Elementor vs. Divi

Elementor vs Divi (and why we don’t recommend either)

| March 11, 2021

  • Reading duration: 7 minutes

Which is better: Elementor or Divi?

It’s probably a matter of faith between WordPress web designers. And honestly, there’s no one right blanket answer to this. However, you’re here because you want an answer (or you just like reading our GREYD blog).

That’s why I wrote this article for you. You’ll learn more about Divi and Elementor, and more importantly, why both tools are not the real deal for professional web designers.

The Differences: Divi vs. Elementor

The two tools don’t have much in common. So it’s hard to say whether Elementor is easier to use than Divi.

While the Elementor WordPress page builder initially started out as a plugin for WordPress, Divi has always been a WordPress theme. However, they both fall into the category of WordPress page builders.

There is one fundamental difference between Elementor and Divi:

Elementor is aimed more at WordPress with little to no experience in web design, who want to build a website by themselves. Divi, on the other hand, is used by professional web designers to build websites for their clients.

To help you see the differences between Divi and Elementor in detail, we’ll briefly go over them one by one.

Elementor

Elementor started out in 2016. Their mission was to make it easier to build WordPress websites. Since it’s been used over 5 million times it’s no surprise that Elementor is often considered the best page builder.

Elementor is a free plugin in its basic version. Once installed, you can easily go to your WordPress backend and build your pages just the way you need them.

Elementor is a so-called “What You See Is What You Get” editor (WYSIWYG editor). As the name suggests, Elementor delivers the design exactly as you see it during your building process.

Elementor wordpress page builder

The WYSIWYG feature is probably the reason Elementor is so popular with web design beginners. In the past, websites were of course built using code only. During your coding stage, you weren’t able to see what your code would look like in the end.

Not very user-friendly, right?

Elementor Pros and Cons

The WYSIWYG factor is one of Elementor’s biggest advantages. And, of course, people like that there’s a free version available that lets you build basic websites.

But nothing is perfect, right?

Elementor has a huge drawback: Final websites are pretty slow. Elementor has some great features, but they bloat the code a lot. This leads to longer load times.

This is a no-go in terms of user experience and in this case Elementor is actually bad for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Also, Elementor isn’t suited for web designers who build client websites regularly. They just don’t have all the features needed for a professional website – not even with the pro version. But we’ll get to that later.

When it comes to tricky topics GDPR-compliant contact forms, you’d need additional plugins specifically for that.
Elementor also doesn’t allow for forms with interdependent fields. And, to see your form entries, you’d need another additional, like Mailchimp.

Elementor’s focus is clearly building pages that are beautiful. But, because it lacks many features, it isn’t necessarily suitable to build professional business websites.

Just by looking at its feature page, you might get the impression that Elementor can do almost anything. However, if you take a closer look, most features only work on a superficial level. Design clearly comes before function.

There’s a way to use Elementor in combination with Gutenberg, but you’d have to switch back and forth between editors. This hardly counts as an integration. Elementor offers its own plugin that lets you insert Elementor blocks into Gutenberg.

Elementor Pro

Elementor Pro consists of several paid plans with premium features.

There are five different Elementor Pro Pricing plans, the costs of which vary according to their scope.

  • 49$/year for 1 page
  • 99$/year for 3 pages
  • 199$/year for 25 pages
  • 499$/year for 100 pages
  • 999$/year for 1.000 pages

So is Elementor Pro worth it?

Of course, the more expensive packages only make sense if you have an according number of websites to build each year.

Elementor Pro also includes a Theme Builder that gives you control over headers, footers and some general templates like 404 pages.

Elementor form example

Earlier, we briefly touched on form builders. With Elementor Pro, you can build contact forms, embed them in your website and connect them to email marketing tools.

Our blog post “How to Create a WordPress Contact Form Without a Plugin” goes into detail about why form builders from Elementor and other plugins just aren’t the real deal.

Are you ready for some Divi facts? We are. Let’s jump into it.

Divi

Divi is a multipurpose theme from Elegant Themes and has been around for several years.

Unlike Elementor the WordPress Divi builder is not a plugin that can be downloaded and installed in the WordPress backend. It’s only available on the Elegant Themes website and can later be installed in WordPress.

Divi

Divi is particularly popular among web agencies and freelancers.

Divi Pros and Cons

Since Divi is a theme in itself, you don’t need to install a separate custom theme as you do with Elementor.

Admittedly, this is not a huge advantage, because there are many suitable themes for Elementor – Astra, OceanWP, or GeneratePress, to name just a few.

Divi is also a WYSIWYG editor, which makes it easy for beginners to get started with the tool and help them design beautiful websites.

Divi has one big advantage over Elementor, and that’s page speed. The fact that it’s a WordPress theme makes Divi less code-heavy.

So, these are the advantages compared to Elementor. Let’s get to the disadvantages.

Divi doesn’t nearly have as many features as Elementor Pro. The website lists just a little over 40 features.

Also, Divi doesn’t have a free basic version. That’s probably exactly why it doesn’t have nearly as many users as Elementor’s basic version.

