Looking for an easy way to build and customize your WordPress site? That’s where drag-and-drop page builder plugins come in handy.
WordPress page builders allow you to create, edit, and customize your website layout without writing any code.
In this article, we will compare some of the best drag-and-drop page builders for WordPress.
Why Use a Drag and Drop Page Builder for WordPress?
When starting a blog, many beginners find it difficult to customize their WordPress page layouts. While a lot of premium WordPress themes come with different page layouts, most of them are extremely hard to customize for anyone who does not know code (HTML / CSS).
This is why users often ask us questions like, ‘How can we make WordPress drag and drop?’ or ‘Is there an easy drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress?’
When we talk with people who switch from Weebly to WordPress or from Wix to WordPress, their most common response is ‘I wish WordPress had a drag-and-drop website builder.’
Well, there are several great drag-and-drop page builder plugins available for WordPress. They allow you to create completely custom website designs in WordPress without writing a single line of code.
Since there are so many different WordPress page builder plugins in the market, we decided to compare and rank the top WordPress page builders, so you can choose the right solution for your need.
Our criteria for comparing these WordPress page builders are ease of use, flexibility, and design output.
Having said that, let’s take a look at the best page builders for WordPress in the market.
Video Tutorial
If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.
1. SeedProd
SeedProd is a premium WordPress theme and page builder plugin. Unlike other page builders, it lets you create custom WordPress themes from scratch without writing any code.
You can choose from hundreds of beautiful pre-made layouts, or create a completely custom website template with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop visual builder.
There are ready-made 150+ website kits and templates for landing pages, sales pages, thank you pages, webinar registration pages, coming soon pages, maintenance mode pages, 404 pages, eCommerce product pages, and more.
SeedProd is built with website speed in mind. It ensures that your pages are the fastest, so you can rank higher in SEO.
It comes with a smart design system, so you can save time by re-using elements instead of doing repetitive work. You can define color schemes, save font combinations, page templates, custom blocks, sections, and more.
SeedProd has all the blocks and features that you’d expect from a powerful page builder, such as optin forms, social profiles, countdown timers, contact forms, buttons, various content blocks, and more.
The best part is that some of these blocks even have pre-made templates, so you can speed up the design process by adapting your favorite 1-click block templates.
You can use their custom domain mapping feature to create micro-sites within WordPress. Agencies use this feature to manage multiple clients’ landing pages from a single WordPress installation.
SeedProd works with all popular WordPress themes and plugins, including WooCommerce. It even comes with WooCommerce blocks so that you can create custom checkout pages, cart pages, product pages, and more.
It also has built-in subscriber management, and you can easily connect it with popular email marketing services such as MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, and more.
Over 1 million users are using SeedProd to make better website layouts.
Pricing: Starting from $39.50 for a single site license. There’s also a free version with limited features.
Our Grade: A++
Review: SeedProd is the fastest theme and page builder plugin in the market. It is also the most affordable. Their large library of pre-built templates and pro blocks is a huge time saver. The ability to customize every little detail makes it the perfect solution for all WordPress users.
2. Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is a powerful, fast, and easy-to-use page builder. It lets you create beautiful pages, layouts, and content in WordPress, without touching a line of code.
The plugin includes 352+ pre-designed layouts for homepages, sales pages, webinar pages, lead generation pages, application pages, and more.
Every single detail of the templates can be customized using the front-end visual editor. Simply point and click to edit, move, or delete any page element.
You can also quickly add pre-made conversion elements to your pages. Choose from building blocks like call-to-action buttons, testimonials, countdown timers, guarantee boxes, and more.
With Thrive Architect, you can even create custom blog post layouts. You can add blocks like highlight boxes, styled lists, and click-to-tweet boxes to make your WordPress blog more engaging.
Plus, there are more helpful web design elements you can use, such as flexible column layouts, hover effects, total font customization, and more.
You can also connect Thrive Architect with the Thrive Optimize addon to split-test your pages. This lets you compare two versions of the same web page to find out which converts best.
Pricing: Starts at $99 per year for the standalone plugin. Or, you can purchase the entire Thrive Suite of plugins, which includes the Thrive Theme Builder, starting at $299 per year.
Our Grade: A+
Review: Thrive Architect is an easy and highly intuitive WordPress page builder. The huge template library and fast front-end visual editor make it simple, even for beginners, to create custom pages and layouts in WordPress.
3. Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder is a popular drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress.
You can quickly familiarize yourself with their interface and get started with their built-in onboarding tour.
Beaver Builder comes with a live drag-and-drop interface. You get to see all your changes as you add them by dragging elements from the right sidebar and dropping them on your page. You can click on any element on a page to edit its properties.
There are modules that let you add almost everything you may want, including sliders, carousels, backgrounds, content blocks, buttons, and more.
It also comes with over 30 finely designed templates for landing pages that make it super-easy and super-fast to create stunning website layouts.
We find Beaver Builder to be very beginner-friendly. Check out our tutorial on how to create custom WordPress layouts with Beaver Builder.
Wondering if it is compatible with the new WordPress version? Yes, it is.
Beaver Builder has been updated to work alongside the new WordPress Gutenberg editor.
Pricing: Starting from $99 for unlimited sites.
Our Grade: A+
Review: Beaver Builder is a popular page builder option in the market. It comes with pre-made templates to help you get started. A lot of web professionals use Beaver Builder to create their client sites and custom themes.
4. Divi
Divi is a professional drag-and-drop theme and WordPress page builder plugin. It is extremely easy to use and comes with hundreds of layout packs for different kinds of websites.
Similar to SeedProd and Beaver Builder, the Divi Builder comes with a true WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) visual editor with visual drag-and-drop functionality.
You can directly click on your page and start editing in real-time with a live preview of all changes. So you don’t need to save and click preview to see your new design.
Divi comes with dozens of content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere in your layout. It lets you arrange these modules in multiple section types and row types. And you can customize each element using its advanced design settings.
With Divi, you can create any type of custom page layout within a few minutes. You can then save these Divi layouts for future use on your site. You can also export a layout from one Divi installation into another.
The Divi Builder plugin is the backbone of the Divi theme, yet it works well with any other popular WordPress theme.
Best of all, Divi has very attractive pricing options. For a single price, you’ll get the Divi theme, the Divi page builder plugin, and all other Elegant Themes products, such as Extra and Bloom.
This means you can use the Divi theme or install the Divi Builder plugin on any other theme.
Pricing: Starting from $89 per year (a lifetime access plan is also available)
Our Grade: A
Review: Divi is a great SeedProd builder alternative. It has a powerful page builder with limitless design possibilities. Their large number of content modules allow you to create literally any type of website that you really want. Their lifetime plan also makes it one of the best deals in the market.
5. Elementor Pro
Elementor Pro is a powerful drag-and-drop WordPress page builder plugin. It is a live page builder plugin which means you get to see your changes live as you edit them.
Start by creating sections and select the number of columns for each section. You can then drag and drop widgets from the left panel to your section.
Elementor comes with tons of widgets, including the most commonly used website elements. From basic image and text widgets to advanced accordions, sliders, testimonials, icons, social media, tabs, and more.
Each widget is independent and comes with its own settings. Elementor will also let you add widgets created by other WordPress plugins.
Don’t want to build your own layout?
Elementor comes with many ready-to-use templates that you can easily insert into your pages. You can simply point and click to edit any item on the page, replace the content, and you’re done.
Pricing: Starting from $59 for a single site license.
Our Grade: A
Review: Elementor is a popular page builder plugin for WordPress. It is easy to use, has a large extensions ecosystem, and comes with tons of modules and templates that you can use to build a custom website. However, the code output is not as efficient, and users often report slower page speed.
6. Visual Composer Website Builder
Visual Composer Website Builder is a user-friendly WordPress website editor that helps you create custom website layouts, fast.
It comes with a simple drag-and-drop builder, out of box content elements, professional templates, and a host of powerful features to make a website.
Similar to SeedProd and Beaver Builder, it also provides a real front-end editing experience for designing a website. But there’s a lot more you can do with this plugin.
With the exception of SeedProd, Visual Composer is the only other plugin that allows you to edit all aspects of your landing page, such as logos, menus, headers, footers, and sidebars.
That’s why the team decided to call it a website builder, instead of just a page builder.
The plugin features powerful design options to customize the appearance of any element on your page. You have easy options to add stylish backgrounds, including parallax, gradient, slideshow, carousel, zoom in and out, video, and more. It also comes with flexible rows and columns for creating grid layouts on your site.
Visual Composer works well with all WordPress themes. This allows you to switch your themes without losing the custom layouts that you created with Visual Composer.
