Elementor Is Still Great But You Must Try These Alternatives

Elementor remains one of the best options to build a website in WordPress. But sometimes you need to try something new to figure out other possibilities.

Just be careful because there are so many misleading posts about Elementor alternatives out there.

If you stumbled on a listicle with the title "the best Elementor alternatives" and still find SeedProd and Visual Composer mentioned in the list, you should stop reading it because it is a big lie.

When you want to switch away from Elementor, you definitely want to land to a page builder that is truly better than it. And sorry to say that SeedProd and Visual Composer are not that page builders.

For a specific use case, such as to create a simple landing page, the two are still usable. But once you want to go further to create a more complex design, then they are not a good fit.

Especially if you want to involve a design system where you need to create design variables or create design components.

So, which page builder should you switch to? You will get the answer shortly.

Before You Switch Away from Elementor

I still find Elementor as one of the page builder plugins for WordPress. This is an objective judgement because I also use other page builders on my projects.

If you follow the Elementor's journey from the beginning it emerged, you will find an undeniable fact that Elementor has evolved. Depending on which perspective you see it.

From the design perspective, the shift from section to container is something that users really needed. You can now create a more complex design layout thanks to CSS flexbox and grid.

And don't forget that we are entering the Elementor v4 era where design system becomes the main topic.

In Elementor v4, creating a scalable design project becomes easier thanks to the ability to create components and design variables.

From the performance perspective, Elementor has also evolved a lot. People used to call Elementor a bloated page builder because it generated too many divs. This label is no longer relevant with the release of Elementor editor version 4 where elementor introduced atomic elements.

With atomic elements, you can create a page that is lighter than the one created with classic widgets -- with precisely the same layout and elements.

List of the Best Elementor Alternatives for Professional Designers

Alternative name	Key highlights	Price
Divi	A great Elementor alternative to build multiple sites at a more affordable price.	From $89/year
Mosaic	Comes with a solid design system feature.	From $39/year
Bricks	It has nearly all features that Elementor has. You can achieve more without installing an extra plugin.	From $79/year
Kirki	A page builder that brings Framer vibe to WordPress.	From $69/year

1. Divi - Best Elementor Alternative for Value for Money

Divi has always been one of the best alternatives to Elementor if you often build new websites for clients. Whether you are a freelancer or an agency.

The reason is clear enough: you can build unlimited websites at only $89 per year. If you are not into the subscription-based payment model, you can also get Divi with a one-time payment option at $249.

The visual editor of Divi used to be heavy and clunky. But it was an old story.

Divi has undergone an overhaul in version 5. The editing experience is completely different now. In a good way.

The editor of Divi 5 is pretty clean and lightweight.

The best thing about Divi 5 is that it now supports CSS flexbox and CSS grid. The layout system that has been waited for so long by Divi users.

Divi 5 also introduced the loop builder feature in which the execution is better than Elementor. You don't need to create a loop item template like Elementor. Loop builder can instantly be enabled on any element (module, column, row and section).

For professional designers who often work with a design system, Divi 5 can handle the workflow better than Divi 4 as it now supports variables.

You can create variables for global colors, global units, global font names, global links, global images, and so on.

Canvases and Interactions

Two other worth-mentioning features available in Divi 5 are canvases and interactions. Canvases allow you to create a separate working area from your main working area.

A canvas is useful to play around with a new design without affecting the main design. Once you are done creating a new design, you can append it to the main canvas.

You can function a canvas as a staging design area to test new changes on your design before applying them to the main canvas.

Interactions, meanwhile, is a feature that you can use to add some interaction features to your page. You can, for instance, use it to show or hide an element by a certain trigger. Such as on click, on load, etc.

You can even use Interactions to create a popup.

Key Features of Divi:

• Clean, lightweight visual editor
• Theme builder
• Dynamic content (supports ACF)
• Loop builder
• CSS flexbox and CSS grid
• Variables
• Preset manager
• Canvases
• Interactions
• Form builder (supports integration with email marketing platforms)
• Ability to export/import templates

Elementor vs Divi

	Elementor	Divi
Price for 10 sites	$204/year	$89/year
Variables	✅	✅
Components	✅	❌
Native design elements	86 (outside atomic elements and WooCommerce)	50 (outside WooCommerce)
Theme builder	✅	✅
Loop builder	✅	✅
Dynamic content	✅	✅
Form builder	✅	✅
Custom CSS	✅	✅
Staging design environment	❌	✅

2. Mosaic: Best Elementor Alternative for Design System

Mosaic is a relatively new player in the page builder plugin category. But it is worth trying. Especially if you are a professional web designer who always works with a design system.

In Mosaic, you can create components to implement the design system you have created. You can create a new component by simply right-clicking the element you want to turn into a component. Just like in Elementor v4.

