Elementor vs WPBakery Page Builder Comparison (2023)

Many use WordPress because t is easy to use and offers various customization options. A few clicks of the mouse is all it takes to edit your website. This has become popular and easier thanks to page builders such as Elementor and WPBakery. That is why, in this post, I will compare Elementor vs WPBakery.

Making changes on your WordPress website wasn’t always straightforward. In the past, you needed knowledge and skills to customize the site per your needs.

Now there are plenty of WordPress widgets and tools that can be used to customize WordPress sites. New customization tactics have surfaced ever since page builders hit the market.

WordPress is still the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. Page builders such as Beaver Builder, Brizy, Oxygen, Thrive Architect, Elementor, and WPBakery have given new meaning to WordPress.

Because of many page builders available, it is hard to know which will be the best choice for you. I’m going to use this article to compare Elementor vs WPBakery so that you can decide which option is best for you from those two mentioned.

NOTE: I have also compared Elementor vs Oxygen Builder, Elementor vs Divi, Elementor vs Visual Composer, Elementor vs Wix and Beaver Builder vs Elementor, so be sure to check those comparisons also if interested.

Elementor Overview

Elementor has grown in popularity because of its various features and its simplicity. The Elementor PRO version can be used to create and design high-quality, professional websites in minutes.

The plugin has a live mode where you can see edits in real-time. Elementor provides a history of all changes that you’ve made to the pages on your site, unique elements, and a vast library of ready-made templates.

There is a free and paid version of Elementor. The paid edition has more widgets and functions than the Elementor free version. You can find Facebook widgets, social icons, image carousels, menu anchors, star ratings, call to action buttons, and many more functions in Elementor’s paid version.

ELEMENTOR FREE vs ELEMENTOR PAID

• NAME
• PRICE
• Template Library
• Export / Import Templates
• Mobile Editing
• Shape Divider
• Video Lightbox
• Box Shadow
• Text Shadow
• Background Overlay
• Hover Animation
• Entrance Animation
• Heading
• Image
• Text Editor
• Video
• Button
• Image Box
• Testimonials
• Icon
• Icon Box
• Social Icons
• Image Gallery
• Image Carousel
• Icon List
• Counter
• Progress Bar
• Tabs
• Accordion
• Toggle
• Alert
• HTML
• Shortcode
• Menu Anchor
• Sidebar
• Google Maps
• SoundCloud
• Divider
• Spacer
• Columns
• Background Gradient Effect
• Revision History
• Blank Canvas Template
• Maintenance Mode
• Page Settings
• Element Hover
• Redo / Undo
• Forms
• Slides
• Posts
• Portfolio
• Embed Anywhere
• Global Widget
• Custom CSS
• Pro Templates
• Price Table
• Price List
• Countdown
• WC Products
• WC Elements
• WC Categories
• WC Add to Cart
• Flip Box
• Masonry Layout
• Blog Pagination
• Ken Burns Effect
• Share Buttons
• Form Integrations
• Login Widget
• Animated Headline
• Facebook Widgets
• Blockquote
• Nav Menu
• Media Carousel
• Call to Action Widget
• Custom Fonts
• Header & footer builder
• Dynamic single post & archive page design
• ACF & Toolset integration

• ELEMENTOR FREE
• FREE

Learn More

• ELEMENTOR PRO
• Paid version is $49/year for one site, $99/year for three sites, $199/year for 25 sites, $499/year for 100 sites and $999/year for 1000 sites.

Learn More

The plugin is fully compatible with most WordPress themes. It’s a good way to combine WordPress website content with your unique designs.

If elements that come with Elementor are not enough for you, there are also numerous third-party Elementor add-ons like Jet Plugins, Plus Addons for Elementor, Stratum widgets for Elementor, Master Addons for Elementor, various WooCommerce Elementor addons, etc.

PROS:

• The interface is very easy to pick up and understand.
• Elementor has an impressive block and template library.
• The live mode allows you to see changes as you make them.
• The free version is full of helpful features.
• There aren’t any shortcodes that could cause a possible lock-in.
• The vast amount of features, options, and settings available.

CONS:

• There is no a white-label option.
• The choices for header customization are somewhat limited.

WPBakery Page Builder Overview

Formerly known as Visual Composer (what is the difference – Visual Composer vs WPBakery comparison), WPBakery is one of the first WordPress page builders. For more info you can check my WPBakery review.

