WordPress: The foundation. Elementor: The designer.
But how do they work together, and which is right for you: Elementor vs. WordPress?
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) globally, supporting millions of websites. It is incredibly popular with bloggers, companies, and programmers because it is flexible, scalable, and has a huge ecosystem of plugins.
Similarly, Elementor is a powerful page builder and drag-and-drop plugin for WordPress that aims to streamline web design. Even beginners with little coding experience can effortlessly design stunning web pages using Elementor.
Even beginners with little coding experience can effortlessly design stunning web pages using Elementor.
WordPress has always been a great foundation for creating websites, while Elementor works well on top of WordPress for better website designs. Their differences and similarities will be analyzed in the aspects of usability, design flexibility, performance, pricing, SEO, and more. In conclusion, you as a reader will understand how to choose the best tool for your website’s needs.
Table Of Content
Understanding WordPress
Since its launch in 2003, WordPress has evolved into the most popular content management system. Thus, it’s no secret that millions of websites, spanning from personal blogs to enterprise platforms, use it. WordPress is a free and open-source content management system that allows users to create, edit, and manage websites with ease.
WordPress encompasses content creation, user management, media management capabilities, and the ability to customize the platform using themes and plugins. The platform offers thousands of paid and best-free WordPress themes that help users create their websites without having to learn to code. The plugin ecosystem enhances the platform’s functionality with features like SEO, e-commerce, and advanced security.
WordPress is extremely versatile, which is one of its greatest strengths. It can be used for a variety of websites, such as blogs, portfolios, business websites, e-commerce (using WooCommerce), and even membership and subscription websites. Technically, WordPress is built with PHP, and MySQL powers the backend by storing the website content on their servers. While this may sound technically challenging, WordPress is user-friendly enough not to require any programming skills.
With self-hosted solutions like WordPress.org, the performance and security of the website heavily depend on the web hosting chosen. Reliable hosting providers offer faster loading times, enhanced security, and convenient scaling for WordPress websites.
Understanding Elementor
What is Elementor? Elementor is a premium WordPress component that lets you design web pages as you would like without creating your website from scratch. With Elementor, the difficulty of setting up a website without coding knowledge is solved. Since 2016, it has gained popularity amongst page builders and is one of the top selection plugins with millions of installations around the globe.
Elementor’s philosophy is simple: simplify web design with its visual interface. It defeats the purpose of structured content blocks that WordPress does with its standard block editor (Gutenberg) and replaces them with real-time editing.
In simple words, users see their changes right before their eyes whilst designing the landing web page. Because of this, beginners and professionals can create unique layouts without having any technical skills.
One of the key features of Elementor is its pre-designed templates. Users can access hundreds of pre-built templates for different industries and use cases. What is better than Elementor? It’s the pricing plans. It has both a free version with basic design functions and a pro version that includes advanced theme building, motion effects, WooCommerce, and premium widgets. Without prior experience building a WordPress website, users can make the website thanks to Elementor’s user-friendly design tools and flexibility.
Related Read: Top 12 Elementor Alternatives
Elementor vs. WordPress: A Head-to-Head Comparison
Let’s head towards the ultimate showoff between Elementor vs. WordPress.
| Feature | WordPress (Default Editors: Gutenberg & Classic Editor) | Elementor (Page Builder Plugin) |
| Ease of Use | Gutenberg offers a block-based editor; Classic Editor resembles a word processor. Some learning curves for advanced customization. | Drag-and-drop interface with live preview. Easier for beginners to create complex layouts without coding. |
| Learning Curve | Moderate for new users, especially with Gutenberg. It requires theme and plugin knowledge. | Easier for beginners; intuitive interface. May require time to master advanced features. |
| Design Flexibility | Depends on the theme. Customization options vary; some require CSS knowledge. | Full design control with Theme Builder, motion effects, and advanced styling options. No need to rely on themes. |
| Customization Options | Limited by theme settings; additional customization requires custom code or third-party plugins. | Extensive customization, including headers, footers, Elementor fonts, and global styles. Advanced widgets expand functionality. |
| Pre-Built Templates | WordPress themes provide pre-set designs; customization depends on theme options. | Large library of ready-made templates and blocks, fully editable with top WordPress Elementor themes. |
| Performance | Lightweight and optimized for speed, especially with minimal plugins. | Can slow down websites due to extra scripts and styling. It requires caching, CDN, and image optimization for best performance. |
| SEO Optimization | SEO-friendly; integrates with plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and All in One SEO for better on-page optimization. | Works well with SEO plugins, but page builder code can increase load time, affecting SEO. Proper optimization is needed. |
| Mobile Responsiveness | Themes vary in responsiveness; requires manual adjustments in some cases. | Built-in mobile editing features allow fine-tuning of layouts for different screen sizes. |
| Pricing | Free CMS, but costs include hosting, premium themes, and plugins. Hosting from MilesWeb ensures performance and security. | Free version available; Elementor Pro starts at $4.99/mo with advanced features. Additional costs for premium add-ons. |
| Long-Term Cost | Varies based on hosting, themes, and plugins. Open-source models allow flexibility in pricing. | Recurring cost for the Pro version and premium widgets. Costs can add up over time. |
| Maintenance & Updates | Regular updates for WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Requires backups to avoid compatibility issues. | Frequent updates for Elementor. Some updates may cause compatibility issues with themes or plugins. |
| Best For | Bloggers, businesses, and developers who prefer structured and website building with themes. | Designers, agencies, and beginners who want full creative control without coding. |
Related Read: Elementor Vs. WPBakery
Difference between Elementor and WordPress: User’s Preference
As with all other platforms, WordPress has a higher user preference when compared to competitors. Why? It allows users to add images and content using the drag-and-drop feature, which makes it easy to edit. Along with that, users can embed videos through plugins into their blogs without restriction. The only difficulty users face is that the drag-and-drop feature is not very intuitive and is somewhat restrictive. Also, users need to download extra plugins from third-party developers.
