A solid WordPress page builder can be a fantastic asset to a website and its owner. It can help both beginners and pros build customized pages and get a site up and running in no time.
They’re such a massive part of the WordPress experience, we at Website Hosting Review decided to help you choose the right one. You’ll find the
How We Evaluated the Best WordPress Page Builders – Our Review Process
Page builders are used with hosting and WordPress, but they are a different kind of system. Here’s how we tweaked our review process to get all the key information.
- Check background—We did a thorough check on what each company is about and what its existing customers have to say. This gave us an idea of what to look out for.
- Inspect compatibility—Compatibility is what makes a page builder usable in the first place. Whether it works well with themes, other plugins, and WordPress in general determines who can use it.
- Check out features—Everybody wants a powerhouse of a page builder. Still, different solutions have different toolkits. We checked if the builders have all the key features and if they are geared toward beginners, pros, or possibly both.
- Determine user-friendliness—A builder should make your work easier, this should be a given. We gauged how easily users can get the hang of all the features and how fast website creation is in general.
- Test for weak points— Some of the most common pitfalls of WordPress page builders are failing to account for responsiveness, creating bloated code, or having a massive lock-in effect. Powerful features are great, but it’s crucial to check for any issues that might be a dealbreaker.
- Match prices—We ensured all the solutions below are priced fairly. Keep reading to find out which WordPress page builders provide the best value for money.
The Best WordPress Site Builders of 2020
Keep in mind page builders are separate from both a hosting service and WordPress. You’d still need to purchase hosting and set up a WordPress installation to use one.
1. Elementor
Elementor might be young compared to a few other solutions, but it’s one of the fastest-growing WordPress site builders. Once you look at its feature list, it’s apparent why.
Here’s what you can find on it.
Design Options
Elementor offers a ton of capabilities in this area.
You can either start with a preset template or set up your own layout on a blank page. The Pro version even lets you customize the elements like the header. Plus, its pop-up editor offers unique options for creating popups.
You can design complex layouts with the editor’s block system. The system is standard, but Elementor gives users more control here than the average builder.
You can fine-tune column and section width, position, padding and margins, and create blank space between columns. You should be careful, though, since designing a complex layout may make it difficult to troubleshoot misalignments.
Elementor WordPress page editor also offers a bunch of styling options. You can get into the nitty-gritty and edit individual elements. This allows you to change backgrounds, set up shadow effects, animations, parallax scrolling, and even custom fonts. You can design photo filters, which is a rather popular feature in 2020.
One thing to point out is that Elementor can, by default, override the styling of some themes. This change can be rolled back, but it is a bit of a pain if you’re using a specific theme for its styles.
The Pro version also includes a live CSS editor, which is a big timesaver if you prefer making manual style changes.
Ease of Use
Despite its many features, Elementor is relatively straightforward.
It features a frontend drag and drop WordPress editor, which makes things a lot easier. And that’s not all. The editor lets you preview what pages look like based on the screen size—which saves you the trouble of getting your smartphone out.
Most options are in the sidebar that’s fairly straightforward to navigate. It might not be immediately obvious, but you can contract the sidebar so it’s out of the way.
The search tool provides incredible assistance with navigation. You can look up different settings instead of sifting through the options.
Elementor also includes a range of templates. These are not only for setting up entire pages, but also sections, pop ups, and even headers. They will likely save you lots of time you’d otherwise spend customizing every nook and cranny of your site.
It also encourages reusing templates. You can copy over entire pages, sections, elements, or just styling. You can also set up global elements and sync changes between them. These features can save you a great deal of time when working on a more complex project.
All in all, the Elementor WordPress page builder is among the more user-friendly ones out there.
Features
Out of the box, Elementor has one of the biggest widget libraries out there. It supports all the WordPress widgets and adds plenty of its own—and they are designed for both classic WordPress and WooCommerce.
One of Elementor’s prominent features is the pop-up builder. This comes with numerous settings and is one of the best ways to design a custom popup. The possibilities include configuring welcome pop-ups, sales promotions, WooCommerce upsells, and a bunch more. The pop-up builder integrates with various email marketing software, so you can quickly capture leads as well.
Another cool feature of the WordPress site builder is versioning. Not only can you undo/redo changes, but also roll back to a previously saved version. Just keep in mind saved versions take up storage so saving dozens may affect performance.
Elementor also strives to be developer-friendly. This entails several useful options, like adding attributes to widgets, sections, or columns. There is also a CLI integration.
Elementor creates some of the leanest code among page builders, which eliminates performance loss (a huge problem with this type of software). Plus, it’s one of the few builders that don’t leave a mess of shortcodes if deactivated. This makes it easy to migrate to a different one at a later stage.
Another handy feature is access controls. You can configure what tools are accessible to others collaborating on your site, which always comes handy.
It all amounts to an impressive offer. The features make Elementor an extremely advanced page builder for WordPress.
Price Overview
Elementor offers a free tier and three paid plans:
- Personal—$49/year, supports one site
- Pro—$99/year, supports up to three sites
- Expert—$199/year, supports up to a thousand sites
Pretty much the only difference between paid plans is how many websites you can install them on.
Surprisingly enough, the free tier is rather robust. It does lack some widgets, motion effects, WooCommerce support, and header editing. However, if you want a simpler custom layout for a standard site, it’s more than enough.
Still, the paid tiers do offer more power and fantastic value to boot.
Pros:
- Great control over site design
- Both beginner and developer-friendly
- Easy migration, if needed
- Awesome for business and marketing
- Robust free tier and great-value paid plans
Cons:
- May override theme styling
- Some design options may feel a bit overwhelming
Verdict
Elementor’s free tier is robust and the paid ones offer excellent value. It can be a fantastic asset for both beginners and experienced coders. Overall, it might just be the best WordPress page builder you can go with.
2. Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder is one of the top solutions in the market. It started out strong years ago and has only improved since.
Here’s what it looks like today.
Design Options
To start off, Beaver Builder comes with a bunch of templates. These are divided into two categories.