Visual Composer’s trademark is now used for Visual Composer Website Builder, a completely different and separate plugin. The original WPBakery page builder is sold on CodeCanyon.

WPBAKERY PAGE BUILDER vs VISUAL COMPOSER WEBSITE BUILDER

• Name
• Price
• Free version
• Drag and Drop editor
• Frontend editor
• Tree view mode
• Backend editor
• Mobile editing
• Inline text editor
• Instant save
• Header editor
• Footer editor
• Sidebar editor
• Page layouts
• Global header and footer
• Works with any WordPress theme
• Custom Post Type support
• Multisite support
• Multilanguage ready
• RTL compatible
• Template management
• Blocks templates
• Element presets
• Templatera/Global Templates (Reusable templates)
• Template Export/Import
• Design Options
• Copy/Paste
• Element clone
• Element custom name
• Grid Builder
• Hide element
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Recent colors
• Undo/Redo
• Blank Page Wizard
• Custom CSS
• Custom JavaScript
• Element replace
• Role manager
• Icon libraries
• Google fonts
• Instagram-like filters
• Parallax effects
• Gradient background
• Slideshow background
• Carousel background
• Zoom In/Out background
• Video background
• Element animations
• Background image position
• Shape divider
• Box Shadow
• Instant column resize
• Column stacking
• Reverse column stacking
• Row full width/height
• Responsive preview mode
• Automatic responsiveness
• Custom row responsiveness
• Yoast SEO support
• Shortcode support
• WordPress widget support
• Gutenberg element
• Block for Gutenberg
• Custom widget support
• Unsplash Stock Images
• API
• Staging activation
• 3rd party Add-ons
• WooCommerce Support
• Cloud library
• Menu elements
• Theme integration
• Developers License

• VISUAL COMPOSER WEBSITE BUILDER
• $59 for single site

  $59 single site premium license for unlimited access to all of its elements and customer support, a $149 for 3 websites license, and Developers license (for unlimited usage) for $349.

Read More >

• WPBAKERY PAGE BUILDER
• $45 for single site

  $45 single site license (one time payment) and a $245 extended license for Saas applications

Read more >

WPBakery Page Builder plugin has content blocks that can be used to design unique pages. Some page builders refer to these blocks as widgets, and others refer to them as modules.

WPBakery calls their blocks content elements. Each content block can be dragged and dropped anywhere on pages.

Image carousels. text blocks, charts, social media buttons, charts, and video players are just some of the 40+ available WPBakery content elements. You can use the page builder to design your pages on the backend using the WordPress admin area and on the frontend through live site editor.

If content blocks that come with WPBakery are not enough for you, there are many WPBakery addons like Composium and Ultimate WPBakery addons, which you can use and expand options.

PROS:

• There are plenty of templates available.
• Multiple customization choices make this a preferred plugin for many.
• There is a vast selection of elements available even without installing third-party extensions.

CONS:

• It can sometimes seem like you have too many customization options, which can be too much.
• If you deactivate or stop using the plugin, you will be left with a mess of shortcodes to deal with.
• WPBakery doesn’t have a free version.
• It is not the fastest page builder to deal with.

Elementor vs WPBakery Comparison

Comparing Elementor and WP Bakery Page Builder (known initially as Visual Composer) is interesting because each plugin has a market position that’s vastly different from the other.

Elementor is relatively new on the scene. It’s quickly grown in popularity, with over 5M+ active installations of his free version.

WP Bakery Page Builder has been around for several years as it was one of the first page builders. Because of that, it has been integrated into many themes. Especially themes found on ThemeForest.

User Interface

Most site owners are going to spend a lot of time using their page builder. The page builder that you select should have an interface that’s easy to understand and is something that you enjoy using.

When you open up Elementor’s editor, you’ll notice that all of the elements are arranged neatly on the sidebar that appears on the left side of your screen. To use an element, just drag the one that you want to use and drop it into the preview panel.

You will see and find new elements right away. If you want to find elements in WPBakery, you’ll need to click on the plus icon that appears before you can access the element table.

Inline editing functionality is another aspect in which these two tools differ. In Elementor, you can edit elements by activating the inline editing feature. This allows you to easily make all changes quickly. In WPBakery, all edits will be done in a pop-up.