It also includes support for the new Gutenberg editor, Google Fonts, and Yoast SEO.
Visual Composer is designed for professionals, and it is evident by their attention to detail, such as remembering your color choices, which allows you to easily use the same color palette for consistency throughout your design.
Pricing: $49/year for one site license
Our Grade: A-
Review: Visual Composer is a great plugin for beginners to start a website. It provides powerful features for website making in a simple manner. Website editing is made super simple with the real front-end drag-and-drop editor. However, the interface is a bit different than typical WordPress plugins, so it can feel alienating to new users.
Final Thoughts: Best WordPress Page Builder Plugin
As we compared different drag-and-drop WordPress page builders, one thing became very clear. SeedProd, Thrive Architect, and Beaver Builder are clearly the top 3 choices.
Divi and Elementor Pro are other great alternatives that offer a complete drag-and-drop WordPress page builder.
If you don’t mind spending a little bit of money to get the best solution in the market along with guaranteed support, then go for any of these options, and you won’t regret it.
Do I Still Need a Page Builder if I Am Using the New WordPress Block Editor?
Recently we’ve been getting a lot of users asking us this question.
The WordPress block editor, also known as Gutenberg, was officially launched as the new default WordPress editor. The new editor uses blocks which are content elements for creating pages and posts.
Superficially, the block editor looks similar to some of the WordPress page builders above.
Hence there’re hot discussions going on in WordPress about Gutenberg and page builders.
Is Gutenberg a page builder? Does the Gutenberg block editor replace the WordPress page builders? And, do I still need a page builder if I am using the new WordPress block editor?
Well, the answer to the first two questions is ‘No, not quite yet.’
And yes, you will need a page builder if you want an easy way to create completely custom WordPress designs.
Gutenberg in its current form, is no match for the powerful features these ‘true’ WordPress page builder plugins offer.
Having that said, you can use a plugin like CSS Hero with Gutenberg and probably get away without using a true page builder, but it entirely depends on your needs.
A lot of our readers love using CSS Hero for quick and easy website customization. Read our full CSS Hero review to see if it is a suitable solution for your needs.
We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress drag-and-drop page builder plugins for your site. You may also want to learn how to increase your blog traffic, or see our list of the best WordPress contact form plugins.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Disclaimer: We could have included many other page and site builder plugins in this list, like Themify Builder, Brizy, SiteOrigin Page Builder, WPBakery, and WP Page Builder. But, we decided only to include the very best page builder plugins to help you avoid choice paralysis.
Syed Balkhi says
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dreubens says
Goodness only knows why headway is in your list. As a beginner I found it really frustrating to use. The whole “shared layouts” aspect is so poorly explained it caused more problems than it was worth. I tried so hard with it but the documentation is poor and the support is lacklustre. In fact within the last 2 months there is zero support. There are minimal video guides to using it. it is sold as a drag and drop and responsive builder, sure you can drag and drop but where you drop blocks is not where they appear on a live site without a heck of a lot of adding margins and padding, which results in it being very unresponsive and just causing a headache all round.
3 weeks ago I jumped into beaver builder. Absolutely fantastic product, it actually works! It is intuitive, quick to pick up, tons of modules that you would have to purchase as extra in headway. I am in no way affiliated to beaver builder as much as this may sound, but it was the best decision ditching headway and going for beaver, I’m just gutted I didn’t use it from the beginning.. I wasted so much time and effort and nearly lost confidence in myself using headway. Beaver has been fantastic, great slack community too. I can’t comment on the others as I’ve not tried them. Beaver builder all the way!!
WPBeginner Support says
The great thing about WordPress is that it gives you plenty of great choices. We like both Headway and BeaverBuilder, they are both great tools to build your website.
Admin
Jorge Marques says
I must say Visual Composer is ok but does not work totally with my theme, support is poor and the amount of CSS I still have to do to get things adjusted is just mad, I am tempted after this in trying beaver builder!
Joe Roberts says
Great Article! I was looking for alternative to the various Page Builders out there and came across this article. I had never before heard of or used Beaver Builder before but after reading this article and perusing through the comments I was driven enough to buy Beaver Builder. I have developed in WordPress for over 6 years and I have to say Beaver Builder is probably the best piece of software geared towards WordPress that I have ever used let alone page builder. Kudos to everyone for sending me in the right direction! I was even compelled enough to write about my first impressions of Beaver Builder based off of my experience with it from reading this article.
