Elementor vs Divi: Which One Should You Choose?
Deciding between Elementor and Divi for your WordPress website can often seem difficult, as both page builders are highly ranked. They both offer similar features, such as pre-designed templates, drag-and-drop editing, options for customization, and more.
However, the two plugins still have some significant differences that set them apart. These differences make it easier to choose based on features that matter most to you.
In this article, we explore the Elementor vs Divi comparison, looking into eight key features and selecting a winner for each round of comparison.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Elementor vs Divi: Key Takeaways
- Divi outperforms Elementor across all Pingdom and Google PageSpeed Insights testing metrics.
- Elementor has a more user-friendly interface due to its fixed sidebar, making it quick and easy to find design elements.
- Divi’s interface is more immersive and has a slight learning curve.
- Elementor offers more design elements than Divi.
- Divi has a more extensive template library than Elementor.
- Elementor offers block-based templates that are handy for quickly building sections on a web page.
- Elementor’s theme builder is more intuitive, while Divi’s theme builder offers many customization features.
- Elementor’s popup builder is one of its main unique features, while Divi stands out by offering the Divi Leads A/B testing functionality.
- Elementor is a freemium plugin that offers a free version with basic features, while Divi is a premium-only plugin.
What Is Elementor Page Builder?
Elementor is a freemium page builder plugin that gives users the flexibility to quickly build custom WordPress websites without writing a single line of code.
The Elementor page builder simplifies website building through its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, perfect for both beginner and advanced WordPress users.
It also offers many customization features, 100+ ready-made widgets, professionally designed templates, and more.
With the pro version of the plugin, you unlock premium features, including a popup builder, form builder, theme builder, and custom code writing capability, to further enhance your website creation process.
What Is Divi Page Builder?
Developed by Elegant Themes, Divi page builder is another leading WordPress page builder plugin that works excellently with the Divi theme. Like Elementor, it is a no-code editing page builder with rich features that make creating a website easy.
Divi page builder offers drag-and-drop page building and full site editing, allowing you to design and customize every part of your website. It also includes many unique modules, hundreds of pre-designed templates, and more.
To use the Divi builder, you must first purchase one of its pro plans, as it is only available as a premium plugin.
The pro plan, however, gives you access to more than just the builder. It also gives you access to all the other Elegant Themes products, including the Divi theme, Extra theme, Bloom (for email opt-ins), and Monarch (for social sharing).
Elementor vs Divi: An In-Depth Comparison
The following sections compare Elementor vs Divi across various key features. After each comparison, we declare a winner and share key takeaways from the detailed comparison.
Let’s dive into it!
Which Page Builder Has Better Performance?
In this section, we test the performance of Divi and Elementor to understand how quickly each page builder can render a page, given that this is a key factor for SEO and user experience.
We’ve set up a standardized test environment to ensure that both page builders are given a fair chance. Below is a list of the components of each test environment created:
- Theme: WordPress default Twenty Twenty-Five theme.
- Plugins: Only the page builder plugin being tested is installed and activated.
- Caching: No server-side caching or caching plugin is enabled.
- Hosting: The test sites are both hosted on xCloud.
To establish a baseline for comparing the Elementor vs Divi page speed results, we will first conduct the test on a blank website without a page builder.
The results from this test are highlighted in the tables below:
Pingdom Results on a Blank Website
| Page Size | 83.1 KB |
| Requests | 7 |
| Load Time | 385 ms |
PageSpeed Insights Results on a Blank Website
| Mobile | Desktop | |
| Performance | 100 | 100 |
| Accessibility | 100 | 95 |
| Best Practices | 100 | 100 |
Note that we did not capture the SEO results for the PageSpeed Insights test as no SEO has been done on the site, so it does not matter.
Now that the baseline test has been carried out and we know the results, we will create one test page for the Divi builder and a second for the Elementor builder on two different websites hosted on the same server.
