Elementor Free vs Pro: 15 Differences to Know Before Upgrading

I have been using Elementor Pro since it was still $49 per year (today, you need to pay at least $60 per year to use it). If you ask me whether Elementor is worth it, my short answer is, yes. It is worth it.

My main argument is that you can do a lot of things with Elementor Pro beyond creating pages. From creating forms, creating popups, collecting and managing leads, creating custom templates and populating them with dynamic content, and so on.

I totally understand if you still have some hesitation if you want to upgrade to Elementor Pro. That's why I created this post.

In this post, I will show you some key differences between Elementor and Elementor Pro, hoping that you will have better insights about what you will get after upgrading to Elementor Pro.

Shortcuts ⤵️

• Elementor Free vs Pro in a nutshell
• Differences between Elementor Free vs Pro in details
• Honest review of Elementor Pro
• Summary

Elementor Free vs Pro In a Nutshell

	Elementor Free	Elementor Pro
Number of design elements	40+	100+
Dynamic content	✅	❌
Theme builder	✅	❌
Loop builder	✅	❌
Popup builder	✅	❌
Form builder	✅	❌
Ability to accept payments	✅	❌
Display conditions	✅	❌
Content only mode	✅	❌
Custom code	✅	❌
Custom fonts and icons	✅	❌
Notes	✅	❌
Page transitions	✅	❌
Motion effects	✅	❌
Custom CSS	✅	✅
Ability to create components (Elementor v4)	✅	❌
Size variables (Elementor v4)	✅	❌

15 Key Differences Between Elementor Free vs Pro

1. Elementor Pro Has More Widgets

With Elementor Free, you can only access basic widgets such as Image, Text Editor, Heading and Button.

Whereas, there are over 100 design elements/widgets that Elementor offers in total.

The basic widgets are enough to create a page with a basic design. But soon as your website is running, you may want to add advanced widgets which are only accessible with Elementor Pro.

Widgets that are only accessible with Elementor Pro have a crown icon on the top-right corner.

After activating Elementor Pro, the padlock icon on each Pro widget will be gone. Meaning that you can use the Pro widgets on your Elementor design.

With Pro widgets, you will be able to create a design with more advanced elements. For instance, you can add a form using the Form widget. Or you can create a content feed using the Posts widget.

You can also create a mega menu using the Menu widget and many other things.

• Number of widgets/design elements in Elementor Free: 40+
• Number of widgets/design elements in Elementor Pro: 100+

2. Elementor Pro Comes with Theme Builder

Not only can you use Elementor to create pages, but you can also use it to create a custom header, a custom footer, a custom archive template, a custom single post template, and other parts of your WordPress website.

To be able to create custom templates for the above mentioned site parts, you need to use the Theme Builder feature which is only accessible with Elementor Pro.

In the past, you were limited with what's offered by your theme to customize the mentioned parts. With Elementor Theme Builder, you have literally limitless design options that you can apply to your header and other parts on your website.

The best part is that you don't need to have a programming background because you can create a custom template for your site part using Elementor visual editor.

3. Elementor Pro Supports Dynamic Content

With Elementor Theme Builder, not only do have you total freedom over the design of your website, but you also have freedom over the elements you want to add.

Say you are creating a custom template for single post (blog post). Normally, you will add elements like post title, post meta (date, author, etc), featured image to post content.

Those elements are the default dynamic content available in WordPress core.

But if you want it, you can create a custom single post template without a featured image (like the one you see on this blog post template).

With Elementor Pro, you can create custom templates for your site parts and add dynamic content. Apart from the default dynamic content of WordPress, you can also add dynamic content from plugins like ACF, JetEngine, Pods, and so on.

Here is the list of dynamic content types you can add to your Elementor design:

• Featured image
• Site logo
• Author profile picture
• User profile picture
• Post meta
• Post excerpt
• Post title and archive title
• Archive description
• ACF fields (and custom fields from similar plugins)
• Etc.

To add dynamic content itself, you can click the database icon on the content editor on each widget.

4. Elementor Pro Comes with Loop Builder

With Elementor Pro, you can access the Posts widget, which you can use to create a content feed (a list of blog posts and other content types on your website).

While you have lots of design options with the widget, the options are limited enough when it comes to elements on the feed. You are limited with what Elementor offers.

If you want to add more elements to the feed (e.g., custom fields content), you can use Loop Builder.

With Loop Builder, you can also create a more complex dynamic website (e.g., a listing website) without needing to install too many plugins. In most cases, you only need to install a custom field plugin (ACF, JetEngine, Pods, etc).

To use Loop Builder, you first need to create a loop template via Theme Builder and then call it using one of the widgets that Elementor offers:

• Loop Carousel
• Loop Grid

5. Elementor Pro Comes with Popup Builder

If you want to create popups on your WordPress website and you already have Elementor Pro, you don't need to install a dedicated popup builder plugin. Instead, you can use the Popup Builder feature.

In terms of design, Elementor Popup Builder is one of the best popup builders for WordPress. You have total control over the popup design just like you have with pages as the visual editor to create the popups is the same as the one to create pages.

