A page builder is a plug-in or theme that allows you to build more complex layouts without writing any code. This allows people to achieve stunning and responsive results without the necessity of a coding background. Here are the page builders we use the most!
Gutenberg
Gutenberg is the free page builder that’s packaged with WordPress. It is pretty rudimentary, but it has a steep learning curve for a lot of users. It has your basic drag and drop block features for things like images, video, text, etc., but the creative side of things comes with some difficulty. You’ll still need a bit of coding knowledge if you want to achieve the stunning results Gutenberg demonstrates, especially if you’re looking to get granular with things like different fonts, layouts, or seamless sizing & styling. With this page builder, you’re not working in a live preview, so you’ll need to load a new page every time you want to check how things are looking.
Since it is optimized to run with WordPress, Gutenberg is significantly faster on the front end. It could be a good choice if you have a bit of coding knowledge and want to build a simple, fast-running website.
Divi
Divi is one of our favorite page builders, and it’s come a long way throughout the years. In terms of these page builders, Divi is one of the easiest to use for non-tech savvy people. It offers a large variety of layouts that you can import and use on your own site to get a starting point, kickstarting your way to quick and stunning results. The layouts are easy to use, and easily-made changes to fonts, sizing, and colors make it a favorite of graphic designers. It allows users to switch between the backend for faster edits or the frontend to edit live. And for the most part, the front end gives an accurate preview of what the site will look like live, with only a few quirks here and there.
While Divi is relatively easy to use, there are some things that will require a bit of trial and error while starting out. The module feature isn’t super informative about what you’re getting. Additionally, Divi can be a little slow on the front end to get things going. Make sure you’re using properly sized images and other methods to keep your speed optimized.
Divi is a little expensive, starting at $89/year, but in our opinion it’s worth it. Its powerful tools allow you to build even large websites relatively quickly, with visually stunning results to wow your users.
Visual Composer
Visual Composer directly competes with Divi, so it offers a lot of similar features. It used to be our go-to, but now we find that it’s a bit more slow and clunky, especially since they’re trying to get more things on the front end like Divi. As usual with page builders, they have a list of blocks. However, unlike Divi, Visual Composer gives you a preview for each block with a great description of what it is and how it’s used. It also comes packaged with a lot of themes, coming in handy with their higher-end coding and making it easier to make the pages on the backend within that theme.
Visual Composer is essentially a middle ground between Divi and Gutenburg. They’re still building out their template library, so it’s not as robust as Divis. Furthermore, it’s not as granular as Divi in terms of styling and fonts, but definitely more-so than Gutenburg. Regardless, it’s still relatively easy to use, and the live preview is pretty good! It’s flexibility makes it a great option, but it still has a bit of a learning curve. Like Divi, it’s a bit slow on the front end, so it’s important to keep your site optimized.
Elementor
We have no problem working with Elementor, but it’s not necessarily one we’d go out of our way to use. It’s not necessarily difficult to use – Elementor has blocks, or “elements”, like the other page builders to drag and drop onto your page. However, much like Gutenberg, Elementor’s live preview isn’t very good. It often looks significantly different on the front end with spacing, cushions, etc., so it’s something you have to check pretty often.
In terms of positive features, much like Divi, Elementor offers very granular style changes like color, font, and sizing. Their responsive mode also makes it easy to switch between viewing types to make any necessary changes, which we must say Divi and Elementor do best in that regard. One thing that makes Elementor stand out is their divider and icon options. Divi offers many as well, but their library isn’t as extensive as Elementor as of yet.
Conclusion
While this is not a comprehensive list of available options, we hope this blog gives you some insight into which page builder might be best for you and your business. If you have any unanswered questions about page builders or website design, feel free to contact aj@bytesizedigital.com or schedule a call with us!
