Back in the old days, the process of building website pages hosted on WordPress was such a hard task to behold. Not only would you have to write whatever you want to add into its very limiting in-house editor, but you’d be required extra knowledge of HTML and coding to incorporate sophisticated and impressive layouts and styles.
Drag-and-drop page builders plugins have made page editing much more simple. This makes it even easier for newbies, even those with no coding experience.
Elementor may be one thing that pops up in your mind regarding those new types of page builders. There are so many options, and it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you. This article will help to find the perfect page builder for you.
Daniel has posted a video review on Design Break that will give you a visual experience. To get a comprehensive overview of Elementor, you may still want to check out our article below.
Elementor in a Nutshell Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Before we get into the meat of the story, let’s take a short look first at what Elementor is.
Elementor is one of the most popular free page builder plugins for WordPress. It is well-known for its intuitive user interface and rich features. Users have unlimited access to many customization and design options. It was created to simplify page building for both experienced web designers and beginners.
One of Elementor’s highlights has to be its convenient drag-and-drop editor, which allows users to drag whatever object they like onto a canvas or workspace that’s big enough to fit most of the screen. The workspace lets you view your page as potential customers see it. Another of its highlights is the vast range of design element options, with a total of over 200 templates, widgets, and blocks built into Elementor’s storied library.
The Key Features
Elementor’s basic version has more than enough tools that you will need to build eye-catching pages. It has an advanced settings section that allows you to fine-tune all your content elements to be as pixel-perfect as possible and incorporate custom coding onto your page.
Elementor knows that convenience is king – that’s why there are plenty of helpful features that reflect that statement. You can retrieve older versions of your page by clicking ‘undo’ once and then again. Revision History is your friend. Struggling with searching for something that may be difficult to find? You can use the Finder feature to help you. Want to make some adjustments to the mobile version of your page? You can do so right away with Switch View.
It doesn’t stop there, as Elementor has more tricks up its sleeve with Elementor Pro. You get more useful features like the Theme Builder, which allows you to create full-page WordPress templates, the pop-up builders, and ecommerce widgets in collaboration for WooCommerce.
The Downsides
While Elementor may have lots to offer to individuals of all skill levels, we must not fully ignore a few of its disadvantages. Firstly, most of the Elementor Pro features are obviously, not accessible to those who use the plugin for free. The dashboard might need to be responsive at times. And lastly, some editing refinements may not go exactly as you expect them to.
Pricing
Elementor’s core version gives you an adequate number of page design tools you can use free of charge. However, if you want to gain access to additional features that are otherwise limited to Elementor Pro users, you may need to subscribe first to any of its five annual plans.
These prices range from $49 per year for the Essential plan to $999 for the Agency plan. A good thing about those subscriptions is you can explore any of the upgraded tools without limits – the only difference is the allotted number of website licenses and activations.
Now that we have an idea of what Elementor is and how much it can offer, let’s compare it to the other page builder platforms on this list, eight of which with an equally massive following and critical acclaim.
These include WPBakery and Divi, Beaver Builder, WordPress’s newest editor Gutenberg as well Webflow, Brizy, the Thrive Architect plugin and Oxygen. Let’s start with Divi!
Elementor vs Divi
The Divi builder from Elegant Themes is also a very popular page builder plugin. In terms of the amount it offers, it’s on par with Elementor.
Both have drag-and-drop interfaces that are powerful yet easy to use and are packed with flexible design tools. Divi is a WordPress theme, but not a plugin. It also doesn’t offer a free plan and has more useful features like split testing.
General Interface
Divi’s editing dashboard has a drag-and drop interface. However, if you look at it alongside Elementor, you will notice some differences. While the latter has all the options along the sidebar, Divi has a collapsible floating menu on the bottom of the screen, giving off a more minimalistic appeal.
Customization and Page-Building
While Elementor offers only single-page templates, Divi allows users to use full-website packages. It is also known as Layouts and has a much larger collection than Elementor.
Both plugins have the same styling options that don’t always require you to code unless necessary. Both plugins have similar features for theme-building. Divi may have it added in 2019, but Elementor had it available long before that.
The Key Features
Divi is not just a WordPress plugin. It also comes with the Divi theme. This theme has been called the “most popular WordPress theme” over the years.
One noticeable thing Divi has that sets it apart from Elementor and a few others is the split-testing feature. Marketing professionals, in particular, may find this one very useful as they can determine which of the pages’ elements work best in generating better conversion rates.
Pricing
Unlike Elementor, which gives you plenty of powerful features at just the free version, Divi has no free plan unless it’s a limited 30-day demo trial. However, the two pricing plans offered by Divi are more cost-effective and valuable than each other.
