A Wix alternative for Canadian businesses that want to own their website
Wix is a reasonable way to get a first website up, and we build on it for clients who ask us to. This page is for the business owner who has outgrown that stage and wants a site they own outright: the files, the domain and the freedom to move it. Every row about Wix below links to the Wix help article it came from, so you can check it yourself.
Canadian Web Designs vs Wix
Rows marked source quote Wix's own help pages. Rows without one make no claim about Wix at all.
| Feature | Canadian Web Designs | Wix |
|---|---|---|
| Where your site lives | Our pick The site, the content and the domain are yours, and you can move the site to another host at any time. | Wix's help page on exporting says that, because Wix is a SaaS solution, your site must run on Wix's servers. source: Wix Help Center: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere ↗ |
| Someone else's branding on your site | Our pick None. No banner, no badge, no third-party favicon, on any plan, ever. | Wix's help page says a free site includes a Wix banner ad at the top and a Wix favicon in the browser tab, and that removing them requires upgrading to a Premium plan that includes those features. source: Wix Help Center: Removing the Wix Banner Ad and Favicon ↗ |
| Handing the site over when you sell the business | The site is an asset like any other: the code, the content and the domain are yours, and you can move the site to another host at any time. | Wix's help page says you can transfer ownership of a premium site to another Wix account, and lists things that cannot be transferred with it, such as Wix Payments accounts. source: Wix Help Center: Transferring a Premium Site to Another Wix Account ↗ |
| Who does the work | We do. Design, build, copy, images, on-page SEO and launch, with you reviewing at each step. | Do-it-yourself in the Wix editor, or hire a designer. We build on Wix too, if that is the right fit for you. |
| Design and functionality | Custom design and custom code. If your business needs something a template does not do, we build it. | What you can change depends on the plan and editor you pick. Check Wix's own feature pages for what your plan includes. |
| Search engine set-up | On-page SEO is built into every site. Google Business Profile set-up, structured data and citations come with a local SEO plan. | Any platform can rank when the SEO work is actually done. The question is who does that work and whether it is included. |
| Price | Custom websites from $299, quoted in full before we start, with no percentage mark-ups. Maintenance plans from $99 a month. | Not listed here. Wix's pricing is shown by region on wix.com; check there for current pricing in Canadian dollars. |
Canadian Web Designs · our pick
The site, the content and the domain are yours, and you can move the site to another host at any time.
Wix
Wix's help page on exporting says that, because Wix is a SaaS solution, your site must run on Wix's servers.
source: Wix Help Center: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere ↗Canadian Web Designs · our pick
None. No banner, no badge, no third-party favicon, on any plan, ever.
Wix
Wix's help page says a free site includes a Wix banner ad at the top and a Wix favicon in the browser tab, and that removing them requires upgrading to a Premium plan that includes those features.
source: Wix Help Center: Removing the Wix Banner Ad and Favicon ↗Canadian Web Designs
The site is an asset like any other: the code, the content and the domain are yours, and you can move the site to another host at any time.
Wix
Wix's help page says you can transfer ownership of a premium site to another Wix account, and lists things that cannot be transferred with it, such as Wix Payments accounts.
source: Wix Help Center: Transferring a Premium Site to Another Wix Account ↗Canadian Web Designs
We do. Design, build, copy, images, on-page SEO and launch, with you reviewing at each step.
Wix
Do-it-yourself in the Wix editor, or hire a designer. We build on Wix too, if that is the right fit for you.
Canadian Web Designs
Custom design and custom code. If your business needs something a template does not do, we build it.
Wix
What you can change depends on the plan and editor you pick. Check Wix's own feature pages for what your plan includes.
Canadian Web Designs
On-page SEO is built into every site. Google Business Profile set-up, structured data and citations come with a local SEO plan.
Wix
Any platform can rank when the SEO work is actually done. The question is who does that work and whether it is included.
Canadian Web Designs
Custom websites from $299, quoted in full before we start, with no percentage mark-ups. Maintenance plans from $99 a month.
Wix
Not listed here. Wix's pricing is shown by region on wix.com; check there for current pricing in Canadian dollars.
Prefer to stay on Wix? We build on it too: Wix website design.
Three reasons businesses choose Canadian Web Designs
You own it outright
When the project is done, the site is yours in every sense: the code, the content and the domain. You can hire any developer, change hosts or take it in-house, and nothing stops working because a subscription lapsed.
One team does the whole job
You are not choosing a template and hoping. Our in-house team designs, writes, builds and launches the site, then sets up the search and analytics tools around it. You review, we revise, and you get a site built for how your customers actually search.
Built for Canadian search
We serve businesses across Canada and build for the searches they win: city and neighbourhood pages, Google Business Profile set-up with a local SEO plan, and content written in Canadian English for Canadian customers.
Wix alternative — common questions
Is Wix a bad choice?
No. Wix is a sound way to get a first website live without hiring anyone, and we build on Wix for clients who prefer it. This page is for a business that has reached the point where owning the site, moving it freely and having custom work done matters more than the do-it-yourself editor.
Can you move my existing Wix site to a site I own?
We rebuild it rather than move it. Wix's own help page says a Wix site must run on Wix's servers, so there is no export of the site itself. What we do is copy your content and images across, rebuild the design (or improve it), and redirect every old URL to its new home so the search rankings you have earned are kept.
Do you build on Wix as well?
Yes. If Wix is the right fit for your budget or the way you want to work, we design and build on it. See our Wix website design service. We would rather you pick the platform that suits you than pick us for the wrong reasons.
Can I keep my domain name?
Yes. A domain registered anywhere can be pointed at the new site. If it is registered through Wix, Wix's help centre covers transferring it out; we handle the DNS side and the redirects.
What does a custom website cost compared with Wix?
Our custom websites start at $299, quoted in full before work begins, and maintenance plans start at $99 a month. We do not quote Wix's prices here because their pricing pages are shown by region and change over time; check wix.com for current Canadian pricing and compare it against a written quote from us.
Let’s Build Something Great Together
Tell us about your project and get a free, no-obligation quote — most clients hear back within 24 hours.
Sources
- Wix Help Center: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere — checked 2026-10-15
- Wix Help Center: Removing the Wix Banner Ad and Favicon — checked 2026-10-15
- Wix Help Center: Transferring a Premium Site to Another Wix Account — checked 2026-10-15
Wix is a trademark of Wix.com Ltd. Canadian Web Designs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Wix.com Ltd. Statements about Wix on this page are drawn from Wix's own public help pages, linked below, and were last re-checked on the date shown. If a linked page has changed, the row it supports is out of date, not the other way round.
— Every claim about another product on this page was re-checked against its source on this date.
