The Best WordPress Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress Themes

The 16 Most Popular WordPress Page Builders in Comparison

With WordPress page builders, you don't need any programming skills to customize posts and pages. The extension replaces or complements the standard editor and comes with many customizable building elements like galleries, buttons and text areas you can assemble by drag and drop. But there's more than just one WordPress page builder on the market. We'll introduce you to 15 different plugins to help you get started faster with WordPress.

Website builders have dramatically improved in recent years and offer a host of features that streamline website creation. And they can be useful when you build client websites. So let's take a closer look at various different WordPress page builders.

Website builders are often characterized by drag and drop elements that allow for the speedy development of concepts, designs, even website edits. That's why we've collected some of the best WordPress page builders for you in this article. 

Here’s what you’ll find in this guide:

  • Why developers should use drag and drop WordPress themes 
  • The key features of WordPress page builders 
  • The 15 best WordPress page builders currently available 

Why developers should use WordPress page builders

Using drag and drop WordPress themes can save you a lot of time as a developer. But there are other benefits to WordPress page builders, including:

  • Faster creation of mockups. When you’re in the early planning stages of a new project, it’s normal to create mockups for the websites you make. Using drag and drop WordPress themes speeds up this process considerably and empowers you to provide clients with even more options to choose from.
  • The ability to create templates to use again. You can use WordPress page builders to build website templates. So, not only does the page builder make the website-building process easier, but it also empowers you to build a template with these drag and drop blocks to use again.
  • Faster website edits and style variations. If a client has an edit request, you can implement those changes much faster than if you had to hand-code them yourself.
  • A wide array of website features. Even if you’re an expert in various programming languages, it’s time-consuming to manually create (or implement) complex features. Drag and drop WordPress themes and page builders include complicated features via blocks that you drag into your design. This means you can offer more features and services to your clients.

Key features of WordPress page builders


Drag and drop WordPress themes and page builders are some of the best tools to make a WordPress website. Developers will appreciate the key features that make page builders so useful, including:

  • Pre-built design blocks or modules you can drag and drop. These modules can contain paragraphs, photos, graphs, and more complex website features like image galleries, custom widgets, countdown timers, carousels. They can also contain page layout options like columns.
  • Instant style selection. You can count on page builders to provide single-click customization features. You can change elements like fonts, colors, styles, and sizes with sliders or dropdown menus. You can also provide clients with a range of options to choose from to keep up with latest trends, with less work on your part.
  • A wide variety of templates. Most WordPress page builder plugins come with several templates to choose from. So, while you can design a website from scratch using visual blocks or modules, you can also choose a template or theme to jumpstart the design process.
  • Add-ons that extend functionality. Beyond the base page builder, most of the options we’ll discuss in this guide offer add-ons that permit further integrations and features.
  • The ability to customize blocks or modules and save them for later use. After you’ve inserted modules and your page looks right, you can save the block or module combination you used as a template to insert into future pages.

The 16 best WordPress Page Builder Plugins

What follows is a list of the best WordPress page builder plugins currently on the market. There’s a combination of free and premium tools, so every developer can find something that works at any stage in their career. Let's go!

1. WPBakery Page Builder

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
More than 4,300,000 WP users use the WPBakery page builder.

WPBakery Page Builder is currently the most popular WordPress page builder plugin. It used to be called Visual Composer, but that has since split off into a separate tool with the page building features remaining with WPBakery.

WPBakery Page Builder serves as a front-end and back-end page builder that enables the creation of responsive designs. With several templates and lots of flexibility, it’s a solid choice.

What is WPBakery Page Builder?

WPBakery is one of the pioneers in the WordPress page builder space. The former Visual Composer was renamed as WPBakery Page Builder. This new WordPress page builder focuses on visual editing of content like posts or pages.

WPBakery has been around for a long time so you'll find many integrated layouts and building blocks to design your content including boxes, icons, text blocks and diagrams. In addition, many third-party vendors offer thousands of useful elements for a distinctive appearance and over 250 integrations with other important plugins like WooCommerce.

The WordPress page builder should work with all themes. This compatibility is likely due to all elements being integrated via shortcodes. If you disable the plugin, the shortcodes remain in your content.

The interface is intuitive but no longer up to date. It requires manual saving and is much slower than the competition. Nevertheless, depending on how you want to use it, the advantages of this WordPress page builder could outweigh the disadvantages.