Content page templates let you quickly set commonly used pages like a photo gallery, about us page, or our team page. You can use these when you don’t really care about customizing every page detail.
Landing page templates are more for the key parts of your website. It’s best to use these as a starting point. You can use the WYSIWYG WordPress editor to shape them into a unique design.
Speaking of, Beaver Builder lets you insert rows, which you can subdivide into columns to create space for content blocks. It’s a robust and straightforward way to build complex page layouts.
That said, Beaver Builder’s default version doesn’t cover everything. If you want to change elements like headers, you’ll have to use an extension called Beaver Themer, which is paid. Beaver Builder also doesn’t allow changing image sizes by default.
As for styling, the builder gives you decent options for customizing each block. You can set up gradient or video backgrounds, change font sizes, etc. Higher-tier plans even add advanced effects like parallax scrolling.
That said, some options are lacking from the out-of-the-box version. For example, you won’t be able to apply custom fonts or even basic button customization. Beaver Builder relies on add-on plugins here, which is less than ideal.
Overall, though, Beaver Builder is a WordPress page builder plugin with respectable design tools. However, some of them are only available as plugins.
Ease of Use
Beaver Builder is one of the more straightforward page builders. You can set up the row and column layout and all the elements by dragging them to the right place. The drag and drop feature is commonplace now, but it’s worth mentioning.
One common complaint used to be that the builder’s dropdown menu would get in the way of editing. The devs listened, and now you can move this out of the way. It’s both a helpful feature and a good sign the solution is moving in the right direction.
This WordPress page builder features a WYSIWIG mode. This allows you to avoid constantly going between the editor and the preview – and apply changes directly to the page as you would see it.
Templates are helpful here, and one outstanding option is to save page templates (including the modules). You can reuse them on your website as a global template, or export a template and use it on multiple websites. Since Beaver Builder supports multisite usage, this is a massive timesaver.
I should point out Beaver Builder might take some time to process the edits as you make them. The UI is decently designed, but this might slow you down a bit.
Still, it’s a relatively beginner-friendly WordPress page design plugin.
Features
Beaver Builder is packed with various content modules. These include contact forms, calls to action, testimonials, maps, slideshows, and a bunch more. There are a few missing, like advanced custom forms, but you can set these up through an extension.
Beaver Builder also supports WooCommerce and adds modules for it. It also supports translations, and works well with the popular WPML translation plugin.
It’s worth pointing out Beaver Builder is one of the few page builders that leaves no shortcodes if you deactivate it. This makes it one of the safest options in the market.
Another feature is the inbuilt access controls. You can give other users different levels of access to the actual WordPress page editor. It’s excellent if you’re collaborating with others and want to set up restricted privileges for a group of users.
The Agency plans are also white-labeled. If you design websites for others, this can reduce the time spent removing WordPress’s default branding. Plus, you can send the site to clients in “Editor mode,” which prevents them from breaking any important features.
Price Overview
Beaver Builder has a free lite version, but it leaves out many modules and the possibility to reuse templates. The paid plans are:
- Standard—$99
- Pro—$199
- Agency—$299
The Standard plan lets you use the WordPress page builder on just one website, but it includes all crucial features.
The Pro plan adds multisite capability and comes with the Beaver Builder theme, which is optimized to work best with the plugin. Beaver Builder will work with just about any responsive theme, though, so this is not a must-have. Still, it’s the best value deal for most users.
The Agency plan is more for designers and agencies, as it adds white labeling. The features can be useful, but the average user can usually get by without them.
Pros:
- Decent design capabilities
- Lots of handy features
- Intuitive interface
- No lock-in effect
Cons:
- Relies on extensions for some common features
- Beaver Themer costs extra
Verdict
Beaver Builder is a decent solution that’s also very beginner-friendly. Plus, it’s one of the few builders that won’t lock you into using it. The reasonable end price pegs it as one of the best WordPress page builder deals in 2020.
3. Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is a builder that evolved from Thrive Content Builder. It is much more robust than its predecessor, though, and has a lot more features.
Let’s dig into the key ones.
Design Options
Thrive Architect’s editor lets you set up a fully custom row and column layout. It also lets you place independent elements on a page or change element dimensions irrespective of container.
One cool feature is creating vertical split layouts (which is a popular design now). This lets you use the WordPress layout builder to easily set up an attractive (and unique) page. Also, the split layout can change based on the visitor’s device, so it stays appealing even on mobile phones.
Speaking of, Thrive Architect lets you fine-tune what your website looks on different screen sizes. You can only change the design for the profile view on mobile, but even this is more than most builders offer. It is a great help in designing a sleek and responsive website.
You can also apply a variety of different background setups or add animations to practically any element. You can also extensively customize the styling of most elements without knowing any CSS.
Thrive Architect has respectable design capabilities.
Ease of Use
The frontend WordPress drag and drop editor makes it relatively easy to set up the layout and all the margins and padding. You can also instantly preview designs on various screen sizes, which eliminates the guesswork when designing a responsive site.
All the options for customizing the elements on page are laid out clearly. That said, the tools in the sidebar do feel sort of cluttered.
On the other hand, Thrive Architect has made strides in letting you design pages faster. You can now search the templates, and the latest update brings features like page-wide styles.
You can also add global fields. This lets you add the same information (usually contact info) to multiple places on your website. You can change these globally, so you won’t waste time changing the info in several places manually.
Thrive Architect does lack the tools for using global elements or styles, though. This can slow you down a bit if you manage a more complex site.
Thrive Architect does okay here. It’s improving, but it’s not the best WordPress WYSIWYG editor for more complex projects.
Features
Thrive Architect includes advanced widgets like robust contact forms. However, it lacks support for the default WordPress widgets.
This is because Thrive Architect is heavily geared toward marketing. And, according to the words of its creators, some popular widgets don’t convert well.
Instead, you can set up things like opt-in forms. You can connect these to Thrive Leads, which is a powerful lead capturing system. You can even control what content newcomers see and what’s exclusively for subscribers. Popups are there to help you get an even larger conversion boost.
