Whenever we talk about website building, one of the easily available tools that we can use is WordPress. WordPress is an open-source platform for creating websites. It is known for its features and flexibility, making it perfect for both beginners and old-school users.
Any website that uses the WordPress ecosystems to manage its content is a WordPress website. WordPress is the backbone of a website, powering the front-end as well as the backend.
WordPress websites come in many different forms. Some of the more common examples of a WordPress website include:
- Blogs
These websites are based on the author’s interests and likes. These can showcase thoughts, photos, reviews, tutorials, and recipes. A blog structure is often designed so that the most recent content is displayed first.
- E-Commerce website
These are websites that mainly focus on doing online business. These are usually geared to showcase products and services that the website owner intends to sell. These sites can also be used to collect payments for the goods and services.
- Website for businesses
At first glance, these might look and feel like E-Commerce websites. They are quite different in function. E-commerce websites may sell products, but business websites are designed to introduce users to companies and the services they offer. They can be thought of as a business profile, but not online.
- Sites for members
Content creators (i.e., Youtubers, Online Artists, etc.) They might offer something more for their most loyal followers or supporters. They might want to offer “exclusive” and extra content that they want to put behind a paywall.
A WordPress membership website is a good way to go about this. Content creators can make a website where users need to log in or pay for the said content. WordPress has enough tools to handle the things needed to set this up.
- Portfolio Website
For many, websites are a good avenue to show off their work to prospective employers. This holds true for both digital and traditional artists. A website allows artists to showcase their work. It is similar to owning a museum.
- Forum website
Forums websites are online communities wherein the range of conversation topics is limitless. Back before social media was a thing, forums used to rule the Internet. Nowadays, specialized forums are few and far between.
In current times, bigger websites have become the go-to websites for discussion. Reddit, Quora and other forums are the most popular. However, it does not mean that forum websites have stopped existing altogether. Forums are crucial for niche topics.
WordPress allows content creators, bloggers, and even book authors to host their own Forums. Forums like these give a more intimate feel compared to the wide reach of the usual websites.
- Websites for events
Event websites are simple websites used to advertise events. An event website allows the public to view and verify details about events such as seating and dates. They can also check ticket prices. These websites can also be used to sell tickets.
- E-Learning website
Online classes and electronic courses have become a household term after the 2019 COVID Pandemic. E-learning websites existed even before the COVID Pandemic.
E-learning websites allow students to take an online course, track how they are doing, download their research materials, and much more. Although it takes more effort to set up an elearning website using WordPress, it is rewarding for those who are eager to share their knowledge.
- Invitational websites
Even invitations can now be sent online. Thanks to the power of the internet, you can create websites for that personal event of yours. You can create a website for any occasion, including a birthday or christening. WordPress offers many resources to do it fast and do it well.
Daniel has posted a video review on Design Break that will give you a more visual experience. To get a comprehensive overview of Elementor II, you may still want to check out our article below, which compares it to some competitors.
WordPress plugins: Enhancing WordPress to Be the Best Elementor Explained
Among the reasons for WordPress’ longevity and relevance is because of the support it gets from its community of users. WordPress plugins are a part of some of that support.
WordPress plugins are an additional code package that can be uploaded to a website to improve its functionality and integrate with other sites.
WordPress Plugins can take on multiple forms. They can be in the form that focuses on a website’s SEO or for use in analytics. WordPress plugins can be used to integrate marketing and payment methods. There are even plugins that can help to build websites a cinch.
Plugins can also come between free and premium. Their main difference could be the quality or the scope of their function. This does not necessarily mean that plugins for free are inferior. Heck, there are even some free plugins which function better than their premium counterparts.
These plugins are often compatible with WordPress’ core. There will be occasions when a premium plugin is worth the cost. The strongest argument for paying for a premium plugin is the support.
As stated above, WordPress plugins tend to be well-behaved with each other. There are occasions when plugins do not function as they should. As such, the value of customer support service can never be replaced
Your Must-Have WordPress plugins
For most WordPress Websites, there are certain types of Plugins that must be prioritized compared to others. These WordPress plugins are recommended for all WordPress websites:
- WordPress Backup Plugin
WordPress doesn’t have a backup function by its very nature. Having no backup is a potential headache waiting to happen, and a huge one at that. As such, backup plugins can be the solution to those potential headaches.
In the event of a hack or security breach, backups are important. It allows you to quickly replace deleted data or bring your website back into a save state prior to the attack.
- WordPress Security Plugin
The ubiquity and popularity of WordPress make it a lucrative target for hackers. Hackers create malicious programs to attack WordPress sites, access all their data, and do something nefarious.
These are where WordPress Security plugins can help. They offer multiple solutions to prevent these attacks. Some limit login attempts to a website to stop brute force attacks. Some offer more sophisticated and comprehensive protection against these attacks.