Each test page will include the following modules/widgets to simulate a basic website:
- A section with two columns
- Paragraph text in the first column
- 1 high-resolution image in the second column (size: 53 kb, resolution: 1280 x 720 px)
- A testimonial section
- One button
Elementor Performance Test
Elementor Test Page
Pingdom Results on the Elementor Test Page
| Page Size | 363.9 KB |
| Requests | 31 |
| Load Time | 660 ms |
PageSpeed Insights Results on the Elementor Test Page
| Mobile | Desktop | |
| Performance | 88 | 100 |
| Accessibility | 96 | 91 |
| Best Practices | 100 | 100 |
The test results show that the Elementor page builder considerably impacted the site’s performance, load time, and page requests compared to the baseline test results.
The performance grade score of 88 is especially low, considering our web page is quite basic, incorporating only a few design elements.
Divi Performance Test
Divi Test Page
Pingdom Results on the Divi Test Page
| Page Size | 261.6 KB |
| Requests | 13 |
| Load Time | 653 ms |
PageSpeed Insights Results on the Divi Test Page
| Mobile | Desktop | |
| Performance | 99 | 100 |
| Accessibility | 96 | 91 |
| Best Practices | 100 | 100 |
When we look at the results, Divi really shines compared to Elementor. This page builder scores impressively on the Pingdom and Google PageSpeed Insights tests.
It performs well on mobile and desktop while maintaining a small number of HTTP requests and a compact page size.
Performance Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Performance | Elementor’s performance numbers are decent but not the best. It makes too many HTTP requests and is not well-optimized for mobile users. | Divi takes the lead in performance comparison tests, beating Elementor’s load time, making a smaller number of HTTP requests, and rendering a smaller page size. |
Which Page Builder Has a More User-Friendly Interface?
The user interface of a page builder plays an essential role in how quickly and easily you can create your website. If it is not intuitive, you may struggle and spend ages finding basic controls and page-building elements.
Divi and Elementor both add drag-and-drop interfaces and live editing capabilities to WordPress sites, making website creation easy.
However, they take different approaches. In this section, we will compare the user interfaces of Elementor and Divi to see which page builder is the most user-friendly.
Elementor Interface
Elementor’s page builder interface is similar to most other WordPress page builders, such as Oxygen, Breakdance, and Gutenberg.
It includes a handy two-pane interface. On the left side, you’ll find a sidebar that showcases all of Elementor’s built-in widgets. You can drag and drop these widgets into the live preview editor on the right side to effortlessly create your website. 
With Elementor, you can also easily collapse and conceal the sidebar, enabling a full-screen view of your page while you design it. 
The settings for any selected Elementor widget are in the sidebar. These settings allow you to customize every widget you add to your page according to your needs. Each widget has three editing tabs: Content, Style, and Advanced. 
Elementor also supports inline text editing, allowing you to type directly within the live editor on the preview page. 
If you’re working with a lengthy or intricate web page packed with various elements and want to see its structure at a glance, Elementor offers a handy Structure panel. This opens a Navigator that enables you to access every widget on your page with just one click. 
Elementor also enables right-click functionality for copying and pasting elements in the live preview editor, which makes duplicating items convenient. 
Divi Interface
Unlike Elementor, the Divi page builder offers users an entirely unique page-building interface. Instead of a fixed sidebar, it uses floating toolbars and popups.
The Divi visual builder takes up the entire screen and provides floating buttons at the bottom for controlling page settings, editing history, portability options, and more. 
When you add a module to your page, a resizable pop-up with settings for that element opens. Like in Elementor, the pop-up provides three editing tabs: Content, Design, and Advanced. 
Divi page builder also supports inline editing, allowing you to add, delete, and update text content directly from the live editor interface. 
One functional feature that Divi offers, which Elementor does not, is the Wireframe view. This view lets you see the layout of your website in a block-based format. It is excellent for managing and editing complex web pages. 
The Divi page builder also includes a Layers tool, enabling you to quickly manage and organize your web page structure. This tool works similarly to Elementor’s Navigator feature. 
If you ever want to redo, undo, copy, or paste modules, you can easily do so using Divi’s right-click functionality.
Even though Divi’s user interface is feature-rich, the multiple floating icons can make it seem overwhelming, especially to beginner WordPress users.
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| User-friendly Interface | Elementor offers a cleaner and more structured user interface with a fixed sidebar. This interface is more intuitive for beginner WordPress users who want to build their sites quickly. | Divi provides a more immersive and flexible user interface but requires some getting used to. |
Which Builder Has More Built-In Building Blocks?
