Want to switch away from WPBakery on your next WordPress project? If yes, you might want to check some of the best WPBakery alternatives on the list below.
Many WordPress users still use WPBakery to build websites for one main reason: they can get the plugin with a one-time purchase option. By not using a subscription-based product, they can save the yearly expense, which is good for a long-term.
If you have the same reason, there are actually some better WPBakery alternatives out there. Divi for instance. You can use Divi on unlimited projects with only a single membership account. The best part, you don’t need to pay membership fee on a yearly basis.
Features to Look for in a WPBakery Alternative
WPBakery is a page builder plugin that makes it easy for you to create a website with WordPress. Just like the similar plugins, it has a visual editor to make page editing a lot easier. You can simply drag a design element to the canvas area and make the adjustments according to what you want to achieve. WPBakery also comes with pre-made templates to cut your design process.
Apart from the above-mentioned features, another crucial feature you need to notice when picking a WPBakery alternative is responsive editing. This feature is especially crucial if you plan to create websites that primarily targets mobile device users. With the feature, you can adopt a mobile-first approach on your project.
Here are some key things you need to notice before picking a page builder to replace WPBakery:
- Responsive editing feature
- Design elements
- Compatibility with your theme
- Complementary features (theme builder, popup builder, form builder, etc.)
- Custom CSS
- Pricing models
Some WPBakery Alternatives for WordPress
As you might have known, WPBakery is a paid plugin. You can get it whether on its official website or on CodeCanyon.
In WordPress itself, there are a number of free page builder plugins that you can use to replace WPBakery, although you might need to deal with limited features. If you have no issue with money, there are paid alternatives as well, of course.
Shortcuts:
- Breakdance
- Elementor
- Beaver Builder
- Visual Composer
- Brizy
- Zion Builder
- Divi Builder
- OptimizeBuilder
- Cornerstone
- Bricks Builder
Free WPBakery Alternatives
1. Breakdance
If you are are looking for a free WPBakery alternative, one of the options you can try is Breakdance. It is a generic page builder plugin, meaning that you can use it on any WordPress theme. The free version of Breakdance itself is not available on WordPress.org. Instead, you need to download the plugin file on its official website.
In addition to a visual editor, which is the main feature it offers, Breakdance has a number of useful complementary features to make site building process turns into something fun. First, you can design every part of your website — inlcuding header and footer — thanks to its theme builder feature.
Want to add form? Breakdance even has four dedicated form elements for specific purposes:
- Forgot Password
- Form Builder
- Login Form
- Register Form
Unfortunately, not all Breakdance features are available on the free version. Some advanced features are only accessible if you have pro version.
Breakdance Pros:
- Easy-to-use visual editor
- Usefeul complementary features
- Custom CSS
- Pre-made templates
Breakdance Cons:
- Doesn’t support extension
- No lifetime membership plan for the pro version
2. Elementor
Elementor is the king of WordPress page builder plugin. At least if number of users is the parameter. It powers more than 10 millions WordPress websites. You can use Elementor for free, with pro version is available as an option to unlock more advanced features. One of the reasons why Elementor holds the status as the most popular page builder plugin is its open system, which allows third-party developers to get involved.
In Elementor, you have two options to extend its functionalities. In addition to upgrading to the pro version, you can install an add-on developed by a third-party developer. Crocoblock is an example of well-known developer focusing on developing Elementor add-ons.
Same as Breakdance, Elementor also comes with useful complementary features like theme builder, form builder, and popup builder. Furthermore, the page builder has extensive dynamic content support. You can integrate Elementor with advanced custom field plugin like ACF, Pods, to JetEngine.
Elementor Pros:
- Extensible via add-ons
- Useful complementary features
- Easy-to-use editor
- Very well-established ecosystem
- Custom CSS
- Pre-made templates
Elementor Cons:
- No lifetime membership plan for the pro version
3. Beaver Builder
Looking for a minimalist page builder plugin to replace WPBakery? If yes, you can try Beaver Builder. It has a lightweight editor that is easy enough to use. Not as popular as Elementor, neither has as many features as Breakdance. But Beaver Builder definitely deserves a try.