Whatever your preference, the key to finding the best WordPress security plugin is security and convenience.
- WordPress SEO Plugin
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the process by which your website becomes more visible to many audiences. With proper SEO settings, your website can be found easier in searches through search engines such as Google and Bing!
SEO is a business. The competition for Google’s top pages is fierce with the sheer number of websites popping up every day. If you want your website to gain traction, adding a great SEO plugin may help you with that.
SEO plugins can give you tips to improve your site content’s SEO, as well as automate the small and repetitive parts of content creation.
- WordPress Form Plugin
WordPress Form Plugins allow you to add robust forms for your websites. These forms can come in the shape of contact forms, surveys, donation forms, and file uploaders.
Forms allow site visitors to enter their personal information. This information is then received and sent to the appropriate place (database or mailing list).
Forms can be used to collect sensitive information and should not be spammed. These forms should also fit depending on the customer (most websites that use forms are e-commerce websites).
As such, for your WordPress form plugin, it would be wise to look for something secure that remains easy to configure and customize.
- WordPress E-commerce Plugin
For WordPress E-commerce, an ecommerce plugin is a must. E-commerce websites are designed to sell products. However, your website won’t be able to do this if it doesn’t have the right plugin.
An E-commerce plugin allows you to turn your website into a store. It can provide you with a lot of tools and resources. Some e-commerce plugins even come with online payment capabilities integrated.
- WordPress Design Plugin
WordPress is the best platform for website design. WordPress allows you to do just about anything, provided you can code. HTML, CSS and other coding languages allow you to customize your WordPress Page to the max.
That said, not all have the knowledge to code. This might seem like a high barrier to entry for WordPress users. But, WordPress wouldn’t be as popular if it had a high barrier to entry.
This so-called barrier to entry was removed by WordPress, which helped it regain and grow its user base. WordPress Site Design Plugins like page builders allowed website building, in general, to become an easier and faster process.
A lot of these plugins removed the coding requirement for building websites. With their drag-and drop interface, anyone can create a WordPress website with minimal to no programming knowledge. Although coding knowledge is not required, there are many benefits to using WordPress.
These plugins have also helped speed up the process of creating websites. WordPress users, or at least sites using WordPress, are growing in number every day.
These are just a few of the plugins we recommend you add to your website. Of course, there are many more types of plugins, but their use can be situational and optional.
WordPress is currently home to over 60,000 plugins or more to choose from, and it is up to you to find what works best for you.
Installing WordPress plugins
WordPress plugins can be installed very easily. It is quick and easy to do.
Once you have logged in to your WordPress site, look for the Plugins menu in your site’s WordPress Dashboard. Click on it to Expand this Menu.
You will find a page called Installed plugins. Here you will find all the plugins currently installed on this WordPress Site. Even if you haven’t added some plugins, or if this is your first time looking at this page, you might notice plugins already installed.
This is because some plugins come bundled with your WordPress Installation.
To upload a new plugin, simply click on the “Add New” link. This will let you search for plugins in the WordPress.org Plugin directory. There are also links you can click to look at featured, popular, and latest plugins available. You can also mark your favorite plugins here.
After you’ve found your plugin of choice, click on the “Choose File” button. Next, locate the zip file of your plugin and click on “Install Now”.
Once the plugin has finished installing, click Activate to turn the plugin on.
Lastly, there is a menu item beneath Plugins in the WordPress Dashboard called the Editor. This editor is built into WordPress plugins and can be used to modify individual PHP files.
PHP is a language that you should know. You can make your customizations unaffected by changing any of these things. You don’t likely need to modify any plugin’s PHP code.
Elementor: Among the Best Page Builder Plugins WordPress can Offer
Elementor is a WordPress Site Design plugin that ranks among the top. To begin with, it is a drag-and-drop page builder which allows users to make their webpage in a fast and easy way. As such, even characters who are not tech savvy enough can carve themselves a place on the internet.
Elementor was released in mid-16, and it has been available in the WordPress Plugin Library since then. It might be a more recent addition to the WordPress ecosystem, but that is still a pretty significant period of time by the Internet’s standards.
Elementor doesn’t care about your age. It quickly became one of the most widely used visual page builders on the platform at the time. Elementor didn’t let this success stop them. They continued to grow and create new ways to keep Elementor current with the latest trends.
Elementor’s core functionality is still drag and drop builder. And it does that function very well. It operates in a “what you see is what you get” approach. This approach makes it easier to see how the website will look while you are still editing.
With Elementors features, you might not need to open any of WordPress’s standard editors at all. With all that said, coding is still welcome, and people who prefer using their own custom HTML, CSS, and PHP, along with other current coding languages, are free to do so.
Elementor is known for being a flexible plugin. You can use it with any current WordPress theme. It even comes with its own theme builder that allows you to make your own WordPress themes that suits your taste and needs.
