Elementor vs Divi: Battle of the Titans in WordPress Page Builders

If you’re in the market for the best WordPress page builder for your WordPress site, you’ve likely come across two major players: Elementor and Divi. These two tools are the titans of the page builder market, offering users an array of customization options and powerful features. 

But which one is right for your needs? In this post, we’ll provide a comprehensive comparison of Elementor and Divi, covering everything from their user interfaces and templates to their pricing and downsides. 

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced WordPress user, this guide will help you make an informed decision about which page builder is best for your website.

Key Notes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Summary

Below is a comparison table highlighting the similarities and differences between Elementor and Divi for quick reference:

Similarities	Unique to Elementor	Unique to Divi
Visual, drag-and-drop	Has a Maintenance Mode	Has an A/B Testing Module
Pre-designed templates	Has a Custom Icons	Multi-Select & Bulk Editing
Wide range integrations	Mouse Effects
Responsive	Offers free version	Offers Demo
Regular updates	$49/year for a single site	$89/year for multiple sites
Theme Builder	Cheaper for a single site	Cheaper for multiple sites
24/7 Customer support

Overview

Elementor is a popular WordPress page builder plugin that offers a free version with extensive website design capabilities. 

On the other hand, Divi is a theme that includes the Divi Builder plugin, allowing users to create visually stunning web pages. 

However, to use the Divi Builder, you’ll need to purchase the Divi theme, while Elementor can be used with any WordPress theme.

Let’s dive deeper into these two powerhouse page builders and explore what sets them apart.

Elementor vs Divi: What makes them stand out?

Both Elementor and Divi offer a wide range of features and functionality, but each has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. 

In this section, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Elementor and Divi stand out from each other by analyzing their user interfaces, ready-to-use, professionally designed templates and layouts, integration with other popular plugins, loading speed and performance, responsiveness, updates, and many other factors to help you decide which one is the right fit for your needs.

User Interface

Elementor and Divi are user-friendly visual drag-and-drop page builders, allowing you to effortlessly create web pages by clicking on the desired elements, dragging them to the exact position you want on your web page, and dropping them in place with ease.

Elementor User Interface

Elementor’s user interface is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, which makes it easy for beginners.

With the sidebar containing widgets, users can drag and drop essential building elements onto their pages, eliminating the need for writing code.

The sidebar also contains icons for settings, navigator, history, responsive mode, and updates.  

Additionally, there are two icons on the page to add a new container and import templates onto the page you are working on.

The copy-and-paste option lets users quickly duplicate elements or sections of their page.

Flexbox Containers and Widgets

Elementor utilizes Flexbox containers or sections to create flexible and responsive layouts for web pages. 

These containers or sections serve as the foundational building blocks where you can add various widgets such as images, headings, text editors, videos, and more. 

These widgets are essential elements that allow you to design your web page without the need for writing complex code.

Elementor’s interface is designed to make web page design as simple and efficient as possible, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to create professional-looking pages with ease.

Divi User Interface

The Divi user interface features an editing panel that is located at the bottom of the builder interface and provides easy access to various tools and settings through icons. 

These icons include Builder settings, wireframe view, zoom in and zoom out, desktop, tablet, and mobile view, load from the library, save to the library, save, editing history, and more. 

This layout allows for convenient and efficient editing of your web pages.

Sections, Rows, Modules, and Elements

The Divi Builder utilizes a hierarchical structure to organize content, consisting of sections, rows, and modules.

Sections serve as the primary organizational element and can be regular, specialty, or full-width, allowing for versatile layouts. 

Each section can contain one or more rows of columns, with various column layouts to choose from. 

Modules, on the other hand, are basic content elements that can be added to the page, including images, videos, text, buttons, and more. This modular approach enables easy customization and flexibility in designing web pages using Divi Builder.

Ready-to-Use, Professionally Designed Templates, and Layouts

Both Elementor and Divi Builder offer a vast collection of pre-designed templates that can be imported into your web page, expediting the design process and providing a solid foundation for your website. 

Elementor’s Kit Library

Elementor’s Kit Library is a treasure trove of over 100 premium templates that cater to a diverse range of categories, making it a comprehensive resource for various niches.

In addition to full website template kits, Elementor also offers Blocks, which are pre-designed section templates such as hero sections, services sections, and testimonials that can be seamlessly combined to create stunning websites or landing pages. 

Elementor also provides page templates that offer a quick and convenient way to create individual web pages with professional designs.

These professionally designed templates are a time-saving solution for website creation, perfect for web agencies looking to streamline their workflow and maximize efficiency.

