Elementor vs Gutenberg pagebuilders [2021]
ELEMENTOR vs GUTENBERG
Today we are engaged in the comparison between Elementor vs Gutenberg. Elementor is a particularly popular page builder that has seen its total number of installations on WP websites double from 2 to 4 million in the last year. Gutenberg is also a great page builder according to Wordpress, but there are still people who have a different opinion. We are going to find out here whether the two are evenly matched.
I start with Elementor but this is a random choice and does not automatically mean it would be better.
ELEMENTOR REVIEW (Elementor vs Gutenberg)
Is Elementor no theme, or is it? The Elementor page builder can be used in any theme, and will always be compatible. Elementor has its own theme which you can download for free, The Hello theme. It itself houses more than 300 ready-made demos from which you can start your work, which is the same as a theme. With Elementor you don't need another theme, they would just call it a theme that is clearer.
This applies to the PRO version because the free version does not have all of that. In this Elementor Theme review we discuss the very latest improvements that make the theme / page builder score in the top. Elementor only came on the market in 2016 and is already installed on more than 4 million sites, which of course stands out. This is not just a page builder but a tuned drag & drop tool to build websites very quickly and easily.
Elementor Pagebuilder review
Watch the video below, this gives you a good idea how you can get started with the editor / page builder yourself.
Elementor Navigator review
This brand-new tool can be used as a dock on the right-hand side of the screen or floating anywhere in your worksheet. Simply click something on your worksheet with your right mouse button and choose "Navigator" to open it. Or watch the video below, which is easier to understand. The Navigator is an extension of the page builder that you work with.
Elementor saves your work
Who always wants to perform the same task again? With Elementor you can save work blocks and reuse them on other pages, posts and even other websites. That way you save a sea of time if we compare that with how people used to work. The animation below gives a reasonable picture of what you can expect.
Ready-to-install Designs
In this Elementor theme review we discuss the top features of the Elementor page builder. The beautiful demo designs are certainly part of this. Earlier I told you that Elementor is basically just a theme because of the wide choice of demo material that you can use as the start for your website.
Just like with DIVI there are layouts available for all possible niches. Think of corporate, web shops, the hotel industry, gyms, café, fashion, hosting, photography, architecture, lifestyle, travel and fashion. There are many third parties that build beautiful themes for Elementor. You can also use such a theme as a start for your work, but you will of course have extra costs.
Elementor & Woocommerce
Elementor is just like the other top themes perfect for building web shops. Product pages and category pages from Woocommerce can be styled beautifully. It always needed quite a bit of HTML knowledge to adjust shop pages, that has become a thing of the past. We assume that you are familiar with Woocommerce, it is by far the most used shop plug-in for Wordpress.
Elementor revision editor
Elementor, like other elite page builders, was less enthusiastic about the revision editor in Wordpress and decided to release its own improved version. I fully agree with them that the standard Wordpress editor for revisions is worthless, that was always a thorn in the eye if you had to put something back. Also DIVI and THRIVE ARCHITECT got this great tool.
Elementor Theme review: Responsiveness
Everything can be set separately with Elementor for mobile, tablet and desktop as you can see above. Elementor is of course "out-of-the-box" responsive but it is always nice to be able to make targeted adjustments for a certain device if needed. All top themes and page builders, however, also have this.
Elementor color range
We give a perfect score in our Elementor theme review here to the color editor for texts, which is practically just as beautiful as in a PC software like Photoshop. According to Elementor itself, they are currently the only one with "pixel perfect design". You can use all possible colors that are available and also create gradients with it.
Elementor Header & Footer
Total control over all headers and footers within your website. All elite page builders can do this but it is an important tool to have in a theme.
Elementor standard elements
Elementor PRO version elements
Elementor Theme elements
The building blocks for the layout of your pages are the elements and Elementor offers a lot of them. Let's say practically everything has been thought of. Elementor even has pop-ups as standard and also very nice ones, so from now on forget your pop-up plug-in. You no longer need it.
