Export Jimdo vs Wix to HTML

Two European companies trying to make website building easy. Jimdo's German, started in 2007. Wix is Israeli, started in 2006. Both have been at this a while.

The fundamental difference is design philosophy. Jimdo believes in constraints. Their templates give you sections to fill in, not blank canvases. It's limiting but also harder to mess up. Your site will look decent even if you have no design sense.

Wix believes in freedom. Drag anything anywhere. Layer elements. Break out of the grid. You can create genuinely unique designs, or absolute disasters. The tools don't stop you either way.

For most small business sites, Jimdo's approach works fine. Homepage, about page, contact info, maybe a portfolio. The sections guide you. But hit a creative wall and you'll feel the limits.

Template selection isn't close. Wix has 800+ templates across every imaginable category. Jimdo has maybe 40. They're decent templates, but you'll see the same ones on other Jimdo sites constantly.

Jimdo introduced an AI builder called Dolphin. Answer some questions, it generates a site. Clever idea, but the results are generic. Fine for getting started fast, not great if you care how your site looks.

On the ecommerce side, Wix wins easily. More payment options, better inventory management, actual shipping integrations. Jimdo handles basic selling but it's clearly not their focus.

Page speed is actually where Jimdo pulls ahead. Their sites tend to load faster. Wix pages carry more JavaScript overhead, all those fancy features come at a cost. Doesn't matter much on fast connections, but it's noticeable.

Both have mediocre SEO tools. Basic stuff like meta descriptions and alt text. Neither will magically rank you on Google. That takes content and backlinks, not builder features.

Pricing is a wash. Jimdo runs $9 to $39 per month. Wix runs $17 to $159 per month, though most people are fine with their $27-35 plans. Both overcharge for what's essentially file hosting, but that's website builders for you.

The real question: how much do you want to tinker? If you want a site up fast and don't care about unique design, Jimdo's simplicity is a feature. If you have specific ideas about how your site should look, you need Wix's flexibility.

Neither lets you truly own your site. You're renting either way. Consider exporting periodically to keep a backup of what you've built.