If you’d like to check it out feel free!
Thanks again WP-Beginner for another great article.
-Joe
A Sisten says
Site Origins page builder should at least A grade. Not only because completely free and has many addons, but because it easy to use.
Visual Composer, also interesting.
Mark Hetherington says
I just want to give a well-deserved (in my opinion) mention to SiteOrigin’s Page Builder. I was a complete novice, having never built a website before and in fact having never even heard of WordPress previously – that’s how much I knew about building a website.
It took me quite a while to begin with and adding new pages with the layout I wanted was still quite a challenge. Then I discovered Page Builder which changed everything. It’s VERY easy to use, has everything most people who are page building will need and it’s also completely free.
I can’t compare it to anything else as I have only ever trialled one other which I didn’t get on with and can’t remember the name of, but anybody searching these pages who is trying to put a website together, especially on a budget, could do a lot worse than try Page Builder.
ANOWAR says
To me Thrive Content Builder is the best. I don’t know why nobody mentioned about it here. I am using their $99 for unlimited personal websites as I have near a dozens of websites to manage.
However, personal choice and experience can be differed.
Keely says
I wouldn’t use it – if you remove the plugin, your data is stuck in the database. Try it – add a page using Thrive Builder, then deactivate the plugin. Page will be blank.
Nata says
Isn’t it how it works with other plugins as well? I think in Site Origin your pages will be blank too if you deactivate it. I don’t know about other ones, haven’t used them.
Andy says
If you back up your site including the plugin data then that is not an issue.
Swapnil says
Bro can you share your plugin with unlimited website option with my website. I am a beginner and cant invest this big amount. I will be grateful if you will help me.
Tom says
“VelocityPage is not currently for sale. Please stay tuned.”
What is the story with this?
Felix Albutra says
I used Prostyler Theme to several of my client’s websites and I think this is one of the best Drag and Drop Page Builder.
Chris Cory says
I use it as well and am very satisfied, it does pretty much everything. I have had it crash though when WordPress has been updated and it hasn’t. Also, the size of the sites it creates seem very large even if the site you’ve created doesn’t have much content. I do also find myself using a lot of custom CSS in order to override some of the prebuilt site wide stuff in there, but hey, at least it lets you do that.
samuel israel says
no one is talking about MAKE
Adrian Tschubarov says
Hi, nice article, but is it biased? You totally ignored Visual Composer, which is the biggest and most flexible one, with lots of components you can add from 3rd party and even you can shortcodize other plugins and player.
Editorial Staff says
Yes and as authors of several premium WordPress plugins, we can also say that Visual Composer is also the least compatible one to work causing a lot of bugs and compatibility issues.
However we do agree that we need to a version 2 of this article to add other builders that we didn’t include to add pros / cons of each.
Admin
Utomo says
Yes, please release version 2 with :
1 pros and cons
2 other solutions
And other factors
Patricia says
Agree! Another list with more categories aside from ease of use, flexibility, and the design output. A suggestion would be the testing the page builder’s compatibility with third-party plugins and themes.
Would also like to know why was Page Builder Sandwich overlooked when the article was made? We may have missed a tiny spot on the three categories you guys mentioned that we can improve on. Thanks!
Manas Mitra says
I have using both Divi & Site Origin – but with respect to ease of use & flexibility, I prefer Site Origin. One aspect that beats Divi is the number of columns that can be created. In Divi, the restriction is 4 columns but in Site Origin it’s upto 8 columns – it makes Site Origin a better choice from the points for flexibility. On the other hand, in Divi, padding & margin for modules can be set individually for all each of the four sides, where as in Site Origin, it can only be set up for all the four sides together.
Mike Oliver says
Manas, in Pagebuilder you can do that as well. Instead of using the global padding under Layout/Padding, go to Attributes/CSS Styles and you can set the padding individually, just add each style one line at a time leaving off the curly braces. For example:
margin-left: 20px;
padding: 10px 30px 0px 10px;
Chrs says
Divi has become way to messy, and their support is very poor. In 2 years I have submitted 4 tickets and never had an issues attended to. The most common reply is “Support over 24 hours due to high service demands” or the like. It feels clumsy a 2 star rating from me.
Manas Mitra says
Hi Chrs,
I got better responses from ET support. Some time it gets delayed, but I always got a proper solution.