You can embed quizzes into pages. These can even pass on information to your email marketing software of choice.
One pretty awesome tool is Thrive Ovation, which lets you display testimonials. It’s different from other WordPress page builders in that it lets you capture testimonials as well, right on your landing page.
Finally, you can push for sales with features like limited-time offers. To further help you achieve maximum conversions, there’s also an option to A/B test multiple getups.
All the options are designed to help you capture leads and sell products more effectively.
One last thing to mention is that Thrive Architect doesn’t leave any shortcodes if you deactivate it. It even does a decent job of keeping the layout consistent with the original (within the limits of Gutenberg).
Thrive Architect is an overall decent tool and likely the best WordPress website builder for marketing.
Price Overview
Thrive Architect has three pricing plans.
- Single License—$67 one-time payment
- 5 License Pack—$87 one-time payment
- Thrive Membership—$19/month paid annually gets you access to all Thrive plugins and themes for up to 25 websites
All plans offer decent value. Still, Thrive Architect works best when you leverage the marketing power of the other plugins. If you can afford the Thrive Membership plan, it’s worth every penny.
Of course, this only works for up to 25 websites. If you, by any chance, have more, you can get better value out of a builder with unlimited licensing.
Pros:
- Top page builder for marketing
- Attractive design features
- Particularly optimized for responsiveness
- No lock-in effect
- Affordable, considering the features
Cons:
- The interface is a bit cluttered
- Lacks some popular features
- Only offers licensing for up to 25 websites
Verdict
Thrive Architect is a prime opportunity for marketers. Not only can you get unique and attractive designs, but also generate a ton of leads and boost conversions. It’s the best WordPress page builder of 2020 in this niche.
4. Divi
Divi is one of the older builders in the game. It has evolved significantly over the years, though, and is one of the leading solutions today.
Here’s why.
Design Options
Divi comes packed with premade templates. You can choose from 100 full website packs and 800+ individual page designs. The builder provides you with more than enough ideas to start.
The layouts are fully customizable. The WordPress drag and drop editor is based on sections, rows, and columns, which you can tinker with to get a unique design.
If there’s anything Divi excells at, it’s the sheer amount and quality of its customization features. You can set up animations, image filters, transform effects—you name it. If you like playing with options and seeing what works best, Divi is for you.
Although the design options are abundant, Divi might not be perfect for professionals. For one, it’s kind of difficult to get that pixel-perfect design without dwelling deep into the code editor. Divi can also completely override the styling of some plugins, which can mean more work making everything perfect.
Let’s be clear, this is completely fine if you’re building one website and you want a lot of options. If you need everything to be perfect, and quickly, you can find a better-suited WordPress website builder.
Ease of Use
Divi’s multitude of templates makes it relatively easy to get started. The tool also has a lot of features that help you along the way.
For one, the frontend editor makes it easy to design a layout. All the options are laid out unobtrusively, and you can edit the text inline, which speeds up things.
One cool option is the search feature. You can search for tools and filter the results, which helps find the right one instantly. Surprisingly enough, you can even search for styles and replace them globally, which eliminates one of the main issues of maintaining a larger website.
Creating global elements and versioning are also options that can save time.
All that said, Divi does have a lot of options, which entails a bit of a learning curve. You do get some tutorial tips. It’s not the best WordPress visual editor in terms of usability, though, just because of all the possibilities.
Features
Divi comes with plentiful widgets. You can set up sliders, calls to action, testimonials, etc. The solution also supports WooCommerce, so you can design a fully-fledged online store.
One outstanding feature is A/B testing. You can set up two versions of a page and choose a custom parameter to track. You’ll know which version performs best, so you can maximize conversions faster.
Speaking of marketing, Divi isn’t a standalone plugin. You also get an email opt-in plugin and a social sharing plugin. Both are advanced tools with features of their own, and you can leverage them to gather leads more effectively.
The WordPress page builder includes a rather advanced access control system. You can assign users a range of different roles, which control how they can interact with the builder.
One place where Divi stumbles is the lock-in factor. If you ever decide to stop using the plugin, you’ll be left with a bunch of shortcodes, meaning you’ll have to redesign all the pages from scratch.
Other than that, it’s a decent plugin.
Price Overview
Divi has a single-tier pricing plan. You can either pay $89/year or get lifetime access for $249. This lets you use the builder on unlimited websites. You also get a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is standard.
The plan includes the Divi Builder, Divi Theme, which is optimized to work with the builder, and the Extra Magazine theme. The latter has a slightly different set of features, geared toward creating blogs and online magazines. You also get useful email opt-in and social network plugins.
All in all, it’s a decent WordPress site builder deal.
Pros:
- A ton of design features
- A/B testing
- Includes a couple of solutions in the pack
- Great value
Cons:
- A bit of a learning curve
- May override preset styling
- Leaves shortcodes
Verdict
Divi builder is one of the best page builders for WordPress out there, though it still has a couple of kinks to iron out. Plus, the low annual cost and a ridiculously low lifetime access fee are tough to argue with.
5. Themify Builder
Themify is an established provider of highly customizable themes. Its product, Themify Builder is at the core of each theme, but it works just fine with third-party themes as well.
This is what you can expect when using it.
Design Options
Themify Builder includes both a frontend and backend editor. The frontend editor does a good job of letting you create a fully custom layout for your pages. The backend editor, on the other hand, helps get that pixel-perfect design.
The drag and drop WordPress builder also lets you customize the styling of all page elements, including headers. There are over 60 animation effects to choose from, and you can use your own CSS if needed.
That said, you can’t customize header elements out of the editor. Instead, you can design a header and hook the shortcode to a page without one. The support can help you here, but some builders make this easier.
One cool feature here, though, is setting up a sticky header. You will have to put in some code into the settings tab, but there’s a guide on how to do this.
All in all, you can create a fully custom design. Themify has one of the best WordPress editors if you want customizability, but using it takes a bit of know-how.
Ease of Use
Themify does fine in terms of ease of use, but there are even simpler solutions.