Key features:

  • WPBakery Page Builder can be used with virtually any WordPress theme
  • 50+ content elements
  • Built-in skin builder permits quick element styling
  • A robust template library
  • Fully extendable via WPBakery Page Builder API
  • Advanced grid builder
  • Dedicated support Monday-Saturday

Advantages of WPBakery Page Builder:

  • Many content elements, also available from third-party providers
  • Integration possible with more than 250 known plugins
  • Many design templates

Disadvantages of WPBakery Page Builder:

  • Slow, somewhat cluttered interface
  • Parts of the interface are not up to date, for example the image size has to be entered manually via "large", "thumbnail" or "small".
  • No automatic save function

Best WordPress page builder for: both developers and novices alike. The plugin is easy to use, full-featured and makes it straightforward to use ready-made templates and create your own.

Price: The Regular license for the WPBakery Page Builder plugin is $45 and includes updates, premium support and access to the Template Library for use on a single website. The Extended license costs $245 and includes updates, premium support and theme integration. It can be used for a single SaaS application.

2. Visual Composer Website Builder

Visual Composer Website Builder
The Visual Composer is now a complete site builder.

After the developers launched WPBakery Page Builder, it looked like the end of Visual Composer. In reality, there's been some serious work done on it and it's been turned into not only a WordPress page builder but also a complete site builder. This means a visual editor that allows you to change not only the content without any programming knowledge but also other layout areas of the WordPress website like footer or header. 

With Visual Composer, you can edit content and layout directly in the frontend and work with many adjustable elements. The user interface is modern, either docked or floating and allows for quick results after training.

You'll also get access to the Visual Composer hub with 100 content elements and 100+ page layouts that you can download and use. WordPress page builder competitors usually have such elements already integrated and don't require an additional download.

Visual Composer is available in a subscription model from $59 per year. Users receive a 40 percent discount from the second year onwards.

Advantages of Visual Composer:

  • Text and layout can be edited directly on the page
  • Attractive layouts can be created after only a short training period
  • Visual Composer Hub with many extensions
  • 3-in-1 solution: front-end and tree view editor
  • Development interface
  • Elements can be hidden and displayed again later
  • Supports CSS and JavaScript editing

Disadvantages of Visual Composer:

  • The undo and redo functions do not work correctly
  • Parts of the interface are outdated, for example the image size has to be entered as a word

My tip: you can find a detailed comparison between WPBakery Page Builder and Visual Composer here.

3. Elementor

Best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
One of the most used WordPress Page Builder: Elementor .

Elementor is one of the best free WordPress page builder options. While it does offer premium plans, the free version gives you access to a drag-and-drop website editor, 40 widgets, 30 templates and responsive editing. Elementor gets even more impressive as you venture into its premium features.

Although the WordPress page builder Elementor is one of the youngest on the market, it already runs on more than half a million websites. The rapid success is probably due to the successful interface and the excellent ease of use.

The premium features allow you to easily edit posts, pages, user-defined content and even category pages - in the frontend and in the backend. This means you don't need to design your content in the administration area, but can see it directly from the visitor's perspective and change it in the WordPress page builder using drag and drop.

Elementor offers you many elements to use for your layout including buttons, headlines, animations, galleries, and many more. By installing particular Elementor plugins, the possibilities are almost limitless. You can integrate WooCommerce and many other extensions and themes that come with the individual Elementor blocks. 

The free version of Elementor has more than 30 elements and 60 preset layouts for a quick start. The Pro version includes a further 26 modules including menus, tables, and price lists. These are especially useful if you want to integrate social media or display WooCommerce products.

Page builders - a blessing or a curse for the WordPress world?

It's never been easier to design a professional website with a huge feature set, even without a lot of background knowledge. But WP freelancer Pascal Prohl is torn about using such helpers - find out why in his article on the benefits and drawbacks of page builders.

Elementor's excellent theme builder is worth mentioning here. It gives you a framework to quickly build your theme layout for the different post and page types entirely from Elementor components without knowing how to code. Any layouts you create in this WordPress page builder can be reused on the same website or even elsewhere.

