Kirby vs Wix
Kirby is a closed-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. 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 16.
- Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in
- Wix Site builder · Closed source · 21 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Kirby 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
| Platform |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| What it is | File-based PHP CMS with a configurable editing Panel. Content lives in text files on your own server, under a paid per-site licence. | 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. | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 | Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio SaaS, continuously updated |
| Vendor | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com | Wix.com Ltd. wix.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary, source available | Closed source Proprietary |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud | No self-hosting Vendor cloud Wix Headless serves the same content to a frontend you host. |
| Built with | PHP, Vue for the Panel | Hosted SaaS, JavaScript through the Wix IDE, CLI and SDK |
| Database | Flat files, no database required | Wix CMS collections, managed by Wix |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | No free option Basic €99 per site if revenue is under €1M. Enterprise €349 per site. Both include 3 years of updates. | 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 Blueprints are YAML files in site/blueprints. 5 | 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. | Not available You edit blueprints as files. The Panel has no schema editor. 5 | Built in 20 |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Built in Blocks and Layout fields. 6 | 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 Multi-language content is built in. 7 | 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 Thumbs with resize, crop and format conversion. 8 | 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 Authenticated REST API. The official KQL plugin serves headless queries. 910 | Built in Data Items REST API. 3 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | 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. | Not available PHP hooks only. No webhook settings. | 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 PHP templates and snippets. | Built in |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in Page drafts. Kirby 5 stores unsaved changes apart from the live version. 4 | 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. | Not available | 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. | Not available Kirby 5 keeps the live version and one set of changes. No revision history. 4 | 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 Preview view renders unsaved changes, with shareable links. 4 | Built in |
| Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. | Not available Preview view compares versions. No click-to-edit. 4 | Built in |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Not available Fixed page statuses: draft, unlisted, listed. 11 | 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. | Not available | 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. | Not available Content locking stops two editors changing one page at once. 320 | 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 Roles are user blueprints with permissions. 12 | Built in Not every permission is available to custom roles. 619 |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Not available Only by loading different blueprints per role in custom code. 13 | 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. | Not available No first-party SSO. Community OAuth plugins exist. | 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. | Not available | Not available Not documented publicly. |
| Platform and extensibility | ||
| Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. | Not available One site per installation. | 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 Panel plugins add fields, sections, views and areas. 15 | 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 Official plugin directory at plugins.getkirby.com. 16 | Built in Wix App Market. |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Plugin or add-on Paid DreamForm plugin by tobimori. 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 Frontend login is built in. Sign-up needs custom code. 14 | 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. | Not available No first-party AI. Kirby Copilot is a paid third-party plugin. 18 | 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. | Not available Third-party Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick. 19 | Built in Wix MCP for docs, code and site API calls. 5 |
Kirby sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha..
- Kirby pricing
- Kirby releases
- Kirby 5 release overview
- Kirby 5: Preview your changes
- Kirby docs: Blueprints
- Kirby docs: Blocks field
- Kirby docs: Languages
- Kirby docs: $file->thumb()
- Kirby docs: REST API
- Kirby Query Language (KQL) plugin
- Kirby docs: Publishing workflow
- Kirby docs: Permissions
- Kirby cookbook: Extending permissions
- Kirby docs: Frontend login
- Kirby docs: Plugin extensions
- Kirby plugin directory
- DreamForm plugin
- Kirby Copilot plugin
- Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick
- Kirby docs: Content options (locking)
Wix sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio.
- Wix plans and pricing
- Wix blog: Wix Premium plans (May 2026)
- Wix Data Items API
- The Wix GraphQL API
- The Wix MCP
- Wix Help: creating custom roles for collaborators
- Wix Help: Studio Editor collaborating on a site
- Wix Help: enterprise approvals for site changes
- Wix Help: restoring CMS collections with backups
- Wix Help: SSO login for your organization
- Wix Help: managing collection item statuses
- Wix Help: Release Manager
- Wix CLI: data collections extension files
- Wix Help: Wix Multilingual overview
- Wix Media: URL image transformation
- Wix Developers: about webhooks
- Wix Developers: about dashboard extensions
- Wix Help: Studio Editor AI text creator
- Wix Help: inviting collaborators
- Wix Help: CMS overview
Considering more platforms? Compare Kirby and Wix with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Kirby and Wix get a different status on 16 of the 28 features and the same status on 12. Kirby has 11 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.
- Self-hosting
- Kirby can be self-hosted. Wix cannot be self-hosted.
- Vendor cloud
- Kirby has no vendor-run cloud. Wix has a vendor-run cloud.
- Free option
- Kirby has no free option. Wix has a free option.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on Wix 1
- Content model in code Kirby: Built in. Wix: Limited.
Built in on Wix, a different answer on Kirby 11
- Content model in the UI Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- GraphQL API Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Webhooks Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Scheduled publishing Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Visual editing Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Real-time co-editing Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Multiple sites Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Form builder Kirby: Plugin or add-on. Wix: Built in.
- Site member accounts Kirby: Limited. Wix: Built in.
- AI writing assistant Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
- Official MCP server Kirby: Not available. Wix: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 4
- Version history Kirby: Not available. Wix: Limited.
- Approval workflows Kirby: Not available. Wix: Paid tier.
- Content releases Kirby: Not available. Wix: Limited.
- Single sign-on Kirby: Not available. Wix: Paid tier.
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Wix against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Wix
- Contentful vs Wix
- Contentstack vs Wix
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Wix
- Craft CMS vs Wix
- DatoCMS vs Wix
- Decap CMS vs Wix
- Directus vs Wix
- Drupal vs Wix
- EmDash vs Wix
- FirstSpirit vs Wix
- Framer vs Wix
- Ghost vs Wix
- HubSpot CMS vs Wix
- Hygraph vs Wix
- Instatic vs Wix
- Joomla vs Wix
- Keystone vs Wix
- Liferay DXP vs Wix
- Optimizely CMS vs Wix
- Wix vs Payload
- Prismic vs Wix
- Progress Sitefinity vs Wix
- Sanity vs Wix
- Sitecore vs Wix
- Squarespace vs Wix
- Statamic vs Wix
- Storyblok vs Wix
- Strapi vs Wix
- TYPO3 vs Wix
- Umbraco vs Wix
- Wagtail vs Wix
- Webflow vs Wix
- Wix vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Wix
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