Manas Mitra says
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the tip. I haven’t thought it that way. I shall try it. Thank you for the wonderful tip.
Mike Oliver says
This summary is pretty spot on, although I would upgrade Site Origin to a B+
Site Origin’s pagebuilder is one of the only ones that has not been buggy at some point for me, it always works smoothly and is not overly filled with options. I have used all the other accept Beaver Builder (although I tried the demo and it seems pretty great).
I have a Themify membership and I stopped using it because of the overload of options. There is too many option panels, it could be a lot simpler and lighter, same thing with Divi and Visual Composer. It seems to me the ones that pack in too much and rely too much on short code are the ones slowing down sites and causing theme conflicts. I think as far as the builders, in my opinion less is more.
I like that Site Origin has the options you need, but allows you to code in the rest and doesn’t rely on tons of options. Beaver Builder seems to be on the same page as far as a lightweight and cleaner builder.
Anyone have an feedback on whether or not Beaver Builder works better with the BB theme, or just as good with other themes? I would think the BB theme would be best coded and optimized for the builder. It’s an extra $100 to get the theme with the builder, may be worth it though rather than risking conflicts with other themes.
kartic sutradhar says
i have a free wordpress ac…is now now that’s content will lost?
Manas Mitra says
I use both Divi & SiteOrigin – they both are excellent.
Hemang Rindani says
Nice article. WordPress is a powerful Content Management System that comes with number of modules that suits any complex business scenario and has the ability to make your digital dream a reality. WP importantly provides framework that makes a consistent design and have responsive modules that works well with any device.
I feel Themify is one the best theme builders that comes with drag and drop functionalities to help a designer built a website with ease. It is a framework that satisfies the development of small as well as large websites and even can be used to build e-commerce websites. The highlight of Themify is that it can design a page from front-end as well as back-end that attracts me the most. To know the backend code helps the developer to make changes as and when required by including short codes or by modifying the coding.
Thanks for the insights.
Ummehani says
I will learn and useit assoon as posible
Terence Pera says
Hey just my 2 cents, quite happy with themify and of course using their themes as well.
Helen McLean says
I’ve been using Themify themes and now the Builder for quite a few years. What I love about Themify is their great support and consistent updates to keep up with all the latest features of WordPress. Someone else suggested the combination of Genesis framework, Dynamik and Themify Builder, which I have found to be an excellent combination.
D'Anne says
I’ve chosen similarly to you Helen, except my combo is Genesis, Dynamik, and Beaver Builder. Has cut development significantly and makes for leaner, faster-loading websites.
Djong Timoer Jr. says
I also use themify for the theme but I left the builder after I often lost my posting. The support is great.
Rich Tejada says
A friend sent me the link to this site. Since I have never built a website but do have a rudimentary blog on wordpress ( not as knowledgeable as I want to be on working with it) what would be the opinion of others to assume I am starting from ground zero with no coding experience. I want to have a decent site for personal training that I can change myself and add to without having to run to an expert like many of my friends. Is Beaver Builder going to be easy enough to work with or is Velocity better. I need easy to work with ! Thanks
Mike says
What are good wordpress themes to use these page builder plugins with?
WPBeginner Support says
Some page builders work with specific themes, and some work with almost every WordPress theme. Please see plugin’s documentation or contact support.
Admin
Aneel says
Hello sir, I waana migrate to WordPress from blogger (adsense approved). Kindly help me in this. Which hosting site is cheaper either bluehost, host gator, go daddy or else, and alse share me full video tutorial of this migration. Please
Thanks
WPBeginner Support says
Hey Aneel,
Please take a look at our step by step Blogger to WordPress migration tutorial, it also has video instructions.
Eli says
Great info in the article and comments, really helps to make a decision.
Seems like high votes for Beaver Builder.
I was wondering how it functions on multi site installation?
Craig says
What abut Cornerstone, I just started using that as part of the X theme – what do others think of it?
swapnil b says
Aqua Page Builder is also another alternative.
Its free and has basic features suitable for making good landing pages.
Its very light weight too in performance and code wise.
Does not conflict with other plugins
Renders even other plugin shortcodes
Other features – Tab , Toggles, Accordian
Thanks
Dave says
I agree. Aqua Page Builder is great and Syamil did an awesome job with it. It’s pretty easy to develop for and add new elements to. One of the things I dig is that you develop a page in the plugin and then include it with a short code, which makes it easy to integrate into other items, like plugins and themes.
