Are you planning to choose a WordPress page builder plugin but don’t know which one to choose between WPBakery and Elementor? I am here with this unbiased WPBakery vs Elementor comparison to solve your doubts and confusion.
We all used to spend a lot of money to build a website from scratch because it was not easy for a non-coding person to create a website on their own. We used to hire a developer or a specialist to build our websites, but those days are gone after the launch of the first visual page builder, and since then, a lot of page builder plugins have been launched.
WPBakery and Elementor are the two most popular page builder plugins. But it can be really difficult to choose one over the other. That’s why I have compared these page builders on the basis of features, user interface, pros & cons, pricing, etc. Stick till the end to find out which WordPress plugin is right for you.
Let’s get into all the details.
WPBakery vs Elementor: Key Differences
Here are a few key differences between WPBakery and Elementor:
- WPBakery allows you to build pages in the front end and back end of WordPress, whereas Elementor allows you to build pages in the front end only, which restricts your creativity.
- With Elementor, you can see whatever changes you make on the page live, whereas, with WPBakery, you need to save the changes first to see them reflect on the page.
- Elementor and WPBakery both offer pre-made page templates, but only Elementor offers over 100 website kits. Using these website kits, you can create a website without starting from scratch.
- If you deactivate Elementor on your website, then it will remove the styling from the pages, but it will leave a clean code behind so that your pages don’t break. But if you deactivate WPBakery on your website, it will remove the styling and leave broken shortcodes, making your website a complete mess.
WPBakery vs Elementor: Overview
Here is the overview of both WPBakery and Elementor in detail.
WPBakery Overview
WPBakery Page Builder (Formerly known as Visual Composer) is one of the first WordPress page builders. It comes with both backend and frontend editors, which is one of the best features of a page builder plugin. To help you create your website’s pages, it offers a simple drag & drop elements. You can create unique pages using these elements. WPBakery has been around for over ten years now; that’s why many website owners still prefer it over page builder plugins.
This page builder plugin offers over 40 content elements, including text blocks, social media buttons, carousels, charts, etc. To start using this plugin, you need to purchase the regular license from the website and install & activate the WPBakery plugin on your WordPress website. You can easily create the layout of your website without having any knowledge of writing shortcodes and HTML.
Elementor Overview
Note: Wanna get detailed insights into Elementor Pro? We have already done a detailed Elementor Pro Review here.
Elementor is one of the best WordPress page builder plugins, and it is also the 6th best plugin that is overall used on WordPress. Elementor became popular because of its unique features and easy-to-use interface. The plugin comes with a live editor where you can see whatever changes you make on a page live. With this page builder, you can use high-end designs to create beautiful pages.
Elementor also offers unique block elements, a library of ready-made templates, and stores all the changes you make on the pages of your website. This gives you the flexibility to undo if you make a mistake in designing the pages. The best part of the Elementor plugin is that it comes with a free and paid version. The free version comes with basic features which allow you to create a website from scratch.
Elementor also recently launched a complete solution called Elementor Cloud Website. This plan ends all your hassle of downloading WordPress on your website and finding a good hosting solution. Because it offers Google Cloud hosting, all the Elementor Pro features, and a free elementor. cloud subdomain. I have done a detailed Elementor Cloud review for you guys to explain everything.
WPBakery vs Elementor: Detailed Comparison
In this section, I will be comparing WPBakery and Elementor in detail so let’s begin.
User Interface
All the features of WPBakery are really easy to use. One of the best features of WPBakery is that it allows you to make changes in the front and backend both. The only thing it is missing is the inline editing feature. That means to make any changes on a page, you need to use pop-ups, and then you can make changes in the front or backend. The one thing I don’t like about WPBakery is that I have to save the changes first to see them reflect on the page.
Elementor’s editor is much easier to understand and use than WPBakery. You can see all the elements on the left sidebar. To use any element on the page, you just need to select an element and drag & drop it on the page directly. All the elements are available on the sidebar, whereas, on WPBakery, you need to click on the plus button to find the element you’re looking for. With Elementor, you can directly edit elements using the inline editing feature.
Verdict: Elementor is a much better option than WPBakery when it comes to user interface because you can access everything directly from a sidebar, and it also offers an inline editing feature. But if you want to edit your pages in the backend and frontend, both the WPBakery can be a viable choice.
