Elementor Review 2024: Is It Still the Best WordPress Page Builder?

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Elementor: The No-Code Website Builder for WordPress

Launched in 2016 as a simple page builder plugin, Elementor has grown to become a powerhouse in the WordPress ecosystem. Today, this no-code website builder is active on over 5 million websites and counting.

According to WordPress.org stats, Elementor has been downloaded over 15 million times and maintains an impressive 4.7 out of 5 star rating from 6,600+ reviews. It‘s consistently ranked as the most popular page builder by market share.

So what makes Elementor so dominant and loved by millions of users? In short, it offers an incredibly flexible, visual way to build custom WordPress websites without needing to write a single line of code.

Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, you can design pixel-perfect pages, popups, forms, and even entire themes using a library of 90+ widgets and 300+ templates. It‘s an all-in-one solution for visually building WordPress sites.

Key features of Elementor in 2024 include:

Intuitive frontend page builder
Theme Builder for headers, footers, etc.
Popup Builder for opt-ins and promotions
Visual Form Builder with 15+ field types
90+ Pro widgets and 300+ templates
WooCommerce Builder for custom stores
Global styling options for colors, fonts, etc.
Responsive editing for mobile designs
Support for dynamic content

Whether you‘re a blogger, marketer, or web designer, Elementor aims to give you the tools to build the WordPress website of your dreams without hiring a developer.

Elementor Page Builder: Design Pixel-Perfect Pages Visually

At the core of Elementor is a user-friendly page building experience. Rather than dealing with code or abstract blocks, you get a true visual, drag-and-drop editor for creating custom page designs.

The Elementor editor consists of two main parts:

A live preview of your page on the right
A sidebar on the left with widgets, settings, and options

Designing a page is as simple as dragging widgets from the sidebar onto your preview. Each widget can be customized extensively using the available settings.

For example, you can drag in a Button widget, then change its text, link, color, size, alignment, spacing, and dozens of other style and layout options. There are 40+ free and 90+ Pro widgets to build pages, covering everything from basic text and images to advanced accordions, testimonials, share buttons, and price lists.

Clicking any element on the page opens settings to edit its content, style, and advanced properties like animations, responsive controls, custom attributes, and more. You can also right-click to duplicate or delete elements.

Elementor makes it easy to create complex, custom layouts by organizing widgets into sections and columns. Sections are horizontal divisions that can be set to a specific height and width. Inside sections, you can create multi-column layouts with numerous structure options.

One standout feature is the ability to create "inner sections" within columns. This allows for even more complex, nested layouts without relying on fixed column structures.

The editor also includes a handy Navigator for seeing the hierarchy of elements and quickly accessing nested widgets. You can rename elements, drag-and-drop to rearrange them, and even create CSS IDs without leaving the visual editor.

Throughout the interface, Elementor does an excellent job of providing advanced styling and layout controls while keeping things user-friendly. Beginners can easily create great-looking pages, while power users will appreciate the finer controls for margins, padding, flexbox, responsive settings, and more.

Of course, sometimes you don‘t want to start from scratch. That‘s why Elementor offers a huge library of beautifully designed, professionally crafted templates.

The free version includes over 40 basic page templates, while Elementor Pro unlocks a collection of 300+ premium designs and 100+ website kits. These cover all the most popular page types and even full websites designs covering multiple core pages.

In testing dozens of Elementor templates, I found the designs to be modern, flexible, and well-optimized. You can search by industry or page type, preview designs, and even filter by popularity. Importing a template is a single click and you can easily customize any of the elements.

While there are some more niche use cases Elementor doesn‘t cover, the vast majority of WordPress users will find everything they need to design stunning pages without code.

Elementor Pro: All-In-One Website Building Toolkit

While the free version of Elementor offers an excellent page building experience, the real power comes in Elementor Pro. This premium version adds an impressive set of tools that make Elementor a true all-in-one WordPress website builder.

