If you want to create stylish posts and pages for your WordPress website, then a page builder plugin is the best way to do so. The best page builder plugins add a new content editor interface to your website that lets you do so much than what’s currently possible with the default editor.
Not only do these advanced web design tools let you work through a drag-and-drop user interface, but they also provide you with a selection of useful elements that can be added to your website. Some even include high-quality pre-built page layouts for a range of projects and purposes.
If you’d like to start using one of these tools but aren’t sure which one to pick, this comparison of the best free WordPress page builder plugins will help you find the right option for your needs. And, best of all, if you’re on a budget or aren’t ready to invest in a paid tool, this page builder comparison only includes options that are free to use.
To help you find the best page builder for your website, we’ll explore the user interfaces of these tools, their most useful features, and how easy they are to use.
We’ll also look at how popular these plugins are, based on their total active installations, recent download rates, and ratings from users. This information should help you choose a plugin that’s not only been popular in the past but also stands a good chance of being well supported and maintained long into the future.
To help you find the best page builder for your website, we’ll explore the user interfaces of these tools, their most useful features, and how easy they are to use.
We’ll also look at how popular these plugins are, based on their total active installations, recent download rates, and ratings from users. This information should help you choose a plugin that’s not only been popular in the past but also stands a good chance of being well supported and maintained long into the future.
What is Page Builders?
Page builders are tools that enable you to put together websites in record time, by providing you with pre-built elements you can arrange in any way you want. You can insert them into your pages, move them around, and see the effects immediately.
WordPress page builders make it easier for users of all skill levels to create awesome websites by:
- Making it possible to build custom pages without a background in web development.
- Letting you customize complex elements and features with a few clicks.
- Including drag-and-drop functionality, so you can arrange all the elements on your pages as you see fit.
- Enabling you to preview how your site will look when it goes live.
Let’s take a look at what you should keep in mind when comparing the best WordPress page builders, so you can choose the right one for your needs.
Compatibility:
If you’re not interested in changing your existing WordPress theme for a page builder plugin, then the first thing you need to check is whether the builder you want to use is compatible with your WordPress theme.
If you find any compatibility issues, then you might want to use a builder-compatible theme for your site. Most builders in this article are compatible with all themes.
Features:
You need to understand the unique quality of each builder when comparing the features. For example, some builders are shipped with a lot of built-in layouts, while others offer dozens of animation effects.
Responsiveness:
You need to make sure that the page builder you choose allows you to create responsive, mobile-friendly layouts out of the box. For your convenience, every page builder we’ve listed in this article lets you create mobile-friendly layouts.
SEO:
You need to make sure that your page builder is creating SEO friendly layouts. Luckily, all page builders listed in this article are 100% SEO friendly when combined with the Yoast SEO plugin.
WP Bakery Page Builder
WP Bakery Page Builder is possibly the most well-known WordPress page builder in the market since many premium themes ship with it included. Its support for all types of themes and sites is excellent, and its front-end editing features make it very easy to use.
- Includes an extensive collection of pre-made layouts.
- Supports CSS customizations for all of its elements.
- It is fully compatible with translation plugins such as WPML.
- Let’s you edit any page using a front-end visual editor.
WP Bakery Page Builder is a premium plugin ($46), but it also ships for free with plenty of themes.
Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder is a front-end editor that also gives you true what you see is what you get editing. When building your pages, you see the same view as your future readers.
The included modules (or elements) let you add contact forms, CTA buttons, videos, and lots more.
You also get powerful controls for when these modules display. You can choose to only display each module for certain devices or user roles. All Beaver Builder pages are responsive by default, but this feature will help you build even better mobile-optimized pages.
And if you don’t want to start building from zero, Beaver Builder includes templates for both landing pages and content pages
Beaver Builder will work well with whatever theme you’re using, but it shines when you use the included Beaver Builder Theme (only included with Pro and Agency plans). This theme utilizes a combination of the regular Beaver Builder plugin with the WordPress Customizer to give you full control over every aspect of your site.
Beaver Builder has been updated well along with the Gutenberg project. So, it works fine with your new Gutenberg editor.
