What is the best page builder plugin for your WordPress site? That’s the topic we’re going to explore in this post.
The WordPress page builder industry has grown quite a bit over the last decade.
Now, most page builders use a drag-and-drop interface, and many now let you customize different parts of your theme.
We’re going to take a look at each plugin’s key features, pros, cons and pricing structures.
The best WordPress page builder plugins
TL;DR:
If you want the best page building experience, choose Elementor Pro.
It’s one of the most affordable page builder plugins on this list, and it’s one of the most feature packed as well.
Plus, as WordPress’ landing page builder plugin, it has the most integration options and support, so you’ll always find solutions for any issues you do happen to run into.
1. Elementor Pro
When Elementor Pro launched in 2016, they shook up the WordPress page builder scene for the better and had a lasting effect.
Because Divi, WPBakery (formerly Visual Composer) and SiteOrigin Page Builder operated on the backend with unintuitive interfaces, Elementor’s live, frontend editor (and generous free version) was a breath of fresh air.
Even now that other page builder plugins have caught up, Elementor is still a powerhouse that’s used on over 13 million websites.
Elementor Pro has grown as well. You can now use it to build entire websites and customize your website well beyond the parameters of a page builder.
Key features
- Widgets – Build stunning web pages easily with over four dozen page building widgets.
- Landing Page Templates – A collection of premade page templates designed as website kits.
- Block Templates – Premade sections, including CTAs, About sections, Features sections, Contact sections, etc.
- Global Options – Set global colors and fonts to use on all Elementor templates sitewide.
- Template Library – Save sections and pages you create with Elementor as templates.
- Theme Builder – Create and edit your site’s headers, footers, 404 page and other key theme components page builders typically can’t (or don’t) touch.
- Popup Builder – Generate more leads with customizable popups that include different display options, such as exit intent or welcome mats. Popups can also be used as a login element or a content lock notice.
- Form Builder – Elementor Pro comes with a Form widget that comes with 20 different form fields.
- WooCommerce Store Builder – Elementor Pro includes over a dozen WooCommerce widgets that enable you to design your own product pages, or at least add products to landing pages.
Pros
- Easy to learn.
- Uses a drag-and-drop interface with rows nested into columns nested into sections.
- Works with almost any theme.
- Works with pages, blog posts and custom post types.
- Endless amount of third-party WordPress themes and plugins that integrate with Elementor.
- Versatile: build pages or an entire website.
- Includes a blank page template that removes your site’s header and footer.
- The Global widget enables you to create a reusable widget template, add it to multiple pages and edit it “globally,” or sitewide, from one location.
- Comes with a free theme (Hello theme) that enables you to build a website entirely with Elementor Pro.
- Add motion effects and animations to pages.
- Customize shape dividers for section backgrounds.
- Lets you edit padding and margins.
- Templates can be exported and uploaded on another WordPress site.
- Add team notes to specific design elements.
- Small Navigator overlay (which you can hide to get it out of the way) makes it easy to pick and choose which part of the page to edit without having to scroll.
- Includes a Favorites widget list for easy access to widgets you like best.
- Developer friendly, plus custom CSS is available.
- 24/7 support.
Cons
- No lifetime option or discount for keeping license active.
- No white label for developers and agencies.
Pricing
Elementor has a free WordPress page builder plugin, but if you want access to premium widgets and templates, the theme builder, the WooCommerce builder, the form builder, the popup builder, and premium support, you’ll need to purchase a premium license for Elementor Pro.
This costs $59/year for one website or $99/year for three.
There are also plans for WordPress professionals and agencies.
All plans are backed by a 30-day, money-back guarantee.
2. Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder has become a staple in the WordPress page builder industry, even if it has experienced a slower growth rate when compared to plugins like Elementor and Divi Builder.
The company’s primary product is the page builder itself.
However, Beaver Builder also has a dedicated theme you can use to build your own website as well as a theme editor you can use to make changes to your theme’s header, footer, page layouts and more.
Key features
- Modules – Build landing pages with over two dozen web design elements packaged into modules.
- Landing Page Templates – A moderate collection of well-designed landing page templates to use on the fly.
- Pre-Built Rows – Save time by using Beaver Builder’s prebuilt section templates.
- Template Library – Build a collection of your own templates, and use them to save time on new pages.
- Theme Builder – Although it costs extra, Beaver Builder does enable you to edit parts of your theme (such as headers and footers) with the Beaver Themer theme builder plugin.
- WooCommerce Modules – Build better product pages with Beaver Builder’s WooCommerce modules.
- Client Editor Mode – Lock specific parts of Beaver Builder’s editor before you hand the site over to your customers to ensure they can’t ruin their own site’s design.
Pros
- All plans include licenses for unlimited sites.
- Drag-and-drop interface with live frontend editing.
- Works with almost any WordPress theme.
- Available for pages, blog posts and custom post types.
- Change margin and padding sizes easily.
- Lead generation components included with the Subscribe Form module.
- White label option for agencies.
- Developer friendly with custom CSS available.
Cons
- Theme not available with all plans.
- Theme builder costs extra.
- Not as many templates as other plugins.
- No global style options for the page builder itself, just the Beaver Builder WordPress theme.
- Slow development when compared to other WordPress page builders.
Pricing
Plans start at $99/year, but you’ll need to pay for the next plan up at $199/year to get access to Beaver Builder’s official theme.
There’s also a plan for agencies as well as a fourth plan that includes Beaver Builder’s theme builder plugin. This costs $147 without this bundle.
All plans are backed by a 30-day, money-back guarantee.
There’s also a limited free version.
3. Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect was launched as one of Thrive Themes’ first products. It was released shortly after the company was founded in 2013.
In fact, Thrive Architect, alongside Elementor, was one of the first page builder plugins to launch a frontend live editor that made codeless web designing as simple as can be.
While other page builders delivered clunky interfaces, Thrive Architect made creating your own web pages from scratch accessible, especially for non-developers.
Thrive Architect is still one of the simplest, most powerful page builders available in the WordPress ecosystem to this day.
It’s now joined by an entire collection of marketing themes and plugins, including a website builder (Thrive Theme Builder), a lead generation plugin (Thrive Leads), an A/B landing page testing plugin (Thrive Optimize) and more.
Key features
- Building Blocks – Thrive Architect has over two dozen widgets you can add to any page.
- Landing Page Templates – Choose from over 300 premade landing page designs.
- Smart Landing Pages – A specific type of landing page template that uses global styling options for colors and blocks.
- Block Templates – Premade sections you can add to any part of a page.
- Personal Template Library – Save your own designs to reuse on other pages.
- WooCommerce Widgets – Add products, a shopping cart and more to pages.
Pros
- Very intuitive editor that’s easy to learn.
- Drag-and