If you’re looking for the best page builders to build and customize your WordPress site, then you’re in the right place. WordPress has made it easy for people to build an excellent, mobile responsive website with no prior programming knowledge required. With the WordPress page builders, you can drag and drop elements and create a fully functional website in minutes. There are different WordPress page builders on the internet. Selecting the ideal page builder plugin for your website can be a hurdle especially for beginners. In this article, we have handpicked the best page builder plugins for WordPress site.
Top 7 Page Builder Plugins for WordPress
Here is a summary of top page builder plugins for WordPress.
Plugin | Free | Premium |
Gutenberg | Yes | No |
Beaver Builder | Yes | $99 |
Thrive Architect | No | $67 |
Elementor | Yes | $49 yearly |
Divi Builder | No | $89 yearly |
Page Builder by SiteOrigin | Yes | $29 |
WPBakery Page Builder | No | $45 |
1. Gutenberg
WordPress released Gutenberg editor with version 5.0 and improved a lot from there on. Gutenberg is a core component of the WordPress installation package and you can create beautiful pages with blocks. If you are using classic editor then you can install Gutenberg plugin as a separate plugin from WordPress repository. All popular plugins like WooCommerce, Yoast, etc. already have their custom blocks for adding relevant widgets to your pages.
- Drag and drop blocks with in-built customization options as part of WordPress editor.
- Enabled for post and page editor. Custom blocks are available for plugins.
- You can easily add drop cap, background colors, and recent posts widget.
- AMP plugin allows you to create beautiful stories with the Gutenberg plugin integration.
However, Gutenberg is still at its initial stage with many problems. For example, it does not support custom post types like WooCommerce or bbPress editor. It also has bugs like slow table editing and admin page loading. Besides these issues, if you have a larger website then we recommend you to start using Gutenberg, as it is the future of WordPress. In addition, other page builders heavily use JavaScript affecting loading speed on the frontend and you are locked in using the plugin due to the use of custom shortcodes.
2. Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder is one of the best page builder plugins for WordPress. The plugin lets you build beautiful websites by dragging and dropping elements to your site. Beaver builder is compatible with almost every custom theme and is an easy way to build responsive and translation ready WordPress sites. With more than 1,000,000 websites built with Beaver Builder, the plugin provides tons of features to make your site look beautiful and intuitive to the user.
Beaver is available in free and paid versions. You can upgrade to a pro version from $99.00 and premium templates and world-class support. The only downside of the plugin is the limited features that come with the free version. The main features of Beaver Builder include:
- Real-time frontend page editing
- Save and Reuse Rows and Modules
- Support for shortcodes and widgets to let you use multiple plugins
- Share layouts using import/export feature
- Multi-site install with paid versions
- Excellent plugin for developers
3. Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is a visual page builder plugin for WordPress that lets you build high converting sites using templates and drag and drop. The plugin was specially made for business and conversion-focused website. Thrive Architect is popular with a business website, bloggers, and affiliate marketers thanks to its effective conversion rates. Three features make Thrive Architect unique:
- Landing Page Templates. You get more than 320 beautiful designed templates to choose from to build a highly converting WordPress site.
- Pre-Built Conversion Elements. Leverage the features of Thrive Architect to a conversion-focused WordPress site to grow your business. This plugin will save you a lot of money you would have used to buy dozens of other plugins.
- Instant Drag & Drop Editing. You do not need programming knowledge to use this plugin. Simply click any element to edit and drag more elements to create your sales page in minutes.
Thrive Architect is a premium page builder plugin and prices start at $67.00 for a single license.
4. Elementor
Elementor is another visually designed page builder plugin that lets you build responsive and beautiful WordPress sites. It comes on top in terms of building high-end and pixel perfect websites from its selection features and widgets. On-board, you will get 28 stunning widgets to get started and a range of elements to create your desired site. The free version comes with designer-made templates to get started easily and a drag and drop editor to customize your site.