Elementor
Elementor is the first free and open-source advanced page builder for WordPress. With its quick drag-and-drop builder, you can make instant page edits from the frontend of your site. Elementor is well-known for its high-speed performance, which makes it fun and easy to build with.
With its extensive template library, you get hundreds of beautiful WordPress templates from their top-notch designers, which can be exported to different websites through the page builder.
Elementor supports the responsive, mobile-friendly design, allowing you to build web pages that work great on any device.
You can build a brand new landing page without a header or footer, optimized for high conversions. For maintenance, you can get your site offline with its built-in maintenance mode. Integrating your website with a third-party web application is a breeze using its Zapier integration.
The biggest thing that we don’t like about Elementor is that its license is very restrictive. If you’re a freelancer or agency looking to use Elementor on client websites, please know that their Pro version is not GPL.
Divi Builder
Divi Builder is a popular premium page builder from Elegant Themes. While it’s most commonly used as part of the Divi theme, Divi Builder is also a standalone plugin that you can use with other themes, as well.
The Divi builder works on almost any WordPress website. It gives you endless possibilities to create the most advanced layouts without having to touch a single line of code.
Divi Builder lets you edit your content using both a visual front-end interface as well as a back-end interface, though most users will probably prefer the front-end interface.
With Divi Builder, you’ll get 46 content modules that allow you to add testimonials, portfolios, pricing tables, and lots more.
Divi Builder also ships with more than 20 pre-made layouts, so you don’t always need to start building from scratch.
Divi is slow as compared to the others and leaves a lot of wasted code behind if you remove it from WordPress.
SiteOrigin Page Builder
Front-end and back-end editing. Theme independence. Undo/Redo. Styles for rows/widgets.
Instead of custom elements or modules like other page builders, you build pages with widgets.
Beyond the core WordPress widgets, SiteOrigin Page Builder also offers a free Widgets Bundle plugin that adds a modular set of 23 widgets that you can use. It also includes ~25 pre-built templates that you can use, though these are pretty barebones in comparison to other page builders.
You can’t save your designs as templates, but you can easily clone existing pages, which gets you similar functionality.
Unfortunately, while SiteOrigin offers a free widgets bundle to give you some much-needed flexibility, you still won’t achieve the diversity of elements offered by premium page builders or Elementor.
With that being said, if you don’t need diversity and just want a free way to build pages, SiteOrigin Page Builder is certainly worth a look. Over one million active installs don’t lie!
Themify Builder
The Themify Builder comes with a drag-and-drop interface that helps you create any layout you can imagine with ease. The builder comes with over 60 prebuilt layouts and animation effects that you can choose from. This means you can quickly build beautiful pages without having to start from scratch. All you have to do is simply import the layouts you want to use, replace the images and text, and you’re done.
The builder comes as a standard feature for all Themify themes. You can also use their builder plugin with any third-party WordPress theme.
From the compact backend interface, you can use the drag-and-drop feature to build modules quickly and easily. In the frontend, you can preview the design and make live edits to your modules.
To enhance the capabilities of the Themify Builder, you can find tons of different add-ons that can be purchased separately or as a bundle
Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is a page builder that’s built for conversion-focused websites. Thrive Architect is developed by the same folks behind Thrive Themes, a company that sells conversion-oriented WordPress themes and plugins.
Thrive Architect is shipped with a drag-and-drop editing tool and 271 prebuilt landing page templates.
With Thrive Architect, you can quickly create a stunning homepage, sales page, blog posts, and everything you could ask for.
To purchase Thrive Architect, you can either get a single site license for $67 or subscribe to the premium Thrive Membership that gives you access to all Thrive products for $19 per month.
Conclusion
Almost every builder plugin out there comes with a drag-and-drop builder on the backend and a live editor on the frontend. It’s important to understand what makes each WordPress page builder unique.
After our comparison, we’ve found that WP Bakery Page Builder, Beaver Builder, and Elementor are by far the best drag-and-drop WordPress page builders. It comes with all the features that you need to build awesome website layouts. You can use its extensive collection of pre-built layouts to quickly build a page from the ground up. After selecting the right layout for your site, you can customize the page the way you want.
We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress page builder for your needs.