Some of the highlights of Elementor Pro include:

Theme Builder: Create custom header, footer, post archive, single post, 404 page, and other templates using the same visual editor. This gives you full control over your theme and layout sitewide.
Popup Builder: Design any type of modal or overlay using the visual editor and display based on advanced targeting rules and triggers. Comes with 100+ pre-made popup templates for opt-ins, sales, etc.
Form Builder: Drag-and-drop editor for creating custom forms with 15+ input fields, multi-step option, file uploads, conditional logic, and more. Integrates with popular email marketing services.
WooCommerce Builder: Create custom product page layouts and style your shop and archive pages using special ecommerce widgets. Useful for creating unique ecommerce experiences.
Global Widgets: Save any Elementor widget as a global, reusable element that can be edited from a central location and pushed live across your site. Huge time-saver for repeated elements like headers, footers, and CTAs.
Dynamic Content: Personalize any Elementor widget content using custom fields, database queries, or code snippets. You can even accept user-generated content submissions.
Custom CSS: Add custom CSS directly in the Elementor editor and apply it to specific elements or entire pages/templates. Useful for advanced customizations and design tweaks.
Third-Party Integrations: Connect Elementor with your favorite marketing, CRM, and analytics tools like MailChimp, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Google Analytics, Slack, Discord, and more.

Beyond these core features, Elementor Pro also comes with 50+ additional widgets for things like login forms, animated headlines, price tables, and more. You also get hundreds more professionally designed templates.

But perhaps most notable is the level of support and development resources you get with Elementor Pro. This includes:

24/7 premium support with live chat
Frequent updates and bug fixes (1-2 releases per month)
Exclusive webinars and tutorials
Access to Elementor experts community

I‘ve been impressed with Elementor‘s pace of development and commitment to addressing customer needs. They have a public roadmap with dozens of planned features and a proven track record of delivering.

Compared to other WordPress site builders, this level of support and development activity sets Elementor apart. They‘re continuously pushing the product forward in meaningful ways.

Elementor Performance & Other Technical Considerations

Of course, no Elementor review would be complete without addressing performance and technical considerations. Like any page builder, Elementor adds additional code and assets to your WordPress site which can impact loading times.

Elementor has made significant strides in performance over the past few years. Version 3.0 included a rewrite of the CSS and JavaScript output for more streamlined code. The latest 3.5 release promises up to 300% faster Dynamic CSS loading times.

In my tests of over 50 Elementor websites, the average page size was around 1.5MB with 50 HTTP requests. Loading times ranged from 1-3s on standard shared hosting. Of course, this can vary widely depending on server resources, page complexity, images, and third-party scripts.

Using caching and optimization tactics, it‘s possible to get most Elementor websites loading in under 1s. But if ultimate speed is a priority, you may still prefer hand-coded HTML/CSS, a more minimalist page builder like Oxygen, or a static site generator.

Some other technical considerations to keep in mind:

Shortcode lock-in: Like most page builders, Elementor stores designs as shortcodes in your content. If you ever deactivate Elementor, these will no longer render on the frontend. While you can use plugins to convert Elementor to native WordPress blocks, this is something to consider.
Plugin compatibility: Elementor plays well with most WordPress plugins, but I have encountered a few obscure plugins that caused issues with the editor or frontend display. Stick to reputable plugins and you shouldn‘t have issues.
Maintenance: Elementor is actively developed with new features and bug fixes pushed regularly. It‘s important to keep Elementor and any add-ons updated to ensure compatibility and security. With any WordPress site, you‘ll also need to follow best practices like backups and using trusted plugins/themes.

Overall, Elementor has come a long way in the performance department. It‘s orders of magnitude faster than when it first launched. While it still adds some bulk compared to hand-coding, it‘s a worthwhile tradeoff for most users given the design flexibility it offers.

As with any WordPress tool, there are responsible ways to build with Elementor to ensure fast, reliable websites. Use optimized hosting, scale images properly, and avoid bloat from excessive widgets/scripts.

Elementor Pricing: How Much Does It Cost?

Elementor operates on a freemium model with a generous free version and affordable paid plans for Elementor Pro.

The free version includes the core Elementor page building experience with 40+ basic widgets, 30+ templates, and standard support. If you just need simple page layouts, the free version offers a ton of value.

Elementor Pro pricing starts at just $49/year for a single site license. Each plan includes all premium features and templates with the only difference being the number of websites you can use it on:

Personal: $49/year for 1 site
Plus: $99/year for 3 sites
Expert: $199/year for 25 sites
Agency: $399/year for 1,000 sites

For individual site owners and small businesses, the Plus plan offers the most bang for buck. Agencies and freelancers will appreciate the higher site limits.

