Switching from Wix or Shopify to your own AI-powered website is usually more cost-effective than staying on a subscription if you plan to maintain the site for more than a few months and don't plan on manually restructuring the pages every week. The domain remains the same during the move, but the design, product pages, and blog will have to be migrated again, and this is the most important thing to consider before making a decision.
How much do Wix and Shopify really cost, if you factor in all the extra fees?
The advertised price is the minimum plan without the necessary features, which is rarely suitable for a ready-made online store. With the full plan, the actual monthly bill is usually one and a half to three times higher than the advertised figure due to paid apps and the payment provider's (acquirer) commission (the service that processes card payments and takes a percentage of each sale). Below are the figures for both platforms as of the date of this review.
According to an independent review by Tooltester, Wix has the following ladder in 2026:
| Wix Pricing | Per month | With annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| Light | ~24 € | ~17 € |
| Core | ~36 € | ~29 € |
| Business | ~46 € | ~39 € |
| Business Elite | ~172 € | ~159 € |
The platform displays the same figure in almost all currencies—the amount isn't converted using the exchange rate. This is a guideline as of the review date; the exact amount for your date should be verified on the official Wix page.
Shopify's prices in euros are verified directly on the official pricing page:
| Shopify Pricing | Per month | With annual payment |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | €27 | €19 |
| Grow | €74 | €56 |
| Advanced | €384 | €289 |
| Plus | from €2,100 | under contract |
On top of that is the payment acceptance fee if the store doesn't use the built-in Shopify Payments service but connects to a third-party acquirer: 2% for Basic, 1% for Grow, 0.6% for Advanced, and 0.2% for Plus. The pricing is constantly changing: according to Truvio, Shopify's basic plan has increased in price by 34.5% over the past few years.
What happens to my domain if I stop paying for Wix or Shopify?
A website subscription and a domain subscription are two separate payments, and this is where newbies get confused. As long as you continue paying for the domain separately, it remains yours. When you cancel your website subscription, the platform only breaks the domain-website connection, and you retain the domain itself. The exception is a domain that was included as a gift with the annual plan: here, the rule is different, as discussed below.
On the Wix Studio support forum, community members themselves explained this: according to DeanAyalon, you can only connect your own domain with a paid (premium) plan, while Codequeen clarified that the domain doesn't disappear as long as you continue paying for it. When you cancel your website subscription, only the connection between the website and the domain is lost, and this happens after the subscription expires. However, if the domain was included as a gift with your annual plan, you must transfer it to another registrar in advance when canceling the plan, otherwise it will be lost along with your plan.
Shopify has a similar logic, according to the platform's help section and discussions in the Shopify Community. A domain purchased through a third-party registrar and simply connected to a store can be unlinked without any hassle—just change the DNS records and transfer it anywhere. A domain purchased through Shopify itself must be transferred before the store closes: after the store closes, access to the control panel is lost, and the domain can only be reclaimed by contacting support.
What can't you take with you when you leave the construction site?
With Wix, you can only take the blog text with you by exporting it to an XML file. The platform doesn't export the design, code, product cards, or member database; you'll have to rebuild them in the new location. Shopify's situation is more manageable, but still inconvenient—there's no built-in blog export button; you need a third-party tool or manually transfer each article.
An independent Breakpath analysis directly cites the Wix help: the platform is closed, and only blog posts can be exported. Layouts, navigation, forms, product cards, and the design you've spent months developing aren't transferred—they'll have to be redesigned in the new location. When you cancel your subscription, the site immediately goes offline, and visitors see an error page.
According to independent analyses of platform migrations, for a store that had invested heavily in SEO content on Shopify, migrating the blog itself eats up a significant amount of time during the move—simply "downloading everything" won't work.
Both platforms' marketing teams are upfront about domain transfers "at any time," and that's true. But they're usually silent about other things: the design, catalog, and blog need to be rebuilt upon exit, and it's this work that requires time and budget.
Subscription or one-time download: which is more profitable per year?
If you need a website for more than a few months, the one-time setup fee usually outweighs the subscription cost within the first year. The domain and SSL are free, catalog transfer is seamless, and the savings only increase—the monthly payment for Wix or Shopify never ends.
| Wix/Shopify (subscription) | 1001site AI (one-time build) | |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and SSL | paid, often separate from the tariff | free, the certificate renews itself |
| Transferring a directory | manually via a spreadsheet file (CSV) or a third-party tool | Follow the link, the products are transferred automatically |
| Payment | Every month, the tariff may increase | one-time: €1,650 "turnkey" or €45/month "All inclusive" (€25 first month) |
| Upon cancellation | The site goes offline, the design is not exported | the site remains yours for as long as the period is paid for |
An independent calculation of total costs by Mewastudio over 10 years shows a similar picture for comparable plans: Wix costs from €1,560 to €21,480, Shopify costs from €2,880 to €35,880, and a one-time custom website build costs from €3,000 to €8,000 in a single payment. The longer you maintain your website, the more noticeable the difference in favor of a one-time payment.
If you're more comfortable comparing a specific website builder, we have a similar analysis for Tilda, and a detailed calculation of turnkey pricing is available in the article "How Much Does a Turnkey Website Cost?" You can create your own website using your chosen style via the "Create Website" pop-up on the homepage—without a builder subscription fee.
How to Migrate Products from Wix or Shopify to Your Website in One Evening
You paste your store link—including your Shopify link—into the 1001site AI assistant, and it does the rest automatically: it finds products on the page, displays previews with prices and photos, and, after your confirmation, uploads them to the catalog with the required categories. No need to manually enter product cards.