You do get various features that can help build a website faster. For one, you can copy/paste entire rows. There’s also an import/export feature, so you can reuse layouts on multiple sites.
As for actually designing pages, the builder includes multiple useful presets. These include both full pages and separate row layouts.
That said, the overall interface feels sort of clunky. The icons are small and it’s tough to find all the options. It can also be kind of difficult for beginners to do things like set up custom headers.
You don’t have to be a professional to use drag and drop WordPress plugin effectively, but there is a slight learning curve.
Features
Themify comes with lots of widgets you can use. It also supports WooCommerce, so you can design an online store, and is translation-ready.
It also creates some of the leanest pages among builders. The plugin includes its own caching system, to ensure fast loading. It’s among the best solutions in terms of speed and SEO-friendliness.
Themify Builder is also one of the few solutions that don’t lock you in. You can switch the builder off and keep all your content.
The solution also covers details like copy/pasting, import/export tools, undo/redo, duplicating, etc. It might seem like a minor detail, but many website builders leave these out—which just adds work for the user.
All in all, you get all the features you’d expect out of a decent WordPress theme builder.
Price Overview
Themify Builder’s pricing structure is a bit complicated. The builder is included in each Themify’s theme, and you can get one theme for $59/year. Alternatively, you can use the builder for free with your own theme.
You can also get over 25 builder addons for $39. These are sort of like the premium version of the builder, and they add Google Maps, WooCommerce support, image filters, tile layouts, and lots of other features.
Yet another option is to get all 42 themes with 12 plugins and all the builder extensions. This would cost you $89/year or $249 for a lifetime subscription.
Themify definitely qualifies as the best free WordPress page builder, since the free tier includes all the key functionality. If you want more customizability, $39 is a pretty affordable deal. If you can afford it though, the full package with all the plugins offers excellent value.
Pros:
- Highly customizable pages
- Lots of features
- No lock-in effect
- Excellent free tier
- A range of pricing options
Cons:
- Not the easiest for beginners
- You can’t redesign header elements out of the editor
Verdict
Themify Builder is among the most powerful tools of its kind, though it’s more geared toward technically-savvy users. The free WordPress builder is worth trying out, and the paid plans offer something for every pocket. It’s a solid choice.
6. MotoPress Page Builder
MotoPress Page Builder is one of the pioneers among page builders. The software has undergone significant updates recently, so let’s see if it can trade punches with the industry leaders.
Design Options
MotoPress makes it fairly easy to design complex layouts. You just have to drag all the elements to the right place.
The builder also lets you customize backgrounds and add advanced animations like parallax scrolling. These work even if you stretch a row to full width, which can yield gorgeous results.
All elements have a style tab used to edit the common styling parameters. The styling options are somewhat lacking, though. Naturally, CSS enthusiasts can apply their own custom styles, but that’s about it for the styling options.
Ease of Use
There’s a lot to love about MotoPress’s WYSIWYG WordPress editor.
It has the standard column and row page structure. One nifty feature is that you can pull a new element to its desired place, even if there’s no preset container. Placing an element to either side of an existing one creates a new column for it, while placing it above or below creates a new row.
It might seem like a silly detail, but it can dramatically cut down the time it takes to build a page.
One complaint is that the margin and padding defaults are a bit odd. You should set up your own configuration, or you might end up with some funny results.
You can reuse designs and even export entire pages, which saves you time designing similar layouts twice. If you make a mistake, the versioning system will let you roll back changes, which means you can freely experiment.
Another handy detail is that the style editor lets you preview what your page looks on different devices. This saves you the trouble of visiting the page from a mobile phone and backtracking if any features don’t display as intended.
Bottom line—the innovative drag and drop WordPress builder makes creating a unique website a breeze.
Features
MotoPress Page Builder comes with a range of widgets. These include standard ones like Google Charts, Google Maps, accordions, etc. You can also set up a few sales widgets, like forms, calls to action, or limited-time offers. Another cool option is to display YouTube, Vimeo, or self-hosted videos.
You can integrate the plugin with WooCommerce. This takes a bit more work than with a few other page builders, however.
The plugin lets you limit the use of the editor to only some types of pages. It also has advanced tools for controlling which users can access the builder.
The plugin is available in 11 languages and is translation-ready. You can get everything you need to start building a multilingual website.
The WordPress page layout plugin uses shortcodes to achieve different designs. However, it transfers all content into the standard Gutenberg format if you disable it. This means the plugin lets you keep all your content if you stop using it, which is excellent.
You can also white label the dashboard, which can come in handy if you’re delivering a website to a client.
MotoPress exceeds expectations here.
Price Overview
MotoPress has five plans:
- Personal—1 website, $29
- Business—5 websites, $47
- Developer—Unlimited websites, $139
- Personal Bundle—One website, includes all addons, $69
- Developer Bundle—Unlimited websites, includes all addons and white labeling, $179
The bundled plans include the WordPress page builder and all the premium plugins—which cover features like contact forms, limited time offers, videos, and Google Maps. You might not need these if you’re not running a business, so you may get away with a standard plan.
All plans offer decent value, though.
Pros:
- Decent design capabilities
- Beginner-friendly editor
- Lots of advanced tools
- Affordable for the features
Cons:
- Stiff styling customization
- Awkward default layout
- Working with WooCommerce is a bit clunky
- Contact form support exclusive to more expensive plans
Verdict
MotoPress is a solid solution overall. Both beginners and professionals can make use of the well-designed software, and at a reasonable price to boot. It’s close to being the best WordPress page builder, though it has a couple of quirks to fix.
7. Brizy
Brizy is one of the newest additions to the page builder world. Still, it boasts as the most intuitive builder out there.
Here’s how much truth there is to the claim.
Design Features
All Brizy pages start off completely blank. You can add templates (called blocks) or customize the layout fully by yourself. This includes creating a custom header area (with the Pro version).
You can also choose from an array of animations effects, turn practically any element into a slider, and do advanced font and styling customization.