A $89 yearly access plan or a $249 lifetime access tier are available to individuals. You will be able use Divi on unlimited sites and you will have access to all Elegant Themes products including the Divi theme.
Elementor vs WPBakery
Another one of the widely-used page-building plugins, WPBakery, is also among the first to be released. Formerly known under the name Visual Composer until the inauguration of the website builder under the same name, WPBakery provides page creators with nearly the same convenient and user-friendly features as Elementor.
Its standout feature is the option to choose between a front end interface for site editing or more advanced back-end design editing. While Elementor may be packed with a wide range of widgets, WPBakery has twice the size of its offerings.
General Interface
Some page builders let you view your page as your customers see it while editing. Others offer a more schematic experience. WPBakery is able to accommodate both. It is ideal for both novice and expert web designers.
However, there have been concerns over how slow the front-end editor can be compared to the rest. You’ll still have the tools you need to make a beautiful page.
Page-Building and Customization
WPBakery offers over 100 pre-made templates, but this is a far cry from Elementor’s 300+ choices. While the former may lack in abundance, it catches up with an otherwise larger scale of design element offerings in the form of widgets and add-ons, giving it a huge boost ahead of the latter.
Both WPBakery (and Elementor) have the same level and variety of customization tools. However, one may prove too overwhelming for others.
Key Features
WPBakery is known for its multilingual support, which makes it more accessible to non-English users. The Role Manager function lets you manage who has access to certain sections of the interface.
The plugin’s integrations list and supply of add-ons may not be a big deal for plenty, but we consider it unique enough to stand out among the rest.
Pricing
WPBakery is similar to Divi but does not offer a free version. However, it does offer two pricing options. Both tiers, however, use a one-time payment system that gives you continuous updates, regardless of which plan you choose.
The regular version intended for single-site use costs $56, while the extended plan at $299 is intended for one SaaS application.
Elementor vs Beaver Builder
The Beaver Builder plugin has visually fluid drag-and-drop page-building properties as with similar platforms such as Elementor and Divi. As the other two plugins are made to be suitable for web designers, Beaver Builder is more geared toward developers with a sharp eye for website stability.
With the inclusion of clean coding capabilities, well-documented PHP, CSS, and JS options, and more handy features to help make your page run as smoothly as possible, it’s no wonder why Beaver Builder has amassed a large following among WordPress developers.
General Interface
Beaver Builder’s editing interface is similar to Divi’s: Your workspace occupies almost the entire screen with only a generously-sized horizontal bar on top. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
If you wish to add any column, row, or module/widget to your page, you just need to click the + button along the bar. The plugin’s dashboard has been highly praised for its fast, glitch-free, and very customizable capabilities. Pop-up windows are not your style? Drag it to create sidebars. Simple!
Page-Building and Customization
Beaver Builder offers a variety of core design tools. Its advanced settings, however, don’t have the same energy as Elementor – for one, the former lacks motion effects options and custom CSS for individual page elements as the latter is readily equipped with.
Beaver Builder manages to make each page responsive on all devices, despite this. The Beaver Builder offers two types of templates: full templates (pages) and rows (rows).
The Key Features
As we mentioned earlier, one of Beaver Builder’s strongest suits is its ability to conveniently let developers add custom coding. Another of its key features is white-labeling, which is ideal for those who build pages or websites for multiple clients for a living.
Beaver Builder is required to be purchased and integrated with a Beaver Themer extension for theme-building. Although it may seem cumbersome, this extension is still able to integrate with Elementor’s built in theme builder. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Pricing
The pricing structure for Beaver Builder is similar to Elementor’s as it includes yearly subscription plans ranging from $99 with the Standard tier to $546 with Ultimate, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. A free version of the plugin is also available, but it’s less flexible than Elementor.
Elementor vs Gutenberg
Gutenberg is the codename for WordPress’s latest standard block editor, effectively replacing its predecessor, the Classic Editor. Compared to the previous version, which required you to go through tedious and complicated processes, Gutenberg is intentionally designed to make it a breeze for many of its users as beginner-friendly editors with drag-and-drop interfaces take center stage.
With the rising popularity of user-friendly page builders like Elementor, it’s no wonder that WordPress has decided to keep up with the changes by giving its flagship editor a much-needed facelift. Nonetheless, Gutenberg offers users swift block-building capabilities and additional features to make blogging and post-writing much easier.
General Interface
The previous editor for WordPress required that you write all the information you needed on a page within a large rectangular text box. Many people find this difficult as they might need to know shortcodes to create different shapes, fonts and layouts. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Gutenberg makes editing easy for anyone with no coding skills. From the interface alone, you will notice that it borrows the common features usually found in most page builder plugins, such as the huge preview screen and the collapsible widgets sidebar.