You can upgrade to the pro version starting from $49.00 per year and enjoy advanced options such as WooCommerce builder, theme builder, and pop-up builder. Elementor uses live preview mode so you can edit your pages in real-time. However, Elementor only works with the latest version of WordPress and PHP from versions 4.4 and 5.4 respectively.
5. The Divi Builder
Designed by Elegant Themes, Divi Builder is a premium page builder plugin with a lot of design elements to help you create a splendid WordPress site. It features an excellent drag and drop editor with excellent options such as effects, bulk editing, shape dividers, layouts, transformations, and hover states. On-board, you get over 40 pre-designed elements to make your work easier. You can include ready modules such as sliders, galleries, blogs, call-to-actions, testimonials, and forms.
The plugin comes with 100+ full pre-developed website packs which you can customize to meet your business needs. Divi Builder is available for $89.00 per year or $249.00 for a lifetime license. Other unique features include:
- Custom CSS control
- Design options galore
- Inline text editing
- Global elements and styles
- Save and re-use your designs
6. Page Builder by SiteOrigin
Page Builder by SiteOrigin is one of the most popular page builder plugins because it is free. The plugin is available as a fully-featured free page builder plugin for WordPress. It is one of the simple page builders around and lets you easily design responsive and beautiful WordPress sites by dragging and dropping elements. This free version provides other features such as the history tool, compatibility with existing WordPress widgets, and an advanced row builder.
While this page builder is free of charge to use, it has its perils. Some of the downsides of Page Builder by SiteOrigin include limited widgets and a very basic live editing feature compared to the other plugins. However, you can purchase premium add-ons starting from $29 for single site. The price includes getting all premium add-ons like custom post type builder, block animations, accordion, maps, parallax sliders, social widgets and tabs.
7. WPBakery Page Builder
WPBakery Page Builder is another premium and powerful page builder plugin for WordPress with plenty of content elements, templates, and add-ons. This is the best-selling page builder plugin at CodeCanyon and powers authoritative websites such as Forbes, TechRadar, Chris Lema, and Vandelay Design. WPBakery Page Builder was built for both front end-users and developers with its back-end editor. It works seamlessly with most WordPress plugins including WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, and translation plugins.
The plugin comes with over 50 design elements, templates, and add-ons to make customization easy. You can drag and drop elements to build an intuitive, yet powerful WordPress site. You can choose from 100+ layouts to organize the content of your site. Other features include:
- Skin builder to tweak your WordPress pages
- Extendable with WPBakery page builder API
- Professional online support
- Advanced grid builder
- Front end and back end page editors
WPBakery Page Builder is available for $45. The plugin is, however, not beginner-friendly and does not support shortcodes.
What to Look for When Selecting a WordPress Page Builder Plugin?
Selecting the best page builder plugin for your WordPress site is reliant on several factors. These are the factors you must consider before selecting a page builder plugin for your site:
Compatibility
There is a higher possibility that you’ll have different themes and page builder plugins for your site. It’s important to select a page builder plugin that works seamlessly with most WordPress themes and other plugins. The majority of the selected page builder plugins here are compatible with almost any theme. However, these plugins use shortcodes for each element on your page layout. This will make it difficult to switch the theme when you have the plugin bundled with your theme. We strongly recommend, using page builders as an independent plugin and only for pages (not for large number of posts).
Design Elements
The primary use of a page builder plugin is to create your WordPress site by drag and drop elements to your page. Make sure to select a page builder plugin with the elements you’d need to design your site.
User-friendly Interface
You may want to select a page builder plugin that is easy to use particularly if you’re a beginner. Page builders let you build your site within the shorted time possible and with no prior programming knowledge required. If you’re unable to achieve these, then reevaluate your choices.
Good Hosting
Page builder plugins need more server resources to open the editor with lots of elements that need JavaScript. Therefore, ensure to have reliable and good web host for your site. You can purchase good shared hosting from SiteGround or Bluehost depending upon your need.
Final Words
With all the considerations in mind, select the best page builder plugin from our list and begin your journey to build beautiful and powerful WordPress websites for your business.
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.