Compare
The honest comparison
Tropic Arts puts your site, store, bookings, email and customer list in one plan, ready to use. The trade is less room to customize than a platform built for tinkering. Here's how that looks beside WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, Squarespace, Webflow and Shopify, including where we fall short.
Seven platforms, side by side
Prices are per month on a yearly plan, in US dollars. Every detail about the other platforms comes from their own websites, checked September 26, 2026.
- Included
- Not offered
- Anything with a catch says what it is
| Tropic ArtsThat's us | WordPressSelf-hosted | Wix | GoDaddyWebsite Builder | Squarespace | Webflow | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price and fees | |||||||
| Lowest price on your own domainPer month, billed yearly | $15/mo$25 billed monthly | Free softwarePlus hosting, which varies | $17/moLight plan takes no payments | $9.99/moFirst-term price | $19/mo$25 billed monthly | $15/moBasic plan has no blog | $29/moStore included |
| Online store fromPer month, billed yearly | $25/mo$35 billed monthly | Free pluginWooCommerce, plus hosting | $29/moCore plan | $20.99/moCommerce plan, first term | $19/moBasic plan | $29/moEcommerce Standard | $29/mo$39 billed monthly |
| Fee on your store salesOn top of card processing | None | NoneWith WooCommerce | None | None | 2% on BasicNone on Core and up | 2% on StandardNone on Plus and up | NoneUp to 2% with another processor |
| Free plan with a live site | Not offeredBuild and preview free | Not offeredWordPress.com has one | IncludedWith Wix ads | IncludedWith GoDaddy ads | Not offered14-day trial | Included2 pages, on webflow.io | Not offered3-day trial |
| Free domain for a yearWith a yearly plan | Not offeredSold separately | Some hostsNot from WordPress itself | Included | Included | Included | Not offered | Not offered |
| TemplatesHow many, and what they cost | 60+All included, designed in-house | ThousandsFree and paid | 2,000+All free | 100+All included | About 200All included | 7,000+Free and paid | 24 freePaid themes $100–$500 |
| Design and editing | |||||||
| Place things anywhere on the pageFree-form layout | Not offeredEdit, reorder and recolor sections | With pluginsPage builders like Elementor | IncludedDrag and drop | Not offeredPreset section layouts | IncludedOn a grid, inside sections | IncludedFull visual design | Not offeredSections and blocks |
| Edit HTML, CSS or JavaScript | Not offered | IncludedFull access | IncludedEmbeds, custom code, Velo | HTML blockInside one section | IncludedJavaScript on Core and up | IncludedOn paid plans | IncludedFull theme code |
| Switch templates, keep your content | Not offeredRecolor and change fonts instead | IncludedCustom CSS resets | Not offeredNew site per template | Included | Not offeredRestyle the one you have | Not offeredNew site per template | IncludedTheme settings start over |
| AI logo designer | Included5 sets a month | Not offeredNot in WordPress itself | IncludedFree, in Wixel | IncludedDownload needs a paid plan | Not offeredFree logo maker, not AI | Not offered | IncludedFree |
| Business tools | |||||||
| Appointment booking | IncludedEvery plan; no online payment | Via pluginse.g. WooCommerce Bookings, $249/yr | IncludedCore plan and up | IncludedPremium plan and up | Paid add-onAcuity, from $16/mo | Not offeredThird-party apps | Not offeredThird-party apps |
| Email newsletters | Included5,000 sends/mo | Via pluginsSome are free | Included200 free sends/mo | Included100 sends/mo on Basic | Paid add-onFrom $8/mo | Not offered | Included10,000 free sends/mo |
| Customer list and inbox | IncludedInbox on paid plans | Via plugins | Included | Included | Customer listNo shared inbox | Not offeredForm submissions only | IncludedCustomer list and chat |
| Memberships and subscriptions | IncludedStore plan | Via pluginse.g. WooCommerce Subscriptions, $279/yr | Included4% fee on Core | Members-only pages | IncludedUp to 7% fee on lower plans | Not offeredRetired in 2026 | PartlySubscriptions, via a free Shopify app |
| Mailbox on your domain | Included1 included, on a subdomain | Varies by host | Paid add-onGoogle Workspace, $7/mo | Free for a yearThen paid | Paid add-onFrom $3/mo | Not offered | Not offeredForwarding only |
| Extending your site | |||||||
| App store or plugins | Not offeredOnly what's built in | Included70,000+ free plugins | Included800+ apps | Not offeredA few built-in connections | IncludedAbout 50 extensions | IncludedAbout 400 apps | Included16,000+ apps |
| Site in more than one language | Not offered | Via plugins | Included | Not offered | Via WeglotThird-party service | Paid add-onFrom $9/mo per language | IncludedUp to 20 languages |
| Sell in personPoint of sale | Not offered | Via pluginsWooCommerce, in its app | Included | Included | Included | Not offered | IncludedPOS Lite included |
| Sell on Google, Instagram or marketplaces | Not offered | Via pluginsGoogle and Meta ones are free | IncludedCore plan and up | IncludedCommerce plan | IncludedGoogle on Core and up | IncludedGoogle and Meta feeds | IncludedAmazon, eBay, TikTok and more |
| Payment providers | Stripe only | ManyWooPayments, Stripe, PayPal, Square | Wix, PayPal, Stripeand more | GoDaddy, PayPal, Stripeor Square | Squarespace, Stripe, PayPal | Stripe, PayPal | Shopify, PayPaland 100+ others |
| Hosting, support and ownership | |||||||
| Hosting, security and updates handled | Included | Not offeredYou or your host | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Backups you can restore | On requestDaily; we restore for you | Via host or plugin | IncludedSite history; not app data | IncludedOne-click restore | Not offeredNo version history | IncludedRestore points | Not offeredThird-party apps |
| Support | EmailReply within 1 business day | ForumsPlus your host's support | 24/7 callbacksChat on weekdays | 24/7Phone and chat | 24/7 emailChat on weekdays | EmailAims for 48 hours | 24/7 chatPhone on Plus |
| Take your site elsewhereIf you leave | CSV exportsProducts, customers, orders | IncludedFull export, any host | Not offeredData exports only | Not offeredProduct spreadsheet only | PartialPages and one blog | Code exportPaid plans; no CMS or store | CSV exportsProducts, customers, orders |
Prices are the lowest advertised rate for a yearly plan, before tax; GoDaddy shows first-term prices only. "Paid add-on" means the same company sells it separately; "Via plugins" and "Third-party apps" mean another company does. WordPress means the free software on a host you choose. WordPress.com, the hosted service, has a free plan and paid plans from $4 a month. Plans change often, so confirm anything that matters to you on their sites, and tell us if something here is out of date. WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, Squarespace, Webflow and Shopify are trademarks of their respective owners. Tropic Arts isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.