You can easily set the popup position, set popup overlay, set content wrapper and many other things.

Also, you can add any widget you want to your popup, including the Form widget which is super useful to collect email addresses of your visitors.

Elementor Popup Builder also allows you to control the popup behavior as well as where the popup to show up.

6. Elementor Pro Comes with Form Builder

With Elementor Pro, you can also create a form on your website using the Form widget. You can use it to create several form types. From a simple contact form, a multi-step form, a job application form, a survey form, etc.

You can even create an email opt-in form and connect it with an email marketing platform like MailerLite, Mailchimp, Kit, etc.

If you prefer to send the form submissions to your website and manage them in there, Elementor also offers a built-in form submissions manager. However, this feature is not available on all Pro plans. The lowest plan, the Essential plan, doesn't allow you to unlock this feature.

The Form widget of Elementor itself supports 16 form field types as follows:

To avoid spam submissions, you can protect your form with Google reCaptcha or Akismet.

Here is the preview of the Elementor Form widget.

7. Elementor Pro Allows You to Accept Payments for Your Products/Services

Elementor Pro comes with two widgets that you can use to accept payments: the PayPal Button widget and the Stripe Button widget.

These widgets are super useful if you want to create a landing page with a payment button.

The PayPal Button widget allows you to accept payments via, of course, PayPal. While the Stripe Button widget allows you to accept payments via cards (credit cards and debit cards).

Since Elementor Pro supports dynamic content, you can populate the button content (text, price, etc) with dynamic content too.

Unfortunately, these widgets cannot be integrated with the Form widget so that you can't collect your customers' data. Also, there is no built-in analytics feature to monitor conversions. That makes sense because Elementor is not an e-commerce plugin WooCommerce.

8. Elementor Pro Supports Display Conditions

When you create a custom template using Theme Builder or create a popup using Popup Builder, you can set a display condition. This means, you can set where the template to apply or the popup to show up.

Not only can you apply a display condition to a template or popup, but you can apply it to a widget. This feature is accessible via the Advanced panel under the Layout settings group.

Display condition is a super useful feature for precise targeting. For instance, you can use it to display a popup only to visitors coming from search engines. Or, you can use it to display a floating banner only to those who use a specific web browser.

One of the conditions that Elementor supports is login status. You can use it to show/hide a certain element based on the login status of your visitors (logged in/logged out). This feature is especially useful if you use Elementor to create a membership website.

9. Elementor Pro Allows to Enable Edit Content Only Mode

If you are a freelancer or agency who often creates websites for clients (who usually don't have decent web design skills), this feature is super useful. With this feature, you can set users with a certain role to have edit access only to the content.

This means, they only change the content (link, text, image, icon) without the ability to change the design. Even the color.

When you enable this feature, users you apply the restriction to will only see one tab, the Content tab, on the Elementor settings panel. The Style tab and Advanced tab are gone from the settings panel from their end.

10. Elementor Pro Allows You to Add Custom Code

In the WordPress ecosystem, there are code management plugins like WPCodeBox, CodeSnippets and FluentSnippets which you can use to add custom code to your WordPress website.

If you use Elementor Pro, installing a code management plugin is not necessary as it comes with a feature with the same functionality. However, the feature only allows you to add JavaScript, HTML and CSS code. It doesn't support PHP.

Still, the feature is useful enough. Especially for a simple task like integrating your website with a third-party service (e.g., Google Analytics). You can apply your custom code to the header or body.

You can also set the priority as well as the location where you want the code to apply thanks to its display conditions support.

11. Elementor Pro Allows You to Add Custom Fonts and Custom Icons

Elementor relies on Google Fonts and Font Awesome for the fonts and icons. In most cases, the fonts and icons from these two providers are enough.

But if you are working on a large project with custom and branded assets, you may want to add a custom font set and custom icon set. You can do so with Elementor Pro.

With Elementor Pro, you can upload the ZIP file of your custom assets and they will be available on the Elementor editor.

Elementor Free also allows you to add a custom icon. But you need to manually upload the SVG file via the editor.

12. Elementor Pro Allows You to Access Notes Feature

If you work with a team, then this feature is super useful. With Notes, you can easily add feedback to your team members to improve or edit a certain part of the design or content.

If you work solo, you can make use of this feature to add a personal note over certain updates or improvements.

When adding a note, you can mention users on the website you are working on.

13. Elementor Pro Allows You to Set Page Transitions

Page Transitions is another feature you can unlock after you upgrade to Elementor Pro. With this feature, you can style up the entrance and exit animations between pages on your website.

Also, you can display a loader until the page is fully loaded.

For the preloader itself, you can use an image or icon.

14. Elementor Pro Allows You to Access Motion Effects

Elementor Pro allows you to access motion effects, which is not possible with Elementor Free. With motion effects, you can make your website more alive by adding some animation effects.

You can, for instance, apply an animation effect where an element moves automatically on scroll. Or, you can apply an animation effect to move an element based on mouse activity.

You can also set a sticky effect to make a certain element remain visible on scroll down down.