And speaking of themes, it does work with other themes that are available in the WordPress library, and as such, there is little worry about themes bugging out. If they bug out, however, Elementor’s customer service is always open to help you fix the issues.
Elementor Features
While Elementor might bill itself as just a drag-and-drop page builder, the number of features that come with it makes that an understatement.
Besides, Elementor wouldn’t be one of WordPress’s top webpage builders as it is now if that’s all it can do.
As such, here are some of Elemetor’s best features:
- Content Elements Galore
Elementor uses building blocks to create a webpage. These blocks, or elements, can be organized according to the user’s wishes to create a website layout.
To explain the blocks a bit more, they are the elements that make up the web design. Every element can contain a widget or a written content. Or any other thing that fits in the space.
Because of these elements, Elementor is called what it is today.
- Responsive Design
All web pages created with Elementor’s page builders are responsive by default. This means that they not only look elegant and pretty when viewed through a personal computer and laptop,
Because of the responsive design, you can even look at the design through your phone, and still it would look great, comprehensive, and functional.
However, responsive design does not only mean directly translating your website and how it looks through a smartphone. Elementor allows users to customize the look of their website.
You can view the page through various platforms and gadgets by simply touching another button. You can then make further edits to your page, including adding or deleting elements.
- Available templates
No page builder would be complete without templates. After all, templates are the best examples to inspire when building anything from scratch (web pages included).
For beginners, templates can be a good starting point for page developers. This is especially true if the templates are professionally designed. With templates, work and development on newer websites can come faster for the price of sites having a samey look.
All templates in Elementor are editable. You can also edit their styling options. So you do not have to worry about websites looking the same when utilizing templates in your work.
Elementor offers many professionally designed templates. For both beginner and veteran users to use. These templates can be used by beginners to create websites. As for veterans (i.e., page devs), they can use them to speed up their work.
- Style options
You would be remiss if you didn’t have any styling options if you wanted a cool and sleek website. Good thing that Elementor lets these styling options accessible to many people. This is possible without any coding knowledge.
- Convenience
Elementor’s many tools make web page building easy. Support even comes only with one click. You can also use the quick find tool to help you locate a topic of assistance.
- Dynamic Content
You can use elementor to add dynamic content using custom fields and plugins like ACF, Pods and Toolset. Through dynamic content, you can have your pages up to date consistently and constantly. Such an ability can keep your website up-to-date and fresh.
- WooCommerce Builder
WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin mainly used in WordPress. Its main customer base consists of merchants who use WordPress as their main website. Of course, this includes both small and large online merchants.
WooCommerce is almost in symbiotic relationships with WordPress. It’s easy to integrate WooCommerce within WordPress.
Elementor allows you to enhance your WooCommerce store with its customization options. You can even show prices and incorporate products into your WooCommerce store design.
- Popup Builder
Popups are the most hated type of advertising on the web. In fact, it is so hated that even its original creator had to apologize to the whole internet for the countless troubles it has caused.
However, when used properly, popups are among your website’s best lead conversion tools. Elementor Pro users have access to a popup creator that can be used as a lead conversion tool.
Elementor’s popup builder allows you to design your popup using the same tools included in the webpage builder. You can even set the triggers on when and how these popups appear.
Elementor Price
If you are already impressed by Elementor’s features, you will be even more impressed by its price. Elementor allows users to enjoy at least 80% of the plugin’s capabilities at the low price of FREE!
That’s right! You can use most of Elementor’s functions & features for free if you put them on your WordPress website.
Elementor offers Pro plans that include some features such as the Popup Builder behind a paywall. If you are interested, the Elementor Pro consists of three types of plans. Each has its own advantages. These plans are as follows:
| Essential Plan | Expert Plan | Studio Plan | Agency Plan |
| $49 per Year | $199 per Year | $299 per Year (1st year only)
$499 |
$999 per Year |
| 1 Pro Website Activation
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
300+ Basic and Pro Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support |
25 Pro Website Activations
More than 100+ basic and pro widgets
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
100 Pro Website Activations
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
VIP Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
1000 Pro Website Activations
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
300+ Basic and Pro Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
VIP Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
Elementor Pros and Cons
Pros
- Elementor’s core product does not cost a single dime. There is no need to get the Pro plan to use Elementor’s full potential.
- Elementor offers many features that will help you create the best WordPress website. These tools are simple and very easy to use.
- Elementor’s page builders are an upgrade to the WordPress Builder in terms of functionality and accessibility
- Elementor allows you to build pages without the need to learn HTML, CSS, or PHP coding skills.
- Elementor’s “what you see is what you get” approach makes building websites faster by removing the need to preview your work.
- Elementors pages are automatically responsive in design. They are compatible with all devices. If you want, you can even fine-tune the design for each device.
- Elementor allows you to adjust alignments, margins and padding values.