The overall editing experience is another area that sets these two plugins apart. WPBakery allows its users to make changes in the backend or frontend.

Just remember that WPBakery does not currently support inline editing. Any changes that you make in either the backend or frontend will need to be done using pop-ups. This can take a bit more time than you may initially expect.

WINNER: If you like frontend editing, Elementor is a clear choice. If you prefer using a backend editor, WPBakery Page Builder may be the better option.

Available Elements

Page builder pages are created using elements. The right page builder should be the one that has the elements that you need to create effective, appealing pages. Functionality should also be taken into consideration. It may be nice to have 200+ elements to choose from. However, the number of available elements won’t matter if the element functions that you want aren’t included.

Elementor and WPBakery have plenty of elements to choose from. Elementor’s Pro version has 50+ elements that can be used for designing websites. You can also take advantage of Elementor add-ons to increase the number of elements that you can choose from. WPBakery provides access to over 50+ core elements.

WPBakery Page Builder’s add-on community has over 200 additional elements to use. This is much more than what Elementor’s add-on community provides. You can even use a particular plugin to create unique elements for your site.

WINNER: Both plugins have about the same amount of elements that are already included. WPBakery stands out in terms of the number of additional add-ons that can be accessed through third-party plugins.

Take some time to review individual elements and their specific functions. The page builder that you pick should have the elements that best meet your needs.

Styling Options

Custom styling can help make your site unique. Elementor’s styling selections are separated into Style and Advanced tabs:

• Style – Here, you can adjust alignment, color, and other basic settings.
• Advanced – Animations, borders, margins, padding, responsive design, and z-index settings can be adjusted. You can also integrate custom CSS into specific elements if you’d like.

WPBakery Page Builder’s style selections are more complex. Backgrounds, borders, margins, and padding can be added to elements that you edit. Additional styling options become available when you decide to edit a column or row.

Some tabs allow you to edit whole sections or just particular elements in those sections. Pre-designed templates can be activated, altered, and uploaded as you see fit.

Style selections in WPBakery will depend on the type of content that’s being changed. There aren’t many choices for editing basic elements. All you can really do is adjust the background, borders, and margins/padding.

Editing a column provides access to additional styling options. You can add a responsive design (such as hiding columns when seen on certain devices), parallax view, and more.

WINNER: I like Elementor’s styling options more for the following reasons:

1. They are more intuitive.
2. You don’t have to struggle with pop-ups. Everything you need is right there in a convenient sidebar.
3. Elementor has the same basic style options for columns, rows, and elements. WPBakery has different styling choices for each of these categories.
4. Custom CSS can be added to Elementor elements. WPBakery only allows custom CSS classes to be integrated. You still need to add the real CSS somewhere else.

Templates

Templates are great time savers! They allow you to use an existing design and change it as needed rather than having to build each page from scratch every time.

Both plugins have a nice variety of ready-made templates. WPBakery has over 85 templates, and Elementor has more than 120 different templates to choose from.

WINNER: Elementor has more templates. I think that their templates are designed better than what WPBakery offers. Elementor also allows you to re-use your own template designs if you want.

Theme Builder

Some page builder plugins only allow you to edit the content of your posts or pages. You can’t alter theme-defined content such as headers, footers, single blog posts, blog archive templates, or other parts of your site.

Elementor’s latest updates now include a Theme Builder. This function lets you customize your site’s headers and footers. You can create them from scratch or use pre-made templates. You can then assign those headers and footers to your entire site or just to particular sections of your site.

The page builder interface in Elementor is where you can make your customized header sections. Regardless of the theme that you select, you’ll have complete control over how your headers will look. Menus for site logos, custom headers, and other unique content can be created from this same interface.

WPBakery doesn’t come with a theme editor feature. To enable this function, you’ll need to install and activate the Visual Composer Website Builder “brother” plugin.

WINNER: Elementor

Unique Features

The Elementor team’s commitment to consistently releasing new unique feature is one thing that I’ve always liked about Elementor. The first such feature that comes to mind is the Embed Anywhere feature. It allows you to use a shortcode to embed any templates that you’ve already saved. You can place Elementor designs in your footer, sidebar, or any other section of your site where shortcodes are permitted.

