend on it. The more you pay the more priority you are given. People even end up calling us thinking we’re Wix--we’re not!
We give people a choice, if you need more help select our $29/month plan, but if you are able to design your site on your own with some helpful pointers along the way, select the $19 DIY plan, you’ll still have access to email support.
Extra tools – Not needed with Zibster
Another thing Wix has to offer is its own Marketplace via the WixAppMarket. This is essentially a marketplace to third-party tools that work with Wix, but are developed and powered by other companies. Some “apps” are free while others you have to pay to use, which in turn makes your website cost increase. Need a booking tool? It’ll cost you. Need to send emails? you’ll need a separate tool for that such as Mailchimp. Need to get people to fill out a form? That’s Jotforms. Wix is not an all-in-one solution and the extras can really add up.
Zibster is designed to be a simple, easy to navigate, and comprehensive platform. No third-party tools are required but if you so desire, you can easily add embeddable codes. We try to make it easy for you to not only design your site but also have all the resources included so that you don’t have to rely on plug-ins.
Change Template with One Click
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Squarespace |
Wix |
Zibster |
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One of the wonderful features of the Zibster platform is that you can change your website template with just a few clicks and all of your content will move with you. We make it easy for your website to grow and change with your business by using a ‘closed sandbox design’. You can even save multiple templates and switch back and forth between them as needed, such as to refresh your site for different seasons. This also helps our sites be mobile responsive so that they adapt to the device they are viewed on, without any work on your part.
If you want to change your template to refresh your site with Squarespace or Wix, you are required to start rebuilding your website from scratch. Yes even to the point of canceling your account and starting over. They say this is to eliminate the need for templates, to make it more versatile, and 'open sandbox design’. What this really means to consumers is that you are forced to spend more to re-design your site, particularly if you choose to work with a designer.
Building a site with Wix feels a lot like designing in Photoshop, which can be great, but if not done right, your site can look cheap and broken on different devices. Wix is not fully responsive, so you have to tweak and modify the design at desktop and mobile levels which, means twice the work.
Zibster’s website templates are designed by our in-house designers to help take the worry out of looking professional online. They are ready for you to customize the content blocks and make it your own.
SEO
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Squarespace |
Wix |
Zibster |
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All platforms come with tools to help you with search engines. Zibster’s lightning-fast platform gives you an edge over other platforms. In fact, Zibster is 2-5 times faster than Wix and Squarespace sites, which Google and your customers will value. We did this by stripping out unnecessary code in the back end of the platform that slows down site speed. Google ranks faster sites higher due to speed. We take pride in maximizing your speed to allow your customers a better user experience.
Beyond that our team is here to help you understand how Google and SEO work. We have how-to articles in our Knowledge Base, host free Facebook Live sessions to give tips and answer questions, plus we even have extra services like our SEO GO program where you can have a Google certified expert help manage your SEO plan to help you get discovered online.
Unfortunately, other platforms often keep that information more elusive like it's dark art. It’s not. Managing your SEO takes time and strategy -- not magic.
Ecommerce
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Squarespace |
Wix |
Zibster |
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Each website platform has ecommerce capabilities. To unlock ecommerce functionalities with Squarespace and Wix you have upgraded to a higher-priced plan.
That’s not the case with Zibster. Both of our plans give you ecommerce tools right away. Many features of each platform are similar – you can sell digital and physical products on all platforms, import and export data, track conversions, choose from multiple merchants such as Stripe, Paypal, and Square.
So what’s different? Zibster also includes a scheduling tool and forms that can take payments. Zibster’s ecommerce is more than just a storefront.
If you want clients to book online or complete forms with Wix, you’d have to connect their Bookings tool through their app store or integrate Jotforms. With Squarespace you can create custom checkout forms but it is only for ecommerce tools, there is no standalone option for forms, you’d have to use a third-party tool for that.
The other difference between Zibster and other platforms is shipping options. We allow you to ship on your own to fulfill customer purchases, while the other platforms have options for dropshipping.
Blog
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Squarespace |
Wix |
Zibster |
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All platforms have blog capabilities, and they are all similar in design, how it connects to RSS feeds, and social media. You can share video, images, text, or even custom code. The one difference we have noticed is Squarespace has an option to add audio.
If you have a podcast or record music and want to share that through your blog you can easily add it to a blog via an embed code with Zibster.
Marketing
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Squarespace |
Wix |
Zibster |
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Zibster and Squarespace both have Email Marketing built into their platforms. Wix on the other hand requires you to use a third-party like Mailchimp to send emails.
Zibster’s drag and drop email marketing tool allows you to send up to 2,000 emails per month. You can use tags to create email lists, with unlimited subscribers. If you need to send more emails in a given month, you can easily add emails as you go. For example, you can increase your monthly email capacity by 3,000 for $5/month or for larger lists $70/month for 40,000 emails. There are multiple options between those levels as well.
While Squarespace has an Email Marketing tool, it costs extra to use it. It starts at $7/month and only lets you send 3 campaigns per month to a total of 500 emails per month. If you need to send more emails or don’t want to be hindered by how many campaigns you can send, you could be paying more than $68/mo.
OVERALL
With Zibster you get a lot of features and tools for a great price, and much lower than the other platforms without the need to upgrade your account or use third-party plug-ins. Zibster provides an all-in-one solution to keep it as simple as possible at an affordable price.
Want all the same features Zibster has with Squarespace or Wix, here’s how it adds up …
Zibster all-in-one platform with support = $19 or $29/month
Squarespace website + ecommerce + scheduler + forms + email + support = $50/month
Wix website + ecommerce + scheduler + forms + email + support = $38/month* (third-party tools may cost more)
Does Zibster have everything to run your business? That’s our goal. Zibster’s speed outpaces our competitors making us a better choice for SEO and for your users. You can update your site in no time without the need to start over, saving you time and money. Plus, our Ecommerce, Scheduler, Forms, and Marketing tools all come with a website. We do have Premium Features if you need to send more emails or want our Pro Services team to take something off your to-do list and do it for you, but our core platform is ready to go right from the moment you sign up.
Give Zibster a try, we are ready to support your business needs.
What about WordPress?
We could be here all day talking about WordPress. Its platform has been around since 2003 and was developed as a blogging tool that became more open as a sandbox as time went on, allowing people to customize it to be websites.
But its structure hasn’t changed much over the years. It still looks and feels the same, like someone building a house within a house. It may have access to many tools for developers, but its openness also leaves it vulnerable to security attacks, slow hosting servers, and requires plug-ins, third-party tools, and constant updates to maintain it.
Its' intent keeps evolving and can be hard to manage for less tech-savvy web users.
If you have any questions about how Zibster compares to Squarespace and/or Wix, give our team a call at 844.353.3412. We’d love to talk to you more about how Zibster can help your business run smoothly online.
Ready to get started? Pick a plan and sign up today.
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