Brizy page builder also includes a popup builder. Popup creation features are pretty decent, but popups can only trigger on click. This excludes the useful options like displaying a popup when the visitor is about to leave the page.
The builder includes over 4,000 vector icons by default. It also lets you do things like zoom in images, which most builders don’t include.
All in all, Brizy has decent design features. It does lack a few that other builders have, but it compensates with unique tools of its own.
Ease of Use
This is where Brizy really shines. The layout is extremely intuitive and works smoothly. The editor also only displays options when you need them. Nothing will get in the way of you working on your site.
Many options are surprisingly simple to use, compared to the competition. For instance, you can adjust margins and padding just by dragging them in the editor. This makes design customization way easier for most users (though it’s not ideal for getting the absolute perfect results).
One unique feature of the WordPress page layout plugin is linking outside elements to a separate section. This way, you can apply styling as if it were part of the linked section, which can save time.
You also get numerous features that make page building faster. For instance, you can copy/paste elements or use a tool for organizing rows within a page. You can also set up global styles, which most builders don’t support.
There is also a handy undo/redo option if you make a mistake. Even better, all the changes you make are automatically saved to the cloud, so you’re guaranteed to keep your progress. Plus, using cloud storage for this means you won’t clutter the local storage.
One thing lacking is a reset feature. If you do some work on a page and want to delete it or set up a fresh template, there’s no good way to do it. You have to delete the entire layout manually.
I’m really nitpicking here, though. Brizy page builder is one of the most straightforward solutions in the market.
Features
Brizy page builder does include quite a few widgets and integrations, including WooCommerce support, advanced forms, social buttons, and more. Still, it’s a rather new solution, so neither the widgets nor extensions can match that of more established solutions.
Brizy comes with an A/B testing tool. This comes in handy to maximize conversions.
Speaking of, you can combine the popups you build with numerous supported emailing integrations. You can also use those with Brizy’s advanced form building integrations. These make it a breeze (pun intended) to capture leads from your website.
Brizy comes with access controls as well. These only have three levels of access, though, and are pretty stiff compared to some of the competition.
The WordPress drag and drop website builder also includes white labeling capabilities. You can deliver a website with your own branding to clients.
Brizy doesn’t suffer from the same lock-in problem like many other builders. It doesn’t use shortcodes, but it will leave a lot of div codes if you deactivate it. It’s much less of an issue than the hard lock-in some builders have.
All in all, you get some rather decent tools, though Brizy lacks the extensive library of some older builders.
Price Overview
You can get a free WordPress page builder version of Brizy, but it’s severely limited and includes almost none of the advanced features. There are three paid plans:
- Personal—$49/year, for three sites
- Studio—$99/year, for unlimited sites
- Lifetime—$249, for unlimited sites
All plans have the same features, except that white labeling is reserved for the lifetime plan.
All the plans offer decent value. The Personal plan is decently affordable if you have up to three sites. If you have more, it’s best to go for the Lifetime plan and save money in the long-term.
Pros:
- Decent design options
- One of the easiest to use builders
- Respectable features
- Great value deals
Cons:
- No reset tool
- Limited access control
- A bit of a lock-in effect
Verdict
Brizy is a robust builder. The intuitive interface and lots of helpful features definitely peg it among the top WordPress site builders for beginners. It does lack a few advanced features developers might expect, though, but it also has a few unique tools to fill the gap.
8. SiteOrigin Page Builder
SiteOrigin is one of the more popular free solutions in the market, though there’s a premium tier as well. This is what it includes.
Design Options
SiteOrigin lets you customize page layouts using the standard row and column system. It allows you to divide rows here in as many columns as you would like.
You can also use all the expected features like setting up images or sliders.
You can use both the visual editor and a powerful code editor to customize styling. Both options are pretty advanced, and the code editor even analyzes your page layout make better suggestions.
All in all, they have decent features, although all is fairly standard for a WP drag and drop plugin.
Ease of Use
SiteOrigin has both a backend and frontend editor. The frontend one only simulates live editing, though. In other words, you have to make all the changes in the sidebar and popup windows rather than on the actual page. You do get a live view, but you have to click the “preview” button to push any changes.
This works well enough, but true live editing would be superior.
The themes that can help you start, but the designs are somewhat dated. It’s often easier to start with a blank page than to try and make a theme work.
Luckily, the WordPress theme builder lets you build reusable layouts, which compensates for this.
Another redeeming feature is that you can preview pages on multiple screen sizes out of the editor. You can even toggle how some rows appear on different devices. This lets you quickly make sure there are no issues with how your website looks like on mobile, which is always a plus.
The editor also saves previous versions of your work. That way, you can edit away as much as you like, and you’ll be able to go back at any time.
SiteOrigin Page Builder’s design is sort of hit-and-miss. The developers did put a lot of thought into making the builder more straightforward. That said, the lack of true live editing puts it at a bit of a disadvantage.
Features
SiteOrigin supports all of WordPress’s default widgets and adds a lot more. You can set up elements like contact forms, calls-to-action, and more. There’s also WooCommerce support.
The WordPress page builder also creates some of the leanest and most SEO-friendly pages out there. It’s a real benefit for any website owner.
On the topic of code, the default editor doesn’t leave shortcodes when you deactivate it. Some of the widgets, however, do. This makes the lock-in milder than with some solutions, but it’s still there.
You also have the option to put your own branding on SiteOrigin’s themes, which is helpful when building a site for a client.
Price Overview
SiteOrigin offers a free WordPress builder, though the free tier features are rather limited. You can get all the premium features for only $29 for one site, $59 for five, or $99 for unlimited sites.
All the options are more budget-friendly than you’d expect from a premium page builder, especially the single-site license.
SiteOrigin also offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, which is double the industry standard.
Pros:
- Decent features
- Fast and SEO-friendly
- Budget-friendly
Cons:
- No true live editing
- Some extensions leave shortcodes when disabled
Verdict
SiteOrigin Page Builder is a decent tool, and a rather affordable one. Also, the extended money-back period leaves ample time to test out the platform. It’s a respectable solution, though it lacks a few common WordPress website builder features.
