Divi Builder and Elementor are two of the best WordPress page builder plugins in the market. Despite younger, Elementor has more users than Divi Builder. However, number can’t always be a standard. There are probably some Divi Builder features that are not available on Elementor or vice versa. In this article, we will compare all aspects of these page builders. From features, design approach to pricing.
We will be objective here, based on our experience.
Divi Builder vs Elementor Pro: Overview
Unlike Divi Builder, Elementor is a freemium page builder. Meaning that you can use it for free, although with fewer features. The Elementor version we will compare here is the pro version.
Divi Builder and Elementor Pro have several things in common. For instance, they work on both posts and pages. They can also be used on any WordPress theme. Be it Divi Builder and Elementor also offer premade templates and allow you to create a WordPress theme without coding.
Divi Builder vs Elementor Pro: User Interface
Both Divi Builder and Elementor come with a drag and drop visual interface, allowing you to create a beautiful web page without coding. However, they use a different approach.
# Divi Builder
You can use Divi Builder whether on a post or a page. To access the Divi Builder editor, you can click the Use The Divi Builder button which appears on the top side of the Gutenberg editor. Before the editor really opens, you will be asked whether to create a page from scratch, from a template or by cloning an existing page. After making your choice, you will see the real interface of the Divi Builder.
If you create a page from scratch, Divi Builder provides a default section. To add a new section, you can click the blue plus icon. Speaking of the plus icon, there are three plus icons you will see on the Divi Builder editor:
- The blue plus icon: To add a new section
- The green plus icon: To add a new row
- The grey plus icon: To add a new module
On the bottom side of the Divi Builder, there is a panel that hosts several menu items to open the layout library, export/import a layout, publish the page, save the page in a draft and so on. Divi Builder itself offers three interaction modes: Hover Mode, Click Mode, and Grid Mode. You can change the interaction mode by clicking the three-dot icon on the left-most of the bottom panel. By default, the interaction mode is set to Hover Mode.
When using Divi Builder, you have to familiarize yourself with popups. You will see a popup every time you want to add a new module or make the settings over a module, row or section.
Another thing you have to familiar with is the handler. Each element on the Divi Builder (section, row, and module) has a handler. You can use the handlers to access the settings popup, load the library, duplicate the element, delete the element, and several other things.
There are three handlers you will see on Divi Builder:
- The blue handle: to control a section
- The green handle: to control a row
- The grey handle: to control a module
# Elementor Pro
Unlike Divi Builder, you will be directly taken to the Elementor editor once you click the Edith with Elementor button on the Gutenberg editor. If you want to create the page from a template, you can simply click the folder icon on the canvas area.
Elementor itself uses a different approach from Divi Builder. Instead of popups, Elementor uses a fixed, hideable panel which you can find on the left side of the screen (this panel is also resizeable). This panel hosts the widgets (design elements) of Elementor. This panel will automatically turn into the settings panel after you add a new section, column or widget.
From this panel, you can also make some settings to your page. Like setting the page layout and change the title. You can click the gear icon on the bottom side of the panel to open the setting page options.
To add a new widget, you can simply drag the widget you want to add from the left panel to the canvas area.
Elementor has a handy Navigator feature. This feature allows you to easily jump between sections, columns, and widgets. It is very useful if you are working on a page that consists of lots of sections, with lots of widgets on each section.
To be honest, the approach adopted by Elementor offers a better user experience than Divi Builder. Without popup, you have a cleaner canvas.
Divi Builder vs Elementor Pro: Design Elements
Design elements are crucial enough in the context of the page builder plugin. In general, the design elements offered by Divi Builder and Elementor are not too different. However, they might use a different name for elements with the same functionalities.
# Divi Builder
There are three design elements offered by Divi Builder:
- Section: The largest container to host rows and modules
- Row: To place the modules. When adding a new row, you can select the column layout to divide your page vertically. There are about 20 column layouts offered by Divi Builder
- Module: The actual design element you will use to build your page.
Divi Builder offers about 38 modules.
Accordion | Email Optin | Pricing Tables |
Audio | Filterable Portfolio | Search |
Bar Counters | Gallery | Shop |
Blog | Image | Sidebar |
Blurb | Login | Slider |
Button | Map | Social Media Follow |
Call To Action | Menu | Tabs |
Circle Counter | Number Counter | Testimonial |
Code | Person | Text |
Comments | Portfolio | Toggle |
Contact Form | Post Navigation | Video |
Countdown Timer | Post Slider | Video Slider |
Divider | Post Title |
If you need more modules, you can install a plugin.
# Elementor Pro
Same as Divi Builder, Elementor also offers three elements.
- Section: The largest container to host columns and widgets. Elementor offers pre-defined sections with different column-structures.
- Column: To place the widgets. Elementor allows you to add a new column to an existing column inside a section.
- Widget: Same as modules in Divi Builder. Just a different name.
Elementor offers way more widgets than Divi Builder. With the pro version, you have over 90 widgets. Here are some of the key widgets offered by Elementor Pro.
Posts | Reviews | Nav Menu |
Portfolio | Countdown | Search Form |
Slides | Share Buttons | Sitemap |
Form | Blockquote | Post Title |
Login | Facebook Button | Post Excerpt |
Animated Headline | Facebook Comments | Featured Image |
Price List | Facebook Embed | Author Box |
Price Table | Facebook Page | Post Comments |
Flip Box | Template | Post Navigation |
Call to Action | Site Logo | Post Info |
Media Carousel | Site Title | |
Testimonial Carousel | Page Title |
Same as Divi Builder, you can also get more widgets by installing Elementor add-ons.