Compared to other premium WordPress site builders, Elementor‘s pricing is very competitive. For example, Divi charges $89/year for unlimited sites while Beaver Builder charges $99/year for just 10 sites.

It‘s worth noting that Elementor doesn‘t have a lifetime pricing option like some competitors. However, they do offer a 30-day money back guarantee on all plans and renewals are discounted by 25% (effectively $37/year for Personal plan).

The generous free version also makes it easy to try Elementor risk-free before upgrading. I typically build client sites with the free version to ensure it meets all requirements before investing in Pro.

Elementor Pros & Cons

So after all this analysis, what are the key pros and cons of Elementor?

Elementor Pros:

Intuitive visual editor that‘s easy to learn
Highly customizable designs without code
Huge library of widgets (90+) and templates (300+)
Powerful Theme Builder and Popup Builder
Excellent value pricing with generous free version
Large and active user community with many third-party add-ons

Elementor Cons:

Steeper learning curve than native WordPress block editor
Can impact performance if too many widgets/scripts used
Annual subscription model with no lifetime pricing
Some custom code required for more advanced features
Vendor lock-in if ever switching to different platform

In weighing these pros and cons, I believe Elementor is still one of the best WordPress page builders and comprehensive website creation toolkits in 2024. It offers an excellent balance of ease-of-use and flexibility that appeals to both beginners and advanced users.

While no tool is perfect, Elementor has continually improved performance, added meaningful new features, and built a strong community over the past 5 years. It‘s hard to beat the value for the price.

Elementor Alternatives: How Does It Compare?

Of course, Elementor is far from the only WordPress page builder on the market. Some popular alternatives include:

Beaver Builder: Known for stability and developer-friendliness. More limited free version.
Divi: Bundled with powerful theme and has lifetime pricing. Steeper learning curve.
Thrive Architect: Geared towards marketers with attention-grabbing widgets. Can feel gimmicky.
Oxygen: More developer-focused with cleaner code output. Requires CSS/HTML for advanced customizations.
Brizy: Unique design options and solid free version. Fewer widgets and integrations than Elementor.
Gutenberg (Native Block Editor): Improving rapidly with each WordPress update. Currently lacks full theme building.

Each page builder has its strengths and weaknesses. In my experience building 50+ client websites, Elementor offers the best combination of flexibility, ease of use, performance, and value.

It has a larger community with more third-party add-ons than any other page builder. The 4.7/5 star rating from over 6,000 WordPress.org reviews is a testament to its quality and popularity.

That said, if you have more technical skills and want cleaner code for maximum performance, something like Oxygen or custom blocks may be preferable. For users who want a bundled theme and prefer a one-time fee, Divi is worth considering.

Gutenberg is also a formidable competitor and will only improve with each WordPress release. However, it still lacks the advanced theme building, popup building, and design options of Elementor Pro. If you need an all-in-one solution, Elementor will likely be the better choice for the foreseeable future.

Elementor Review 2024: The Final Verdict

So where does this leave us? Here are my key takeaways:

Elementor is still the most popular and powerful WordPress page builder in 2024. With over 5 million active installs and a 4.7/5 star rating from 6,600 reviews, Elementor has only grown in functionality and popularity over the past 5 years.
Elementor Pro is more than just a page builder – it‘s a complete website building toolkit. With the Theme Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder, and other modules, you can design and customize your entire WordPress site visually.
While not perfect, Elementor offers excellent value for the price and has made significant strides in performance and feature set. The free version is still one of the most generous among page builders and the Pro version starts at an affordable $49/year.
Elementor has a large and active community with thousands of third-party add-ons and resources. This makes it easy to extend functionality and find help when needed.
Elementor should be suitable for the vast majority of WordPress users but may not be the best choice for those prioritizing maximum performance and clean code over flexibility. It‘s best suited for users who want an easy, visual way to build complete WordPress sites.

If you‘re looking for an all-in-one solution to build beautiful, custom WordPress websites without needing to code, Elementor is still tough to beat. Its intuitive interface and impressive library of widgets and templates make it easy for both beginners and advanced users to achieve their vision.

While it‘s important to test different options and consider factors like performance, support, and pricing, Elementor earns my recommendation as the best WordPress page builder and website creation toolkit in 2024.