Is Tropic Arts right for you?
The short version of the table, in plain words.
A good fit if you want
Your tools in one place
Your site, store, bookings, email and customer list live in one dashboard with one login, not in a stack of apps from different companies. There's nothing to shop for, install or keep up to date.
A price that doesn't grow with your sales
No platform fee on store sales or subscription invoices, and every template is included. Stripe's own fees are the only ones on a sale.
A designed site without hiring a designer
Start from a template designed in-house for your kind of business, or let the AI builder write the first draft of every page.
A logo to go with it
Describe your business in a short chat and get three logo directions, each with a dark version and a favicon.
Bookings on every plan
Customers ask for a time right on your site, even on Starter. Requests land on one calendar that syncs to the calendar app you already use, and reminders can go out by email.
Email from your own domain
Connect your domain and newsletters, booking reminders and order emails go out from an address on it, with replies landing in your inbox. Paid plans include 5,000 campaign sends a month.
One list of everyone
Everyone who buys, books, fills in a form or joins your newsletter lands in one customer list. Import yours from a spreadsheet, and export it whenever you like.
Changes you can make yourself
Edit any word, swap photos, reorder sections and recolor the site in place. There's no code to touch, so there's no layout to break.
A safe place to try things
Sandbox copies of your site let you try a new look or a new page before any visitor sees it.
Nothing to maintain
Hosting, SSL, security updates and daily backups are handled, and there are no plugins to break when something updates.
Room for your team
Invite up to 25 people to a site, each with their own login and a role that decides what they can change.
Look elsewhere if you need
To write your own code
There's no HTML, CSS or JavaScript editor, and no way to embed code. WordPress, Webflow and Shopify let you edit the code itself.
An app for a specific job
There's no app store or plugin directory, so if we haven't built it, you can't add it. WordPress and Shopify have thousands of add-ons, and Wix has hundreds.
Pixel-level control of the layout
You work in the sections of a designed template: edit, reorder, add and recolor them, but not place things freely. Wix, Squarespace and Webflow do free-form layout.
Paid bookings
Customers can request a time, but they can't pay or leave a deposit when they book. Wix and GoDaddy take booking payments, and Squarespace does through Acuity.
To sell in person or on marketplaces
There's no point of sale, and no selling through Google, Instagram or Amazon. Shopify, Wix and GoDaddy do both.
A site in more than one language
Multilingual sites aren't supported. Wix and Shopify build them in, and Webflow sells them as an add-on.
A free site to go live with
You can build and preview for free, but going live takes a paid plan. Wix, GoDaddy, Webflow and WordPress.com publish free sites on their own web addresses.
Questions about switching
No. There's no HTML, CSS or JavaScript editor, and no block for pasting in code or a widget from another service. That's the trade for sections that are designed and tested on phones, tablets and desktops, so what you change can't break the layout.
You can connect Google Analytics and a Meta Pixel from your site's cookie settings. Both load only after a visitor accepts cookies.
No. There's no app store. The store, bookings, newsletters, customer list and everything else are built in, and they're what you get. If your business depends on a particular plugin or integration, check that we cover what it does before you move.
No. Tropic Arts takes no platform fee on store sales or subscription invoices. Stripe bills its own fees straight to your Stripe account: 2.9% + 30¢ per card charge at standard US rates, plus Stripe Tax wherever you collect sales tax. The rest is yours.
There's no importer for a site built somewhere else. Products, customers and locations come in from a spreadsheet, and the pages are rebuilt from one of our templates. We can design and build the new site for you as a one-time project, though moving your old content over isn't part of it.
You can build and preview your whole site for free. Putting it live on your own domain takes a paid plan: Starter is $25 a month, or $15 a month billed yearly, and Store is $35 a month, or $25 a month billed yearly. There are no setup fees, and you can cancel anytime.
We checked every detail about the other platforms against their own pricing and help pages on September 26, 2026. They change their plans often, so confirm anything that matters to you on their sites. If you spot something out of date, tell us on the contact page and we'll fix it.
Try it before you decide
Free to build. From $15 a month, billed yearly, to go live.