Cons
- Sometimes custom styling, especially for links, can get a bit buggy.
- Sometimes Elementor’s default typography or color settings cannot be changed.
- It can be difficult to correct misaligned elements due to the different margin values.
- There is a possibility of Elementor slowing down the loading times of different websites.
Elementor Versus Divi
Divi Builder: The Crowning Jewel of Elegant Themes
Elegant themes is one of many WordPress themes available in the shop. It has grown to be one of the most prominent players in the WordPress World.
Divi Theme is their flagship product. Divi’s functionality in the drag-and-drop website creator is key to Elegant Theme’s success.
Making sense of this, it was only a matter of time where Elegant Themes offered the builder as a separate plugin.
They did. The Divi Builder plugin was released. This means that anyone can access the exact same builder that helped Divi Theme become one of the most popular WordPress themes. Divi even made sure that the plugin is available no matter the theme you use.
Divi Features
Since “gaining independence” and becoming a standalone plugin, Divi Builder now works with any WordPress themes (even if they are not from Elegant Themes). It also has multiple features that make it more attractive to users.
- Drag and Drop Visual Content Editor
The Divi Builder was originally a back-end page building tool for Divi Theme. However, since being turned into a plugin, it is now a legitimate front-end visual full-site editor.
Divi’s interface now works in a “what do you see is what you get” mode. This eliminates the problem of back-end developers who don’t know how Divi will look until you make a switch to preview.
Divi’s Visual Content Editor continues to be upgraded. This latest version gives you a better view of your visitor’s point-of-view when viewing your content.
This implies that website developers will be able to work faster as it removes the need for switching to previews. This eliminates the frustration associated with incorrect layouts.
Those used to playing with the site’s backend might find themselves lost or missing some of the features available when using that mode. All is not lost, however, as Divi Builder allows you to switch into Wireframe mode.
The wireframe mode hides each module’s content and focuses on the structure of the page. This provides a good overview of what the page looks like and which modules are used.
Divi allows you to customize the way your website works, according to your preference and comfort.
- Theme Builder Functionality
Divi Builder 4.0 added Divi’s Theme builder feature, which ultimately turned it into a full on-site editor rather than just a page builder.
Divi Builder now has the ability to customize any part of your website. You can now customize headers, footers and category pages as well as product templates and other areas of the website to suit your needs.
Templates can be used to customize blog posts. These templates can be applied automatically to all blog posts, or a select few. You can also use the Display rules feature to automatically format and create templates for posts based on their category.
This functionality allows for dynamic content to be added to existing static content. It can also enhance interaction with WooCommerce content.
The Divi Theme Builder feature, which allows users to create custom 404 error pages or search results pages, is most surprising.
- Helpful Content Modules
Divi builder comes with 40 content modules. These modules can be placed in columns or rows, and each one has its own function.
These modules can even be used to replace the functionality of other plugins on your WordPress page. Using these modules, you turn almost all of your website’s services into pure Divi or Elegant Themes.
Whether one developer runs this idea of all your plugins and “apps” is good or bad, it has its own benefits. It reduces the load time for your WordPress site.
This also results in a reduction of costs, especially if you use commercial plugins.
A few examples of these modules include “call to action” buttons, countdown timers, maps, pricing tables, email opt-in forms, videos and their sliders, social media, and even a search module.
You can also find different versions of these modules. This gives your website some extra flair. You won’t have to risk having the same module appearing from different parts of the internet.
- A growing library of pre-made websites and page layouts
Of course, Divi would be remiss if they did not offer pre-made and ready-to-use websites and page layouts. These layouts are their version of templates.
As templates usually go, they are extremely useful for non-web designers or web designers whose design sense leaves to be desired. This high-quality pre-made can be used to start their design process, or if they’re satisfied, it can be used as is.
In terms of variety, they have a decent number, somewhere between 200 to 400. However, this is in terms of website layouts. This means that each layout can contain more than one page.
These can also target specific types of websites, such as websites for agencies, freelancers, eCommerce stores, and construction companies. That said, these layouts are entirely customizable.
If you are looking for a layout that is law-aware, you may find some photos that don’t fit or it doesn’t work. Get your tools out and start editing until you get the website that you desire.
- Divi Builder A/B Testing Tool
Divi builder offers the unique ability to conduct A/B testing of your page layout. You can compare two layouts on your page layout to see which is more effective.
Although freedom of design is always a positive, too much freedom can be dangerous, especially if it is not properly managed. This is where A/B Testing can be useful. Comparing different layouts of a webpage can help you determine if the design decision should be made.
At the end of the day, a properly A/B tested website will lead it to be optimized for its purpose.
- Divi Role Editor
Different people may manage different websites. While this makes for efficient job division, it also multiplies the risk of accidentally changing the website’s main setting. It is said that too many cooks can spoil the broth.