Blocks & Elements
To create pages using a page builder plugin, you will need to use different blocks & elements. The effectiveness of your pages completely depends on the functionality of the elements. It doesn’t matter if a plugin offers more elements than the other if its functionalities are not up to the mark. WPBakery offers over 200 elements to use, which is more than Elementor. It also gives you the option to create a custom element for your website.
Both Elementor Pro and Free version offer access to elements. But only in the Pro version you unlock the complete library of elements. You can use these elements to design different parts of your website. If you buy Elementor add-ons, then you can also increase the number of elements to use. In the free version, you get access to essential elements that you will need to create a professional website from scratch.
Verdict: WPBakery has more options in elements than Elementor, and it also allows you to create custom elements. But with Elementor free version, you get access to core elements that can help you design your complete website. So when it comes to blocks & elements, both WPBakery and Elementor are tied.
Customization Options
Both Elementor and WPBakery offer many customization options that can make your site look unique. But the customization options available on WPBakery Page Builder are more complex than Elementor. You can add margins, borders, backgrounds, and padding in any element you are editing with WPBakery. When you edit any row or column, additional styling options become available in the editor.
There are two tabs in Elementor’s styling options: Style and Advanced. You can customize color, adjust alignment, and make other basic changes in the style tab. You can use advanced customization options in the advanced tab and adjust any settings you want. It also gives you the option to integrate Custom CSS in any element you want. The best part about Elementor’s customization options is that I don’t have to go anywhere to find these options because they are all available on the left sidebar.
Verdict: Elementor offers better customization options than WPBakery because using these options is complex on WPBakery. But on Elementor, you can experiment with these options easily on your website to see how your pages are looking.
Template Library
Templates can save a lot of your time & effort, and you don’t have to build pages from scratch. You can change any existing design & customize it according to your website. Both WPBakery and Elementor offer a variety of templates, and you can find these templates in their template library.
Elementor offers over 100 template kits, and using these kits, you can design your whole website in just a few clicks. WPBakery offers more than 80 templates, and you can use these templates to design any page of your website.
Verdict: It is clear that Elementor has a bigger template library than WPBakery. It also gives you the option to create a custom template on your own, and you can also re-use it whenever you want.
Theme Builder
Only a few page builder plugins allow you to edit your pages or blog posts. But they don’t allow you to alter any theme-defined content of your websites, such as footers, headers, blog archive templates, single blog posts, or any other part of your website. But with Elementor’s theme builder, you can edit & customize the header and footer of any page whenever you want. You can use any template & customize them, or you can design them from scratch.
After customizing the header and footer, you also get the option to use them on your entire website or any specific page. To create the customized header sections, you need to access the page builder section of Elementor. After selecting a theme for your header, you get complete control of designing your headers. Sadly, WPBakery doesn’t have a theme builder. But you can use the theme builder with WPBakery after installing the Visual Composer Website Builder plugin.
Verdict: Elementor is clearly a winner when it comes to theme builders because you need to install WPBakery’s brother plugin called Visual Composer Website Builder to use the theme builder feature.
Unique Features
WPBakery offers a unique feature that is called Role Manager Function, which allows you to assign roles and what sections these role holders can access. It is much better than Elementor’s basic user permissions. WPBakery also offers add-ons that can help you get additional features on this page builder plugin.
Elementor comes with a lot of unique features such as an embed anywhere feature, global widget, pop-up builder, and more. With the embed anywhere feature, you can embed already saved templates anywhere on your website. Elementor’s Global Widget feature allows you to save a design and use it on multiple pages on your website. With the pop-builder feature, you can design hello bars, fly-ins, any other pop-up, and full-screen displays.
Verdict: Elementor offers more unique features than WPBakery. But if you want more features on WPBakery, then you have to buy add-ons on it. You can also enhance the capabilities of Elementor with its add-ons.
Deactivating The Plugin
Before choosing a plugin, you should always consider what will happen to your website once you deactivate the plugin. Once you deactivate the WPBakery plugin on your website, then you have to deal with multiple broken shortcodes on your website, and that will create a mess on your website. You will lose the styling of your pages, and you will also see a lot of broken shortcodes which will be annoying for sure.
After deactivating the Elementor plugin on your website, you will lose all the styling of your pages, but all of your content will look normal. Because Elementor leaves behind a clean code on your website after deactivation. You will not see any broken shortcodes on your website, which means your website will look just fine.
Verdict: WPBakery chooses a chaotic route when you deactivate and leaves a mess behind on your website, but Elementor does not do that, which means Elementor is a much better plugin than WPBakery.