Elementor Pop-Ups
Beautiful pop-ups, easy to set up too, a wonderful tool. Gutenberg does not have this. The pop-ups are perfect for call-to-action and conversion purposes.
Elementor Theme review: Pricing
The prices for Elementor can be found here in the image above. In terms of quality, Elementor is worth three times its money, especially if we compare that with other premium themes that offer much less and are even more expensive.
GUTENBERG THEME (Divi vs Gutenberg)
In this Elementor vs Gutenberg comparison we now continue with Gutenberg which is not an easy task as there is little good to report. When Gutenberg was just out, I was shocked. Where was the Wordpress editor? It is then thought to be an improvement and is trying to work with it. I quickly found out it was the biggest mess possible. What a disappointment. In this Gutenberg Wordpress editor review for [2021] we look at whether more people are not happy with this and what the future holds.
Gutenberg editor Ratings
For starters, on the plugin page itself, let's see what the ratings are for it.
An average rating of 2 stars. Of the approximately 3000 people who gave a rating, 2100 gave the minimum number of 1 star, if they could have rated 0, they probably would have. On the other hand, there were 600 people that gave a 5 star rating. I had to think how this is possible, but you know the internet as well as I do and it is customary to always give the maximum 5 stars even if you are not so happy to please the builders of something. In this Gutenberg review, we therefore note that the majority of people think it is a rubbish heap, just like me.
Disable Gutenberg
To get rid of the terrible Gutenberg editor, there are several plugins. We take a closer look at 2, the first is "Disable Gutenberg".
Above, it can be seen that out of the practically 500 people who rated this plugin that has been installed over 5 million times, all but 4 gave it all 5 stars, so glad they got rid of Gutenberg for good.
Classic Wordpress editor
The "Classic Editor" plugin is from Wordpress itself and will be there at least until 2022 as they apparently know for themselves that Gutenberg is no good. Apparently they think they can make something of it in a year or two. The problem will be that practically everyone has hated it by then. Well, millions of people use this plugin and its ratings can be found below.
The editor itself
On paper, Gutenberg is a WYSIWIG front-end page builder. When you use the word page builder you probably think of a Divi-like experience but forget it quickly. Gutenberg is very slow (too much Javascript) and works very clumsy. The image below gives an image of what you will be presented in the back-end and front-end, you have to do with that. The only thing that can be considered positive is that when you "paste" a large text with titles and blocks of text, the editor itself divides everything into blocks. I say positive, but some people may prefer to take control of it themselves, so it can be very annoying.
Gutenberg back-end view
Gutenberg front-end view
Gutenberg with certain themes
In combination with good themes like Astra or Generatepress is the worksheet a bit more attractive as shown in the pictures below. Despite that, there is still no comparison with really good editors out there today like Divi, Elementor and Thrive.
Gutenberg + Generatepress
Gutenberg + Astra
Gutenberg guinea pigs
In principle, we as Wordpress users are used to test the Gutenberg editor until after a year or 4 it can finally be used properly. Obviously this is concealed, it is pretended to be a fantastic improvement in Wordpress. Otherwise everyone would immediately disapprove of the editor, which is already the case with the ratings. People are not crazy, of course.
I will not go into all the small details, Gutenberg is completely BETA and should first be tested well for a few years without being in Wordpress. Furthermore, there is a lot missing in the editor, it is confusing, slow and not precise.
My advice regarding Elementor vs Gutenberg
First of all, thank you for reading my Elementor vs Gutenberg review to the end. My advice is simple. Don't work with Gutenberg to avoid disappointments and mistakes. At the very least, immediately install one of the 2 plugins discussed above that will make Gutenberg disappear and restore the old familiar Wordpress editor.
If you are willing to incur some cost to work with a good editor, it is best to purchase the Elementor pagebuilder or the Divi Theme, with the Divi Builder (pagebuilder) already in it. These two page builders are the cream of the crop in this area and you won't regret it.
