While creating WordPress sites, you will often come across two names, which are Elementor and Gutenberg. However, what exactly are they? Which one can help you create a better WordPress website?
All those questions will be answered in our Elementor vs Gutenberg comparison below.
What is Elementor?
Elementor is a page builder and a WordPress plugin that helps you customize templates and pages. You can use various modules and widgets to build the page you want. The drag-and-drop interface allows you to design the page even if you don’t know coding.
What is Gutenberg?
Gutenberg is a block editor that creates an editable block you can move around to create the page layout you want. Gutenberg editor is part of WordPress and can work with any theme. However, on a stand-alone basis, it isn’t a theme.
You can understand more about this distinction by going through the comparison below.
Elementor vs Gutenberg
1. Live editing:
Live editing ensures that you can see the changes in the front end in real-time. There is no need to visit any separate page or click on save, publish, or preview. Any editor offering such a feature can save a lot of time.
Gutenberg is also a real time editor. However, you would have to click on the preview button to determine how the page will look. Clicking on the preview isn’t a problem until you need to do so, like 50 times for every post, since it can consist of multiple elements and images.
Elementor, on the other hand, provides you with the live editing feature, which lets you know right away how the text or Elementor will look on the front end. That is why; it can save a lot of time.
The live editing feature is certainly the forte of Elementor.
2. Speed:
The speed of any plug-in or interface in WordPress matters a lot. The speed of your website has a distinct impact on the rankings.
Gutenberg is pretty fast. Numerous tests have been conducted by the WordPress community, which states that Gutenberg is slightly faster. The difference is in milliseconds. However, in search engines, these milliseconds matter.
Elementor, by no chance, is slower. However, it doesn’t match Gutenberg.
When looking for the fastest solution, Gutenberg is a good option.
3. Widgets/blocks:
Blocks or widgets allow you to insert text and other elements into your website.
Elementor allows you to customize every part of your website. It doesn’t matter whether it just has a background, text, or image. Overall, Elementor has 30 free widgets and 100 paid ones. That is why, whether you want to customize the image, icons, or anything else, Elementor allows you to do so easily.
Gutenberg, on the other hand, is a block editor. You can customize the page on a block-by-block basis. The part of the page which doesn’t have a block cannot be customized using Gutenberg. It displays the colors, background, and elements according to the theme. If you want to edit that part, you need coding knowledge. For any part of the page which displays the block, Gutenberg can help you edit it.
Gutenberg, with only 33 blocks, doesn’t match the customization ability of Elementor. In this regard, Elementor certainly has an advantage.
4. Support:
To truly understand what kind of support is available, look at their basic working.
Elementor is a private entity and therefore backed by the company’s developers. Other users of Elementor can also help you through the community interface. However, since the usage of Gutenberg is higher, its user support is better.
Gutenberg is included with WordPress and therefore supported by the entire WordPress community. Whenever you face an issue, you can directly head to the WordPress support forums and search for relevant threads. Chances are, someone before you would have certainly faced this issue, and it would already have a solution. If you do not find an existing thread, you can still open a new one. With numerous core developers on the forum, you are sure to find a solution.
Due to the high number of sites using Gutenberg, and the presence of core developers in the community, the support for Gutenberg is better.
5. SEO:
If any theme/plug-in or a block editor hampers the SEO, it is not advisable to use the same.
Elementor, similar to other page builders, will slow down your website a tad bit. That is because of the use of shortcodes. Other than that, most elements and blocks available in Elementor are SEO-friendly.
Since Gutenberg has a block editor in the backend, it won’t hamper your SEO campaign. Also, the blocks offered by Gutenberg seldom slow down your website.
More or less, Elementor and Gutenberg are on an equal footing when it comes to SEO, with Gutenberg having a slight edge.
6. Compatibility:
In today’s Internet era, whichever plug-in, theme, or editor you use needs to be compatible with as many tools and software as possible.
Elementor has a different interface compared to Gutenberg. Also, it has a private theme. That is why there are some compatibility issues. By and large, it will work with the most popular plug-ins, but there can be certain compatibility issues, in which case you will need to contact its support department.