Divi’s layout packs

Divi Builder offers an extensive library of over 300 free layout packs, featuring professionally designed templates for various niches and industries.

This diverse collection makes it easy to find the perfect design for your website without the need for coding. 

With Divi Builder, web designers can quickly create websites by directly accessing and importing these pre-made layouts within the builder interface. 

Integration with Other Popular Plugins and Tools

Both Elementor and Divi Builder seamlessly integrate with a wide array of WordPress plugins and online service tools, allowing you to enhance your website’s functionality and optimize your marketing strategy. 

Elementor’s Integrations

Elementor excels at providing seamless integration with a wide range of marketing tools, WordPress plugins, social networks, and other online tools, making it incredibly versatile for website owners. 

In addition to the built-in integrations, Elementor also boasts a robust ecosystem of third-party integrations developed by web developers worldwide, which attests to its popularity and utility in the web design community.

This extensive integration capability is a notable advantage that distinguishes Elementor from other page builders.

Divi’s Integrations

Divi Builder recognizes the significance of integration and has been designed to effortlessly integrate with a wide array of popular WordPress plugins, email marketing tools, social sharing tools, and other online services.

These integrations enable you to add diverse design elements to your website without any coding hassles, enhancing its functionality and aesthetics.

The seamless integration of Divi Builder with various plugins and tools makes it a robust and versatile website-building tool. 

Additionally, the availability of third-party add-ons developed by skilled developers further expands the integration capabilities of Divi Builder, offering endless possibilities for creating unique and dynamic websites. 

Loading Speed and Performance

Both Elementor and Divi are aware of the crucial role website speed plays in SEO, and they have implemented various optimization techniques to minimize any potential impact on website performance.

Elementor’s Approaches to Speed and Performance

Elementor places a strong emphasis on website loading speed and performance, as demonstrated by the results of a speed test conducted by Fastest WordPress Theme. Elementor achieved a perfect 100% performance score and a remarkable time to interact of 1.4 seconds.

These impressive results are attributed to the various strategies adopted by Elementor to optimize its page builder:

• Load Only What You Need: Elementor ensures that only the necessary functionalities are loaded on each page, eliminating unnecessary code and improving front-end performance.
• Reduce the Use of JavaScript and CSS Libraries and Leverage Native Browser Support: Elementor minimizes the use of external libraries and instead leverages native browser support wherever possible, reducing the reliance on additional resources and improving overall performance.
• Optimize Existing Internal JavaScript and CSS: Elementor optimizes the internal JavaScript and CSS used in its page builder to reduce page load times and enhance website performance.
• Optimize Backend and Rendering Processes: Elementor creates a cache of all elements with dynamic values, improving server-side rendering times and resulting in noticeable performance improvements.
• Slimmer and Better Code Output: Elementor generates a slimmed-down code output, reducing the size of the DOM and improving website performance.

Elementor’s approach to website loading speed and performance focuses on minimizing unnecessary code, optimizing existing code, and leveraging native browser support. These strategies help website owners enhance their website’s performance and overall user experience.

Divi’s Approach to Speed and Performance

Divi prioritizes website loading speed and performance, as evident from its impressive results in a speed test conducted by WP Rocket. With a full loading time of 2.6 seconds on mobile and a performance grade of 84/100, which is a good result for many websites.

Divi achieves its optimized performance through its lightweight page-building approach, which includes the following features:

• Dynamic PHP framework: Divi’s PHP framework only loads and processes what’s needed based on the Divi modules, animations, emojis, or icons used on the site. This ensures that unnecessary resources are not loaded, improving the overall loading speed of the website.
• Separation of design features: Divi separates certain design features, such as animations and motion effects, and only loads the JavaScript needed for those features when necessary. This further enhances the loading speed of the website.
• Browser caching and minification: Divi leverages browser caching and minifies CSS and JavaScript files, reducing server requests and speeding up page loading times. This optimization technique enhances the website’s performance and provides a better user experience.
• Google Fonts caching: Divi caches Google Fonts, further improving page loading times and ensuring faster performance.

Divi’s unwavering focus on optimizing website loading speed and performance makes it an ideal choice for users who prioritize fast and efficient websites.

Responsiveness

Considering that mobile devices account for over 58% of website traffic, both Elementor and Divi recognize the significance of responsive web design. 

As such, both page builders are equipped with responsive features that enable websites to adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring an optimal user experience across all platforms.

Elementor’s Responsive Features

Elementor’s dedication to responsive web design is reflected in its robust set of features that simplify the creation of designs that seamlessly adapt to various devices. 

