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.
Nowadays, all the arduous page editing tasks have been dramatically simplified as the rise of drag-and-drop page builder plugins has come to take over, making it much easier for everyone – even newbies with zero 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.
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from Daniel on his YouTube channel Design Break. You can still read our article to get an overview of Elementor.
Elementor in a Nutshell Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
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. Best known for its highly intuitive and feature-rich user interface, it gives users unparalleled access to a wide range of design and customization options to explore. 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. You can view your page in the same way potential customers see it with the workspace. Elementor’s rich library of templates, widgets and blocks is another highlight.
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 understands that convenience is key. That’s why it offers many helpful features. 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? The Finder feature can help you with that. Want to make some adjustments to the mobile version of your page? Switch View allows you to make changes right away.
Elementor Pro has even more features. 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
Elementor has many benefits for people of all skill levels. However, it is not without its drawbacks. First, the majority of Elementor Pro features cannot be accessed by those who have the plugin free. Second, the dashboard may need to be more responsive sometimes. Lastly, editing refinements might not work exactly as you expected.
Pricing
The core version of Elementor gives you enough page design tools to use for free. 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 range from $49 a year with the Essential plan to $999 with the Agency plan. The best thing about these subscriptions is that you can access any upgraded tool without limitations – the only limitation is the number of activations and website licenses.
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 are Divi, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, WordPress’s newest editor Gutenberg, Webflow, the Thrive Architect plugin, Brizy, and Oxygen. Let’s start with Divi!
Elementor vs Divi
The Divi builder from Elegant Themes is also a very popular page builder plugin. It’s been placed at the same level as Elementor regarding how much it offers to various users.
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.
Page-Building and Customization
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 offer the same styling options and don’t require you to code. Both plugins have similar features for theme-building. Divi may have it added in 2019, but Elementor had it available long before that.
Key Features
Divi is more than just a WordPress plugin – it also comes bundled with the Divi theme, which has been dubbed over the years as the “most popular WordPress theme in the world.”
Divi’s split-testing feature is one thing that makes it stand out from Elementor. This feature is especially useful for marketing professionals as they can identify which pages’ elements are most effective in driving higher 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. Despite this, its two pricing plans are seen as cost-effective and more valuable than the 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
WPBakery is another popular page-building plugin, and it was also one of 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 allow you to view your page exactly as your customers do while editing. Some offer a more detailed experience. If one WordPress plugin can accommodate both simultaneously, then WPBakery lives up to the challenge. 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. Regardless, you’ll have enough tools to create a good-looking 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.
Although the plugin’s integrations list is not that important for many, we find it to be unique enough to make it stand out from the rest.
Pricing
Much like the previously-mentioned Divi, WPBakery does not have a free version, but it does offer two pricing plans. Unlike the former, though, both tiers use a one-time payment system, giving you uninterrupted updates regardless of your choice.
The $56 regular version is for single-site use, while the $299 extended plan is 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 shares the same traits as Divi’s version: your workspace takes up nearly the entirety of your screen, with only a generously-sized horizontal toolbar placed on top of it. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
To add any column, row or module/widget, simply click the + button in the bar. The plugin’s dashboard has been highly praised for its fast, glitch-free, and very customizable capabilities. Don’t like pop-up windows while you edit? Simply drag it to create a sidebar. 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. As for templates, the plugin offers two types that are closely similar to Elementor: pages (full templates) and rows (Beaver Builder’s take on blocks).
The Key Features
Beaver Builder allows developers to add custom code, as we have mentioned. White-labeling is another key feature. This is great for people who create pages or websites for multiple clients.
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 vs Gutenberg Speed
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. The plugin can also be downloaded for free, although it is less flexible than Elementor.
Elementor vs Gutenberg
Gutenberg is WordPress’s newest standard block editor. It has replaced its predecessor, The Classic Editor. Gutenberg’s new standard block editor is much easier than the old version. It requires you to complete tedious and complex processes. Gutenberg was designed with beginners in mind, using drag-and-drop interfaces.
WordPress is relaunching its flagship editor to reflect the popularity of Elementor and other user-friendly page builders. Nonetheless, Gutenberg offers users swift block-building capabilities and additional features to make blogging and post-writing much easier.
General Interface
WordPress’s previous editor required you to write everything you need on a page inside a big, rectangular text field. Many people find this difficult as they might need to know shortcodes to create different shapes, fonts and layouts. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
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 comes with all the essential design tools you need, including blocks and columns as well as text headings and paragraphs. Still, the range fares less than popular page builders like Elementor, where there are additional choices to explore.
Gutenberg may not have theme-building capabilities, but its block-based traits make it compatible with multiple WordPress themes – it does not fully override your theme styles and settings. Additionally, you can incorporate custom CSS elements for a more personalized feel.
Key Features
Unlike Elementor, which happens to be a page builder with a front-end interface, Gutenberg is primarily a back-end 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.
With Gutenberg, you get to embed uploaded files and posts from many sources to your page, from social media sites like Twitter and Tumblr to media-sharing sites such as YouTube and Soundcloud.
Pricing
Gutenberg is WordPress’ default editor. This means that you can use all its features absolutely free! Unlike all other editors in this list, not a single paid plan is included. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
Elementor vs Webflow
Unlike Elementor and the rest of our page builder plugins in this list, Webflow is a standalone website-building service that lets you create full-scale designs that work across multiple devices. It offers the same capabilities as Squarespace and other popular website builders.