Key features:

  • Over 50 Pro widgets
  • Over 300 Pro templates
  • 10 full website kits
  • Builders for themes and forms
  • WooCommerce and pop-up builder
  • A year of support and updates

Advantages of Elementor:

  • The free version already comes with plenty of templates and features
  • Layouts can be set flexibly and precisely
  • Fast, fluid editing mode including real-time front-end editing
  • Many high-quality elements that can be quickly adjusted and used
  • Elementor users can get fresh elements and templates from many third-party providers.
  • Deactivation does not leave any shortcode garbage behind
  • The Pro version comes with a pop-up builder, visual form generator, animations and special effects for engaging content.
  • Elementor supports translations with plugins like WPML
  • Development interfaces for comprehensive integration are available

Best WordPress page builder for: single-website owners or anyone who wants to try the website builder experience for free. Elementor’s premium plans are ideal for developers at a reasonable price.

Price: Elementor has free and premium options. The Personal plan costs $49/year for a single website and includes everything in the free plan, plus the features listed above.
The rest of the plans all include the same features but adjust the number of websites Elementor can be used on. The Plus plan costs $99/year for use on three websites, and the Expert plan costs $199/year for use on 1,000 websites.

4. Beaver Builder

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
The Beaver Builder page builder is popular with developers and designers alike.

Beaver Builder is another popular WordPress drag and drop plugin that streamlines the website-building process considerably. It offers a page builder plugin and framework theme, so developers can build websites quickly and condense their workflow.

The Beaver Builder is reliable and simple. Compared to the competition, this WordPress page builder focuses heavily on performance and stability instead of endless features. You'll be able to achieve the same design results as the competition, but first you'll need to invest time in learning how to use it without a large element library.

Once you get comfortable with the user interface, you'll discover Beaver Builder is a powerful tool that works reliably. Unlike most WordPress page builder competitors, it doesn't generate shortcode, but sets layouts directly via HTML and CSS.

One advantage of this is being able to keep the layouts even after you've uninstalled the plugin. Later you can edit layouts without Beaver Builder and easily combine them with different themes. 

Key features:

  • Live and front-end editing
  • Responsive and mobile-friendly designs
  • Support for shortcodes, widgets, and WooCommerce
  • The ability to enable Editor Mode to hand off websites to clients
  • Full customer support
  • Several easy-to-insert modules

Advantages of Beaver Builder:

  • Free version offers important basic features
  • Excellent front-end editing with fast switching to preview mode in real time
  • Does not create shortcodes, but clear HTML and CSS code
  • Changes are retained even after deactivating the plugin
  • Top performance

Disadvantages of Beaver Builder:

  • Comparatively few content components

Best WordPress page builder for: developers who want several module options. Some developers will also enjoy the Pro plan that includes the Beaver Builder theme.

Price: Beaver Builder is available as a free version. If you need more features, you can buy a license for unlimited websites. The standard plan of Beaver Builder costs $99 and includes the page builder plugin, modules and templates. It also includes one year of support and you can use it for an unlimited number of websites.

The Pro plan costs $199 and includes what’s in the Standard plan, plus multi-website capability and the Beaver Builder theme. Lastly, the Agency plan costs $300, which includes the features of Pro along with white labeling.

5. Themify Builder

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

Another one of the best free WordPress page builders is Themify Builder, which offers a free download of its plugin that you can use on any theme of your choice. If you need more guidance, however, the plugin is also bundled with Themify themes.

Key features:

  • 40+ pre-designed layouts
  • Support for rows, columns, and grid layouts
  • The ability to create Layout Parts
  • 60+ animation effects
  • Custom styling
  • Variety of add-ons
  • Support for custom code and shortcodes

Best WordPress page builder for: anyone who needs a page builder with flexibility. The plugin can be used with any theme, which makes it a great choice for developers who want to speed up website development or create ready-to-go templates for their clients.

Price: You can get Themify Builder on its own for free or included with a Themify theme for $59. You can access all Themify themes for $89/year or a one-time payment of $249.

You can also buy Themify Builder Pro for $69, which includes all the same features as the free version of the plugin, plus features that empower you to build and customize WordPress website themes - not just pages.

6. Divi Builder

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
Divi is one of the most popular themes and WordPress page builders on the market.

Another drag and drop WordPress plugin to consider is Divi. With Divi, you can build entire websites visually and rely on drag and drop elements for easy rearranging.

Divi Builder is modern, user-friendly, comes with many features and about 50 ready-made elements for your websites. Similar to the other WordPress page builders, there's both frontend and backend editing here - whereby the immediate text editing stands out in the former.