Building blocks form the foundation of building a website with page builders. The more built-in building elements a page builder has, the greater your ability to create a website that incorporates unique design elements, setting you apart from the crowd.
More built-in building blocks also mean less dependency on third-party widgets, ultimately saving costs.
Let’s evaluate Elementor vs Divi in terms of built-in building blocks.
Elementor Widgets
Elementor’s page building blocks start with three primary structural elements: Container (the largest container on the page), Grids (for vertical division of containers), and Widgets (the individual design elements used to create a page).
The free version of the Elementor plugin includes 32 basic widgets, while the pro version unlocks 86 additional widgets, such as a call to action, testimonial carousel, portfolio, price table, and more. 
Elementor divides the widgets in the sidebar into sections such as Layout, Basic, Pro, General, WooCommerce, etc. This categorization makes it easier to find widgets as you build your page.
You should, however, note that Elementor’s Essential plan only offers a few pro widgets. You’ll need to purchase the Advanced Solo or other higher plans to access all pro widgets.
Divi Modules
Like Elementor, the Divi page builder also uses three structural elements to design your web pages.
The first building block of any page is the Section, the largest container provided. The next is the Row, which adds column layouts to Sections but cannot be resized via drag-and-drop. The final element is the Modules, the actual design elements used in building a website page, such as images and text.
Divi does not offer free modules, as it’s a premium plugin with no free version. Once you purchase a membership, you can access its full suite of 68 modules, including email opt-in, accordion, social follow, filterable portfolio, WooCommerce cart products, and more. 
Unlike Elementor, all of Divi’s plans include access to the full suite of modules for page building.
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Built-in Building Blocks | Elementor wins this Divi vs Elementor comparison round as it offers more widgets overall, especially in its pro version. | Divi covers most modules needed to build a page, but if you need to add some particular features or design to your web page, you’ll have to rely on third-party modules. |
Which Page Builder Offers Better Customization Features?
The key to building a unique web presence is easily customizing your website’s features. Both Elementor and Divi offer excellent customization capabilities, letting you control all aspects of your page design.
This section will closely compare Elementor vs Divi for their customization features.
Elementor Customization Features
Elementor provides three customization tabs for each widget to enable customization.
The first tab is the Content tab, which provides options for applying basic settings such as alignment and text changes. 
The second tab is the Style tab, which houses the settings to control an element’s typography, colors, and background. 
The final tab is the Advanced tab, which, as the name implies, offers more advanced styling options to adjust margins, padding, responsiveness, etc. 
Elementor also provides global theme styling options that allow you to set default styling for various elements, such as buttons, images, form fields, etc. This lets you maintain consistency with your site design for a better user experience.
And if you ever want to add custom CSS to individual widgets while building your page, the pro version of the Elementor plugin supports this.
Divi Customization Features
Every Divi page builder module also has three customization tabs.
The Content tab controls all the basic adjustments that can be made to each module. 
The Design tab covers element styling options such as colors, alignment, shadows, and animations. 
The Advanced tab enables you to add custom CSS, specify display conditions, control scroll effects, set element visibility, and more. 
You can also use the Global Presets feature to save styles for each module, e.g., buttons, and apply them globally, saving you loads of time as you create your web pages. 
The Divi page builder allows you to style your website’s colors and fonts globally but lacks Elementor’s more unified “Design System” approach.
One cool feature that the Divi page builder supports, which Elementor does not, is the ability to resize elements, margins, and paddings with the drag-and-drop functionality. 
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Elementor and Divi are tied in customization features | ||
| Customization Features | Elementor offers many customization settings with a better Design System for global site-wide styles. | Divi also offers many customization options, with a handy Global Presets feature and drag-and-drop functionality for easily resizing elements. |
Which Page Builder Offers More Pre-Designed Templates?
Even though both page builder plugins allow you to design your web page from scratch, you may not always want to take that route. Doing so takes more time and can be difficult if you aren’t a skilled website designer.
This is where the convenience of pre-designed templates comes in. They shorten your website design process, enabling you to build web pages quickly.
In this section, we will evaluate Elementor vs Divi in terms of the pre-designed template libraries they offer.