Faheem says
I have been watching BB for a while now and I have finally decided to signup. It has come a long way and from what I can tell their support is top notch.
Nick says
All that is good, but the Theme Boulevard’s Jump Start 2.0 is the best!
Michael Mancini says
My two cents:
I have been watching BB for a while now and I have finally decided to signup. It has come a long way and from what I can tell their support is top notch. https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/support/
My only complaint is I wish there were some different type elements that a lot of my clients ask for like progress bars, counters, colored Google Maps, and others. I think I would have to use Intense Shortcodes with BB but hopefully they will add more of those type of elements.
You really should test drive BB at their demo http://demo.wpbeaverbuilder.com and find out for yourself.
MM
Pieter Hartsook says
Like visual composer we’re starting to see any ecosystem build up around beaver builder. Take a look at ultimate add-ons for beaver builder UABB, and PowerBuilder power pack for beaver builder.. These additional plugins, have a free lite version as well as the commercial version with all the features. They add the additional kinds of modules that you’re looking for like progress bars countdown clocks Cortines tabs portfolio grids, etc.
I’ve used visual composer with the Impreza theme for the last two or three years for almost all my client projects, but I just switched to a combination of using Genesis and beaver builder because the performance and stability is so much better.
John Luke says
This article should mention Visual Composer and Cornerstone.
Roberto Porcar says
Save your money and time, go with Beaver Builder.
Unbeatable quality and support. Very active development.
Tim Berneman says
I’ve tried many frameworks/themes as well and a few that I would give an honorable mention are:
Gantry by RocketTheme (http://gantry.org/)
GeneratePress (https://wordpress.org/themes/generatepress/)
Responsive (https://wordpress.org/themes/responsive/)
Beaver Builder is one I have not heard of but I will try the “lite” version in the WordPress repository:
Beaver Builder Lite (https://wordpress.org/plugins/beaver-builder-lite-version/)
Bill K says
I realize this article may be focused on standalone builders, but if one is considering a complete package– theme and builder– I cannot recommend X’s latest enough.
Themeco has incorporated their own pagebuilder into X called Cornerstone, and I really love it. Unlike VC, it is efficient code. But what I love the most is the UX. When I first got my hands on it it was just SO intuitive. For more advanced users it has a built in CSS editor for every page as well.
I also realize there may be concern about what happens if one changes themes. Indeed, the Cornerstone stuff would not change over, it’s dedicated to X. But… at the same time I also don’t think there’s a site design that can’t be accomplished with X, so there may not be a reason to switch down the road. (that, of course is a whole different discussion!)
You guys should check it out.
Marlon says
Another comment worth to mention …
The only thing I do not like in Beaver Builder so far is the fragmentation of the UI into two parts (not counting the admin area of the WP, amounting to 3 different interfaces).
Do you have an interface to page builder and another in the WP Customizer for the general settings of theme.
That, IMHO, Layers beats any competitor, it integrates the theme options and the builder all in the Customizer, making the user experience more smooth and linear.
Marlon says
I have used Beaver Builder and I’m loving it!
Other greats page builders worth of mention and can be categorized in “parent themes + page builders” are Layers by Obox Themes and UpFront by WPMUDEV.
Layers is FREE and Open Source, and have fully support for WP Customizer, meaning it integrates nicely with WP UI and you can use and create widgets, has a great documentation and a growing community.
UpFront, I’ve tested, and for me is like to Wix, ensuring a lot of freedom to the user, which is not always good, depending on your customers.
Bob says
Thrive Content Builder (TCB) is also very good and easy to use and loads fast.
I’ve built some sites with Divi and while a very good theme & builder, learning curve is fairly high. The new 2.4 release looks awesome and may eliminate some of the CSS coding required for most Divi sites.
I’ve also used Ultimatum theme – similar to Divi, a little easier IMHO. Ultimatum & Microthemer (CSS coder) is a good combo.
Will have to try Beaver Builder after all the rave reviews. Thanks for the post!
Pierre says
Interesting selection! I just think there is one missing plugin here. I would have included Layouts from Toolset. It allows a drag & drop custom design and it’s compatible with bootstrap. I assume it should have a mention in this post…
Andre says
Hate to rain on everyone’s parade, but page builders are notorious for generating horrible code in the source. They often have high learning curves for a typical user, as well they can create visual nightmares if you disable them (at least the ones I’ve tried in the past). I’ve even tested themes from Theme Forest that depend on Visual Composer, and the site was a complete mess when I changed themes to test that option.