9. Page Builder Sandwich
Page Builder Sandwich is an up and coming builder. Let’s see how it matches up against the big boys.
Design Options
Page Builder Sandwich constantly updates its design features. Now, it’s pretty simple to set up a fully customized layout, including designing your own headers.
One awesome feature is full-width backgrounds. You can set one up while limiting text to the width of a regular container. This lets you easily set up a stunning design for a landing page.
You can set up animations on pretty much any elements and even do effects like parallax scrolling.
All elements have a style tab for making styling edits. You can also use class and id elements to apply your own CSS.
All in all, it’s a decent drag and drop WordPress theme builder.
Ease of Use
Page Builder Sandwich is aimed at beginners, so it’s not technically demanding to use. You can set up pretty much the entire layout by just dragging and dropping. There are no annoying popup menus, so you can edit everything in-line.
You can also set up all the margins and padding from the visual editor. It even displays the exact pixel width as you’re dragging.
The plugin also lets you preview how pages appear on different devices, which saves time getting the perfect responsive layout.
Things that are lacking are tools for saving and importing/exporting layouts. Page Builder Sandwich is not ideal for reusing layouts.
Page Builder Sandwich also makes it easy for experienced clients to use shortcodes. You can use the shortcode widget to set up shortcodes for 600+ plugins, which removes some grunt work.
All that said, the WordPress page editor can be buggy at times. The developers introduce features to the solution quickly. While things get fixed eventually, newer features sometimes break the editor, so you might be emailing the support from time to time.
Features
Page Builder Sandwich comes with plenty of widgets. You can set up expandable text, carousels, Google Maps, and more.
There’s also support for WooCommerce, and you can add special elements like limited-time offers, calls to action, testimonials, and more. Forms can also integrate with popular email marketing tools like MailChimp.
The tool does leave some div tags once you deactivate it. There’s no shortcode lock-in, though, which is always fantastic to see.
Page Builder Sandwich is designed as a lightweight WordPress page builder. This is both a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, it creates fast pages without unnecessary bloat. On the other, it lacks a few features you might expect, like translation capabilities, white labeling, or a larger template library.
Price Overview
Page Builder Sandwich has a lite version, but it is severely lacking in features. It’s best to go for one of the paid plans. They are:
- Premium Single Site—$39/year
- Premium Unlimited Sites—$89/year
The prices are okay, but Page Builder Sandwich does have fewer features than many similarly priced builders.
Pros:
- Great shortcode support
- Easy to create custom designs
- Lean code with no shortcode lock-in
- Affordable deals
Cons:
- Poor tools for reusing designs
- Lacks common features
- The editor is known for being buggy
Verdict
Page Builder Sandwich is on the rise and makes massive improvements by the year. It still doesn’t have the features to rise as the best page builder for WordPress, though. However, it is a decent tool if you’re looking for a lightweight plugin or like to play with shortcodes.
10. Live Composer
Live Composer is an older plugin that took its time getting to the mainstream market. Fortunately, it has gone through a lot of major updates to get where it is today.
Here’s what kind of features are in the mix.
Design Options
Live Composer lets you fully customize page layouts, including headers. You can also set up visual elements like animations and access various styling options.
Live Composer has an abundance of customization options for text.
Another cool feature is the Mega Menu module. You can customize complex expandable menus for your site.
Other than that, though, there’s little Live Composer does differently than other WordPress drag and drop tools.
Ease of Use
Live Composer has a rather bare-bones template department. This makes for a poor start.
The frontend editor places the toolbar at the bottom, instead of having the traditional sidebar. This is fine in and of itself, but the toolbar layout is rather poorly designed.
Live Composer has a few other annoying features like the lack of inline text editing. The editor also preloads a bunch of styles into each new element and sets up lorem ipsum text into each textual element. This does little to improve usability and just adds the step of deleting preset features.
All the annoying quirks of the WordPress layout builder make for a rather unimpressive experience.
Features
Live Composer includes a few useful widgets. You can set up forms, previous/next post buttons, maps, and more. One pretty cool feature for more complex sites is breadcrumb navigation.
Live Composer also has decent content restriction features. This is awesome if you want to wall off certain areas of your site and only let premium users access them.
The basic plugin is open-source. This makes it a decent choice for theme developers who want to easily apply a custom layout to their themes.
One issue is that Live Composer probably has the worst lock-in among builders. Disabling the WordPress page builder plugin practically renders all built pages useless.
Live composer does have a few unique features, but also quite a few flaws.
Price Overview
Live Composer boasts about being 100% free, but this isn’t exactly true. The core plugin is open-source, but most of the key features require premium extensions.
The price of the extensions is:
- $49—1 site
- $79—3-5 sites
- $99—Unlimited sites
The price is low compared to similar solutions. However, claiming it’s a free WordPress page builder is sort of misleading.
Pros:
- Mega menu and breadcrumb navigation support
- A few rare and useful features
- Low price
Cons:
- Poor interface
- Little in terms of templates
- Terrible lock-in
Verdict
Live Composer would’ve been a decent solution a few years ago, but I can’t whole-heartedly recommend it today. Themify Builder has a way more robust free tier, and the paid version is not even close to being the best WP page builder.
11. WPBakery Page Builder
WPBakery (previously known as Visual Editor) is one of the oldest page builders. It’s also among the most used builders today.
Let’s see if it’s the best WordPress page builder too.
Design Options
WPBakery offers decent customization options with its row and column-based editor. You can easily set up the layout and specify all the margins and padding between elements.
You can also do some basic changes to individual columns. These include things like changing background color and font changes. Editing rows adds more advanced options like parallax scrolling.
You can also make custom styling changes, but you can’t apply CSS directly to individual elements. Instead, you have to make a change in the CSS stylesheet and use the class element to apply it.
The plugin also has some annoying features, like randomly pushing the width of your page beyond the device’s screen size. This can be a real problem to straighten out, and it’s not ideal if you want to get that perfect look quickly.