Divi offers a role editor that allows you to restrict access to your website’s backend. You can allow your co-authors to do what they want, like writing for your blogs. However, this role editor will prevent them from doing any unnecessary things.
Divi’s role as editor is also granular. It is not a “black and white” or a “yes and no” choice. You can assign roles to define what parts of the plugin they are allowed to access and use.
This is particularly important for web designers who have clients who could break custom designs. Role editor reduces the chance of custom design breaking.
- Full-Width Content
Images can make your web pages stand out. They can even complement the look of your website. Sometimes, you just want to place an image and plaster its full resolution to a part of your site.
Divi offers a feature that lets you do exactly that. Divi allows you to add a full width and a module to your builder. You can then add any content that breaks the post container.
This full-width does not just apply to images. You can include videos, texts, headers, menus, and more.
Divi Price
Divi Builder was an original part of Divi Theme. You cannot purchase this plugin separately. You will have to pay yearly for access to Elegant themes. One plan is a yearly access, and the other is a lifetime access.
| Yearly Access | Access for Life |
| $89/Year | $249 1 Time |
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Divi Pros and Cons
Pros
- Divi’s interface is intuitive and clean.
- Divi offers tremendous value for the money (they even offer a lifetime deal)
- Divi can be used on any number of websites without restrictions.
- Divi is easy to use for beginners, thanks to the drag-and-drop page builder.
- Divi provides veteran web designers who have the appropriate coding skills a chance to do amazing stuff.
- Divi is available with an additional WordPress theme
- Divi provides more than a hundred stunning templates to choose from. Elementor Explained
Cons
- Working with longer pages tend to be slow
- Divi’s inline editing options can be better
- Divi has a few bugs. This usually manifests when making more complex layouts
Elementor Versus WPBakery
WP Bakery: The Builder Formerly Known as Visual Composer
What we now know as WPBakery was once called Visual Composer. It gets even more confusing, because there is another WordPress plugin called Visual Composer. Let’s move on to WPBakery now that we have that out of the way.
This plugin, like all other page builders allows you to create unique pages. In this case, the building blocks are called “Content Elements.” Though they have different names, they still serve the same function as widgets and modules.
WPBakery offers about 40 content elements, each of which can be used for designing your page layout. These include text blocks, social buttons, video players and other blocks that are common to page builders. Elementor Explained
WPBakery also uses a drag-and-drop page builder to style your pages. This builder allows you to style both the front and back ends of your website. You have the option to design both front and back ends, or choose to style them separately, depending on what you prefer.
WPBakery Features
Unlike most of their WordPress Page Builders, WPBakery does not offer much. The following is what they offer:
- Light and easy to use interface
- Frontend and Backend Editor
- Multilingual ready
- Templates that can later be saved
- Responsive websites that work on mobile and PC
- Your own “content elements”
- Object-oriented Code
- Huge addon support
WPBakery is more difficult to use than you might think. Even if you are a technical person, it is not very user-friendly. It is built on a shortcode architecture that can be a massive liability.
It has some help text, but they are not well executed. Elementor Explained
Lastly, it’s just plain unreliable. It has erratic previews and is riddled with bugs. Working with it is just a nightmare, especially when working on a website.
WPBakery Price
WPBakery has 2 pricing plans available if you still wish to use its services. These are:
| Regular | Extended |
| $56 | $299 |
|
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WPBakery Pros and Cons
Pros
- WPBakery allows you to save your templates for later use
- It can be used with almost all themes
- It has a multilingual interface
- Includes various content blocks to help you build your website
- You can integrate it with various add-ons that will enhance its functionality Elementor Explained
- It allows users to access the control panel via their role.
Cons
- It is difficult to use the page builder and takes some time to learn. This is true even for experienced website designers.
- It may not be compatible with all plugins, and can sometimes cause conflicts with them.
- Deactivating this builder leaves shortcodes on pages that use this plugin.
- This plugin can impact age speed and might slow download times.
Elementor Versus Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder: The Most Efficient Beaver-Themed Builder
Beaver Builder is one of the most well-known names in the WordPress page builders space. Why wouldn’t it be with its feature-rich drag-and-drop page builder and easy-to-use interface?
Beaver Builders offers a lot to its users.
It is a page builder that allows you to create custom pages and posts using a drag-and drop user interface. It eliminates the need to code your website. Beaver Builder doesn’t require users to know HTML in order to create a functional website.
Beaver Builder (the plugin), even though it has its own theme, is compatible with all WordPress themes. As such, you can keep using your current WordPress theme and carry on developing and designing your site. Elementor Explained
Beaver Builder’s greatest strength is its simplicity and efficiency. Beaver Builder claims it makes it easier to work with existing content or create websites from scratch.
