Using the WordPress Page Builder plugin is very popular these days.
It also provides features that make it easy to design beautiful websites like landing pages without knowing how to code.
Some features must be mentioned such as drag-and-drop interface, widget or pre-built template…
You are just getting started with this tool. You don’t have the budget for premium premium products like Page Builder Divi.
No problem.
There are still many free page builders for you to experience.
In today’s post, I want to compare 3 of the best free WordPress Page Builder plugins available today.
So what are these plugins?
Please continue reading.
Contents
What are the best WordPress Page Builder plugins available today?
In this article, I will mention the 3 most popular free Page Builder plugins today:
Page Builder by Site Origin, Beaver Builder and Elementor .
With these plugins you can create custom page layouts for your website without touching a single line of code.
Page Builder by SiteOrigin
Page Builder by SiteOrigin is a free WordPress page builder plugin with the most active numbers today. It currently has over 13 million downloads.
Let’s review this plugin together.
User Interface of Page Builder by SiteOrigin
After you activate the plugin, create a new page. You will see a new tab next to the Visual and Text tabs in the WordPress Editor. This tab is called Page Builder.
You can start creating a row or add a new widget to your layout. Or faster you can import a prebuilt layout (template).
Like other WordPress page builder plugins, SiteOrigin uses rows and columns to design page layouts. You can combine rows and columns to create advanced layouts customized to your liking.
This plugin allows you to customize how rows and columns are displayed:
Page Builder by SiteOrigin Widgets
SiteOrigin has its own free plugin called SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle . It provides you many widgets like button, call-to-action, image slider, price list, Google Map…
In addition, many 3rd parties also have plugins that provide additional widgets. That way you will have more options to add modules to your design.
As soon as the widget is inserted into the page, you can edit it through the pop-up window. You can also easily drag and drop the widget to the desired position.
SiteOrigin also features a Live Editor. This feature makes it easy to see how your design will look.
However, the Live Editor feature has major limitations. That is, you cannot directly edit the elementors on the interface.
All editing operations through a popup window. This is quite inconvenient compared to the Elementor that I mentioned below.
Page Builder by SiteOrigin Page Template
SiteOrigin also has several pre-designed templates for you to use.
You will notice that the number of templates is quite limited.
Advantages
- Drag and drop page builder interface
- Many useful widgets
- There are a few templates that look quite eye-catching
- Has browser history to roll back changes
- Ability to create responsive page layouts
Defect
- Lacks real front-end editing.
- Widget split into plugin is quite annoying
- Widgets and templates are not as rich as Elementor
Beaver Builder
Besides the paid page builder plugin, Beaver Builder also has a free version with limited features.
Let’s see if the free version is any good, shall we?
Beaver Builder User Interface
The first time you visit the page builder, Beave Builder will provide a tour feature. This feature makes it easy to get used to the page builder interface.
Once you understand how plugins work, you can start adding rows and widgets to the layout you intend to design.
Like other free page builder plugins, Beaver Builder still uses row and column concepts to create complex layout designs.
As soon as you drag and drop a module or widget into the layout, a control panel (pop-up) is automatically displayed. This saves you time compared to finding and clicking the edit button.
Control panel has the ability to move on the screen.
So you still do not edit content directly on the interface. At this point only the Elementor plugin below is the best.
Different from Page Builder by SiteOrigin, you will work with the front-end interface instead of in the WordPress Editor.
Beaver Builder Widgets and Templates
The first impression with this free version is that the number of widgets is too small. Even the free version doesn’t have any templates.
To add widgets you have to install external add-ons. Otherwise you have to upgrade to the paid version.
Advantages
- Smooth front-end interface
- There are free and paid 3rd party add-ons
- The ability to design responsive layouts
- Welcome screen and useful tour
Defect
- The number of modules is too small
- No pre-designed templates
Elementor
These days Elementor is the page builder plugin that a lot of people talk about. It is the page builder plugin that has the fastest user growth rate today.
So why is the plugin so popular?
In my opinion, Elementor has been very generous with the free version. Unlike Beave Builder, the free version of Elementor has a lot of features to help you design a beautiful basic landing page.
With the popularity of Elementor, there are many third-party plugins that add extra features, widget templates to this plugin. You are spoiled for choice on the WordPress plugin repository.
Let’s learn through the best free page builder plugin today.
Read more:
10+ WordPress themes compatible with Elementor
How to create a simple landing page using Elementor for free
Elementor user interface
After clicking the Elementor button in the WordPress editor, you will immediately switch to the drag-and-drop design interface on the front-end.
Elementor uses a familiar row and column structure to create complex layouts. As soon as you drag and drop the element you want, you can customize it through the left sidebar settings.
The most impressive feature of Elementor is the ability to edit text directly on the interface. This is completely different from Site Origin or Beaver Builder. In these tools you have to edit through a pop-up interface.
Element Widgets and Templates
When using Elementor, you will surely be amazed with the plugin’s widget store. So much for a free plugin. Completely different from Beaver Builder
Of course, you can expand this number of widgets by upgrading to the paid version. As I said there are quite a few third-party plugins that provide you with more modules or widgets. Worth trying to install.
Regarding Elementor’s template store, you can’t help but be disappointed. It has some pretty eye-catching pre-designed free templates.
Only annoying is that it puts free and paid templates together. Probably deliberately inviting users to upgrade to the paid version.
Advantages
- Intuitive drag-and-drop front-end design with direct text editing capabilities
- The number of default widgets and templates is quite rich
- There is a preview mode for mobile
- Has a history browser to do undo and redo easily
- Many third-party plugins to expand the widget store
Defect
- The page template section is confusing free and paid templates.
About Gutenberg
As you know recently WordPress intends to create a brand new editor to replace the current WordPress Editor. It’s called Gutenberg .
Currently, Guteberg has been released as a plugin for everyone to test. I also have a detailed tutorial on how to use Gutenberg.
Intended for Gutenberg to be available in WordPress 5
Is Gutenberg compatible with the above page builder plugins?
At this point Gutenberg is still in development.
It is still too early to give the above answer. But surely the team that developed the above plugins will work to ensure compatibility with Gutenberg’s new editor as soon as it is officially released in WordPress core.
Epilogue
If you are looking for the best free WordPress page builder plugin, Elementor is hard to turn down.
It has the most awesome templates and widgets. The drag and drop front-end design interface works smoothly. Especially the ability to edit text directly helps you to increase your productivity a lot.
In my opinion, Elementor is the best choice.
Which free WordPress page builder plugin are you using? Please share your views below?