Customization and Page-Building
Gutenberg is packed with essential design tools, from columns and block patterns to text headings and paragraphs. The range is still less than Elementor’s page builders, which offer more options.
Gutenberg does not have the ability to build themes, but its block-based characteristics make it compatible with many WordPress themes. However, it doesn’t completely override your theme settings and styles. You can also add custom CSS elements to give your site a personal touch.
The Key Features
Gutenberg, unlike Elementor which is a page builder that has a front-end interface and Gutenberg, is primarily a backend block editor. While you won’t have the ability to create a site that is completely unique with a theme of your choice, you can arrange design elements on any page within any theme. It’s compatible with multiple WordPress themes.
Gutenberg allows you to embed files and posts from multiple sources onto your page. This includes social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and media-sharing sites like YouTube and Soundcloud.
Pricing
Since Gutenberg is WordPress’s default editor, you can explore and use all of its features completely free of charge! Unlike all other editors in this list, not a single paid plan is included. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Elementor vs Webflow
Webflow, unlike Elementor or the other page builders in this list is a standalone service that allows you to create large-scale designs across multiple devices. It has the same level of capabilities as other popular website builders like Squarespace.
Webflow is designed to be a one-stop solution, and a time-saver as its team does most website administration duties on your behalf, like web hosting. Although WordPress may depend on plugins to make eye-catching websites, Webflow offers everything in one platform.
General Interface
Webflow is fun and flexible, but it’s not for everyone. This is especially true for those new to web design. With that being said, its editing interface needs to be more saturated with many essential website-building tools.
It may be a turn-off for most individuals with entry-level skills, but any average professional will most likely enjoy what it can offer. The platform’s interface can also be as straightforward as it gets.
Page-Building and Customization
You have two options with Webflow: you can start from scratch or choose from over 500 templates. About 100 of these templates are free. It spans multiple categories ranging from portfolios to full-on blog themes. Webflow is different from Elementor which allows you to change the entire page’s template in one go. Instead, you will need to create a new website for those changes.
You have many options for web design and can integrate with third-party platforms.
The Key Features
Webflow is poised to compete with WordPress in the CMS field. Despite being on a lower level than WordPress, Webflow’s SEO and blogging capabilities are impressive enough to be worth considering.
Webflow’s extensive database of knowledge through Webflow University and the blog, as well as its excellent customer assistance team, is a testament that proves how much it deeply cares for its users. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Pricing
For those who want to learn how to create a website, Webflow offers a free starter package. From there, you’ll find a versatile range of subscriptions. These include the basic Site plans from $12/month, team-based Workspace plans from $19/month, e-commerce plans from $29/month, and a custom Enterprise plan.
Elementor vs Thrive Architect
Some WordPress page builders cater to designers (as in Elementor), web professionals (like Beaver Builder), and both, but there are a few that cater more towards marketing professionals, such as Thrive Architect.
The plugin offers them top-notch features, which will ensure impressive sales results. It also includes the necessary page-building tools that they already know. Both platforms have the same design and customization capabilities. However, Thrive Architect is better suited for creating high-converting landing page and similar market-optimized sites.
General Interface
Thrive’s editing dashboard is similar to Elementor. It has a front-end interface that allows you to see what your customers will get. The former does this by having a large workspace and one feature-rich sidebar. The latter has two.
In addition, two taskbars similarly surround the space, with one for the page structure and the other for multi-device previews. While Thrive tried its best to fit all the basic tools in one dashboard, it has been criticized for being slightly clunky.
Page-Building and Customization
Elementor and Thrive both offer excellent templates and widgets. The latter’s focus on marketing niche may mean that the selections are not as wide as the former. Regardless, its library of landing page templates surely looks more deserving for marketers and businesses alike.
With customization, Thrive is relatively at a similar level as well. An apparent silver lining, though, has to be its top-performing in-line text editor and a more diverse range of global elements.
The Key Features
As far as marketing-focused features are concerned, Elementor is surely miles behind what Thrive is committed to offering. To begin, it comes with a list of Smart Landing Pages designed for a more optimized conversion turnout. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Thrive Architect believes that higher conversion rates are a key to sales growth. It can integrate seamlessly with specialty applications such as split testing, testimonial collections, automation, and more.
Pricing
You can get the whole Thrive Suite and Thrive Architect for $299/year if you are a marketer looking for better ways to convert leads into customers. Otherwise, the plugin itself is priced at $97 annually.
Elementor vs Brizy
Brizy is two years older than Elementor (2016) and has steadily climbed to the top, gaining critical acclaim because of its intuitive and simple functions. The interface itself is on the same par as Elementor – the only key difference that sets each other apart is the ecosystem.
While Elementor allows you to import third-party add-ons, in Brizy, you can only make use of its default content elements. The cloud service allows you to sync your work across all domains, WordPress and not, despite this limitation.
