Wix ADI Reviews 2024 – Is It the Fastest Way to Build Site

Premium Website Building Meets Artificial Intelligence

1

Wix ADI has been hyped as the smarter version of the popular Wix website builder. But does artificial intelligence really make this builder better than the original?

Launched ten years after Wix first came onto the scene, Wix ADI is still the new kid on the block. So even though the Wix platform is used by over 150 million people around the world, you might still be wondering what Wix ADI is all about.

First of all, ADI stands for Artificial Design Intelligence. Wix gets great reviews for its ease of use, but Wix claims that ADI takes ease of use to a whole new level. You can automatically generate a complete, personalized website just by answering a few simple questions – you don’t need to do any designing yourself.

But will the website be any good? Should you really hand over the reins to an AI wizard that builds your website for you? I decided to find out.

You can use Wix ADI on any Wix plan, including the free plan, but I signed up for a premium plan to make sure I could see everything on offer. Keep reading to find out how things went when I set up a brand-new website with Wix ADI and how ADI stacks up to the original Wix Editor.

Simplified Themes to Suit Your Style

Wix ADI is all about efficiency. Instead of scrolling through endless template galleries, all you have to do is answer a few simple questions. Just note that ADI is currently available for every website category except Photography and Restaurants & Food.

Then, you choose one of six simple themes that ADI suggests based on the type of website you want to build. Each theme comes with a preset color scheme and fonts, that you can manually change later on if you want.

First, you have to choose from three homepage layouts that ADI automatically generates based on your answers to the questions. Don’t worry too much about choosing the right option – you can easily change your theme and layout later to try out different design combinations.

Once you start using the Wix ADI editor, you’ll see that there are actually over 35 different themes available. ADI limits your choices at the outset just so you don’t get bogged down clicking through dozens of themes.

Within each template, customization options are pretty limited. You can do things like change the colors and fonts to match your logo or brand image, add animation effects like fading and sliding, and edit your header and footer style. That’s about it.

In comparison, you get a lot more flexibility with regular Wix templates, which is one of the biggest reasons why many people still prefer Wix Editor to Wix ADI. But if you don’t feel the need to customize every detail, then Wix ADI themes check all the boxes for a basic business or personal website: clean, simple, relevant, and professional.

And here is one big point in Wix ADI’s favor. You can switch themes and layouts as often as you want without losing your content and images, which you can’t do with Wix templates. To change templates in the regular Wix Editor, you have to create a new site from scratch.

Wix ADI Lets You Do a Lot… Wix Editor Lets You Do Even More

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting much from Wix ADI, especially in terms of tools and features to take my site beyond the basic, initial design. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that you can do many of the same things as you can with the regular Wix Editor.

You can customize your pages with content elements, set up and manage a blog, and get a personalized Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan for your site with Wix SEO Wiz. You also have the option of either connecting an existing domain to your Wix ADI site or creating a new custom domain (on paid plans only).

Most importantly, once you’re into the editing and customizing phase, you don’t have to stick with Wix ADI just because you started with it. You can switch to Wix Editor any time with a click to get more features and personalization options. Just be aware that any changes you make in Wix Editor won’t transfer back to ADI. So don’t switch over until you’re ready to use the regular editor from that point on.

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of my favorite features of the Wix ADI platform.

1.   Personalized, Professional Design

One of my main concerns with using ADI was the apparent lack of control over how my site would look. It turns out that I didn’t really have anything to worry about.

For starters, while the designs aren’t very innovative, they certainly look good, and  feel tailored to your purpose. Here’s an example of an ADI site I created for a marketing agency. I was going for a bold, eye-catching look and feel:

In addition to generating a design, Wix ADI automatically creates content for your site and sources relevant, royalty-free images. Using your business info and anything it can find about you online, ADI pre-fills your pages so you don’t have to do a thing – your website is literally ready to launch, as is.

Well, that’s the theory, anyway. You’ll definitely want to check the content before publishing your site, because AI sometimes gets the facts wrong, and I mean really wrong:

Uh no, the features of Wix ADI do not include time travel. Still in beta. But no worries – you can easily insert your own text and images to replace whatever ADI comes up with.