Divi Pricings

Most web designers have no issue with Divi’s prices, as this gives them a professional tool for their day-to-day work.

The Page Builder Theme is available as a yearly plan and as a one-time payment:

  • 89$ yearly access
  • 249$ lifetime access

Both packages enable you to use the Divi license for an unlimited number of websites. If you want to run a website for more than three years, choosing the lifetime access license will save you money in the long run.

In terms of cost, Divi is much more attractive than Elementor Pro because their licenses are not tied to a certain number of websites.

In theory, you could use the WordPress Divi builder in combination with the Gutenberg editor, but that would be pretty pointless. Why? because many web designers choose Divi so they’re not dependent on Gutenberg.

This leads us to our next point, which we doubt die-hard fans of Elementor or Divi will particularly be happy about.

Why Divi and Elementor have no future

Let’s admit it: Gutenberg is the future of WordPress.

I’ll give you a minute to digest this.

Divi and Elementor have certainly been good alternatives to the classic WordPress editor. But since Gutenberg has been gaining more and more momentum, it’s time to rethink your tool selection.

Given the latest WordPress developments, page builders will become obsolete sooner or later. Gutenberg already offers many of the features that come with Elementor’s basic version.

By using a page builder that is NOT built on Gutenberg, you’re asking for trouble in the long run.

As a plugin, Elementor can’t keep up with what’s coming. Divi, as a theme, could still make the switch and become a Gutenberg-oriented editor. But whether this will actually happen is still in the stars.

Fast prototyping in GREYD.SUITE

Fortunately, there is an alternative to Elementor and Divi, which offers significantly more features:

GREYD.SUITE.

The best part? You can try it absolutely free for as long as you want until you want your website to go live!

Divi & Elementor vs. Gutenberg

Alright, but how exactly is Gutenberg actually better than Elementor or the Divi Theme?

The main ways in which Gutenberg is ahead of page builders like Divi or Elementor are as follows:

  • Page SpeedNo external page builder for WP will ever have better page speed than the Gutenberg editor. This is simply because Gutenberg requires the smallest possible amount of code that needs to load in the browser.Of course, this is only true if you don’t use additional plugins for page speed optimization.
  • Gutenberg is a WordPress ProductWhile Gutenberg is a tool by WordPress, other page builders are developed for WordPress. This means that WordPress will be considering Gutenberg for all future developments. External tools have to follow and will always be a little behind. In other words: Gutenberg makes the rules. External tools will have to follow them if they want to stay relevant to WordPress users.
  • Live PreviewTo see changes you made to your website in Elementor, you have to update to see them live. Gutenberg, on the other hand, offers live preview that lets you see revisions for the final version WITHOUT having to publish those revisions.
  • Blog PostsIf content is one of your website’s long-term marketing pillars, page builders won’t do you any favors.WordPress started as a platform for bloggers, which is clearly evident in the Gutenberg editor. Even the classic editor for WP was more enjoyable than Elementor for adding articles to the backend. Gutenberg, however, takes the game to a whole new level.

If after everything we’ve said you still think Elementor or Divi is the only true solution for you, of course, you can stick with them. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Bottom Line

Comparing Divi vs. Elementor is not necessarily fair. One is a plugin, while the other is a theme. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. You have to decide for yourself which advantages are more important to you.

However, in the grand scheme of things, neither solution is ideal. Divi and Elementor are page builders, neither of which are based on Gutenberg, which will be a huge disadvantage in the long run.

If you want to stay on top of things in the future, relying on tools that are native to WordPress is the safe choice – and you won’t have to deal with bad page speed.

About the author
Patrick Mittner
Patrick Mitter

Patrick loves good texts. Preferably about topics concerning online marketing and WordPress. Having built websites by using well-known page builders on his own and being very experienced in the SEO industry, he is very familiar with any kind of problems regarding those plugins. This is the reason why he adopted GREYD's mission to simplify work for web designers as well as agencies.


By


Our Blog Topics

GREYD.SUITE Gutenberg News

Newsletter

Register now and don’t miss any news about GREYD.SUITE & WordPress:

Skip form
Die E-Mail-Adresse sollte ein ‘@’-Zeichen und eine gültige Domain mit einem Punkt enthalten.
Form skipped

Newest Articles

WordPress Gutenberg Patterns

WordPress Gutenberg Patterns: The Solution for Web Design?

Read More

Query Loop

Query Loop Block: The Underdog Among WP Features

Read More

WooCommerce Themes

Gutenberg WooCommerce Themes: Should you use them?

Read More

FSE Theme

How good are WordPress Full Site Editing Themes anyway?

Read More

Pagebuilder

How WordPress Dynamic Templates Make Your Work Easier

Read More

WooCommerce und Gutenberg

Combining WooCommerce and Gutenberg Blocks the Right Way

Read More

Fullsite Editing with Gutenberg

WordPress Full Site Editing: What to Expect From the New Editor

Read More

Responsive Webdesign with Gutenberg

WordPress Gutenberg Is the Future – But Is It Ready for Responsive Design?

Read More

Global_Content_EN

Simplify Your Marketing With Content Automation

Read More