You won’t face this hurdle when using Gutenberg. It has the default WordPress block editor, and therefore it works with every WordPress plug-in/theme. Since Gutenberg has been around for quite some time, even if you use a theme or a plug-in that was last updated a few months back, Gutenberg shouldn’t have an issue.
In terms of compatibility, Gutenberg is certainly a better choice.
7. Advanced formatting:
WordPress, in itself, provides limited options for advanced formatting. Therefore, when choosing between Gutenberg and Elementor, it is important to compare them based on formatting capabilities.
Elementor offers detailed customization options based on blocks, width sliding, and height-changing capabilities. Advanced customization allows you to change background color, font icons, images, text color, and so on. By default, it offers a single formatting style. However, all these customization options are available.
Gutenberg editor allows you to customize lists, images, and texts. However, when it comes to advanced customization, you might have to use a third-party plug-in or add CSS code to that particular block.
When it comes to advanced formatting, Elementor is the clear winner.
8. Responsiveness:
Most visitors these days use their smartphones or tablets to browse the Internet. That is why responsiveness becomes crucial when choosing between Gutenberg and Elementor.
Gutenberg cannot do much in responsiveness because it is a block editor, not a WordPress theme. That is why; the WordPress theme you use with this block editor will determine the responsiveness.
Elementor, on the other hand, can act as a theme. It controls the content on the backend and in the front. It is completely responsive and allows you to customize various elements to display the contents better, like:
- Margins
- Paddings
- Alignments
- Content Dimension
- Content order
Thus, Elementor offers you complete control over responsiveness.
9. Ease of use:
For an average user, ease of use matters a lot. We will now compare Elementor and Gutenberg on both these features. If any of these editors are difficult to use and needs hours of training before use, they won’t be conducive to use.
Elementor isn’t an extension of WordPress. That is why it has a completely different interface. However, a little learning curve is involved in knowing where tools and options are available. However, it doesn’t require hours.
Gutenberg is the classic editor for WordPress. It is extremely easy to use and user-friendly. Even if you haven’t used an editor previously still, you will be able to use Gutenberg easily. Also, there is no need to install any plug-in to use the Gutenberg editor. It comes inbuilt with WordPress.
While both of them are easy to use but Gutenberg has an edge.
10. Price:
Pricing is one of the primary distinctions between these editors.
Elementor has a free plan with very limited features. It has four different paid plans. While the features are similar but the plan determines how many sites you can use the tool simultaneously.
- The essential plan costs $59 per year and allows using it on one website.
- In the advanced plan, you can use it on three websites, and it will cost you $ 99 per year.
- The expert plan will cost you $199 annually, and you can use Elementor on 25 websites.
- The Agency plan will cost you $ 399 per year, and you can use the tool on 1000 websites.
On the other hand, Gutenberg is free since it is inbuilt into WordPress. Simply install WordPress, and you will have the editor at your disposal.
In terms of pricing, there is no real competition, as Gutenberg is free.
Pros & cons of Elementor:
Pros:
- Advanced customization option
- Excellent responsiveness
- A large number of widgets/blocks
- Easy to design every element of the page
- Excellent functionality
- Live editing interface
- Drag and drop editor on offer
Cons:
- Has a slight learning curve
Pros & cons of Gutenberg:
Pros:
- Inbuilt in WordPress
- Simplistic design
- Old posts are compatible with Gutenberg
- Free
- No usage limitation
- Excellent development support
Cons:
- Limited advanced customization options
Final verdict:
Elementor vs Gutenberg is not easy because these editors excel in various aspects.
Elementor should be your choice if:
- You need advanced editing and customization capabilities.
- You need a theme that can be customized for any website, like a blog, corporate website, or news website.
- You’re willing to learn how the page builder works.
- You do not mind spending much money to get a proper page builder.
Gutenberg should be your choice if:
- You’re looking for a basic editor.
- You are on a limited budget.
- You just want to start a blog or a basic website.