Beaver Builder Features
BeaverBuilder is a feature-rich page builder that can be considered as among the best of the best. As such, instead of listing every bit of them, let’s check their highlights. After all, when it comes to Beaver Builder, efficiency is the name of the game.
Beaver Builder’s essential features include:
- You can drag and drop the main page builder. You can place text and images wherever you like with this builder.
- Beaver Builder allows for full front-end editing. This allows you to view your work while you are working on it. This is similar to other page builders’ “What you see is what your get” approach.
- Beaver Builder eliminates the need to code when building websites. Beaver Builder doesn’t require HTML or CSS. Elementor Explained
- Beaver Builder can be used with all WordPress themes. Beaver Builder can be combined with any WordPress theme and it will look like nothing happened.
- Beaver Builder can also be used to work on any type of post, pages, and custom types of posts.
- Beaver Builder plans include more than 50 pre-made templates. Of course, this includes templates for pages with a specific purpose. Be it a landing page, a welcome page, or a normal comment section; Beaver Builder has got you covered.
- For working with your pages, Beaver Builder provides 30 content elements and modules. These content elements and modules will be the key to your pages’ construction. Each will have its own function. Some of these modules include (headings, buttons, galleries, and much more)
- Beaver Builder ensures that all your resulting websites will be compatible with any screen. As such, you can be sure that your developed website will be responsive.
- Beaver Builder is also compatible with WooCommerce. Beaver Builder allows you to create WooCommerce content using the content elements. Elementor Explained
- Beaver Builder is also not stingy. In fact, it gives you the ability to import and export features. This allows you reuse and share your designs with the larger community.
Beaver Builder Price
| Agency | Pro | Standard |
| $399 | $199 | $99 |
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Beaver Builder Pros & Cons
Pros
- Beaver Builder allows users to create their own webpages.
- There is no learning curve when using Beaver Builder
- Beaver Builder’s full drag-and-drop builder offer front end editing support.
- Beaver Builder is flexible and lenient. You can even use default WordPress widgets inside Beaver Builder’s Content blocks Elementor Explained
- Beaver Builder has lots of page templates that are perfect as a starting place whenever one is making pages.
Cons
- Beaver Builder is at a pretty steep price point. The cheapest plan is $99. They do offer a Lite version which costs 0$.
- Beaver Builder is only capable of working with the theme that you choose. If there are things that the theme cannot do, then Beaver Builder will not be able to achieve them.
- Beaver Builder doesn’t allow users to add custom CSS codes to their content modules. As such, there is a bit of a limit to its customization.
Elementor Versus Webflow
Webflow: A Page Builder Beyond WordPress
Despite WordPress having the lion’s share of Internet blogs, not everyone likes using it. There are many alternatives to WordPress for those who don’t like it. Webflow is one of these alternatives.
Webflow’s primary focus is on design. Its main target is to let web designers build websites as easily as possible. Using webflows allows web designers to build responsive websites through browser-based visual editing software. The thing about Webflow is that it writes the code while you are working on your site. Elementor Explained
Webflow is said to offer more benefits than WordPress. Among these are an appeal for more creative freedom, a more secure website, and easier user usage.
Webflow Features
As a full-on page builder, Webflow has its own features. Webflow’s features allow it to focus on becoming a service that caters first to designers.
- Webflow offers over a thousand available templates, and 45 of them are free. These templates can be used to build websites as you would with most websites.
Webflow also makes it easy for you to access these templates. They can be categorized and grouped according to which type of website they are intended for (portfolios, blogs, SaaS), etc. You can also search them using popular tags, languages, and other methods.
- Webflow may not be as intuitive for new users but it does provide a great tutorial to help users get familiar with the environment and navigate it. Although it may take some time to get used to Webflow, you will find that it is a wonderful user interface once you are comfortable with it. Elementor Explained
- Webflow also has a well-laid-out interface. The main builder of Webflow is broken into three sections to make it easier for you to access. The more you get used to Webflows workflow, the better and faster you can produce web pages
- Webflow offers great Search Engine Optimization capabilities. This is made even easier by the fact that you don’t need to install another plugin to make sure your website is SEO-optimized. Webflow even guides non-SEO experts to optimize their website’s SEO ranking for more traffic and conversion.
- Webflow has impressive eCommerce features that can be used to build a functional and attractive online store. It is simple to build a page, and there are templates that can help you get started. Both of these are free and paid.
Webflow also provides detailed instructions on how to build the site from its initial setup until its launch.
- Webflow also provides a proper Content Management System to help users group content that they are presenting to their audience. This CMS organizes resources, particularly when creating blog posts. Elementor Explained
Webflow makes blogging easier and more efficient by organizing it in a more structured way.
- With Webflow, you are sure that all your data is safe and secured. They have integrated hosting plans built with Amazon Web Services, which is among the most secure hosting processes on the internet. You will receive a one-year free SSl certificate to encrypt sensitive data.