Now with the Elementor website builder, all issues surrounding the editing and adding content to the website are solved. Users no longer need to worry about code. The secret? It operates on a widget system, allowing even unskilled users to build websites with ease. To add icing on the cake, users are not restricted to setting templates, but instead, website creators can come up with unique designs using a craft canvas.
Dashboards and functionality are much easier to design and manipulate on Elementor compared to other editors in WordPress. So here, WordPress is better than Elementor.
Related Read: Divi vs. Elementor
Difference between Elementor and WordPress: Design Change Options
Most design work in WordPress is done through a theme. Hence, users have access to thousands of free and paid themes with all sorts of website layouts, typography trends, color palettes, etc. These aspects can be altered using the Customizer WordPress provides. However, user modifications are limited to the options provided by the theme. Some themes, like Astra and GeneratePress, allow more alterations but are more advanced.
Unlike the rest, Elementor does not limit its users to a preset theme. It allows users to create layouts of their choosing, thus providing flexibility in design. It also features a Theme Builder, which allows users to create their logos, headers, footers, and any other elements. This way, the need for setting specific layouts is mitigated. Besides, Elementor features motion effects, animations, and styles, which makes it a very viable option for creating modern interactive websites.
Although WordPress templates are usually efficient, Elementor is perfect for users who want to customize their website without writing any code, just like the professional AI website builder tools. Thus, WordPress is not better than Elementor.
Difference between Elementor and WordPress: Performance
The main issue with Elementor is website performance. As you are already aware, the Elementor page builder uses lots of Javascript for its operation and includes its style sheet. If the website is not optimized properly, it will result in serious issues with page load times because the lag is almost unbearable. The greater level of complexity of using a page builder increases the number of HTTP requests, and that means longer loading times for the website.
As we all know, a fast WordPress setup paired with a lightweight theme and the Gutenberg editor is easier on the system, meaning performance is always upbeat. Everything happens faster with block-based WordPress websites because the code is simplified and the amount of scripting that needs to be done is low, so those websites perform better.
Performance challenges with Elementor, on the other hand, can be mitigated when WP Rocket or WP Total Cache caching plugins are active, Smush or ShortPixel image optimizers are implemented, and a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is also set up. Further, these optimizations can be taken to the next level with high-speed & fast WordPress hosting providers such as MilesWeb, which offer enhanced loading speed with specialized server-side tweaks.
While comparing WordPress vs. Elementor, it is evident that Elementor is slower than the standard WordPress installation. However, advanced users who optimize their websites will see that they can get decent performance even with Elementor.
Difference between Elementor and WordPress: SEO
While WordPress is out-of-the-box SEO friendly, it permits clean code and offers customizable permalinks. The real power of SEO, however, comes from plugins such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and All in One SEO. These plugins handle metatags, XML sitemaps, schema markup, and a lot more.
Such SEO plugins are compatible with Elementor as well, which guarantees that visually designed pages are also optimized. In addition, it has templated designs that rapidly load, a mobile view, and logical structuring of head tags. All of these are available inbuilt.
A keynote to remember here is that an overreliance on Elementor harms the website. How? More code means lower page speed, which is severely bad for SEO. There is a fine balance that must be maintained to ensure great SEO. Strong SEO performance can easily be achieved by combining data storage, image optimization, and other methods to choke the palms that are asking for it.
Related Read: WordPress vs. Squarespace
Difference between Elementor and WordPress: Pricing
Straight to the point: WordPress does not cost anything; it’s free and open source. However, expenses are incurred from purchasing premium themes, plugins, or even web hosting. So either you need to find free web hosting solutions or cheap WordPress hosting plans.