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. While WordPress itself may rely on plugins to create eye-catching sites, Webflow has everything rolled into 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.
Although it may seem a bit daunting for those with basic skills, professionals will likely find the platform useful. It can be as simple as possible to use the platform’s interface.
Page-Building and Customization
With Webflow, you can either opt to start from the ground up or choose from its collection of 500+ website templates, with about 100 of them offered for 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.
Key Features
Webflow is poised to compete with WordPress in the CMS field. With that being said, while one is not yet on the same level as the other, its blogging and SEO capabilities are still impressive enough that they may be worth trying.
Webflow’s vast knowledge base through Webflow University, the blog, and its exceptional customer service team are testaments to how deeply it cares about its users. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
Pricing
Webflow offers a free starter plan for those who wish to learn how to design a website. From there, you’ll find a versatile range of subscriptions. You can choose from the basic Site plan starting at $12/month, team-based Workspace plans starting at $19/month and e-commerce plans starting at $29/month. There is also a custom Enterprise plan.
Elementor vs Thrive Architect
While some WordPress page builders primarily accommodate either designers (as with Elementor), web developers (like Beaver Builder), or both at the same time, there are a few that are geared towards mostly marketing professionals and businesses, and Thrive Architect happens to be one of them.
This plugin provides them with top-notch features that are guaranteed to make impressive sales turnouts on top of the essential page-building tools they should already be familiar with. 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
Like Elementor, Thrive’s editing dashboard involves a front-end interface, letting you see what your potential 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. Thrive attempted to include all basic tools within one dashboard. However, some users have complained about the interface being a bit clunky.
Page-Building and Customization
Elementor and Thrive both offer excellent templates and widgets. Still, considering the latter’s concentration on the marketing niche, the range may not be as flexible as the former. Its library of landing page templates is certainly more valuable for both marketers and businesses.
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
Elementor’s marketing-focused features fall far short of what Thrive has to offer. It comes with a list Smart Landing Pages that are optimized for higher conversion rates. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
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. The plugin is available at $97 per year.
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 is comparable to Elementor. The only thing that separates them is the ecosystem.
Elementor lets you import third-party addons. However, Brizy only allows you to use its default content elements. Despite the limitation, the latter does have a cloud service that not only gives you access to premium designs and integrations but also lets you sync your works across any domain, WordPress or otherwise.
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 vs Gutenberg Speed
Its super light design is one of the main reasons it is so popular with web designers of all levels. Compared to other dashboards, particularly from Thrive Architect, Divi, and even Elementor, it doesn’t feel very bulky; instead, it’s welcoming.
Page-Building and Customization
Brizy, like most WordPress page builders offers a wide range of customization and design options. Given its limits, it doesn’t have as many widgets as Elementor has, but it still manages to offer a handful of e-commerce web elements powered by WooCommerce.
Template-wise, Brizy’s packed with tons of individual blocks and full-page layouts that are a bit more diverse than Elementor, most of which you can use for free.
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.
Brizy also offers the BrizyCloud service which includes hosting and other helpful website tools. However, remember that it is a completely different platform, which means you won’t be able to use WordPress – you are immediately given a custom domain.
Pricing
You can also download the WordPress plugin version Brizy free of charge, similar to Elementor. For those who are specialized in website and page-building, pricing subscriptions are available. These include Agency, Personal, and Freelancer plans.
You may opt to either pay yearly ($49 to $199) or purchase a one-time fee ($149 to $399). Brizy Cloud also offers a wide range of time-based subscriptions. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
Elementor vs Oxygen
Similar to the aforementioned Divi builder, Oxygen is a WordPress theme and a drag-and-drop plugin rolled into one. 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.
Oxygen has a wealth of marketing tools and stunning professional-looking templates to choose from. It is designed for freelancers and developers who are experts, as well as web agencies that are small and large. Although it might seem ideal for newbies in web design, it could be a weak suit.
General Interface
Oxygen’s user interface has a lot of tools and features that you can use immediately. 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.
As Elementor’s dashboard looks suitable for designers and average users, Oxygen’s version is mainly driven by the purpose of making page building more convenient, powerful, and worthwhile for those with firsthand experience.
Page-Building and Customization
In terms of customization, we appreciate how inviting Oxygen can be to a wide range of experts. The plugin’s simple-to-use CSS editing capabilities are a big plus for coders. They wouldn’t need to spend too much time looking at the style sheets of any theme. Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
Each set is made up of all Oxygen’s templates. 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.
Oxygen, in addition to the API, can seamlessly integrate with a wide range of industries, platforms, and apps, including social media, SEO plugins and payment gateways.
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 Final Thoughts Elementor vs Gutenberg Speed
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, in particular, has one of the most user-friendly interfaces out there, but if third-party add-on support is what you’re looking for in one, then it might be best if you find something else.
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. It’s also the only completely free plugin here, so that may be a solid choice as well if you’re on a tight budget.
While there are some page builders that offer templates for landing pages, none compares to the number of templates Thrive Architect offers. It also integrates with many marketing tools, including sales funnels and split testing. Divi is the only builder that can compete in a similar capacity to Divi.
If you’re planning on getting a plugin and a WordPress theme simultaneously, look no further than Oxygen and Divi. The latter could be ideal if you’re a web designer looking for more template and theme options.
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.