Aside from that, Webflow is also SOC-2 compliant, which means that the builder can meet high standards of security, confidentiality, and privacy.
Webflow also automatically updates and saves backups of your files. So whenever something is wrong, you will be confident (at least not as worried) that you can easily get back your files.
Webflow Price
As for price, you can choose to avail webflow with their free plan. This allows you to use webflow on two projects with full designing and can publish said projects on their website of Webflow.io. Of course, their free plan is free forever.
However, if we’re talking about price, Webflow offers versatile plans. There are two types of paid plans.
There’s the Site Plan and then there’s the Account Plan. Elementor Explained
The Site plan offers everything there is needed to build a basic website. These plans are available in two types from Webflow. There is a basic plan with four selections. This starts for as low as $12 per month. To find out the exact cost of each plan, you will need to contact Webflow Customer Service.
| Basic | CMS | Business | Enterprise |
| Best for simple sites which do not need CMS | Blogs and other content-driven websites are best | Best for Higher traffic marketing sites | This product is ideal for businesses and includes exclusive features |
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As for the Ecommerce plans, the are three types of plans
| Standard ($29 USD) | Plus ($74 USD) | Advanced ($2112( u |
| A new business starting from scratch | For higher volume of business that needs important additional | Businesses looking to grow and breach |
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Account plans allow for more advanced website development with additional features. These are categorized into 2 types of plans: the Individual plans and the team plans.
The individual plans have 3 types of payment methods. The first includes the free plan mentioned above, and the second two are paid plans. Elementor Explained
| Starter Plan (Forever Free) | Lite ($16) | Pro ($35) |
| This package includes everything you need in order to get started with Webflow. | Export your code to unlock additional pages for unhosted project | Ideal for designers, freelancers and anyone who needs more projects and premium features |
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There are two types of Team plans available. Mostly, they offer almost the same features, but one offers a more customizable plan. These are the details:
| Team ($35 per person) | Enterprise (situational) |
| Work on projects with a team through a collaborative, shared dashboard | For more information about the plans, contact customer service |
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Webflow Cons and Pros
Pros
- Includes everything and anything that you need for an overall website builder. It even includes eCommerce websites and simple blogs.
- It boasts a strong visual design tool that rivals everything you can do using code
- Very flexible pricing plans, which are also customer friendly. Elementor Explained
Cons
- There is limited code customization
- There are many plans available and it can be confusing. If you don’t pay attention, you might end up choosing the wrong plan.
- There is a huge bit of a learning curve due to it being a new and different environment from WordPress as well as new and powerful features
- Some plans include traffic limits.
Elementor Versus Thrive Architects
Thrive Architect: A WordPress Page Designer
Thrive Architect is a WordPress page builder plugin bundled with Thrive Themes. This is their new flagship page builder, replacing the “Thrive Content Creator”. Elementor Explained
As with the usual “modern” website builders, Thrive architect is also doing the drag-and-drop gimmick. It is designed for beginners, but can also be used to speed up the creation of websites by veterans.
Thrive also offers an impressive library of templates for users to help them get started or get inspiration for what they’re going to do.
Surprisingly, Thrive Architects focuses on creating websites that convert. As such, most of the templates mentioned earlier have the purpose of lead generation and conversion to your WordPress Page.
Thrive Architect Features
Like most of the latest WordPress page builders, Thrive Architect has many features to offer. However, for this overview, we will focus mainly on the main ones.
- As a plugin, Thrive Architect works with most WordPress themes. This is despite Thrive Architect coming with its own WordPress Theme called Thrive Suite. Therefore, you can use Thrive Architect in combination with the thousands of themes available in WordPress.
- Thrive Architect also has a massive library for plugins. All of the templates are maintained by the Thrive architect team at a higher standard. These templates are editable and can be used to speed up the process of creating web pages. Elementor Explained
Thrive Architect (and Thrive Themes) focus on sales and lead conversion. Most of these templates are just as focused on sales. Expect a lot more sales-focused landing pages, and web designs.
- Thrive Architect has its own intuitive drag and drop page editor. This interface gives you a real-time, accurate view of the page’s design.
Builders can save time by using the WYSIWYG method. They no longer need to preview your website. Your workflow gets faster as you don’t have to save multiple times and ensure you are doing right or wrong.
WYSIWYG will always show you where your bearings are.
- Since we have already talked about Thrive’s fixation on conversions, you wouldn’t be surprised that they also have a lot of conversion and sales-focused elements.
Thrive cannot boast of being conversion-focused if they don’t provide the right and appropriate tools.
- Thrive is also compatible with many third-party services. Mailchimp, Facebook and Zapier are all examples.
- Thrive offers tutorials and educational content for beginners to help them learn about content-making that is focused on selling.