The features include:

• Additional Breakpoints: Elementor provides additional breakpoints, allowing users to modify their designs for any device, ensuring that the website looks perfect on screens of all sizes.
• Customizable Breakpoints: Elementor allows users to individually control each breakpoint value, providing the flexibility to adjust them according to unique requirements and ensuring a tailored and optimized experience on different devices.
• Visible Responsive Values: Elementor enables users to visualize how values change from one device to another, making it easy to see how the design will appear on various screens and ensuring consistency and coherence across different platforms.
• Movement Control: Elementor allows users to customize the movement of each component, ensuring that all elements are in sync across all platforms, creating a cohesive and seamless user experience.

With Elementor’s intuitive approach to responsive design, users can create stunning and responsive designs without the need to write any code.

Divi’s Responsive Features

Divi’s commitment to responsive web design is evident through its array of features that simplify the process of building web pages that adapt seamlessly to different devices.

These features include:

• Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile Views: Divi Builder provides users with the ability to preview their designs in desktop, tablet, and mobile views, making it convenient to assess how the website will appear on various devices and make necessary adjustments.
• Customizable Breakpoints: Divi allows users to set different values for settings at each breakpoint, providing granular control over the appearance and functionality of the website on different devices. This level of customization ensures that the website looks visually appealing and functions optimally on any device, catering to the preferences of diverse audiences.

Divi’s responsive features empower web designers to create websites that are visually appealing, functional, and accessible on different devices, aligning with the demands of today’s mobile-centric online landscape.

Updates

Both Elementor and Divi are committed to providing regular updates and improvements to their products, ensuring seamless compatibility with WordPress, and prioritizing website security. 

Elementor’s Updates Catalog

Elementor has continuously evolved since its initial release in 2016, with over 200 updates that have addressed bugs, refined existing features, and introduced new functionalities to streamline website building.

The latest update, Elementor 3.12.1, which was released on April 2, 2023, has focused on resolving specific issues, such as transparent default background colors in popups and dropdown area behavior in the Menu widget.

Elementor’s commitment to enhancing its platform is evident in its regular updates. For instance, on March 29, 2023, Elementor 3.12.0 was released, introducing exciting features like the Mega Menu using the new Menu widget and the ability to apply Loop Alternate templates to diversify designs within the Loop Grid for enhanced creative freedom.

These consistent updates and new feature introductions demonstrate Elementor’s dedication to providing its users with the best possible website-building experience and its commitment to keeping its platform up-to-date and in line with evolving web design standards.

Divi’s Updates Catalog

Divi also continues to evolve and stay up-to-date with the latest web design trends and technologies.

One of the recent updates, Divi Cloud Sharing, released on February 16, 2023, is an innovative system that brings enhanced collaboration capabilities to Divi website building.

Divi Cloud Sharing allows team members to seamlessly collaborate on Divi websites, making it easier than ever to work together on design projects. 

This innovative feature streamlines the process of sharing and accessing website designs across team members, facilitating efficient collaboration and boosting productivity.

Other Important Features You Need to Know

Each page builder has its own unique set of features that sets it apart from others in the market, and both Elementor and Divi are no exception. 

However, there are some common features between both builders.

• Theme Builder: Both Elementor and Divi allow users to create custom theme templates, including headers, footers, and archive pages, giving them full control over the design and layout of their entire website.
• Custom CSS: Both page builders provide the option to add custom CSS code, allowing users to further customize the appearance and style of their website beyond the pre-designed options.
• Global Elements and Styles: Elementor and Divi offer the ability to create global elements and styles, which can be used across multiple pages or even entire websites, making it easy to maintain consistent design elements throughout the site.
• WooCommerce Builder: Both page builders provide WooCommerce integration, allowing users to create custom product pages, product templates, and shop layouts to design an attractive and functional online store.
• Import and Export: Elementor and Divi both offer import and export functionalities, enabling users to easily transfer their designs, templates, and settings across different websites, saving time and effort in recreating designs.
• Contact Form Building: Both page builders include built-in contact form building capabilities, allowing users to create custom contact forms with various fields and options to collect user data and inquiries.

Elementor’s Unique Features

Elementor, a leading page builder, offers unique features that distinguish it from other builders like Divi. 

These exclusive features include:

• Maintenance Mode: Elementor allows users to put their website into maintenance mode, which is particularly useful when working on updates or redesigns. Divi does not currently have this feature, making Elementor a preferred choice for website owners who require temporary maintenance mode functionality.
• Custom Icons: Elementor enables users to upload their own SVG icons and use them in any Elementor widget. 
• Mouse Effects: Elementor allows users to set an element to move in relation to the visitor’s mouse movement. This interactive feature adds dynamic visual effects to the website, creating a more engaging and interactive user experience. 