Customer Support & Resources
WPBakery offers priority support to all premium users. They also provide lifetime updates of their features. So whenever something new gets added on WPBakery, you will get notified, and to access that feature, all you need to do is update your WPBakery plugin. To contact the customer support team of WPBakery, you just need to create a ticket, and they will contact you back through email. It also has a knowledge base that can help you use all the tools of WPBakery properly.
Elementor offer 24*7 priority customer support to all their pro users. You can also get basic customer support even in the free version. They also have a knowledge base where you can find videos on how to use Elementor Pro features properly. They also have a blog where you can find answers to all your design-related problems. You can also talk to fellow Elementor Pro members on their GitHub and Facebook communities. They can help you come up with more creative ideas for your website.
Verdict: Elementor offers better customer support & resources than WPBakery.
WPBakery vs Elementor: Pricing Comparison
In this section, I will compare the pricing of WPBakery and Elementor in detail.
WPBakery Pricing Plans
There are two pricing options available on WPBakery, and they are:
1. Regular Plan: The regular plan costs $59 once, and you can use the WPBakery page builder plugin on one website. You will receive free updates, premium support, and access to the complete template library.
2. 5 Sites Plan: This plan costs $256 once, and you can use WPBakery in a single SaaS application. You will receive free updates forever, premium support, and theme integration.
3. 10 Sites Plan: This plan charges you $499 for the lifetime, on this plan you will get free updates, use on 10 sites, access to the template library, and premium support.
Elementor Pricing Plans
The Elementor Pro plugin comes with four different pricing options, and they are:
1. Essential Plan: The pricing of the Essential plan is $59/year. This plan gives you all the Elementor pro features for one website, access to all the website kits, and premium support.
2. Advanced Plan: The pricing of the Advanced plan is $99 per year. This plan offers you 3 pro websites, a landing page builder, marketing tools, and many more.
3. Expert Plan: The pricing of the Expert plan is $199/year. This plan gives you all the Elementor pro features for 25 websites, access to all the expert website kits, and an Elementor expert profile.
4. Agency Plan: The pricing of the agency plan is $399/year. This plan gives you all the Elementor Pro features for 1000 websites, and the rest of the features are similar to the above three plans.
Elementor Hosting Plans:
Elenetor Hosting plan offers four different types of pricing plans with robust features.
1. Basic Plan: This plan will cost you $9.99 per month and offers features like 25k monthly visits, 10 GB storage, 30 GB/month bandwidth, and so on.
2. Business Plan: This plan will cost you $19.99 per month and offers features like 50k monthly visits, 20 GB storage, 50 GB of monthly bandwidth, and many more.
3. Grow Plan: This plan will cost you $22.99 per month and offers features like 75k monthly visits, 25 GB storage, 75 GB of monthly bandwidth, and many more.
4. Scale Plan: This plan will cost you $49.99 per month and offers features like 100k monthly visits, 40 GB of storage, 100 GB of monthly bandwidth, and many more.
WPBakery vs Elementor: Pros & Cons
Here are the pros & cons of WPBakery and Elementor.
WPBakery Pros
- This plugin has backend and frontend editors.
- It supports multiple languages and also offers a role control feature.
- It offers many elements, and they don’t require any third-party extensions.
- It comes with multiple styling & customization options.
WPBakery Cons
- Deactivating the plugin will leave a mess on your website.
- There is no free version available such as Elementor.
Elementor Pros
- It prevents the lock-in because it doesn’t require any shortcodes.
- It offers an all-in-one solution called Elementor Cloud Website at an affordable price.
- It also comes with a free version.
- Integrates with many third-party apps.
Elementor Cons
- It comes with limited SEO tools that can affect search engine rankings.
- Limited customization options are available.
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Conclusion: WPBakery vs Elementor (2024)
So this is my in-depth comparison of WPBakery and Elementor. Now the only question remains: Which one is right for you?
No doubt! Elementor is the right option for you because it is a much better page builder plugin than WPBakery. It comes with complete website kits that can help you design your websites quickly. If you want to test the capabilities of Elementor, then you can even get started with its free version. The Elementor Cloud Website option resolves all your major problems as well.
So you can design & get hosting for your website all in one place. I only like WPBakery because it allows you to edit your pages in the frontend and backend both. Except for this feature, I think Elementor is a much better choice for you. Let me know your thoughts on this WPBakery vs Elementor comparison in the comment section below.
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