The design options are fine, but there are more polished WordPress WYSIWYG editors.
Ease of Use
WPBakery is sort of hit and miss here.
All the options are easy to find once you get comfortable with the builder. That said, the UI could be a lot more intuitive, and it also lacks useful features like inline text editing.
One thing to point out is the frontend editor is a tad rough around the edges. It forces you to hit an “update” button to see the changes you’ve made, which slows down editing and makes for a poor experience. Plus, the editor can be buggy, which just exacerbates the whole thing.
All in all, the WPBakery WordPress page design plugin could be smoother.
Features
WPBakery supports all WordPress’s default widgets plus a bunch more, like Google Maps, charts, carousels, etc. It also supports WooCommerce, so you can build a store.
Since WPBakery is one of the oldest and most used page builder plugins, there is a host of extensions for it. You can use them to set up forms, get more control over customization, set up social sharing, and add various other functions.
WPBakery also has rather advanced access controls. You give different accounts access to tools on an individual feature basis, which is about as much control as you can get.
Other than that, WPBakery offers little in terms of unique features.
It should also be pointed out that it has the same problem as many other WordPress site builders—shortcode lock-in. If you deactivate the plugin, it leaves behind shortcodes and renders the pages built with it practically unusable.
Price Overview
WPBakery only has one price tier. It costs $45 and lets you use the plugin on one site for life.
You might notice an Extended price plan, but this is actually for developers who want to integrate WPBakery into their software.
For $45, WPBakery is one of the cheaper website builders. Still, you can find a better deal if you run multiple sites.
Pros:
- Highly customizable
- Lots of available integrations
- Affordable for a single website
Cons:
- Clunky and buggy interface
- Shortcode hell
- No multisite plan
Verdict
WPBakery is a decent solution but, ultimately, one too old-fashioned to compete with the industry leaders. It is affordable, but that’s not enough to make it the best WordPress editor.
12. What Are WordPress Page Builders?
WordPress is the most popular platform of its kind. It got there by being powerful, scalable, and highly customizable, while being straightforward enough for anyone’s grandma to use.
That said, once you start using WordPress, you’ll probably notice the options for actually customizing page layouts are pretty limited.
Using Gutenberg (the default WordPress layout builder) is usually fine if you run a blog and want to keep it minimalistic. If you want something more unique, you’d have to get someone with coding experience to use shortcodes or custom code it.
I’ll give you a few examples of where Gutenberg falls flat. Let’s say you want to have a page with complex layout and lots of elements side-by-side. Or you might want to set up a carousel, but it’s not supported by your theme. Perhaps you just want more styling options. You would need a developer for any of those.
That’s all fine and dandy, but most people don’t have experience with PHP and using shortcodes, and developers can be pricy.
Enter Page Builders
This is where WordPress page builders come into play. Any page builder worth its mettle will let you do all of the above and then some.
Page builders are WordPress plugins that offer advanced customizability without requiring coding skills. Non-technical users can leverage their power to get a truly custom look to a website without hiring a developer. Surprisingly enough, even developers sometimes use page builders to make customization faster.
One obvious feature of a page builder is letting you redesign the layout of your page. You can set up custom rows and columns and change the size of your elements. In most cases, this is as easy as dragging and dropping a page element to the right position.
A WordPress page builder can even let you customize sections like the header (which you can’t typically do). You can also add widgets you would typically have to place in the sidebar.
Another common advantage of page builders having a frontend editor (AKA the WYSIWYG editor). Traditionally, you could customize a page, but you would have to hit ‘preview’ to see what it looks like. With many page builders, you can see changes you’re making to the page in real-time.
Many page builders make things even easier for you. Yes, you can customize the layout, but you’ll often be able to choose from lots of pre-made templates. You might even be able to save layouts as templates and reuse them on several pages—or even websites. Both options let you reuse elements to save time.
You can also go into the nitty-gritty, and make styling changes to page elements without going into the CSS. Gutenberg does let you make some changes. Still, it is much more limited than even the average free WordPress builder, let alone a paid one.
Bottom Line
To recap, page builders let you make custom changes to your WordPress site that you couldn’t otherwise do without dwelling into the actual code.
They might sound like a perfect solution, but there are a few considerations to take into account when choosing a page builder. Let’s cover those.
13. What to Look for in a WordPress Page Builder
A page builder can be an awesome asset, but not all builders are created equal. Here’s what to watch out for when looking for the best WordPress page builder for you.
Design Features
This is among the main reasons for getting a page builder. You should consider what kind of layouts you can build.
Some of the expected features are the possibility of designing complex layouts using rows and columns. You might also want to change the size of the individual blocks.
It’s also worth considering if you can edit just the layout of individual pages and posts, or can you do more. Some WordPress page layout plugins let you customize things like the header sections, which you can’t typically do.
Another useful tool is fine-tuning how a page displays on different screen sizes. This ensures the same quality on both desktop and mobile devices.
Finally, consider the styling options. What changes can you make without resorting to editing the CSS manually?
Frontend Editor
This is also one of the key points.
WordPress, by default, has a backend editor. This means you make changes from the admin area, so you don’t really know what your page will look like in the end. You have to keep hitting the ‘preview’ button to check in on the end product.
With frontend editors (AKA WordPress WYSIWYG editors), on the other hand, you can see the actual page as you’re changing the design. This eliminates the guesswork and saves time—which is the whole point of designing with a page builder.
Ease of Use
Not all solutions are completely beginner-friendly, though. Some page builders look to cater to professionals, so they focus more on developer-friendly features.
It’s important to have a page builder you’re comfortable using. An intuitive interface and well laid out options are always a plus. You can also go for a solution that has fewer complicated features if you’re a beginner.
One handy feature is the “drag and drop” functionality. Dragging elements where you want them on the page and pulling at their border to resize them is effortless and intuitive.
You can also look for other features that make building a website faster. A page builder for WordPress usually includes a bunch of templates you can use as a starting point. Some even let you save your own templates and reuse them.