If you're logged in as an administrator, you can open a subpage in the frontend and edit the text there as if you were using Word, without the need for an additional window. As you drag and drop elements in a page builder, which isn't always precise, Divi offers wireframe mode. It's much easier to position modules in this mode.

The large CSS file is a disadvantage of this WordPress page builder as it makes manual changes more difficult. You'll also notice that the handling in edit mode is much slower in complex layouts with many elements.

Since Divi Builder, like most other WordPress page builders, relies on shortcodes, your layouts will disappear as soon as you deactivate the plugin. Your layouts will only reappear when you reactivate the plugin. Nevertheless, with its solid features and a successful user interface, Divi is certainly worth testing. 

Key features:

  • Visual and responsive editing
  • 40+ design modules
  • 800 pre-made website layout packs
  • Inline text editing
  • Global elements and styles
  • Undo and redo functions
  • Total element customization
  • CSS styling options

Advantages of Divi Builder:

  • Divi Builder comes in a package with more than 110 themes
  • Wireframe mode

Disadvantages of Divi Builder:

  • Large Divi CSS file
  • Based on shortcodes

Best WordPress page builder for: anyone. Divi Builder offers a generous number of design elements and layouts to choose from, so both new website owners and experienced designers can find what works for them.

Price: Divi Builder is from ElegantThemes so when you purchase it, you get access to more than 110 themes in addition to WordPress Page Builder. Yearly Access costs $89 for one year of access to Divi and other plugins from Elegant Themes, including Bloom, Extra and Monarch. It also includes page packages, updates, and premium support, and you can use it for an unlimited number of sites. Lifetime Access costs $249 and offers all the features of Yearly Access, but is a one-time fee.

SiteOrigin Page Builder

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

Another WordPress drag and drop editor worth considering is the SiteOrigin Page Builder. This plugin is free and responsive, and offers a robust set of tools for anyone who wants to create a website without having to dive into the code.

Key features:

  • Simple drag and drop page builder interface
  • Compatibility with most WordPress themes
  • Works well with standard WordPress widgets
  • Live, frontend editing
  • History browser

Best WordPress page builder for: developers on a budget. The SiteOrigin Page Builder isn’t as visually appealing as others on this list, but it has features you can take advantage of that will save you time.

Price: SiteOrigin Page Builder is free. However, premium add-ons are available that extend its functionality and add modules like contact forms, block animations, accordions and calls-to-action. The add-ons cost $29 for use on a single website, $49 to use on up to five websites, and $99 for use on unlimited websites.

8. Brizy

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
Brizy scores with a modern user interface.

Brizy is another feature-rich WordPress editor plugin. It’s built on React and comes with several templates to jumpstart your creative process.

Brizy is a fairly new WordPress page builder. The developers focus on a modern interface and especially many high-quality designs and templates. You can edit your pages directly in the frontend without complicated menus. Just click on the text and change it like in Word. Similarly, you can easily create new page elements and create column layouts in no time. Brizy works extremely smoothly and reliably. 

If you want to do more than just customize the content of your posts and web design, you'll need Brizy Pro. Similar to Visual Composer, it only takes a few clicks to edit other footers or headers. If a group is working on your website, role management is a good idea. With role management, you decide who can edit what. Fortunately, Brizy works without shortcodes and thus offers way more independence. After deactivating Brizy, you don't have to deal with swathes of missing code.

An interesting feature in Brizy is the global blocks. These are elements you can set centrally and then make available to your other websites via the cloud. You could announce an event in a Global Block and this announcement will then automatically be visible on your other websites containing that Global Block. Another plus for Brizy is the automatic saving, which works better than with other competitors. 

Brizy is available as a functionally limited free version or as a Pro version. The Pro version can be purchased from $49. If you want to work without WordPress and don't want to use Brizy as a plugin, you can also use the Brizy Cloud service.

Key features:

  • Real-time editing
  • Drag and drop WordPress theme interface
  • 400+ templates
  • Visual contact forms
  • Animated sliders
  • Customization for borders, corners, margins, and padding
  • Shadows, image focus and zoom
  • Global styling support

Advantages of Brizy:

  • Delightfully simple and fluid editing in real time, directly in the frontend
  • Over 150 ready-to-use content blocks
  • Many professional layouts for numerous application scenarios
  • Fast creation of column layouts
  • Extended user administration with role assignment
  • Brizy Pro can also edit footers and headers
  • Global Blocks for cross-website content distribution
  • Fast automatic save function
  • Brizy is quickly provided with updates

Disadvantages of Brizy:

  • Basic features are limited and could be upgraded

Best WordPress page builder for: anyone who’s interested in drag and drop WordPress themes. Brizy offers several features and tools that other page builders don’t have. Global styling is a major time-saver, for instance.