Getting an Elementor add-on tends to easier than Divi Builder. Marketplace platforms like TemplateMonster and WPDeveloper sell premium Elementor add-ons.
Divi Builder vs Elementor Pro: Features Comparison
There is a feature available on Elementor Pro that is not available on Divi Builder: Popup Builder. With this feature, you can create things like a floating form, a floating banner to an attractive menu as follows.
Outside of that, the features offered by Divi Builder and Elementor Pro are basically not much different.
In this section, we will compare the two main features offered by both Divi Builder and Elementor Pro.
# Theme Builder
- Divi Builder
In case you didn’t know. Divi Builder was previously only available for the themes developed by Elegant Themes: Divi (just “Divi”) and Extra. Before version 4.0, which was released in October 2019, Divi Builder had no Theme Builder feature.
The Theme Builder feature of Divi Builder allows you to create custom elements of your theme, including:
- Header
- Footer
- Single post template
- 404 page
- Category page
- Search results page
You can create a custom element for specific pages, specific posts, posts under specific categories, posts with specific tags, and so on. In Divi Builder, display conditions are set upfront before you start creating the element.
- Elementor Pro
Since the beginning, Elementor has been designed as a generic page builder, instead of intended to certain themes like Divi Builder. Theme Builder has been a default feature of the Elementor Pro since the plugin was released back in 2016.
The Theme Builder feature of Elementor Pro also allows you to create the custom elements of your theme, including:
- Header
- Footer
- Single post template
- 404 page
- Category page
- Search results page
In Elementor, display conditions are set after you are done creating a template. Elementor offers better flexibility in terms of display condition setting. A single template, such as a header template, can have multiple display conditions. For instance, you can apply a header template only for two posts on your website. Also, you can exclude a template for certain pages or posts.
Elementor also offers premade templates for each custom theme element you want to create. The same thing is not offered by Divi Builder. At the time of writing, Divi Builder only offers templates for pages.
# Template Library
- Divi Builder
One thing you need to know. Elegant Themes, the developer of Divi Builder, uses the term “layout” instead of “template”. Divi Builder comes with a Divi Library to allow you to access all of your saved layouts. Divi Builder allows you to save a design element you have customized, be it a section, a row or a module, to the Library as a Global item. This is great if you often use modules (in which you have customized) on different pages on your website.
The elements you have saved to the Library can be accessed when you want to add a new element. Simply click Add From Library tab on the appearing popup every time you want to add a new section, row or module.
You can see all of your saved elements by going to Divi -> Divi Library. To have them well-organized, Divi Builder allows you to create categories to manage your saved elements.
Divi Builder itself also offers premade layouts. Unfortunately, the layouts are limited to pages only. There are no premade layouts for blocks, header, footer, or single post. There are over 1,000 page layouts offered by Divi Builder in total.
Almost forget. Divi Builder allows you to export a page layout into an external file in a JSON format.
- Elementor
Elementor also comes with a Library feature to allow you to save the customized elements for recurring use. In Elementor, you can save a section as a block. You can also save a widget you have customized as a global widget. You can see all of the elements you have saved by going to Templates -> Saved Templates.
Elementor also offers premade templates. Unlike Divi Builder, the templates offered by Elementor are not limited to page templates only. Elementor offers templates for nearly all elements. From header templates, footer templates, single post templates, 404 page templates. Elementor even offers block templates.
Elementor also allows you to export a template in an external file in a JSON format.
Pricing Options
Once again. Elementor is a freemium plugin, meaning that you can use it for free. However, using the free version of Elementor only allows you to touch the surface area of Elementor. The pro version gives you access to features like Theme Builder, Popup Builder, pro widgets, pro templates, and so on. On the other hand, Divi Builder is a premium plugin with no free version is offered.
# Divi Builder
Elegant Themes offers two buying options. First, you can get Divi Builder by becoming a paid subscriber for $89 per year. Alternatively, you can get Divi Builder with a one-time purchase for $249.
Divi Builder itself is not sold as a separated product. Instead, it is bundled with other products developed by Elegant Themes. After being a paid subscriber, you will have access to all products developed by Elegant Themes as follows:
- Divi (just “Divi”. It’s a WordPress theme)
- Extra (also a WordPress theme)
- Divi Builder
- Monarch (social media plugin)
- Bloom (email opt-in plugin)
Elegant Themes doesn’t limit the number of sites that you can use its products on. In other words, you can use Divi Builder on as many sites as you want after being a subscriber.
# Elementor
Unlike Divi Builder, Elementor only offers a subscription model. There is no option to get Elementor with the one-time purchase. The premium version of Elementor is available in three plans.
- Personal: $49 per year for 1 site
- Plus: $99 per year for 3 sites
- Expert: $199 per year for 1,000 sites
The Verdict
Both Divi Builder and Elementor are great page builder plugins that allow you to create beautiful web pages visually in the front-end editor in real-time. Everything is drag and drop. No coding skills are required.
In terms of the user interface — as well as user experience — Elementor is a bit better than Divi Builder. At least, the interface of Elementor is easier to learn for new users. Plus, Elementor offers more widgets, allowing you to unleash your best creativity in designing a web.
Divi Builder is a better option if you hate the subscription business model since it offers a one-time purchase option, which is not offered by Elementor. Plus, you can use Divi Builder on as many websites as you want. Which is great if you are a web developer who often creates websites for clients.