On the other hand, Elementor has both free and paid plans. The free version of Elementor includes just the essentials, while the upgraded Pro version, which comes with advanced design elements, can be purchased for $4.99/mo. Long-term expenses are highly variable depending on what premium plugins and templates are pursued.
Difference between Elementor and WordPress: Maintenance
WordPress requires periodic updates for security, themes, and plugins. If these updates are neglected, it can lead to performance issues, system vulnerabilities, and everything falling apart.
Free Elementor is updated often and generally works smoothly with themes and plugins. However, some dependencies can be broken due to arbitrary changes being introduced regularly. In the case of updates from both WordPress and Elementor, these risks could be avoided by taking regular backups and using staging environments.
Elementor vs. WordPress: Advantages and Disadvantages
| Feature | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Ease of Use | Flexible and scalable for different website types | Steeper learning curve for beginners |
| Customization | Thousands of plugins and themes for customization | Some themes and plugins require coding knowledge |
| SEO Optimization | SEO-friendly; integrates with Yoast SEO, Rank Math | Requires SEO plugins for advanced optimization |
| Performance | Can be optimized with lightweight themes and caching | Poorly optimized themes and plugins can slow sites |
| Community Support | Large global community, extensive documentation | Requires self-troubleshooting or developer support |
| Cost | Free CMS; cost depends on hosting, themes, and plugins | Premium themes and plugins can add to costs |
| Maintenance | Requires updates for WordPress core, themes, and plugins | Plugin conflicts may occur, requiring troubleshooting |
Advantages and Disadvantages of Elementor Page Builder
| Feature | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Ease of Use | Drag-and-drop interface makes design easy | Can be overwhelming with too many customization options |
| Customization | Full control over page layouts and elements | Switching away can be difficult (vendor lock-in) |
| SEO Optimization | Works with SEO plugins and ensures responsive design | Extra scripts may slow down performance |
| Performance | Fast design process with pre-designed templates | Can slow down websites if not properly optimized |
| Community Support | Active community, plenty of tutorials and forums | Frequent updates may cause compatibility issues |
| Cost | Free version available; Pro starts at $59/year | Long-term cost of Pro version and premium add-ons |
| Maintenance | Regular updates improve features and security | Updates may break compatibility with some themes |
Finding the Perfect Fit: WordPress vs. Elementor
Now let’s come to the important question: Elementor or WordPress?
WordPress offers greater flexibility in terms of design and development. The platform enables website owners to control their pages more effectively on a budget, making it suitable for developers, bloggers, and businesses. Many expect these pages to be useful and effective in search engine optimization while also ensuring that the themes are simple enough. For instance, a new basic blog or portfolio can easily succeed with just a few plugins and a free theme, while businesses seeking speed and search engine optimization could use lightweight themes with a Gutenberg editor.
If you are looking for straightforward, simple, and professional-looking websites, they are easy to make with the help of Elementor. Marketing agencies or small businesses looking to build their websites quickly and without any hassle are likely to benefit from it.
When looking to build a landing page or an e-commerce web hosting store that has a distinct design, Elementor Pro comes equipped with all the necessary features, which means you don’t need any coding knowledge for it.
For those looking for more freedom of movement in the design, the combination of WordPress and Elementor Pro offers the best results. Moreover, employing a good hosting provider ensures that Elementor-based websites work great, as they are hosted on a fast and secure server.
While WordPress and Elementor are two great tools for web development, their applications are not the same. WordPress has an advantage in flexibility, SEO, and structured content management practices, while Elementor provides better design and usability.
The selection of tools is dictated by the customer’s needs. For lightweight, scalable websites, WordPress is the best option. For stunning aesthetics and simplicity in building websites, Elementor is unmatched. No matter the selection, incorporating optimization and quality hosting from MilesWeb will guarantee success.
FAQs
Why is Elementor the perfect fit for WordPress users?
With Elementor, the drag-and-drop visual editor makes it easy and fast to build websites. This accelerates the development process as it offers pre-made templates and even lets users create custom templates without any coding. This in turn increases the overall functionality of design on WordPress.
Do I need coding knowledge to utilize Elementor with WordPress?
No coding knowledge is required to use Elementor. Its graphic interface allows users to construct a website using drag-and-drop; hence, noncoders can also utilize it with ease.
What is more effective: WordPress on its own or WordPress with Elementor?
For most users, using WordPress with Elementor is ideal considering the ease of use and expansive design possibilities it provides compared to base WordPress. While WordPress is enough to create basic websites, Elementor makes it faster to build intricate designs.
What website types can be made using WordPress and Elementor?
You can create varied websites, including blogs, e-commerce shops, portfolios, business websites, and landing pages. The adaptability of Elementor, together with the flexibility of WordPress, makes it possible to create a range of web projects.