Global Widget is another convenient function. You only have to save a particular design one time so that it can be used in different areas of your site simultaneously. Any changes to that design will be updated everywhere that you used the global widget.

Elementor Pro also has a unique pop-up builder. All you need to do is use the Elementor page builder interface to design fly-ins, full-screen displays, hello bars, and other pop-ups.

These pop-ups and their accompanying variants can be used to help encourage your site visitors to perform specific actions on your website such as subscribing to a newsletter, seeing announcements, or advertisements.

Elementor also has a nice feature that allows you to use a custom-created Elementor page to put your site into maintenance mode.

WPBakery Page Builder has a Role Manager function that allows you to control access to different sections of the WPBakery Page Builder user interface based on roles. Even though it isn’t quite as thorough as Divi’s access permissions, it’s a huge step up from Elementor’s rather basic user permissions.

WPBakery’s vast add-on list isn’t an essential feature, but I still think it’s unique. You can significantly increase your functionality, although you’ll have to pay extra for each add-on that you select.

WINNER: I’m going with Elementor here because it has a unique number of options and functions. You can add more unique features to WPBakery if you want to pay the extra money for them. Elementor has its fair share of add-ons too.

What Happens When You Deactivate Plugin?

Lock-in is used to describe what happens to your site once you deactivate a particular page builder plugin. It can affect your site’s design and look, so it’s something that should be taken seriously.

With every page builder, you’re going to lose the page builder’s advanced styling once you deactivate it. The styling is going to appear in one of the following two ways:

1. Leaving behind clean code
2. Leaving behind a mess of shortcodes

If you disable Elementor, you’ll lose your styling, but your content will still look “normal.” WPBakery Builder tends to go with the chaotic route, much like Divi Builder.

When you disable WPBakery, there will be plenty of annoying shortcodes to deal with. You’ll have to cope with broken shortcodes and the loss of styling, both of which can be extremely frustrating.

Possible lock-in issues are one reason why you should carefully consider all of WPBakery Page Builder’s positives and negatives. If you do select this plugin, this may be an issue that you’ll have to encounter later on.

WINNER: Elementor

Elementor or WPBakery – Pricing

The free version of Elementor can be downloaded from the WordPress plugin repository. It’s the best free page builder plugin that I’ve ever used. If you want all of the Elementor features and functionality that are mentioned earlier in this article, you’ll need to buy Elementor Pro. This is basically an add-on to the free version.

Elementor Pro can be purchased for $49/year for a single site. You can also buy the 3 sites plan for $99/year, Expert plan for 25 sites priced $199/year, Studio plan for 100 sites priced at $499/year and $999/year plan for use on up to 1,000 websites.

WPBakery doesn’t have a free version. It only has a paid edition that can be purchased for a $64 one time payment for one site. WPBakery Page Builder should suffice for people who only need it for one website.

However, if you have multiple sites that you’re actively working on, it can be a more expensive option. In that case, you’re probably better off selecting Elementor’s unlimited pro version.

WINNER: Elementor

WPBakery vs Elementor Conclusion

By now, you should have enough information about the features that both WPBakery Page Builder and Elementor have to offer. If you want to know what I think, here’s my opinion.

I recommend Elementor because:

1. I like its quicker interface. There’s less lag, and it can save site owners a lot of time.
2. Elementor has better style choices. WPBakery’s pop-up editing is slower and isn’t as intuitive as Elementor’s inline editing feature.
3. I like how proactive Elementor’s design team is in regularly releasing updates, improvements, and added features.
4. There are even more opportunities thanks to Elementor’s rapidly growing add-on community.

Elementor is my personal preference. However, there’s nothing wrong with selecting WPBakery’s Page Builder if you like its features and functionality. It’s a solid choice, especially when you consider how popular it is in the industry.

WP Bakery Page Builder (previously known as Visual Composer) has more elements than Elementor. It has plenty of blocks that can be used, many of which don’t require extensions. You can customize each element however you want. It also includes several impressive pre-built templates that can simplify your site creation.

Lock-in is one of WP Bakery’s primary disadvantages. It uses a lot of shortcodes, which means that you’ll be left with a complicated shortcode mess should you decide to deactivate the plugin for whatever reason. It can also cause the WordPress backend to lag at times.

Elementor is one of the easiest page builders to use. The free version offers an excellent selection of practical elements. The pro edition adds even more specialized widgets and options.