The Mosaic editor is clean and light. It has handy features like navigator to allow you to view your design structure. Pretty similar to Elementor's Navigator.

Mosaic also comes with both CSS flexbox and CSS grid to allow you to create a complex design layout.

Mosaic adopts a bit different approach to Elementor and other page builders. Instead of offering a bunch of design elements, it offers only 23 native design elements.

I personally love this approach because in practice, you don't need dedicated elements like a pricing table and CTA. You can build a component out of basic elements like button, icon and text. This is the approach adopted by Elementor in version 4.

Unfortunately, Mosaic has no additional features like popup builder and form builder. Fortunately, it has the shortcode element which you can use to content from other WordPress plugins. Including a form builder.

Key Features of Mosaic:

• Clean, lightweight visual editor
• Dynamic content
• Loop builder
• CSS flexbox and CSS grid
• Components
• Interactions

Elementor vs Mosaic

	Elementor	Mosaic
Price for 10 sites	$204/year	$149/year
Variables	✅	✅
Components	✅	✅
Native design elements	86 (outside atomic elements and WooCommerce)	23 (outside WooCommerce)
Theme builder	✅	✅
Loop builder	✅	✅
Dynamic content	✅	✅
Form builder	✅	❌
Custom CSS	✅	✅
Staging design environment	❌	❌

3. Bricks: Best Elementor Alternative for Features and Functionalities

Bricks is one of the strongest competitors of Elementor other than Divi. It behaves as a theme with a built-in page builder feature. Same as Divi.

And because it behaves as a theme, you don't need to manage yet another plugin on your WordPress website.

In Bricks, you have four elements to arrange your design layout: Section, Container, Div, and and Block. CSS flexbox and CSS grid display options are available on these elements in case they matter to you.

In terms of features, Bricks is the closest to Elementor. It has nearly all features that Elementor has. From popup builder, form builder, to loop builder.

Bricks is also great to work with a design system as it allows you to create CSS classes and variables just like Elementor v4.

Furthermore, you can also extend the functionality of Bricks with add-ons.

Key Features of Bricks:

• CSS class manager
• Variables
• Theme builder
• Dynamic content
• CSS flexbox and CSS grid
• Popup builder
• Form builder
• Loop builder
• Interactions

Elementor vs Bricks

	Elementor	Bricks
Price for 10 sites	$204/year	$249/year
Variables	✅	✅
Components	✅	✅
Native design elements	86 (outside atomic elements and WooCommerce)	74 (outside WooCommerce)
Theme builder	✅	✅
Loop builder	✅	✅
Dynamic content	✅	✅
Form builder	✅	✅
Custom CSS	✅	✅
Staging design environment	❌	❌

4. Kirki: An Elementor Alternative with a Framer Vibe

Framer is a popular no-code website builder well-known for its interactive designs. I personally love the platform and admire the design skills of its community.

Unfortunately, Framer is not open source so you have no absolute control over your website.

If you want to switch away from Elementor and are looking for a page builder that is similar to Framer, you can try Kirki (Formerly Droip).

Having Kirki on your WordPress is like having Framer on your WordPress website. Its interface is pretty close to Framer. It also comes with a content manager to allow you to work with custom content.

With Kirki content manager, you can create collections. A collection is like a custom post type in WordPress. You can also add custom fields to your collections. This is great because you can create a dynamic listing page without installing an extra plugin (e.g., ACF).

Unfortunately, it takes a steep learning curve to use Kirki because its workflow is totally different from Elementor.

You won't find a dedicated screen to access and edit site parts like header, footer, archive pages and single post template.

Key Features of Kirki:

• CSS class manager
• Variables
• Dynamic content
• CSS flexbox and CSS grid
• Form builder
• Loop builder
• Interactions
• Content manager
• Media manager
• Dev mode

	Elementor	Kirki
Price for 10 sites	$204/year	$149/year
Variables	✅	✅
Components	✅	❌
Native design elements	86 (outside atomic elements and WooCommerce)	36 (outside WooCommerce)
Theme builder	✅	❌
Loop builder	✅	❌
Dynamic content	✅	✅
Form builder	✅	✅
Custom CSS	✅	✅
Staging design environment	❌	❌

Summary

Regardless of the loves and hates, Elementor is still one of the best page builders for WordPress. The stats can't be wrong.

Elementor has evolved from many perspectives. From the design perspective, it has evolved from a bloated page builder into a page builder with a cleaner DOM. From the design perspective, the shift from section to container, which allows CSS flexbox and CSS grid implementation, was brilliant.

But when it's time for a new adventure, you can try one of the alternatives on the list.

Divi is a better alternative if you want to create more websites at a more affordable price. Version 5 offers a completely different page building experience.

Bricks and Mosaic are great if you need a page builder with the ability to create components.

And Kirki is the best fit if you want to taste Framer editing experience in WordPress.