Price: Brizy starts at $34/year for use on three websites. The Pro plan costs $69/year and can be used on unlimited websites. Lastly, you can pay a one-time fee of $299 for lifetime access to the plugin.

9. Thrive Architect

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

As far as drag and drop WordPress themes and plugins go, Thrive Architect streamlines the creation process of custom website pages and landing pages.

Key features:

  • Full drag and drop editing
  • 278 landing page templates
  • Several conversion elements to grow your business
  • Blog post styling to improve social shares
  • Flexible column layouts
  • Text and image combinations
  • Font customization

Best WordPress page builder for: those who want to build a sales-focused website. Whether you want to build your email list, sell products, or encourage shares, Thrive Architect makes those goals easier to accomplish.

Price: One license for Thrive Architect costs $67 and five licenses cost $97. You can also pay $19/month for 25 licenses to the plugin, plus access to all other Thrive Themes plugins.

10. WP Page Builder

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

WP Page Builder is perhaps the best WordPress page builder for developers. This free option streamlines the page building process with a fully visual editor.

Key features:

  • Drag and drop live page building system
  • Mobile-optimized and responsive pages
  • Pre-designed templates and blocks
  • Widget support
  • Undo/redo options
  • Customize fonts, styles, colors, and layouts

Best WordPress page builder for: beginners and experienced developers alike.

Price: WP Page Builder is free. However, you can upgrade to the Pro version. The Pro version is available in three license packs priced at $39 for one website license, $59 for five website licenses and $99 for unlimited licenses. Each pack comes with one year of support and updates.

11. Oxygen

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
Oxygen is a flexible WordPress page builder also for developers.

The Oxygen visual editor is a unique inclusion on this list. Oxygen offers similar features to page builders presented in this guide, but the organization of tools and features is focused on three key areas:

  1. Visual website building
  2. WooCommerce store management
  3. Website performance and search engine optimization (SEO)

The makers of WP All Import launched Oxygen, an equally attractive and powerful WordPress page builder like Brizy. It works differently than similar WordPress page builders. Oxygen connects to WordPress as a plugin and creates a separate sandbox module, replacing the WordPress interface and letting all the design take place there.

Oxygen has been in the competition for WordPress page builder supremacy for quite some time now. The editor is sophisticated and comes with a fluid and intuitive user interface. Similar to Brizy, you get a very large selection of high-quality designs and templates that you can use for your site.

The page builder is also suitable for non-programmers but its great strength is the support of PHP, JavaScript, CSS and, of course, HTML. Coders will be happy about this important flexibility. Unfortunately, Oxygen generates shortcodes that remain visible as garbage code when Oxygen is deactivated.

Key features:

  • Drag and drop visual editing
  • Visual control of WooCommerce
  • Custom header builder
  • Global colors
  • Fully extendible for developers
  • Dynamic data

Advantages of Oxygen:

  • Intuitive user interface
  • Complex layouts can be put together very quickly
  • Many content elements and templates
  • Support of PHP and JavaScript will make developers happy
  • Customer-friendly pricing

Disadvantages of Oxygen:

  • Shortcodes are generated
  • Focus is on developers, which can also be an advantage depending on your point of view

Best WordPress page builder for: Developers. As far as drag and drop WordPress themes and plugins go, Oxygen could easily be used by novices. But its advanced features work well for developers who want to offer their clients more.

Price: Oxygen is a paid service but offers developers an attractive pricing model. Users pay $99 once and can use Oxygen with lifetime updates for an infinite number of projects.

The Basic plan includes a lifetime unlimited license but does not provide support for WooCommerce or Gutenberg. The WooCommerce plan costs $149 and includes support for the e-commerce plugin. Finally, the Agency plan costs $169 and includes an edit mode and support for Gutenberg.

12. MotoPress Content Editor

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
MotoPress Content Editor makes it easy to visually design pages and posts.

MotoPress Content Editor is an affordable, multi-language WordPress page builder that merges with the WordPress editor to provide very convenient real-time frontend editing. It works with all themes and is suitable for customizing sites, posts and other user-defined content.