Divi’s Unique Features

• A/B Testing Module: Divi offers an A/B testing module, allowing users to test different variations of their website designs to determine which one performs better in terms of user engagement, conversions, and other metrics. Elementor does not currently have this feature, making Divi a preferred choice for those who prioritize data-driven decision-making and optimization.
• Multi-Select & Bulk Editing: Divi allows users to select multiple elements on a page at once by pressing Cmd or Ctrl and clicking on them. This enables users to edit these elements simultaneously, saving time and making it more convenient to make changes to their design. This feature streamlines the editing process and enhances productivity, making Divi a user-friendly choice for efficient design workflows.

Elementor vs Divi: Customer Reviews

Both Elementor and Divi have garnered significant praise from satisfied customers, with impressive reviews found across various independent review platforms on the internet. 

Elementor’s Customer Review

Elementor has garnered rave reviews from its satisfied customers, as evident from its impressive track record. 

With over 5 million active installations in the WordPress repository alone, Elementor boasts a high 4.7-star rating out of 5 stars from over 6,000 customer reviews. 

On TrustRadius, Elementor has received an impressive score of 8.7 out of 10 from over 90 reviews, further affirming its popularity among users. 

Additionally, on Capterra, the Elementor plugin has received a stellar rating of 4.7 stars out of 5 from over 700 reviews, showcasing the positive feedback and satisfaction of its customers.

Divi’s Customer Review

Divi has also received exceptional customer reviews across various platforms, attesting to its high level of satisfaction among users. 

On Trustpilot, Divi boasts an impressive 4.9 stars out of 5 from over 20,000 reviews, showcasing the overwhelmingly positive feedback from its customers. 

On Capterra, Divi maintains a strong rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 stars from over 900 reviews, further affirming its popularity and customer satisfaction. 

Additionally, on G2, Divi has a commendable rating of 4.7 stars out of 5 stars from over 80 customers, highlighting the consistently positive reception of its product among its user base.

Pricing

Here is the price comparison between Elementor and Divi.

Elementor Pricing

Elementor offers a free version with basic features, but users can upgrade to Elementor Pro for advanced functionality. 

With Elementor Pro, users gain access to over 100 widgets, 300+ templates, and advanced features such as a theme builder, a WooCommerce store builder, and marketing tools.

Elementor Pro also includes premium support for prompt issue resolution. 

Elementor Pro has four pricing plans: the Essential Plan ($59/year for one website), the Advanced Plan ($99/year for up to three websites), the Expert Plan ($199/year for up to 25 websites), and the Agency Plan ($399/year for up to 1000 websites).

Divi Pricing

Divi offers two pricing options: annual access and lifetime access. The Yearly Access plan costs $89 per year and includes access to all themes and plugins, product updates, premium support, and unlimited website usage. 

The Lifetime Access plan is a one-time payment of $249 and includes all the features of the Yearly Access plan, along with lifetime updates, premium support, and access to all Elegant Themes products. 

Both options provide the same features, but the Lifetime Access plan is ideal for long-term usage without recurring payments.

Elementor vs Divi: Their Downsides

It is essential to provide a balanced perspective, including the limitations of any product, and both Elementor and Divi have their fair share of drawbacks.

When it comes to customer support, some Elementor users have reported experiencing slow response times. 

Additionally, both Elementor and Divi can be resource-intensive and slow to load, especially if there are numerous customizations and plugins installed. 

Divi, with its extensive design flexibility, may also present a learning curve for users to navigate. 

It’s important to consider these factors when evaluating the performance and usability of these page builders, and potentially seek assistance or optimization measures if needed.

Elementor vs Divi: Which One Should You Use?

Both Elementor and Divi are powerful page builders with unique features and capabilities, which makes choosing one of them difficult.

If you value ease of use, a vast array of widgets, and advanced features for building complex websites, Elementor may be the right choice for you.

On the other hand, if you prioritize design flexibility, pre-designed templates, and lifetime access to updates, Divi may be the better fit.

If you only need to create a single website, Elementor may be the ideal choice for you due to its affordable pricing plans that cater to individual site builders.

However, if you have plans to create multiple websites, Divi’s pricing options, including a lifetime access plan, may make it a more cost-effective choice in the long run. 

We hope that our comparison of Elementor vs. Divi has provided you with valuable insights to make an informed decision for your next web project. 

Want more review details?

• Hands-on review of Elementor
• Hands-on review of Divi Builder