Under the Bonnet usually takes one part of a website we've built and shows it working. This time we're stepping back to answer the question we get asked most about Wix Headless: once you've got it, what can you actually build?
Brochure sites got easy
A few years ago, a tidy five-page website with good photos and a contact form was a proper job for a studio. Now templates and AI site builders can get most businesses something decent in an afternoon. That's good news, and for plenty of businesses it's all they need.
What hasn't got easier is the part that runs the business. Taking a gift and remembering to ask for it again next year. Pulling listings from the software the team already uses. Sending a proof, getting it approved and knowing it's been approved. Showing head office how every branch is doing. That's where the hours go, and no template does it for you.
What Wix Headless actually changes
On a normal Wix site, the editor builds the front of the site and Wix runs everything behind it. On Wix Headless, Wix still runs the business side: your content, forms, contacts, blog, members, payments and hosting, all managed in the same Wix dashboard. The difference is that we build the front of the site in code.
Because it's code, the site isn't limited to what an editor can drag and drop. It can talk to other software through its API, pull data in, push data out, and show each person what's relevant to them. So the website stops being a brochure and starts being part of how the business works.
Four systems we've built
Here are some of the systems we've built recently, in plain English. One runs on Wix Headless. The others are custom systems built on the same kind of code, some standalone and some linked to a Wix site, which is exactly the sort of thing Wix Headless lets us join on.
Listings that update themselves
Trent Estate Agents in Nottingham run their website on Wix Headless. Their listings come straight from Apex27, the property software they already use, so a new listing appears on the site without anyone typing it in. Every enquiry lands in their Wix contacts, and their team edit all 33 pages and 25 guides from the Wix dashboard.
A donor tree that grows with every gift
For The Friendship Circle we built the Tree of Inclusion, a living tree for the charity's appeal, launching this autumn. Every gift adds a leaf carrying the donor's dedication. Gifts are paid by card through Stripe and go on the tree as soon as the payment clears. Each leaf lasts 12 months and can be renewed, and an unrenewed leaf frees its place for someone new.
Behind it sits a staff dashboard where the team add telethon and offline gifts, keep Gift Aid declarations in order and get everything ready for Donorfy, their CRM.
From upload to approved proof
Bespoke Foil Company is our own baby keepsake business, so we've built its systems for ourselves first. Parents upload their baby's hand and footprints through a secure portal, and the studio sends proofs, tracks them and takes approvals from one dashboard instead of a tangle of inboxes. After they've ordered, customers can add extras through an add-ons shop of its own.
A hub for a whole franchise network
The Memory Catcher™ Franchise runs on the Hub, where each franchisee sees her earnings and commission, takes card payments in person through Stripe card readers, makes social posts and works through her training. Head office has the Exchange: a leaderboard, every order across the network and an onboarding tracker for new franchisees.
A website shows people what you do. A system does some of the work for you.
We've also built Pier, our own client platform, which reads each client's content straight from their Wix CMS, and we're building a public index of UK franchise networks for our sister consultancy, Twine Growth. You can see all of them on our Wix Headless systems page.
When Wix Headless is the right call, and when it isn't
We'd rather you didn't pay for code you don't need. Wix Headless is usually the right call when:
- your website needs data from software you already use, like a CRM, a booking system or a stock list
- people need to sign in, see their own orders or files, or approve something
- you take payments, gifts or renewals in a way a standard checkout doesn't handle
- the site has dozens of pages that should run off shared templates
If you need a handful of pages and want to drag sections around yourself, Wix Studio is usually the better fit, and we'll tell you so.
Questions people ask about building on Wix Headless
What is Wix Headless?
Wix Headless lets you use Wix's business tools, like the CMS, forms, contacts, blog, members and payments, with a front end built in code instead of in the Wix editor. You still manage your content in the Wix dashboard you already know.
Can Wix Headless connect to my CRM or other software?
Usually, as long as that software has an API, which is a way for other software to talk to it. Trent Estate Agents' site takes its listings from Apex27, their property software, so new listings appear on the site without anyone typing them in.
Is Wix Headless worth it for a simple brochure site?
Often not. If you need a handful of pages and want to move things around yourself, Wix Studio is usually the better fit. Wix Headless earns its keep when the site has to do more: pull in data, take payments a particular way, give people a login, or grow to dozens of pages.
Got a system in mind?
If part of your business runs on spreadsheets, copy and paste or someone remembering to do something, there's probably a system in it. Have a look at what we've built, then tell us what you're trying to run. Every system starts with a plan, so you'll know what it does and what it costs before anything gets built.
Next up: The enquiry form that files itself.