There are several ready-made design templates and elements. Those who need more can purchase additional layouts and blocks. developers can purchase an additional white label plugin to customize the editor branding and provide customers with a professional, uniform look.

Key features:

  • Front-end editing
  • Pre-defined layouts
  • Style builder
  • Pre-made drag and drop WordPress themes
  • Compatible with multisite and WPML
  • Ready-to-use content elements
  • Extendable via add-ons

Advantages of MotoPress Content Editor:

  • User-friendly frontend editing
  • Cheap premium version ($29)
  • WooCommerce support included as standard
  • Supports WPML

Disadvantages of MotoPress Content Editor:

  • Relatively few prefabricated elements available

Best WordPress page builder for: those who want straightforward content editing features and developers who want to white label the client-side experience.

Price: MotoPress Content editor has three plans. Personal costs $39/year for one website, Business costs $69 for use on five websites, and Developer is priced at $139 for use on unlimited websites.

13. Page Builder Sandwich

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

Page Builder Sandwich is one of the newest free drag and drop WordPress themes and plugins currently available. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of consideration. It offers a healthy set of features, and that’s noteworthy as an open-source WordPress page builder.

Key features:

  • Live editing
  • Fully customizable
  • Back-end and front-end editing
  • Full page templates
  • Global shortcodes
  • Compatible with most popular plugins and themes

Best WordPress page builder for: New website owners. Since it has a robust free option available and a wide feature set, you can build pages visually without extra features in the way.

Price: This plugin is free, but a premium version is available that adds more page templates, elements and design options. Premium pricing starts at $39 for a single website standard license and goes up to $89 for an unlimited standard license.

14. GeneratePress

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

GeneratePress is a lightweight drag and drop WordPress theme that prioritizes performance with fast load times and small file sizes.

Key features:

  • Backed by secure and stable code
  • Search engine optimized
  • Prioritizes accessibility
  • Custom colors and typography
  • Page builder compatible
  • Layout control

Best WordPress page builder for: all developers. Though technically a theme, GeneratePress supercharges WordPress and allows for in-depth customization and optimization.

Price: The basic theme is free, but you can upgrade to the premium version to add a site library, custom elements, WooCommerce support and secondary navigation. GeneratePress Premium costs $44/year or a one-time payment of $219.

15. Genesis Pro

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes

Last on our list is Genesis Pro. Developed by StudioPress, Genesis Pro adds a robust set of website-building tools to WordPress.

Key features:

  • Prebuilt content sections
  • Full page layouts
  • Enhancements to the Gutenberg block editor
  • Access to Genesis Framework and child themes
  • User-defined layouts and elements that can be stored in a library

Best WordPress page builder for: Developers. The features included in Genesis Pro are performance-based and emphasize client-side interaction.

Price: Genesis Pro costs $360/year and provides access to the Genesis Framework, all child themes, layouts, a block library, 24/7 support and use on unlimited websites.

16. Gutenberg

The best WordPress  Page Builder & Drag and Drop WordPress  Themes
Since WordPress 5.0 Gutenberg the new default editor of WordPress.

After the first page builders were on the market, the WordPress developers started to develop their own variant called Gutenberg. Since WordPress 5.0 Gutenberg has been integrated in the CMS by default. You can edit the content of your posts and pages in the backend and use the different elements provided. Editing the complete page layout is not yet possible with this page builder, but the function is planned.

Where is Gutenberg headed?

Will Gutenberg replace WordPress Page Builder in the long run? And how does the further development of Gutenberg look like? Find out this and more in our article Gutenberg vs. WordPress Page Builders.

The current basic functions of Gutenberg are currently similar to WPBakery Page Builder: quick assembly of content via drag and drop, publish and you're done. Gutenberg is primarily aimed at the average WordPress user who wants to quickly redesign their content. Professionals, however, will expect more features from a WordPress page builder, such as live editing in the frontend, user-defined layouts, a large element selection and advanced design including the use of PHP and JavaScript.

As Gutenberg was developed by WordPress developers, the question arises whether it will eventually replace the other page builders. I believe it will lead to stronger integration instead. Elementor shows already how this could work. The plugin Elementor Blocks for Gutenberg integrates templates into the Gutenberg editor.

