Elementor vs Divi: which page builder suits you?

When it comes to building a WordPress site, two page builders consistently come out on top: Divi and Elementor. Both are drag-and-drop tools that let you create a site without writing code, and both aim to be as intuitive as possible. But they go about it in different ways, and the one that suits you depends heavily on what you are trying to build.

Neither is objectively better than the other. Which you choose will depend on your aims, your budget and how you prefer to work. This post compares them across pricing, templates, support, performance and user interface, then wraps up with a plain summary of who each one suits best.

Pricing

Before committing to a page builder, it is worth understanding what you will actually pay. Elementor has a free tier that gives you access to a meaningful set of features, including a solid range of designs. For a single site on a tight budget, that free option is genuinely useful.

Once you move to paid plans, the picture shifts depending on how many sites you run. Elementor charges per site: one site costs $49 (around £35) per year, three sites costs $99 (around £71) per year, and four or more sites pushes the price to $199 (around £143) per year. Divi takes a different approach. A single annual licence from Elegant Themes costs $89 (around £64) and covers unlimited sites, including client sites. That flat rate includes all Divi themes, additional themes and a set of email and social sharing plugins.

For a single site, Elementor is cheaper. For anyone managing multiple sites, Divi’s flat pricing makes considerably more sense.

Templates

Both builders ship with a large library of templates so you are not starting from a blank canvas. Divi organises its templates into themed collections and also offers “layout packs”, which provide page-specific templates for common sections such as home pages, about pages and contact pages. The library is substantial, running to well over a thousand options.

Elementor Pro includes around 200 templates. These are built around modular “blocks”, which are reusable design pieces you can snap together to build pages. Some templates are grouped into “kits”, similar in concept to Divi’s themed collections, though the overall selection is smaller.

If sheer template volume matters to you, Divi has the edge. If you prefer a modular, block-based approach to assembling pages, Elementor’s system may feel more natural.

Support

Both builders offer a comparable level of support. Divi provides 24/7 live chat via Intercom, forum support, a detailed knowledge base and a Facebook group. Elementor Pro customers get 24/7 support, a public knowledge base and an official Facebook page, plus additional community groups aimed at specific use cases.

In practice, this is close to a draw. The quality of support you receive will depend more on the specific issue than on which builder you have chosen.

Performance

Page speed matters for user experience and for search rankings. Testing the two platforms directly is difficult because results vary by theme, hosting environment and configuration, but Elementor has historically held a slight performance advantage. Benchmarks have shown faster Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores for Elementor, with or without additional optimisation tools. The Elementor and Astra combination in particular has been cited as one of the faster setups available.

Divi has closed the gap considerably. A performance update released in early 2021 improved backend action speeds by two to seven times, making the difference between the two much harder to detect in everyday use. If raw speed is your primary concern, Elementor still has a narrow lead, but it is no longer the clear winner it once was.

User interface

This is where personal preference plays the biggest role. Both builders have improved significantly in recent years, and the gap in UI responsiveness that once favoured Elementor has largely closed following Divi’s 2021 performance update.

Elementor’s approach

Elementor centres its interface around a live preview with a sidebar containing your editing options. Changes appear in real time as you make them. Most text editing is inline, meaning you click directly on the preview and type, though inline editing is not available for all text types.

Rather than a wireframe underlay, Elementor uses a “navigator” panel that shows the structural hierarchy of your page as a list. If you prefer working with organised, labelled structures rather than visual layouts, this approach tends to feel more methodical. You can also copy widgets and settings between pages, and access undo, redo and revision history from the toolbar.

Divi’s approach

Divi’s visual builder opens directly onto a live preview of your site. The interface itself stays out of the way: most controls are hidden inside collapsible floating toolbars that only appear when you hover over an editable element. This keeps the preview clean and gives you a more accurate sense of how the finished page will look.

Divi does support full inline editing, so you can click anywhere on the live preview and type directly onto the page. It also uses a wireframe view for structural editing, which some users find helpful and others find distracting. The floating icons take some getting used to, but once the layout becomes familiar, the minimal interface makes a lot of sense.

If you are highly visual and want to work as close to the finished design as possible, Divi’s approach tends to suit that way of working. If you prefer a more structured, list-based view of your page hierarchy, Elementor’s navigator fits that preference better.

Which one should you choose?

The differences between Divi and Elementor are real, but neither is the wrong choice. Divi makes more financial sense if you manage multiple sites, thanks to its flat annual pricing. Elementor holds a narrow performance advantage and its free tier makes it accessible without any upfront cost. Support is comparable across the two. The UI question comes down to how you think: visual and freeform, or structured and hierarchical.

Whichever builder you go with, the hosting underneath it matters too. Take a look at our WordPress hosting plans to make sure your site has a solid foundation to build on.

If you have questions about which setup works best for your project, get in touch and we will point you in the right direction.