In my opinion, they cause more headaches than not.
Justin Busa says
Hey Andre,
Have you had a chance to try out Beaver Builder? I would love to hear if you feel the same way about it as you do others. If you’re up to it, you can try out the demo or lite version.
Thanks!
Justin
Bill Lewis says
The Divi Builder is going to be released very soon form elegant themes! Comes with the Divi theme now and it rocks!
John says
Divi is the best. You can also get the page builder from Elegant Themes that will work on any theme.
Michael Wilhelmsen says
This post feels very suspicious.. So much bragging of the Beaver Builder plugin, the first comments does the same, and not even including the fantastic page builders Visual Composer and the Divi builder, that in my opinion is far superior than these other ones..
Could this be a “sponsored” post?
Editorial Staff says
Nope not a sponsored post. We included the top 5 in our opinion. Definitely should’ve included Cornerstone by X Theme. Perhaps we will do an updated version and list out pros and cons of Visual Composer as well.
Admin
Ken says
The Beaver Builder link in the Conclusion goes to Minimax and not Beaver Builder!
Also when I attempt to use the demo in BB does not work – cannot add a row?
Regards – Ken
Editorial Staff says
Just fixed that. Thanks
Admin
Robby McCullough says
Hi Ken! Sorry you’re having trouble with the demo. If you shoot us an email, we’d be happy to troubleshoot with you:
https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/contact/
Max says
No mention of Visual Composer?
Dustin says
I spent hundreds of hours of testing various page builders (more than I should have no doubt). I’ve used all of the above mentioned including many not mentioned and I 100% agree that Beaver Builder is top notch. Yes, it’s my favorite by far! They are continuously making improvements so it just keeps getting better with each update. As mentioned by others, their support is outstanding. The bar for page builders has been set high by Beaver Builder.
Nemrah says
And lets not forget that Visual Composer is not that good for page loading.
Beaver Builder FTW!
Editorial Staff says
Agreed. One of the reasons why we didn’t include it in this list.
Admin
Robby McCullough says
Hi there! Just wanted to pop in and say thanks so much for mentioning Beaver Builder. We really appreciate the kind words.
Robert says
I agree with Marcello. I use Visual Composer and as well the page builder from Divi and cannot wait untill they release that as a premium plugin and can use for all themes. My opinion is that page builder is awesome for people who now have that much experience with WP and want maintain their own webiste.
Maybe when the release is out you guys can make a part-2 of page builders.
Editorial Staff says
Absolutely a part 2 would make a lot of sense to add X theme’s Cornerstone and compare it with Divi builder.
Admin
Almazia says
Another thing I love about Beaver Builder is that if I decided to deactivate the plugin, it won’t leave ugly shortcodes all over my website, unlike some other page builders.
Zimbrul says
What remains if you deactivate the plugin?
Robby McCullough says
Hi Zimbrul! If you disable Beaver Builder all of your text and image content gets ported back into the WordPress editor. Our buddy Jonathan from Sure Fire Web Services made a video that shows this feature in action:
https://surefirewebservices.com/happens-deactivate-beaver-builder-plugin/
Almazia says
Beaver Builder’s Standard license is $99 for unlimited sites (not single site; they are really kind), and they have the free lite version on the WordPress plugin repository.
Oliver (WebMan Design) says
Hi Almazia. Just to make your message complete: the free version of the Beaver Builder plugin actually beats the Page Builder by Site Origin as you can use any widget with Beaver Builder too. But unlike the Site Origin’s one you have the comfort of front-end editing!
ceah says
I cut my teeth on Genesis with my own sites, Now I’m thinking of switching to designing client’s sites with page builders. So many people want to feel like they have control and can change things if they want.
I actually took SiteOrigin’s PageBuilder out for a test drive recently and once I got the hang of it and overcame a few issues, liked it. But I never thought about front-end editing vs. backend. So now I’m going to spend the weekend playing with both the Beaver Builder lite and Layers.
I do have a few questions for the Beaver Builder lite gurus. I am pretty comfortable with html and css. I also can tinker with php in the Genesis theme. Do you think someone with my level of coding skills needs the premium Beaver Builder or would the lite do? Also, I just checked out a site that says Beaver Builder doesn’t do headers and footers?! That makes no sense to me. Could someone explain that for me?