Elementor Templates and Kits
Elementor provides three template types that you can use as is or customize to become uniquely yours:
- Kits – Full website packs containing pages that are designed similarly, allowing you to create a standard website in just a few clicks.
- Pages – Individual designs of unique pages that you can incorporate into your site.
- Blocks – Pre-designed section templates that can be used to design custom pages.
The free version of the Elementor plugin includes 40+ block templates and 30+ page templates. The pro version includes 300+ pro templates and 100+ full kits. 
If you want access to even more customizable templates for your site, you can find many on third-party marketplaces like Envato, Astra Starter Templates, and others.
Elementor also allows you to create and save your own custom layouts for future reuse.
Divi Templates and Layout Packs
Divi, on the other hand, provides a robust library of 2600+ pre-designed templates that are organized into 370 layout packs.
Each layout pack contains multiple themed templates for various industries, such as health and fitness, services, business, and online stores. Layout packs typically include a home page, landing page, about, blog, and contact pages. 
You can mix and match designs from various layout packs if you prefer.
Like Elementor, Divi also allows you to create your own custom layouts and save them for reuse. However, it lacks section templates that are useful for building custom pages.
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Pre-Designed Templates | While Elementor may not have as many templates as Divi offers, its block-based templates provide more flexibility for designing individual sections. | Divi offers a larger library of pre-designed templates that are well organized into intuitive layout packs. This makes it easy to browse through the library and find what you need. |
Which Builder Has a Better Theme Builder?
If you want to customize the parts of your site defined by your theme, such as the header and footer areas or WooCommerce pages, then you need a page builder with theme-building capability. Luckily, Elementor and Divi both offer this feature.
Let’s take a close look and compare their theme-building functionality and how it operates.
Elementor Theme Builder
Elementor is a pioneer in theme-building features. With a pro plan, you can customize various components of your website, including headers, footers, and post templates.
Elementor’s theme builder functions like the page builder, allowing you to utilize the drag-and-drop visual editor to create site-wide layouts. 
When you use the theme builder, you have access to dynamic content widgets, such as post titles, author boxes, and featured images. These widgets allow you to create templates that update dynamically based on your site’s database data.
After creating your templates, you can set display conditions to control where the templates are applied on your site.
Elementor’s theme builder extends to WooCommerce, allowing users to create custom shop archives, single product pages, and cart and checkout pages.
Divi Theme Builder
Divi’s theme builder is much newer than Elementor’s but still offers solid theme-building features.
You can easily create and manage your Divi theme templates using the backend interface, accessible from your WordPress admin dashboard.
Like Elementor, the theme builder allows you to create custom headers, footers, and post layouts. It also supports the integration of dynamic content from your website’s database, such as page and post titles, featured images, excerpts, etc. 
The Divi theme builder is best used with the Divi theme but can also be used with other themes.
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Theme Builder | Elementor has a more intuitive theme builder, putting it ahead of Divi in this comparison round. | Divi’s theme builder is feature-rich but not as user-friendly. |
What Unique Features Do They Include?
While Divi and Elementor have many similar features that are crucial to have in a page builder plugin, they also have some other features that are unique to them.
In this section, we’ll compare Elementor vs Divi’s unique features so you can decide which ones are most important for your website needs.
Elementor Unique Features
One of Elementor’s most unique features is its Popup Builder. With it, you can design eye-catching popups, such as email opt-ins and promotional offers, to collect leads on your site. 
Another standout feature is Global Widgets, which allows you to create versatile widgets that you can easily reuse on different pages. This feature is excellent because when you update a Global Widget, every instance on your site gets updated automatically. This simplifies your work and saves you precious time that would have been spent updating them individually.
Elementor also offers a Form Builder feature, which allows you to create forms on your site using drag-and-drop functionality. It integrates with many email list services, so you can create newsletter forms without installing an additional plugin. 
If you ever deactivate the Elementor plugin, its Clear Code Removal feature will remove all of its code from your site, keeping your database clean.
Finally, Elementor also provides a Maintenance Mode feature, allowing you to create under-construction pages quickly.
Divi Unique Features
Divi’s content optimization tool, Divi Leads, is one of its most unique features. It allows you to A/B test different versions of site-building elements, such as colors, button styles, and CTA copy, to determine which one converts best. 
