Divi by Elegant Themes burst onto the WordPress scene years ago as one of the first all-in-one visual site builders. And today, it remains one of the most popular options for quickly building custom WordPress sites.
But how does Divi stack up in 2024 compared to rivals like Elementor, Beaver Builder and more? In this hands-on Divi theme review, we‘ll take an updated look at everything this platform has to offer.
By the end, you‘ll know whether Divi is the right choice for your next WP project.
What is Divi and How Does It Work?
While Divi is sold as a premium WordPress theme, it‘s better to think of it as an all-in-one site building toolkit.
At the core of the Divi experience is the flexible Divi Builder – a drag and drop visual editor that gives you total design freedom.
You can use Divi in a couple different ways:
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As a traditional theme – Use Divi‘s settings to configure site-wide elements like your header and footers. Then build key pages with the Divi Builder.
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Full site building – Design literally every element of your site with the Divi Builder interface. Get full control over all your theme templates.
The second option essentially turns Divi into a custom site builder. You design a site from the ground up without touching a line of code.
This flexibility is a key reason why Divi is so popular. You can build any type of site imaginable with total creative freedom.
Hands-On With the Divi Builder
The Divi Builder boasts an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for designing pages. Let‘s look under the hood at how it works.
Launching the Builder
You can launch the Divi Builder from the standard WP editor with one click:
[Image showing Divi Builder launch button]Once opened, you‘ll see options to start a new page, import templates or use existing Divi content as a starting point.
Core Design Elements
When building a page in Divi, you‘ll rely on three core components:
- Rows – The outer containers for your content sections.
- Columns – Go inside rows to split sections into columns.
- Modules – The content elements like text, images, buttons etc.
By combining these pieces, you can visually construct elaborate page layouts with ease.
Accessing Settings
At first glance, the Divi interface shows a full screen preview of your work. Hovering over elements makes settings buttons appear.
Personally, I prefer builders like Elementor with fixed sidebars. But Divi fans enjoy the clean full screen preview.
To access settings for any design component, you can open a resizable popup panel. This lets you tweak styles on the fly without losing sight of your layout.
Useful Design Features
Beyond core editing features, Divi also boasts some very handy tools:
- Fully responsive editing views
- Right click design options
- Layers panel for managing pages
- Wireframe preview mode
- Robust undo/redo capabilities
Together these extras help streamline the design process – especially for complex sites.
Key Divi Theme Features and Options
The Divi Builder sits at the heart of this platform – but it‘s not the only valuable feature. Here are some other important Divi components.
Divi Theme Building
One of my favorite Divi upgrades in recent years is full theme building support.
Now you can leverage that same flexible builder to craft not just pages, but all of your theme templates too.
For example, design custom templates for:
- Headers/footers
- Blog posts
- Archive pages
- Search pages
- 404 pages
And thanks to built-in tags, these templates easily populate with dynamic content from your WP site.
This unlocks nearly endless customization potential.
Divi Template Library
While you can build new designs from scratch, Divi also packs an expansive template library.
We‘re talking over 1,700 pre-made layouts spanning 200+ demo sites. They range from simple landing pages to full-fledged online stores.
The template library makes it easy for non-designers to quickly build sites that look fantastic with minimal effort.
Theme Customizer Options
Despite the flexible theme builder, Divi still offers a robust theme options panel. This lets you tweak site-wide settings for elements like:
- Color schemes
- Layouts
- Typography
- Blog settings
- Sidebars
- Footers
For users not ready to dive into full theme building, the customizer fills the gap nicely.
Divi Web Performance
In the past, Divi had a poor reputation when it came to site performance. But recent versions addressed this with major speed optimizations.
Now Divi sites boast lightweight code and load assets efficiently. Pages see higher Google PageSpeed scores and faster load times.
Divi still can‘t match ultra-lean page builders like Oxygen. But its performance now stacks up nicely versus rivals like Elementor.
Divi Pricing and Value
You can only access Divi as part of an Elegant Themes membership, which grants access to all their products.
- 1 Year Access – $89
- Lifetime Access – $249
Beyond Divi you also get their Bloom email opt-in and Monarch social media plugins.
Considering a Divi license alone used to cost over $200, the membership packs tremendous value – especially lifetime access.
Who Should Use Divi?
With its user-friendly visual builder and pre-made templates, Divi shines for:
⛷️ WordPress beginners looking for an easy site builder
⛷️ Non-technical users or clients managing their own sites
⛷️ Freelancers who want to deliver custom sites faster
⛷️ Developers seeking a flexible framework for client sites
The only folks I‘d hesitate to recommend Divi to are hardcore performance geeks. But even then – Divi sites run much lighter nowadays.
Divi Review Conclusion
Years after launch, Divi remains a top contender for best WordPress page builder. Recent performance upgrades and theme builder features only solidify its status.
Is Divi perfect? No page builder is. I still prefer Elementor‘s interface and support offerings.
But there‘s no denying Divi‘s capabilities – especially for beginners. The template library and intuitive visual editing alone make this platform worth considering.
If you like what you see, grab a free Elegant Themes membership trial to test Divi hands-on. But be warned – once you try Divi, you may get hooked!