- Open the AI assistant in your account (button in the lower right corner).
- Insert the link to the store: "Transfer products from the site https://мой-магазин.com ".
- Check the preview - the assistant will show you how many products it found and what categories it will create.
- Confirm the download by saying "download everything" or specify what to keep.
- Improve your catalog: ask your assistant to write SEO descriptions or translate products into the required languages.
Up to 30 products can be transferred per request, with a maximum of 100. Large catalogs should be split into sections or transferred via a feed. The assistant does not read profiles in private accounts or pages protected from bots; in these cases, a link to a specific product page is required. A detailed transfer procedure (including transferring from Instagram) is available in the knowledge base.
How to connect your domain and SSL without losing anything
Connecting a domain involves three steps. A-records are technical addresses in your domain settings that tell the internet which server to look for your website on. They need to be pointed to the 1001site server, then the domain needs to be entered in the settings, and an SSL certificate needs to be issued. The SSL is the lock icon in the address bar that secures the connection. After the DNS updates, the entire certificate process takes up to 30 seconds.
- In the domain's DNS panel, add two A-records (
@andwww) pointing to the 1001site server IP. If there were old A-records for these names, delete them. - Please wait for the DNS changes to take effect - this may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
- In the website settings, enter the domain without
https://and withoutwwwand save. - Click "Issue SSL Certificate" - verification and issuance takes up to 30 seconds.
After this, the site opens on your domain with automatic https, and www is redirected to the main address. The old technical address asd.vibevox.pro/имя doesn't disappear—it continues to work and redirect to the new domain, so existing links won't break. Details and answers to frequently asked questions about DNS can be found in the domain and SSL knowledge base.
What does moving cost, if you do the math honestly?
The decision rarely comes down to a single figure. For a fair comparison, add up the cost of the plan, additional fees for additional features and apps, the payment provider's fee, and the time it takes to transfer the directory and connect the domain. Below is a selection of figures that usually decide the matter.
Here they are:
- +34.5% - that's how much the Shopify base plan has grown over the past few years (Truvio).
- Up to 5% - total commission per sale on the Shopify Basic plan when paying through a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments.
- 2-7 minutes – how long does it take for the AI agent to build a website on 1001site after payment?
- 45 €/month - All-inclusive tariff on 1001site (25 € for the first month with promo code), no extra charges for apps.
Who should stay with Wix or Shopify?
If your business idea hasn't been tested yet and the speed of daily manual edits is more important to you than the final annual price, staying with your current builder may be wiser than migrating right now. This is especially true if the website is currently being used as a quick test of demand.
A subscription is justified when you frequently change the page structure yourself, have already invested in paid website builder apps that solve your problems, or the site exists as a temporary demand test for a few weeks. In these cases, the cost of the migration (catalog reconfiguration, SEO re-check) may not pay for itself in the short term.
If a website is a business tool that will be in use for years to come, the difference between a monthly payment and a one-time payment can add up to a significant amount over time.
Frequently asked questions
Is it possible to transfer products from Shopify to my website with one link?
Yes. 1001site AI assistant reads the store URL, including Shopify, and automatically finds the name, price, photo, and availability of products. Up to 30 products can be imported at a time, with a maximum of 100 per request—large catalogs are imported in parts. Re-inserting the same URL updates prices and inventory without duplicates.
What happens to my domain if I stop paying for Wix or Shopify?
It depends on where the domain is registered. If the domain is paid for separately from the website subscription, you won't lose it and can transfer it to another registrar. If the domain was included "free" with your annual plan, you must transfer it in advance when you cancel the plan, otherwise it will be lost along with the plan.
How long does it take to migrate to your own AI-powered website?
The actual website assembly in the chosen style takes 2-7 minutes after payment. Transferring a catalog via a link takes up to a minute for analysis, plus time for preview verification. The longest part is connecting the domain: DNS updates take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, and the SSL certificate is then issued in up to 30 seconds.
Can I keep the same address if I connect my own domain?
Yes. The technical address asd.vibevox.pro/name continues to work and simply redirects to your domain—links that have already been broken will not be broken.
Sources
- Tooltester, “Wix Pricing 2026: What Plan to Pick (and What to Avoid?)” - https://www.tooltester.com/en/reviews/wix-review/prices/
- Shopify's official pricing page - https://www.shopify.com/pricing
- Truvio, “Shopify Pricing & Plans 2026: Official Costs & Changes” - https://truvio.com/truvio-blog/shopify-pricing-plans-2026-official-costs-changes
- Website Builder Expert, “Wix vs Shopify Tested: Which Website Builder Wins in 2026?” - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/wix-vs-shopify/
- Mewastudio, “Real Cost: WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Squarespace vs Custom Website” - https://www.mewastudio.com/en/blog/off-the-shelf-vs-custom-website-part-1
- Breakpath, "Do I Own My Wix Website?" - https://www.breakpath.io/blog/you-dont-own-your-wix-website
- Wix Studio Support Forum, thread on keeping my domain after canceling a subscription - https://forum.wixstudio.com/t/keeping-my-domain-after-cancelling-premium-plan/63388
- Shopify Community, thread on transferring a domain from Wix - https://community.shopify.com/t/how-do-i-transition-my-domain-from-wix-to-start-accepting-orders-on-shopify/115061
Details on transferring products via link and connecting a domain are available in 1001site knowledge base. You can create a website on your domain without a builder subscription fee using the "Create a Website" pop-up in the 1001site style catalog.