Thanks
ceah says
no?
Paul Floyd says
I am wondering why you guys left out DIVI.
Marcelo says
Interesting articles to discover other builders… but not to forget about Visual Composer, and the Elegant Themes’ builder which is already built-in Divi theme (and will be released as a standalone builder plugin soon). They both are Grade A builders, and nope, they’re not free.
Tim Taricco says
I was surprised that Visual Composer wasn’t part of this review of WordPress page builders. It gets a 4.87 star rating out of 5 on CodeCanyon. There are also tons of add-ons available for it.
Mark Klinefelter says
Not only is Visual Composer Class A and beats the others hands down in this article, one of the neatest factors is that there are so many addons that make styling your site so sweet. One of the best is Ultimate Addons for VC. I have used VC and numerous addons for my development site and am extremely satisfied. A glaring omission by the author of this article.
Joel MMCC says
Upthread another commenter (@Nemrah July.8 @ 1:09p) mentioned that Visual Composer is “not that good for page loading.” Presumably it injects so much extra and/or inefficient HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to do its thing, and/or the JavaScript requires so much extra overhead at page load time, and/or the PHP and/or SQL involved is slow and inefficient, that while it may be easy to use and produce nice-looking page designs, it really slows things down enough to turn off users and perhaps even generate server and/or timeout errors under heavy load.
@Editorial Staff replied on Jul. 9 @ 7:23a: “Agreed. One of the reasons why we didn’t include it in this list.”
So, it wasn’t an oversight. It simply didn’t make the cut. This is supposed to be a comparative review of the best page builders, not all page builders, and apparently Visual Composer just wasn’t considered one of the best for this reason. Doesn’t matter how many features it has: if it bogs down page loading, it’s not considered usable, let alone one of the best.
Perhaps if they were to go over their code and run it through performance analyzers such as YSlow and make the necessary optimizations, then it could make the cut.
karen says
Just curious – I have purchased VC – but I’m so used to using Avada & Enfold – or other themes with their own built in page builders – that I’m unsure of how to choose a theme for using V. C I’m used to using premium themes with top-notch support ratings – so if you have any advice to give on a theme with great support that doesn’t have a page builder and is known for great support I’d appreciate that very much! Thanks!
Matt says
@Mark – I always say consider the source. CodeCanyon is frequented by buyers of a mostly clueless nature (read: the majority – not everyone there) so it’s not really a surprise why the rating is high.
VC works for them and that’s really all they know or care about. There’s of course much more to a recommendation than that. VC doesn’t deserve a place in this list and when you’ve gotten more experience with WP you’ll hopefully realize why.
Use what works for you or not. Take the advice of those more experienced than you or not. Ratings are meaningless though if sourced from mostly inexperienced users. That’s why articles like this can be helpful to opening people’s eyes and making them rethink their choice or not.
Josh says
I love Visual Composer and was also surprised it isn’t on here. Beaver Builder is nice too. I’m not a fan of the Divi theme builder.
Editorial Staff says
Used the Divi theme, and it definitely has a steep learning curve. They make up for some of it with the preloaded templates, but it’s no where near the flexibility that BeaverBuilder offers.
Admin
J says
Hi,
thanks for this really nice article.
To my mind a 100 dollars for a single site licence is huge when you have a premium whole theme for 50, no? I’d say that the licence could cover up to 5 sites for ex. Nevertheless I’m sure that the quality is optimal and not doubt at all about this is must have type of tools for non advanced developers.
One you do not cover is visual composer.
Do you have an opinion on that one?
Thanks.
PS: All that say respectfully about beaver builder I’m quite convinced to try by now at the next occasion
Michael Mancini says
Beaver Builder starts at $100 per year for unlimited sites. Check out the BB pricing here https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/pricing/
It would be nice if the article was updated:)
MM
Sven says
Hello, thanks for the report! The Link to BeaverBuilder is wrong, please check.
Sven
Desmond Williams says
Just a quick note about Beaver Builder. Not only are they the best on the market (subjective of course!), but their support is second to none — which is really valuable when it comes to client projects.
Editorial Staff says
Completely agreed. BeaverBuilder is top choice.
Admin
Andrew Macia says
What about the Visual Composer on Code Canyon? I’ve used all of these except for Themify and I’d have to agree that Beaver Builder is great, but Visual Composer is just as good and it’s only like $30.00.