Functionality
Page builders come in all shapes and sizes. It can really pay off to consider what features you might need and check out what’s on the market.
The features you get can range from basic ones like setting up gallery and call to action widgets to advanced like A/B testing multiple layouts. Still, keep in mind having too many features can make the plugin bulky. Avoid builders that are crammed with tools you won’t use.
A thing to consider here is integrations. Many companies make their product’s API public, so anyone can build a plugin and extend their WordPress page builder’s functionality. If a feature is not available out-of-the-box, the plugin library might surprise you.
Responsiveness
Having a responsive website is no longer optional in 2020. Websites that don’t work on mobile suffer severe penalties.
The good news is that virtually all modern builders create responsive pages. If the one you’re considering doesn’t, it’s a great reason to steer clear. If you’re not sure about this, all the builders I’ve reviewed above support responsive design.
SEO
Responsiveness is a significant part of this, as Google penalizes websites that don’t work well on mobile. However, there are a few more factors to consider.
For one, page builders have a bit of a nasty reputation for creating bloated code and affecting load times. This, in turn, affects SEO.
Another thing is that many WordPress page design plugins don’t really follow the best practices for writing semantic code. This inevitably hurts SEO, as search engines want website owners to use semantic elements.
Admittedly, this one can be a bit tough to determine for beginners. If you’re unsure, Elementor, Beaver Builder, Themify Builder, and SiteOrigin Page Builder have a respectable track record here. You can check out more details about them above
How It Affects Site Creation and Maintenance
This one’s loosely connected the previous point.
Essentially, if a page builder doesn’t play well with plugins or creates a lot of messy code, it can get tough. Problems can quickly pile up, and you might need a professional to fix things. Even worse, a bad page builder can create a mess that might take weeks to fix.
Lock-in Factor
This too has to do with poor coding practices.
The thing is that a WordPress site builder might use shortcodes, which are basically code shortcuts. This is fine in and of itself.
However, if you decide to remove the plugin, it might not switch all of the content into a format readable by Gutenberg. If you were to deactivate such a plugin, you’d have to go back and clean up all the shortcodes manually.
Since this essentially locks you into using the plugin forever, it’s called the lock-in effect (or shortcode hell).
The best practice is to avoid the page builders that would lock you in unless you mean to use the solution forever. Elementor and Beaver Builder have cleared up such issues a long time ago, but others are catching up. There’s now plenty of plugins that leave behind 100% clean code.
White Labeling
This one concerns designers and agencies. If you’re building a website for someone, you might want your own branding on it.
It’s not unusual for WordPress theme builders to offer a white label option. This lets you rebrand the entire WordPress login and admin area. It can help you streamline the overall design and make you look more professional. Not everyone prefers this, though, so it’s not a must-have.
Price
Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the costs that come with a page builder. It’s important to strike a balance between robust features and a fair price. If you’re interested in the best-value deals, we’ve outlined the best WordPress page builder solutions above.
14. Wrap Up
That concludes the reviews.
To sum up, the reviews covered what kind of features and integrations the builders have, how easy they were to get used to, and whether they offered good value for your money.
When choosing a builder, keep in mind to get one with the right features, but also one that fits your skill level and works smoothly in all scenarios. It’s also a good idea to pick a builder that won’t break your pages if you disable it. Keep those key things in mind, and you’ll make the right choice more easily.
You now know which the top tools in the game are and how to recognize one that will work for you. Enjoy transforming your WordPress site.
15. FAQ
Q: Is Divi better than Elementor?
A: It’s tough to say. The battle of Divi vs Elementor has been going on for a while now, and the teams behind both builders tend to develop the same features.
Divi is a bit cheaper for the same features, but Elementor is more beginner-friendly. One huge advantage for Elementor, though, is that it doesn’t leave any shortcodes if you deactivate it. This makes it way more reliable.
That said, both solutions are fantastic and have their strong points. Both did superbly in our picks for the top page builders, so you can check out more details in the reviews above.
Q: What is the best free page builder for WordPress?
A: There are a few reliable contenders here, but Themify Builder is likely the best free WordPress page builder. It offers all the key functionality you need to design fully custom pages. You will need to get the paid plan for things like WooCommerce support, but the free version is enough for most users.
Q: Can I use Divi and Elementor Together?
A: You can absolutely use the two page builders together. WordPress limits you to one theme per website, but there are no page builder limitations.
One caveat is that you can only use one builder to design a single page, which is sort of a given. Otherwise, Divi and Elementor are fully compatible.
A possibly more important factor is that running two page builders can affect website performance. It’s good practice to minimize plugin usage, so you should run both Divi and Elementor only if you have a legitimate reason.
Q: How do I use a WordPress page builder?
A: The process is a bit different from one WordPress page builder plugin to another, but using one usually feels intuitive. Pretty much the main selling point of page builders is quick and easy editing, so you should have no trouble mastering one.
Some of the common functions include adding widgets or containers, which you can do in a couple of clicks. The latter just lets you customize page layouts—for instance, create several columns in which you can arrange content elements.
As for the page elements, most modern page builders include a drag and drop WordPress theme builder. This means you can just drag sections of a page to the right place and adjust their size. Many builders also work in the frontend, meaning you’ll know exactly what the page looks like as you’re editing it.
It’s all relatively simple, even for beginners. All you need to do is install a plugin and get started.
Q: What is the best WordPress page builder?
A: There are plenty of decent solutions out there.
Both Elementor and Beaver Builder have a complete offer without any significant flaws. Plus, they can work for both beginners and professionals alike.
Still, there are specialist builders to look out for as well. For instance, marketers can get insane value out of Thrive Architect.
If you’re interested in reviewing all the best options, check out the top WordPress page builder reviews above.
The post The Top WordPress Page Builder Reviews—The 11 Best Tools for Creating a Unique Site appeared first on Website Hosting Review.
The post The Top WordPress Page Builder Reviews—The 11 Best Tools for Creating a Unique Site appeared first on Website Hosting Review.
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