2.   Structured Editor

Wix ADI doesn’t give you the same level of creative freedom as the drag-and-drop Wix Editor, which lets you place hundreds of different elements anywhere on the page. Instead, the ADI editor breaks your page up into “sections” of preconfigured content blocks and elements.

There is still some dragging and dropping – you can add sections and position them just like with Wix Editor. But you can’t place them wherever you want – you’re limited by the page structure, and you can only add sections directly on top of or below other sections. You can’t move sections to the left or right.

You also won’t have as many content elements to choose from as you would with Wix Editor. Still, ADI lets you add many of the essentials, including image galleries, video and music players, price lists, business hours, blog and Instagram feeds, and subscription forms. You won’t find slideshows, buttons, tables, grids, or form generators, but ADI will automatically add a contact form to your site.

Overall, I could do more than I expected with the ADI editor. However, it will fall short if you want really advanced features on your site to improve user experience. In short, Wix ADI is ideal for getting your site up and running quickly, but I’d recommend switching to Wix Editor for more flexibility as your business and website grow.

3.   Apps and Integrations

Wix ADI has 13 apps that you can add to your site for extra features, including a blog, online store, members’ area, live chat, forum, bookings, and events. Just click on any app to install it, and Wix ADI will automatically add all the needed pages and sections to your site.

Granted, 13 apps is nothing compared to Wix App Market’s 250+ apps, which you get access to with the regular Wix Editor. But it’s a decent selection, and they’re all high-quality apps that work as promised – something you can’t always be sure of with the third-party apps in the App Market.

Some of the apps I would most like to see added are a form builder app, analytics or performance-tracking apps, and Wix’s popular Site Booster app for SEO. If you want to use any of these, you’ll have to switch from ADI to Wix Editor.

4.   E-commerce

You can add an e-commerce store to any ADI site with the click of a button – just install the Online Store app and you’ll get an instant shop page, product pages, shopping cart, and thank you page.

You can choose from a few different preset layouts for your product gallery, but that’s it for customization. In comparison, Wix Editor offers a lot more options, such as grid or slider product galleries.

Once you’ve got it up and running, managing your online store is exactly the same in Wix ADI as it is in Wix Editor. From your main dashboard, you can add products and organize them into collections, set up payment methods and shipping regions, and track both orders and abandoned shopping carts.

You’ll need to be on a Wix e-commerce plan to start receiving orders and payments on your ADI site. But there are no hidden costs – sales are 100% commission-free.

There’s No Easier Way to Build a Site from Scratch

We’ve said this about other website builders before, like Weebly and SimpleSite. But Wix ADI truly does redefine “easy to use.” AI-powered design makes it significantly faster and simpler to create a ready-to-go, customized website and online store.

If you’re a beginner or just short on time, Wix ADI is the perfect platform. There’s no trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do with different elements on the page. And if the time comes when you need more flexibility, switching over to Wix Editor is easy.

Here’s what makes Wix ADI so beginner-friendly.

1.   Hands-off Website Setup

Click Start Now on the left side of the screen to go through these seven steps, and watch Wix ADI build a unique website tailored to your purpose. Some of the questions you get asked are:

• What type of site do you want to create? You’ll see a list of examples to choose from, or type your own description for the AI to ponder.
• What do you need on your new website? Choose from recommended apps to add instantly to your site (blog, store, etc.).
• What is the name of your website/business/blog? Type your brand or personal name.

Then you’ll be asked to pick a theme you like from a list of six examples. The theme will determine your site’s color scheme and fonts. After that you’ll pick your homepage design out of three options – and that’s it! Your site is ready. Note that you can skip any of the steps along the way. But the more information you provide, the more accurate and relevant your site design and content will be.

2.   Simplified Page Builder

You can make small design tweaks to your site and build new pages with theADI editor. It’s a simplified version of the traditional Wix Editor, which beginners sometimes find overwhelming because of its thousands of design elements.

ADI uses drag-and-drop functionality when you’re adding sections, and point-and-click functionality when you’re editing each section’s design and settings. The platform is intuitive and clearly laid out – just click on any section to customize it. From the Add menu, you can add new pages, sections, and apps (like an online store or blog) to your site.