Divi Presets is another unique feature that allows you to save styles for modules and reuse them across your website.
The Wireframe Mode lets you view the layout of your web page in a block format for easier editing and management. 
The Role Editor feature allows you to restrict editing access for specific users. For example, you can hide certain modules from their interface.
When creating your website’s pages, you can use the Lock Elements feature to prevent accidental changes to elements.
Global Modules, another unique feature that operates similarly to Elementor’s Global Widgets, allows you to create and save modules that you can easily use across your site.
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Both offer unique features that cater to different needs, so it’s a tie | ||
| Unique Features | Elementor’s Popup Builder is one of its key differentiators. | The Divi Leads feature, with its A/B testing functionality, is a plus. |
Which Builder Offers a Better Value for Money?
When you invest in a page builder plugin, it’s crucial to ensure that you’re truly getting your money’s worth throughout the entire experience. Depending on your budget and page-building needs, either page builder plugin may be ideal.
However, in this section, we will directly compare Elementor vs Divi pricing plans and select a winner based on which plugin offers the best long-term value for money.
Elementor Pricing Plans
Elementor operates a freemium pricing model. Its free version includes the most essential features for creating simple web pages. This is convenient for beginner WordPress users who prefer to test the plugin before investing.
For access to its more premium features, such as the theme builder, popup builder, and Pro widgets, you must purchase one of its five premium plans:
- Essential – $59/year for one site (1) with access to essential widgets and limited Pro features.
- Advanced Solo – $79/year for one site (1) with access to all Pro widgets.
- Advanced – $99/year for three sites (3) with access to all pro features.
- Expert – $199/year (25 sites).
- Agency – $399/year (1000 sites).
The biggest downside to Elementor’s pricing plans is that it does not offer a lifetime plan, which is usually a cost-effective option for many users.
Divi Pricing Plans
Unlike Elementor, Divi is a fully premium plugin with no free version available.
It offers a simple pricing plan with only two options to choose from:
- Divi Yearly – $89/year with access to all features and the ability to use the plugin on unlimited sites.
- Divi Lifetime – $249 one-time payment for lifetime access to all features and the ability to use the plugin on unlimited sites.
The premium plan also includes access to other Elegant Themes products, such as the Divi theme, Extra theme, Bloom plugin, and Monarch plugin, extending your value from your payment.
Winner & Key Takeaway
| Elementor | Divi | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | ||
| Pricing Plans | Elementor is cheaper for single-site licenses but less cost-effective in the long term. | Divi offers better value for multiple sites due to its unlimited site license. |
Elementor vs Divi: Which Is the Best Page Builder?
As you can see, Elementor and Divi are two leading page builder plugins that provide a range of features to create beautiful web pages and maintain complete control over every aspect of your website.
Each page builder plugin has its unique perks and its strengths. They also have areas where their functionality is relatively similar, creating a tie.
So here’s our conclusion:
| Use-Case | Elementor | Divi |
| Performance | Choose Elementor if you are not too keen on page performance. | Choose Divi if you need a page builder that loads your web pages quickly, keeps HTTP requests minimal, and performs well across devices. |
| Value for money | Choose Elementor if you need a page builder with a free version or lower-cost single-site plans. | Choose Divi if you prefer lifetime pricing or need an unlimited site license. |
| Pre-designed templates | Choose Elementor if you need block templates to design various sections of your website easily. | Choose Divi for access to a wide range of full-page templates and layout packs to speed up your web design process. |
| User Interface simplicity | Choose Elementor if you are a beginner with WordPress and prefer a simple and straightforward interface. | Choose Divi if you are a more advanced WordPress user who values an immersive page-building experience. |
| Built-in building blocks | Choose Elementor Pro for access to many built-in widgets to implement various features on your site. | Choose Divi if you only require the basic design elements to build your site. |
| Theme Builder | Choose Elementor if you prefer a more straightforward and intuitive theme builder. | Choose Divi if you need a feature-rich theme builder. |
| Unique Features | Choose Elementor if you want to incorporate lots of popups on your site. | Choose Divi if you want to split test elements on your website to improve conversion rates. |
