I have built or worked on somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 WordPress websites over the past 20 years, including client sites, pet projects, and prototypes. Time to review wordpress page builders 2026
Perhaps 50 of those were built before page builders became common. The vast majority of the rest were created with Divi or Elementor.
I also have a fair amount of experience with WPBakery, Avada, Beaver Builder, and the native WordPress block editor. Beyond those platforms, I have worked on one-off projects built with another five to 10 WordPress page builders and themes.
Divi was my go-to page builder for many years. It remains a useful platform, especially for agencies managing a large collection of existing Divi websites. However, it is no longer automatically my first choice when the goal is to build a polished, high-performing WordPress website from scratch.
Why We Decided to Reevaluate Our WordPress Base Build
One of our longtime digital marketing clients has a WordPress website that we now support, although we did not originally build it. The site uses an obscure page builder and has generally been a mess for years.
We have been able to work around its problems, and the underlying platform has not prevented us from writing strong content or running successful SEO, PPC, and social media campaigns. As a result, rebuilding the site has been one of those projects that gets pushed back year after year.
The website is still running on PHP 7 and cannot be upgraded cleanly to PHP 8 without replacing major parts of the site. Because PHP 7 has reached the end of official support, the rebuild has gone from being a nice improvement to an increasingly urgent maintenance and security project.
Since the old site had already been limping along for years, we decided to take the opportunity to explore our options rather than immediately rebuilding it with the same tools we had always used.
We also wanted to create the lightweight, reusable WordPress base build that our company had discussed developing for a long time.
That process included revisiting builders we already knew and testing a few themes and page-building systems we had not previously used on full projects.
Elementor and the Hello Elementor Theme
Elementor was always one of the most likely candidates for our new base build. We have worked on several Elementor websites over the years and generally found the builder flexible, capable, and relatively easy to hand off to clients.
The Hello Elementor theme is an excellent starting point for a custom website. Developed by the Elementor team, Hello is an intentionally lightweight, minimalist theme designed to provide a blank canvas for the Elementor page builder.
Instead of forcing you to override a large collection of built-in styles, Hello stays out of the way and allows the builder to control most of the website’s appearance.
That makes it particularly useful for custom headers, footers, landing pages, and other layouts where you want complete control over the design.
I had previously worked on a project built with Hello Elementor and liked what I saw. It felt cleaner than starting with a traditional multipurpose theme filled with settings and features we might never use.
What I Like About Elementor
- It provides a flexible visual editing environment.
- Hello Elementor offers a clean and lightweight foundation.
- It is relatively easy to build responsive layouts.
- There is a large ecosystem of templates, add-ons, and documentation.
- Clients are more likely to be familiar with Elementor than with a smaller, obscure builder.
- It works well for custom landing pages and marketing-focused websites.
Elementor is not perfect. Some of its most useful site-building features require Elementor Pro, and poorly constructed pages can still become bloated.
As with any visual builder, performance depends partly on how carefully the website is built.
Even so, Elementor and Hello remain strong candidates for agencies that want a flexible base system without committing to a large multipurpose theme.
Divi 5 Is Finally Here
Divi has been one of our primary WordPress page builders for many years.
One of the main reasons we selected it during the early days of page builders was its enormous collection of premade website layouts.
Yes, many of the layouts share a recognizable Divi look and feel. However, the library provides a useful starting point for almost any industry, including attorneys, therapists, contractors, restaurants, technology companies, and business blogs.
Even when we did not use a Divi layout exactly as designed, it often gave us relevant content sections, page ideas, and basic industry structure.
That helped us build websites faster, especially for small businesses with limited content.
The problem is that Divi 4 was around for a very long time, and parts of it did not age particularly well.
Divi 5 represents a major rebuild of the platform rather than another minor update.
Some of Our Recurring Problems With Divi 4
- The default margins and spacing were often much larger than we wanted.
- We frequently had to reduce spacing throughout a new site before cloning pages.
- Mobile layouts often required additional manual adjustments.