- Thrive Architect’s lightbox feature allows you to create pop-up overlays. Elementor Explained
- Thrive Architect allows you to create an auto-scrolling website. Somewhat situational in use, but with enough creativity, you can make a novel website based on this feature.
- Thrive Architect also supports coders by adding custom HTML and CSS to your pages.
Thrive Architect Price
It used to be that you could avail of Thrive Architect individually; however, Thrive Themes have recently changed that. To use Thrive Architect, you will need to buy their Thrive Suite bundle.
Thrive offers two payment options: Quarterly or Yearly.
| Thrive Suite Quarterly | Thrive Suite Yearly |
| $99 per Quarter | $299 per Year |
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Pros and cons of Thrive Architect
Pros
- It features an intuitive design that makes it easy to use. You can even visualize your designs in real time.
- This tool will help you create unique content on the Internet
- Not just webpages, but it comes with high-quality landing page templates. Because they are organized in sets, it is easy to find the perfect template.
- It is focused primarily on conversion and sales, making it the ideal website builder for online marketers and businesses.
- Many websites are responsive to mobile devices, so you can rest assured that your website will be compatible with smartphones.
- It is a lightweight plugin that will not noticeably slow down the pages’ loading times.
- It has good and attractive pricing
- It can be integrated with a large amount of email service providers.
- Can work with Gutenberg (WordPress’ latest page builder) by adding Gutenberg blocks. Elementor Explained
Cons
- The whole Thrive Suite is not available separately. This means double the cost if you already have an existing and preferred WordPress Theme.
- Aside from that, You need to download Thrive Product Manager before you can even begin to plant a single element on the builder.
- Thrive lacks a lifetime payment option.
Special Mentions
Brizzy
Brizzy, another WordPress builder, allows you to create web pages with amazing design. It is also another drag-and-drop builder that requires zero coding knowledge. It can be compared to the big three Elementor, Beaver Builder and Divi.
As with most builders, Brizzy does well as a simple builder. However, there are some areas where it could be more effective.
Brizzy doesn’t have a developer APIi. As such, you cannot have third-party extensions with Brizzy. This severely cripples Brizzy’s potential. Brizzy is limited in its flexibility and cannot reach the heights at Beaver Build, Elementor, or Divi.
Another thing, Brizzy also lacks in the documentation department. This isn’t a major problem, but it makes Brizzy less reliable than other builders who have robust and complete documentation.
Furthermore, the documentation that exists for Brizy also is not as comprehensive. Brizy documentation is not as comprehensive, so people who are looking for help or asking for it might be left scratching their heads.
Brizzy pricing is as follows:
| Personal | Freelancer | Agency |
| $49 per annum | $99 per annum | $199 per annum |
Ideal for personal work |
Ideal for working with clients |
Perfect for White-label solutions |
Oxygen Builder
The Oxygen builder has a similarity to Webflow in nature. Although it may look similar to WordPress, it is not WordPress. Oxygen is also very complex, and as such, it is not recommended for non-techies.
Most website builders are more inviting to a wider audience. This includes people who have no idea how coding works or just how the works in general. Oxygen seems to be the exception to that rule.
That said, Oxygen does allow experienced users and designers to create wonderful websites.
Basically, Oxygen should only be used by people who want to learn website development. There is a steep learning curve. This is, of course, perfect for a challenge.
Oxygen is also a great tool for web developers and designers who need to fine-tune every detail. Oxygen provides the tools necessary to have full control of a website’s elements, as well as its bits and pieces.
As for beginners and those looking for an easier user experience, it’s best to stay away from this one. Elementor Explained
The price of Oxygen is prohibitive. You don’t get a demo. It does have a 60-day money back guarantee. If you are not up to Oxygene’s challenge, you can always return it.
| Basic Plan ($99 One time payment) | WooCommerce Plan ($149 one time payment) | Agency Plan ($169 once-off payment) |
| WordPress’s most flexible and powerful visual builder | Visually build websites and WooCommerce shops | Oxygen is the ultimate tool for creating websites for clients |
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Gutenberg Builder
Although this is the main WordPress builder, most online consensus is unifying. Elementor Explained
Plainly NO.
It’s very annoying.
It is difficult to write in because you have to break up each paragraph into its own blocks. It is a self-sufficient tool.
Finally, even with all the efforts made to improve its performance it still falls behind, especially when it comes to creating large posts.
There is a reason why WordPress page builder plugins were created. The default plugin is not recommended.
Verdict Elementor Explained
Your choice of WordPress page builder is entirely up to you. They might be experts in one area.
It is a great idea to pick a WordPress theme that suits you first and then go with the page builder that comes with it. This is a great way for you to save money and still get high quality work.
That said, you should keep in mind Elementor, which offers the best features while maintaining its free status.
If there’s one thing you can take away from this review, it’s this:
Avoid Gutenberg, WordPress’ default developer, and save yourself the hassle.