If you don’t like an image that Wix ADI supplies for your site, just hover over it and click Replace to upload your own or choose from the huge library of royalty-free images. And if you click Adjust, you’ll get taken to Wix Photo Studio – an easy-to-use image editing tool that lets you add filters, crop, sharpen, and enhance any image with a few clicks.

3.   Step-by-Step Tutorials

Using Wix ADI couldn’t be easier – seriously, just start clicking on things and you’ll soon figure it out! But if you want more guidance, click on the blue question mark in the bottom-right corner of your ADI editor to browse help articles while you’re working on your site. You can even take interactive tours, where ADI will show you how to change your theme and layout, edit your content, connect a domain, and more.

Wix ADI has fewer tutorials than Wix Editor, but that’s because Wix Editor has far more features and functions to cover. I’m honestly not a fan of how Wix Editor Help pops up in the middle of your page, and you have to keep moving it out of the way as you work. I like that ADI Help stays in a sidebar, not blocking the editor in any way.

Customer Support Is Hard to Find, But Not Bad Once You Do

The Wix Help Center has a dedicated ADI section, covering 14 broad topics from Getting Started to SEO, each with around a dozen articles. If you have questions, I recommend always checking out the Help Center first, because getting in touch with a live agent isn’t as easy.

The contact form is so well hidden that it almost feels like Wix doesn’t want you to contact the support team. You have to scroll to the bottom of the Help Center to find a “Contacting Wix Support” article, and only there can you find a link to contact the team via ticket or phone.

Ticket Support

You can submit a ticket 24/7 to get an email response from a live agent. I asked how to set up my ADI e-commerce store, and got a detailed and helpful answer about four hours later. The agent included step-by-step instructions and a screenshot to show me exactly how to do it, as well as suggestions for what I might want to do next.

It sure felt like a canned answer, but since the question was pretty straightforward, that can be forgiven, and the reply was relatively quick to come. It would still be nice if they would have at least used my name.

The second time I submitted a ticket, I asked if my ADI site was mobile-responsive. This time, a response came much faster – within about 15 minutes. This support agent was also very polite, and used my name and a screenshot from my actual account, which I appreciated.

Phone Support

Wix doesn’t have a typical call center. Instead, you can request a callback anytime in English, or in French, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish during the specific hours listed on the site for each language.

You’ll need to enter your phone number and a brief description of the issue you’re having, and then the verification code that gets sent to your phone. I did this for a billing question and got a callback in less than a minute.

So the response time is great, but unfortunately, the agent who calls you might not actually be prepared. In my case, all they did was read my question back to me and then check the Help Center. When they couldn’t find the answer there, they put me on hold for about five minutes before coming back with the information I needed.

Overall, though, it was a pretty good experience as far as phone support goes, and I got the answer to my question eventually. But the callback system feels unnecessarily convoluted. Just calling in would have been much simpler, especially since I ended up waiting on hold, anyway.

And of course, live chat would have been much better.

A Variety of Plans to Suit Every Budget

Wix ADI is available on all seven Wix premium plans, as well as the free plan.

The free plan provides an excellent opportunity to familiarize yourself with the platform, but you most likely won’t want to stick with it indefinitely. On every page of your site, you’ll have Wix branding, and instead of your own domain name, you’ll have a Wix subdomain.

If you want a more professional-looking website, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to choose your own domain and remove the Wix branding. You’ll also need to be on a premium plan to use e-commerce features and accept online payments.

To learn more about what Wix’s different plans offer, read our guide to Wix pricing.

Cancellations & Refunds

All premium plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Just click Manage Plan on your main dashboard to view your premium subscriptions.

Then, open the menu for the plan you want to cancel, and select Cancel Plan (which appears in a drop-down menu when you click on the three dots in the upper right corner).

You’ll be prompted to confirm and give a reason why you’re canceling (just choose one of the default options from the drop-down menu). When you click Cancel Now, your plan will be immediately downgraded to the free version, and you’ll get a full refund within 20 business days.