| RunMyStartup | Wix | |
|---|---|---|
| What you can build | Real custom apps and SaaS | Brochure sites and small shops |
| User accounts and logins | Built in | Limited (members area only) |
| Custom database | Dedicated PostgreSQL | Wix Data (basic collections) |
| Payments (Stripe) | Built in | Wix Payments or basic Stripe |
| Custom business logic | Built by AI team | Velo by Wix (you code it) |
| SEO optimization | AI agent | Manual setup |
| Source code ownership | Studio plan+ | No |
| Approval workflow | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | €39/mo | $17/mo |
A website builder is not an app builder
Wix is one of the most popular website builders in the world. You pick a template, drag elements around, and publish a clean site in a few hours. For a portfolio, a small business page, or a basic online shop, it does the job very well.
RunMyStartup is not a website builder. It is an AI team of 8 specialized agents that build real applications: a marketplace where users sign up and pay each other, a SaaS with subscriptions, a booking platform, a directory with paid listings. Things that need real user accounts, custom data, and business logic.
If you only need a site that presents your business, Wix is a great fit. If your idea has users who log in, pay, interact, or get something custom, you need more than a website builder.
Where Wix hits a wall
Wix is great until you try to do something the templates were not designed for. A two-sided marketplace, a subscription product with usage limits, a booking tool with custom rules, a private dashboard for your clients. These are common founder ideas, and Wix struggles with them.
Wix has Velo, a developer mode where you can write JavaScript to extend the platform. But at that point you are coding inside Wix, with all the limits of Wix, and you are no longer a non-technical founder using a template tool.
RunMyStartup is built for those ideas from day one. You describe what you want, and your AI team designs the database, builds the screens, configures payments, and ships it online. No template limits, no Velo, no code for you to write.
Code ownership and what happens if you grow
With Wix, your site lives entirely on Wix. You cannot export your code, your database schema is not really yours, and if you outgrow the platform you essentially rebuild your product elsewhere from scratch.
With RunMyStartup on the Studio plan or above, you get the full source code of your app in your own GitHub repository. If your business grows and you want to hire developers later, they can pick up where the AI team left off. Your product stays yours.
Pricing comparison
Wix has a free plan with Wix branding, then Light at $17/month, Core at $29/month, Business at $36/month, and Business Elite at $159/month (annual billing). Each tier unlocks more storage, more visitors, and more business features like online payments.
RunMyStartup starts with Discovery for free, then Founder at €39/month, Studio at €99/month with GitHub source code access, and Scale at €249/month. A 3% commission applies on revenue your app generates through payments. Hosting, database, emails, and SEO are all included.
Wix is cheaper on paper. But you are paying for a different category of product: a website, not an application.
When Wix is the better choice
- You need a clean website to present your business, services, or portfolio
- You run a small shop and want to sell a few products online quickly
- You like picking templates and customizing them visually
- You do not need user accounts, logins, or custom business logic
- You want the cheapest path to a public web presence
When RunMyStartup is the better choice
- You started with Wix and realized you need real product features
- Your idea has users who sign up, log in, and interact with each other
- You need a custom database, not a basic collection of items
- You want subscriptions, marketplace payouts, or paid memberships
- You want to keep your source code and not be locked to one platform
Verdict
Wix is the right pick if you need a website. RunMyStartup is the right pick if you need an app. The two tools look similar from the outside, but they solve very different problems. Choose Wix to publish a site fast. Choose RunMyStartup if your idea requires accounts, payments, and custom logic that no template can cover.