5 Best WordPress Page Builders

Options for customizing and editing your WordPress site are plentiful these days. Standard with every fresh WordPress install is the native block editor, Gutenberg. Gutenberg is effective for laying out some basic pages and drafting blog posts. However, when it comes to doing advanced customizations, a more robust page builder may be just what you’re looking for.

If coding isn’t your specialty, and hiring a developer to build a custom theme isn’t feasible, a page builder is a great solution. Most are plugins that can be installed alongside many pre-built themes. Others are more like “theme” builders that help you create a unique design without a lot of predetermined elements in place. The bottom line is there are many options, and here we’ll go over a few.

There are plenty of contractors who can help you implement a theme or page builder. Whether you need help choosing the right tool for the job, or just tips for setting up the builder you’ve chosen, WP Contractors can help you figure it out!

Choosing the Right Theme or Page Builder

Most WordPress plugin and theme developers have a “freemium” version of their product available. Though they may have limited capabilities, they’ll have enough options to get you started. The goal is to hook you with the free version so you go on to purchase its extended functionality.

For the purpose of this article, we’ll assume you’re installing the “pro” version of any particular software. Most of the builders we’ll discuss here do have a free version. But we’ll only cover the fully functional premium versions below. We’ll also include licensing fees for comparison.

Beaver Builder

This plugin comes with a simple WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) drag and drop interface. It includes a variety of modules that can be used to add practically anything to your pages. These include backgrounds, sliders, carousels, content blocks, buttons, and much more!

When editing your content with Beaver Builder, you can see the changes being made in a live preview. You can choose to discard, publish, or save a draft edit for later publishing. You can even revert changes to an earlier version, which can really come in handy.

Compared with other page builder plugins, Beaver Builder is really quite user friendly. It’s fast-loading, has less “bloat,” and comes with 30 well-designed templates for landing pages and quick page layouts. Starting at $99 for use on an unlimited number of sites, this page builder is one of the best and most affordable.

Divi

The Divi theme and page builder is much like Beaver Builder in its ease of use and number of options. It features a helpful drag and drop interface to add modules or change your page layouts. And it lets you save a previously made or pre-made layout from your library.

As is typical for this type of WordPress drag and drop builders, the WYSIWYG editor is a live preview of what you’ll see on the front end when your changes are saved. There’s no need to go back and forth between your page editor and preview screen!

The Divi Builder plugin works as a standalone page builder with just about any theme. It can also be paired with the Divi theme for the optimal experience. The suite of tools can be bundled together for the single price of $89 (you can also purchase lifetime access).

Elementor

Another live page builder option, Elementor has many add-ons and integrations. You can integrate widgets created by other WordPress plugins, offering more flexibility with page elements. Similar to Divi, the Elementor editor interface previews your changes as they’re made.

As with both Divi and Beaver Builder, Elementor is compatible with most WordPress themes. You can use the theme builder to create your site structure, too. Sleek and intuitive, Elementor is easy-to-use, packed with add-ons, widgets, and module integrations. More than just a page builder, it’s an appealing all-in-one site building tool.

A first-tier single-site license fee costs $49. Included are 50+ widgets, 300+ templates, and 10+ full website templates.

Themify

Another option that’s a little different than the others discussed here is the Themify theme builder. This page builder can be installed as a stand-alone plugin to easily edit any theme. If you want to change your site’s overall design you can use Themify’s prebuilt themes to switch themes effortlessly.

One thing that can become an issue using a page builder is site performance. Themify has created a solution for this that they call the Pagespeed Framework. It allows you to enable performance options to help with page load time, SEO, and conversion rates!

For $59 you can purchase a single theme which includes the Themify Builder. Or to access all 42 themes, there’s a Master Club membership for $89.

Thrive Architect

Any of the page builders mentioned above can be used to create landing pages for user conversion. However, Thrive Architect was made exactly for that purpose. Its developer also makes conversion oriented WordPress themes and plugins.

The Thrive Architect page builder includes a drag and drop, “click to edit” interface, to see your edits as they’re made. It also comes with around 270 different landing page templates. They include pre-built conversion elements, highly customizable buttons, testimonials, pricing tables, and lead gen forms. All easily integrate with popular email marketing tools.

This page builder plugin can be purchased with either a $19 per month membership (which is paid annually and will allow for installation on up to 25 sites) or a $67 single site license.

Wrapping Up

When it comes to choosing a page builder for your WordPress site there are many options to choose from. Their average licensing cost is quite reasonable, and most have a starter version to try out. There are even some that are completely free…though the learning curve for those is usually much higher.

Another important thing to consider is the issue of “bloat.” This happens when a plugin and/or theme try to do too much within their feature set. This can contribute to slow page load times and too many server resources being used unnecessarily.

The most important aspect of a website editing tool is it’s ease of use and functionality. Does it simply do what you need it to? Any of the page builders mentioned above will do all that, and more!