WPBakery Page Builder takes a similar approach where Gutenberg blocks can be used together with other elements. It's more like a fusion than a competition. This is good for you as a user because you get to enjoy the benefits of both WordPress page builders at the same time.

Gutenberg is free and included in the current WordPress versions so you don't need to download and install the WordPress page builder separately. Additional third-party elements are available as plugins in the WordPress library. These include Gutenberg Blocks and Stackable.

Advantages of Gutenberg:

  • Additional installation not necessary
  • Simple interface
  • Good for simple content design

Disadvantages of Gutenberg:

  • No frontend mode
  • Other WordPress page builders offer more possibilities

Disadvantages of page builder plugins compared to Gutenberg

There is certainly no shortage of page builder plugins for WordPress. While they allow you to speed up your development and design process, there are a few drawbacks compared to the classic editor or Gutenberg.

Page builders mean yet another plugin

Using a page builder plugin means that you have to install another plugin on your website. This may not be a problem if you only use a few plugins, but the more plugins you add, the more likely you are to experience performance problems. 

To take a page builder plugin as an example, several users report better page speed when using Gutenberg compared to Elementor.

With great freedom comes great responsibility

Not everyone is a designer and website updates should be done by a person who understands the implications of changes. If your customers have easy access to a page builder plugin that makes it easy to create page layouts without code, they could make changes to their site that have disastrous consequences. 

Potential shortcode chaos

You may decide to use a favorite page builder plugin, but later decide not to use it. If you disable the plugin, you're in for a shortcode mess and a broken web design. 

In this case, not only do you have to fix the shortcode issues, but you also have to painstakingly recreate each of your web designs in a different page builder plugin or find another solution.

Final thoughts: best WordPress page builders

The WordPress page builders mentioned in this guide are among the best solutions you need for a quick but solid design. Besides the features, it's also the user experience that counts. That's why it's worth trying out each page builder for yourself before making a final decision.

If you'd like to delve further into the future and development of WordPress page builders, please take a look at these external articles:

You can use page builder plugins no matter what stage of your developer career you’re in.

The functionality of drag and drop WordPress themes and overall time-saving qualities make them a helpful resource for all developers. At least one of the page builders discussed here is sure to be useful.

If you decide to use one of the best WordPress page builders, you need WordPress hosting you can rely on. Raidboxes offers a variety of plans for developers, agencies and freelancers. Get in touch if you want to find out more.

Your questions about WordPress page builders

What are your experiences with WordPress page builders? What questions do you have for Maddy? Let us know in the comments! You want to be informed about new postson Raidboxes? Then follow us on Twitter, Facebook or via our newsletter.

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10 Comments on "The 16 most popular WordPress page builders compared".

  1. Can you please tell me which plugin you used to create the Table of Contents on this page.

    It looks great !

    1. Hi Zunaid,
      Thank you. The TOC is a custom development by the agency who created our website, so no plugin we can recommend, I’m afraid.

      Best wishes,
      Leefke

  2. How about adding Breakdance to this list? It’s new and it knocks the other builders out of the park.

  3. Thanks Maddy for such great effort. Really increased my understanding of WordPress page builders.

  4. A great list you have shared in this blog. However, I think Divi should be on top of the list, especially after they have updated the plugin with more features. Elementor and Divi both are lightweight as compared to WPBakery and only take about 38KB for a non-custom page.

  5. You clearly have not tried Divi – it’s not drag and drop (although it LOOKS like one), and it is the hugest pain in the ass you can imagine.

  6. Danke für den coolen und informativen Beitrag! 🙂 Ich bin gespannt wo die Reise für „Bricks“ hingeht, sieht vielversprechend aus.

  7. Der Artikel scheint Mitte 2020 geschrieben worden zu sein. Damals steckte Gutenberg noch in den Kinderschuhen und Page Builder hatten ihre Hochphase. Die Einführung von WordPress 5.9 im Januar 2022 leitet das Ende der Page Builder Ära ein. Wie viele der heutigen Page Builder Plugins in drei bis fünf Jahren noch am Markt vertreten sein werden ist fraglich. Platzhirsch Elementor bereitet sich mit seinem Hostingangebot schon auf den sich verändernden Markt vor und wird vermutlich irgendwann wie ein Art WIX enden. Die Zukunft von Page Builder ist ungewiss. Wer eine neue WordPress Seite aufsetzt sollte deshalb besser auf Gutenberg setzen.

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