How do you choose a page builder?
Thinking about hiring an agency to create your website? Or, maybe you're more of a DIY kind of person? Either way, you’ll probably want to use a page builder to simplify the process with reusable user interface components and templates.
Page Builders first appeared a couple years after the invention of the World Wide Web with a builder called “Geocities.” Now, there are dozens of page builders – Divi, Elementor, and Beaver Builder to name a few. They can be integrated into a variety of Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress and allow for easy drag-and-drop page building while also allowing for customization.
But this presents a problem: with so many options, how do you pick the best Page Builder for you? Keep reading to find out!
Elementor (Pro) – THE BEST OVERALL OPTION
Elementor takes the top spot for most sites. At only $49 for pro, it’s affordable enough for individuals – and $99 for unlimited installs is very competitive. It’s no surprise it has more than 2 million users! With their 50+ widgets and 100+ templates, you’ll be able to achieve nearly any look and functionality without writing a single line of code. But, if you know some CSS, JavaScript, and/or PHP, you'll be able to create custom widgets with custom fields - making content edits an incredibly easy task. Because of these reasons, Elementor is one of the two main page builders we use at Antidote 71 – allowing us to efficiently create any layout we design.
Pros:
- Library of templates and widgets
- Automatically responsive for different devices
- Compatible with plugins that provide even more widgets
- Easy to use, fast
- Highly customizable
- Undo, re-do, and revision history
- More free widgets than other page builders
- Many third-party templates made for Elementor
Cons:
- Sometimes has technical problems
- Adding margins/padding must be done in this order or previous settings will be overwritten: Desktop -> Tablet -> Mobile
HubSpot Design Manager – BEST OPTION FOR SALES/MARKETING
If you want a marketer’s playground of lead generation, analytics, and SEO, there’s no better choice than HubSpot’s page builder. It integrates seamlessly with all of HubSpot’s tools, comes with a fully-fledged IDE, and its own Markup Language (HubL) allows for easy management of custom fields, and even allows logic to be inserted into HTML! But keep in mind, it's not as easy to use as Elementor so you’ll probably need a developer to make full use of it.
Pros:
- Excellent integration with marketing and sales tools
- Easier creation of custom modules/widgets than any other page builder
- Easiest editing of content for non-developers of any page builder
Cons:
- No external plugins
- Monthly cost
- Generally requires a web developer and coding in addition to drag-and-drop
BEAVER BUILDER – EASIEST TO USE
While I haven’t personally used this page builder, it has a large community of loyal users. Like Elementor, it includes a library of pre-built layouts, is fully responsive, and offers a free and premium version ($99). The biggest benefit of Beaver Builder is its ease-of-use. However, this can be a negative for larger sites as it'll prove more difficult to fully customize.
DIVI BUILDER – BEST ELEMENTOR ALTERNATIVE
Again, I don't have first-hand experience with this page builder, but it’s very similar to Elementor. Divi comes with many modules and templates, allows for theme building (headers, footers, with custom application) and is very easy to use. Divi lacks a Popup Builder, which Elementor does have. However, Divi has built in A/B testing and slightly faster page load times out-of-the-box.