The good news is that you can try the experience of editing a page using Beaver Builder for free as the plugin is available as a freemium plugin, with the free version is available on WordPress.org. Unfortunately, the features available on the Beaver Builder are extremely limited. You only have less than 10 design elements. Also, adding custom CSS is a bit painful as it doesn’t allow you to directly add custom CSS to an element.
Beaver Builder Pros:
- Lightweight editor
- Pre-made templates
- Extensible via add-ons
Beaver Builder Cons
- The free version is too basic
- Lack of design elements
- No lifetime membership plan for the pro version
4. Visual Composer
Another WPBakery alternative that offers a free version is Visual Composer. You can use the free version to try the editing experience before upgrading to the pro version to unlock more advanced features.
Visual Composer is a bit similar to Beaver Builder whereby its free version offers very basic features. You can’t even load a premade template on the free version at all. Beaver Builder is integrated with Unsplash to make it easy for you to add images to your design although it might not the best best practice when it comes to performance. When adding an image from Unsplash directly from the Visual Composer editor, the image is hotlinked to Unsplash. Meaning that extra HTML request will be made when the page is loaded.
The free version of Visual Composer itself is available on WordPress.org. Visual Composer itself also comes with complementary features like popup builder and form builder. But you need to upgrade to the pro version to access these features.
Visual Composer Pros:
- Usefeul complementary features
- Pre-made templates
Visual Composer Cons:
- Unecessary integrations
- The free version is too basic
- Doesn’t support extension
5. Brizy
For some WordPress users, Gutenberg — the default WordPress editor — is more than enough to create pages. The main problem with Gutenberg is that it lacks of design options. Custom CSS is required for a simple decoration like border. The good thing about Gutenberg is that it extremely lightweight.
Brizy is a page builder that has similar interface to Gutenberg. It adopts a concept whereby a settings bar will show up to apply styles to an element. Of course, there are more design options available on Brizy than Gutenberg. More importantly, it offers responsive editing feature just like other page builders on the list.
The free version of comes with 23 design elements. Also, there are tens of pre-made templates you can choose from.
Brizy Pros:
- Lightweight editor
- Plenty of design element
- Complementary features
- Easy-to-use editor
- Pre-made templates
- Custom CSS
Brizy Cons:
- No lifetime membership for its pro version
- Doesn’t support extension
6. Zion Builder
Zion Builder is another great page builder to replace WPBakery if you want to start from a free version to figure out the editing experience. Same as Brizy above, Zion Builder also has a very lightweight editor. Even so, its editor is rather similar to Elementor than Brizy. The settings panel is available on a sidebar instead of floating bar. Handy features like navigation export/export are available.
Yes, Zion Builder allows you to export and import a page right from the editor just like Elementor. Also, before you start to design a page, you have three page layout options to choose from:
- Blank page (inherit your theme’s page layout)
- Blank canvas
- Full width
The free version of Zion Builder offers 25 design elements you can add to your design. Including handy elements like Icon List, Image Box, and Slider. The availability of the Shortcode widget allows you to integrate Zion Builder with any WordPress plugin that supports shortcode.
Zion Builder Pros:
- Lightweight editor
- Easy-to-use editor
- Support export/import
- Pre-made templates
- Complementary features
- Custom CSS
Zion Builder Cons:
- Doesn’t support extension
- No lifetime membership for its pro version
Paid WPBakery Alternatives
1. Divi Builder
Are you an agency? If yes, then Divi Builder is a perfect option for one main reason: it has a very simple pricing plan. You can install Divi Builder on unlimited websites with a single subscription account, which costs you only $89/year. The best part, you can get Divi Builder with a one-time purchase option. Meaning that you don’t need to pay subscription fee.