General Interface
While Brizy has the all-familiar drag-and-drop features, its editing dashboard is praised by many for having one of the most user-friendly interfaces, even beating out all other page builders on this list. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
One of the primary reasons why it attracts web designers of all skill levels so easily is its super lightweight design. It’s lighter than other dashboards, such as those from Thrive Architect and Divi, but it feels more welcoming than others.
Page-Building and Customization
As with most WordPress page builders, Brizy supplies its users with plenty of design and customization options. It doesn’t offer as many widgets than Elementor, but it does have a few WooCommerce e-commerce elements.
Brizy is packed with templates, including tons of blocks and full-page layouts. These are more varied than Elementor and can be used for free.
The Key Features
Elementor’s integrated mega menu creator is one of the most notable features Brizy offers that Elementor does not. Although Brizy does not support third-party addons, it is still a great feature to be able to create large-scale web menus.
Besides the WordPress plugin, Brizy offers the Brizy Cloud service, which provides hosting and other useful website tools. It is a totally different platform so you won’t have the ability to use WordPress. Instead, you will be given a custom domain.
Pricing
Similar to Elementor, you can download the WordPress plugin version of Brizy for free. Pricing subscriptions are also available for those who specialize in websites and page-building for a living: these include Personal, Freelancer, and Agency plans.
You can choose to pay annually ($49 to $199), or to pay a one-time fee ($149 – $399). Brizy Cloud offers many time-based subscriptions. Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
Elementor vs Oxygen
Oxygen, a WordPress theme that can be used with drag-and-drop plugins like the Divi builder, is similar to the Divi builder. It gives you full control of how you design your pages with whatever element you want to incorporate, as it’s one of the few page builders that can override any of your saved themes.
Filled with elite marketing tools and splendid professional-looking template options to take advantage of, Oxygen is geared toward pro freelancers, expert developers, and web agencies, small or large. While it seems ideal for those who are new to web design, you’ll soon find out that it may not be their strongest suit.
General Interface
Right away, Oxygen’s user interface is jam-packed with a huge load of features and tools surrounding the workspace. For beginners, the sheer volume of features and tools available may seem overwhelming. For those who know the basics of web development, there are many functions that can be used.
Elementor’s dashboard is suitable for both designers and average users. Oxygen’s version focuses primarily on making page building easier, more powerful, and more worthwhile for those who have firsthand experience.
Page-Building and Customization
We appreciate the ease of Oxygen’s customization capabilities. Coding pros, in particular, may surely enjoy the plugin’s easy-to-manage CSS editing capabilities – they wouldn’t have to worry much about going into the style sheets of any theme for long! Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
All of Oxygen’s templates are compiled into over 15 sets, each designed for various purposes. Its widget library may not be as large and spectacular as Elementor’s, but luckily, its public API tool makes integrations with third-party apps simpler.
Key Features
Most pages built with Oxygen load much faster than those made using Elementor or similar WordPress page builders.
Apart from the API, Oxygen can also seamlessly integrate with a diverse range of industries and platforms, including specialty apps like Airbnb, social media, SEO plugins, payment gateways, and more.
Pricing
Oxygen doesn’t offer a free plan due to its professional and advanced nature. Instead, it offers one-time fees on two of its current pricing plan offerings. The Basic plan will cost you $129, while the Ultimate plan lets you use everything it has in store for $349.
Our Last Thoughts Elementor Text Editor Paragraph Spacing
If you’re a web development expert, whether you work in the field for a living or you’re a power user for leisure, we recommend that you choose between Oxygen, Beaver Builder, and WPBakery, as each of those comes prepared with more accommodating coding capabilities.
If you specialize in website design, either as a freelancer or as part of a team, both Brizy, and Webflow have all the right tools you would need. Brizy is a great platform with a user-friendly interface. However, if you need third-party support, it may be advisable to look elsewhere.
If you’re not too invested in web design or don’t mind using your current theme, Gutenberg may be your best bet, although most page builders on this list offer the same feature. Gutenberg is also the only plugin that’s completely free, which may make it a good choice if you have a limited budget.
While there are some page builders that offer templates for landing pages, none compares to the number of templates Thrive Architect offers. It integrates with many marketing tools including split testing and sales funnels. If another builder can compete similarly in any capacity, it has to be Divi.
Oxygen or Divi are the best options if you want to get both a WordPress plugin and a WordPress template simultaneously. If you are a web designer who is looking for more templates and themes, the latter might be the best option.
Lastly, if you want to stay sure with some of the most trusted, easy-to-use, and leading WordPress page builders, look no further than Divi and Elementor. Elementor can provide you with a plugin that is completely feature-free if you are interested.