Here are the animation effects you can apply to your Elementor design:

• Scrolling effect (vertical scroll, horizontal scroll, transparency, blur, rotate, scale)
• Mouse effect (mouse track and 3D tilt)
• Sticky effect (top and bottom)

15. Elementor Pro Allows You to Apply Custom CSS More Easily

If you are not enough with the built-in design options that Elementor offers, you can use custom CSS.

With custom CSS, the design options are technically limitless because you can apply anything on your mind via custom code.

Both Elementor Free and Pro allow you to apply custom CSS. But the steps of doing so are more straightforward on the Elementor Pro.

On Elementor Pro, you can place your CSS code directly to the widget you want to apply the custom CSS to and target a specific element of a widget (e.g., the icon element of the Button widget).

If you use Elementor Free, you need to place your CSS code using the HTML widget (or on WordPress Theme Customizer). Also, you need to add an extra CSS class or ID to apply the code to a specific element.

My Honest Review for Elementor Pro After 5+ Years

As far as I remember, I started using Elementor Pro in 2019 when I started a blog project on wppagebuilders.com. Until today, I still use Elementor Pro although I also use Divi.

I have witnessed countless changes in Elementor. From the transition from section to container, interface updates to pricing structures.

Overall, I enjoy the website building experience that Elementor offers and I will recommend it to those who want to create their websites with WordPress, under certain conditions.

I will recommend Elementor to those who want to build their WordPress website using a visual page builder. Regardless of the hate and love it earned, Elementor is still one of the best options of visual page builder for WordPress.

Elementor is not a perfect product, though. There are some areas that I don't like from Elementor.

The following are what I like and what I don't like from Elementor.

What I Like from Elementor

The Building Experience

What I like the most from Elementor is the website building experience that it offers. As you know, Elementor allows you to create a professional website without coding. It offers a super intuitive visual page builder that anyone can use. Including beginners in web development.

You can drop an element to the canvas area and then make some adjustments via the settings panel. The Elementor editor is clean and enjoyable to use.

The Complementary Features

"You can create and run a WordPress website with fewer plugins".

That's one of my answers every time I get asked why you should use Elementor.

As I have just elaborated above, there are a bunch of features you can unlock after you upgrade to Elementor Pro and those features can replace the roles of some plugins at once.

Running a WordPress website with fewer plugins means less maintenance headache.

The Ecosystem

Being a WordPress plugin, Elementor has an open ecosystem. Third-party developers are welcomed to develop a WordPress plugin that is designed specifically for Elementor (Elementor add-on).

Crocoblock is an example of a developer team with some successful Elementor add-ons. You can now use Crocoblock products on other builders too (Divi, Gutenberg and Bricks) but they used to be built exclusively for Elementor.

If you need a certain functionality or feature to your website and it's not available in Elementor by default, chances are you can find an add-on for it.

Also, Elementor has a large extension support in the WordPress ecosystem. There are many WordPress plugins that have native integration with Elementor.

What I Don't Like from Elementor

The Current Pricing Structure

When I first subscribed to Elementor Pro, the lowest plan offered by Elementor for the Pro version costs $49 per year. Today, the lowest plan costs $60 per year.

As far as I can remember, there were 4 plans offered by Elementor for the Pro version and all of them have precisely the same features. The only difference between the Pro plans was the number of sites you could install.

Elementor changed the structure of its Pro plans several times. The current structure for the Pro version is tiered-based. You get different features based on the plan you choose.

The lowest plan (the Essential Plan), for instance, doesn't include features like form submission manager, popup builder and custom code. The number of widgets are also fewer in this plan.

To access all of the Pro features, you need to use at least the Advanced Solo, the tier 2 plan in the current pricing structure.

You can click the button below to learn more about the current pricing structure of Elementor Pro.

The Support

I rarely contact Elementor support to solve the issues I experience with Elementor but I once did. From that moment, I got to know that Elementor outsourced its support service (more precisely the basic support).

I was not served directly by the Elementor team.

Today, Elementor leverages AI bot to handle basic support like many other tech companies. If you subscribe to Elementor One, though, you will be served directly by a dedicated support team of Elementor.

I have to say that in terms of support, Elegant Themes (Divi) is better than Elementor. They (Elegant Themes) also leverage AI, but you can easily bypass the AI bot by typing "pass me to human" in the chat box and you will be served by a human instead of bot.

The way Elegant Themes handle support is also better than Elementor.

The Bottom Line: Is It Worth Paying for Elementor Pro?

Elementor Free is enough to create a simple website or landing page with basic elements like text, button and image. If you want to add advanced elements like a form or a payment button, then you can upgrade to Elementor Pro.

The question is, is it really worth paying for Elementor Pro?

My answer is, yes. Paying for Elementor Pro is still worth it despite some things I don't like from Elementor.

If you are a business owner and want to use a website as a daily operation of your business, using Elementor Pro means you can save money because you don't need to subscribe to multiple premium plugins to collect leads, create popups, etc.

Also, fewer plugins mean less energy and time to maintain them.

If you are a freelancer or agency, using Elementor Pro is also worth it because you can deliver a professionally designed website and let your clients change the content easily without breaking the design.