CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Wix

Adobe Experience Manager vs Wix

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Wix is a closed-source site builder that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 9.

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Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 25 of 28 built in
Wix Site builder · Closed source · 21 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Wix on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Adobe Experience Manager vs Wix feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	Wix Site builder
Overview
What it is	Adobe's enterprise CMS for websites and headless content, run by Adobe as a cloud service with page, fragment and document-based authoring.	Hosted website builder with a CMS, business apps and hosting, run by Wix.com Ltd. Wix Studio adds an editor and workspace for agencies.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service Version 2026.9.0, released 24 Sept 2026	Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	Wix.com Ltd. wix.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Cloud Service runs only on Adobe's cloud. AEM 6.5 LTS is the separate self-hosted edition.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Wix Headless serves the same content to a frontend you host.
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	Hosted SaaS, JavaScript through the Wix IDE, CLI and SDK
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	Wix CMS collections, managed by Wix
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request.	Free to start Free plan. Light $17, Core $29, Business $39, Business Elite $159 per month billed yearly in the US.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Built in Components, dialogs and Universal Editor models live in the project repository. 2	Limited Only Wix CLI apps and headless projects define collections in TypeScript files. 13
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Content Fragment Model editor. 3	Built in 20
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Editors add and reorder sections and saved components on the canvas.
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Language copies with translation projects and connectors. 4	Built in Wix Multilingual, with manual or automatic translation. 14
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Web-optimized image delivery resizes, crops and converts DAM images to WebP. 5	Built in Resize and crop through image URL parameters. 15
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content Fragment Delivery with OpenAPI. 6	Built in Data Items REST API. 3
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Built in GraphQL endpoint over the same data as the REST API. 4
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in AEM Eventing delivers events through Adobe I/O Events. 7	Built in App webhooks, or an HTTP request step in Wix Automations. 16
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in HTL page rendering or Edge Delivery Services. 10	Built in
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in Edits stay on the author tier until published. 11	Built in Draft status on CMS items, on by default for new collections. 11
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Publish later and unpublish later. 11	Built in Scheduled status changes on CMS items. 11
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Limited CMS keeps weekly and manual collection backups. Restores replace whole collections. 9
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Separate preview tier.	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Universal Editor and Page Editor. 9	Built in
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Paid tier Approvals for site changes in the Wix Studio enterprise solution. 8
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Launches group changes across pages and promote them together. 8	Limited Release Manager publishes whole site versions and test sites. No grouped item releases. 12
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Limited Only with document authoring in Word or Google Docs. The Universal Editor has no co-editing. 10	Built in Built into the Studio Editor. 7
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in AEM groups with repository permissions. 12	Built in Not every permission is available to custom roles. 6 19
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Limited Repository ACL restrictions can target named properties. No per-field setting in the editors. 12	Not available CMS permissions apply per collection. 20
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in SAML or OIDC federation through Adobe Admin Console. 13	Paid tier OpenID Connect only, with the Wix Studio enterprise solution. 10
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in Page, replication and DAM audit logs. 14	Not available Not documented publicly.
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Multi Site Manager with live copies. 15	Built in One account or Studio workspace manages many sites, each on its own plan.
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in UI extensions built with App Builder. 16	Built in Dashboard extensions add custom pages and widgets. 17
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Extension Manager catalogue of Adobe and partner extensions. 16	Built in Wix App Market.
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Core Components form container emails, posts or stores submissions. 17	Built in Wix Forms.
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Limited Publish-tier login via SAML or OIDC. Sign-up flows need custom code and user sync. 18 13	Built in Members Area handles sign-up and login.
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in Generate Variations needs AEM Cloud Service with Edge Delivery entitlement. Licence includes an action allowance; extra actions cost more. 19	Built in AI text creator in the Wix and Studio editors. 18
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in AEM MCP Server for pages, fragments and assets. 20	Built in Wix MCP for docs, code and site API calls. 5

Adobe Experience Manager sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service.

Wix sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio.

Considering more platforms? Compare Adobe Experience Manager and Wix with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Wix get a different status on 9 of the 28 features and the same status on 19. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, Wix has 21. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Free option: Adobe Experience Manager has no free option. Wix has a free option.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Wix 6

Content model in code Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Wix: Limited.
Version history Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Wix: Limited.
Approval workflows Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Wix: Paid tier.
Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Wix: Limited.
Single sign-on Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Wix: Paid tier.
Audit log Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Wix: Not available.

Built in on Wix, a different answer on Adobe Experience Manager 2

Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Wix: Built in.
Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Wix: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 1

Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Wix: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Adobe Experience Manager vs Payload.

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