While Divi Builder is great in terms of pricing, it is not the best option when it comes to features. It lacks of layout options and requires CSS code to achieve a simple layout such as placing two elements side-by-side. Fortunately, you can install a plugin to extend its functionality. While it has only 39 native design elements, you can have more by installing Divi plugins like Divi Supreme, Divi Flash, and so on.
Also, you have over 100 premade templates to choose from and they release new templates on a regular basis. Divi Builder itself is available in two versions: you can use it as an integral part of the Divi theme. Alternatively, you can install the standalone plugin of Divi Builder plugin in case you already have a theme you really love.
Divi Builder Pros:
- Simple pricing
- Lifetime membership
- Extensivle via plugins
- Well-established ecosystem
- Pre-made layouts
Divi Builder Cons:
- Lack of layout options
- The editor is a bit heavy
2. OptimizeBuilder
OptimizeBuilder is a is a plugin designed specifically to be a landing page builder for WordPress. It comes with native features to collect leads and to sell digital products. The plugin itself is part of the OptimizePress marketing suite, but you can also get it as a standalone plugin in case you only need the page builder functionality.
With that said, you can also use OptimizeOptimize to replace WPBakery. The page builder plugin itself offers about 59 design elements. More than Divi Builder above.
Unfortunately, OptimizeBuilder offers no plans for agencies. It makes sense enough since OptimizePress is designed specifically for marketers. The maximum sites you can build with it is 5 websites.
OptimizeBuilder Pros:
- Easy-to-use editor
- Great to create landing pages
OptimizeBuilder Cons:
- A bit pricey
- No lifetime membership
3. Cornerstone
Looking for a WPBakery alternative that is available on CodeCanyon? You can try Cornerstone, then. As it is available on CodeCanyon, you can get it with a one-time purchase option just like WPBakery itself. But if you are okay with a subscription-based payment, Cornerstone also offers it. The subscription model is more compelling for agencies as you can install the plugin on unlimited websites by paying $249 per year.
The editor of Cornerstone itself is powerful enough. Before you start to work on the design, you can set the page layout first. You can also switch the editor mode from light mode to dark mode. Cornerstone itself offers four container types:
- Div
- Grid
- Section
- Row
You can use any container according to the layout you want to achieve on a certain section within a page. Cornerstone has over 50 native design elements. Unfortunately, it has no native element to create a form. It requires a third-party plugin to add a form to a page.
Cornerstone Pros:
- Powerful editor
- One-time purchase option is available
- Plenty of design elements
- Great for complex design
Cornersone Cons:
- Doesn’t support extension
- No native form builder
- The subscription model is pricey
4. Bricks Builder
The concept of Bricks is pretty similar to Divi whereby it offers a WordPress theme that has a built-in page builder — called Bricks Builder. Just like other WPBakery alternatives on the list, Bricks Builder also offers a drag-and-drop page building experience to ease your job in creating a website. It comes with plenty of design elements. Its built-in flexbox feature makes it easy for you to design page with a complex layout.
In addition to its core functionality as a page builder, Bricks Builder also allows you to create popup and custom tempates for site parts thanks to its theme builder feature.
Bricks Builder offers a one-time payment option. However, the price is extremely high: $599. As a comparison, you only need to spend $249 to get Divi with the same payment scheme.
Bricks Builder Pros:
- Useful complementary features
- Custom CSS
- Plenty of design elements
- Great for complex layouts
Bricks Builder Cons:
- Pricey
- Doesn’t support extension
The Verdict — Which WPBakery Alternative is the Best?
WPBakery is an old player in the page builder market. But, with many competitors constantly emerges, a big question pops up: is it still relevant in today’s age?
From the feature perspective, there are better WPBakery alternaties out there. But as mentioned in the opening section. There are many WordPress users who still use WPBakery on their projects for main reason: they can get WPBakery with a one-time purchase option. For agencies and freelancer than adopt per project business model, this option is quite important.
But in case WPBakery no longer suits your need, the alternatives we have just mentioned above worth trying. To minimize the risk, you can start from the free version. If you prefer a paid alternative, you can give it a test first.