- Large or complex pages could feel slow in the Visual Builder.
- Some features required third-party extensions that felt as though they should have been part of the core builder.
- The default menu and header options were limited.
- Builder crashes and damaged page CSS occurred more often than they should have.
- The built-in contact form was too limited for many client projects.
We commonly replaced the native contact form with a dedicated form plugin such as Ninja Forms.
That is not necessarily unique to Divi, since the form modules included with many page builders are suitable only for relatively basic forms.
My First Experience Building With Divi 5
I recently completed my first new website using Divi 5.
The interface remains familiar enough for an experienced Divi user, but there are several changes that require some adjustment.
The first stumbling block I encountered involved the new row and column structure. Managing columns initially felt more complicated than necessary, even after selecting the type of column layout I wanted.
Once I became familiar with the new workflow, however, it stopped being a significant problem.
The left-hand toolbar and the settings panels also feel different from Divi 4.
There is a short learning curve, but anyone with substantial Divi experience should be able to adjust fairly quickly.
Upgrading From Divi 4 to Divi 5
Divi 5 includes a migration system that scans existing Divi 4 websites and identifies modules or extensions that may not be fully compatible.
It also includes a backward-compatibility mode that allows legacy Divi 4 content and third-party modules to continue operating during the transition.
That is much better than having no upgrade path at all, but I would still approach the migration of a large production website carefully.
The site should be backed up, copied to a staging environment, and thoroughly tested before Divi 5 is activated on the live version.
For a new Divi website, it makes little sense to begin with Divi 4. Divi 5 is the platform to use for new builds.
At the same time, I expect many of our existing Divi 4 websites to remain online for quite a while, especially when they are stable and do not rely heavily on outdated third-party modules.
The Biggest Divi 5 Improvement: Performance
The most important improvement in Divi 5 is its underlying performance.
Divi needed a modernized framework capable of handling large pages and complex layouts more efficiently. That upgrade was critical and long overdue.
Divi 5 also provides a cleaner foundation for future development.
While the first version does not eliminate every frustration we have had with Divi, it makes the platform more competitive and gives longtime Divi users a practical path forward.
Beaver Builder
A recent client of ours has a large collection of websites built with Beaver Builder.
Based on my experience maintaining those sites, I have developed a favorable impression of the platform.
Beaver Builder appears stable, and its editing system is relatively easy to understand.
The client had already created most of the design templates before we became involved, so I have not yet developed as many complete Beaver Builder websites from scratch as I have with Divi or Elementor.
As a result, I cannot give as detailed an assessment of the initial design process. However, working within the existing layouts has been straightforward.
Beaver Builder includes premade templates and reusable layouts, although its template ecosystem has historically felt less prominent than Divi’s enormous layout library.
Additional templates and extensions are also available from Beaver Builder and third-party developers.
What I Like About Beaver Builder
- It has been stable on the websites we maintain.
- The editing interface is relatively easy to learn.
- Existing layouts are easy to update.
- Reusable templates make it practical for multisite and agency work.
- It works with many different WordPress themes.
As with most page builders, the built-in form options may not be sufficient for more advanced lead-generation forms.
On the Beaver Builder websites we manage, we generally use Ninja Forms or another dedicated form plugin instead.
Beaver Builder may not generate as much attention as Elementor or Divi, but it is a solid platform and one I would be comfortable using again.
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The WordPress Block Editor, Also Known as Gutenberg
During the past year, we have built more websites with the default WordPress block editor, commonly known as Gutenberg.
The block editor has improved substantially since its original release.
It can now handle many layouts that previously would have required a separate page builder.
The addition of patterns, reusable blocks, full-width cover sections, columns, groups, and full-site editing has made it a much more practical option for complete websites.
With the help of AI tools such as ChatGPT, it has also become easier to solve layout problems, generate small CSS adjustments, and understand some of the editor’s less obvious settings.
For straightforward small-business websites, blogs, and lower-budget projects, the native WordPress editor has increasingly become one of our better options.
Advantages of the WordPress Block Editor
- It is included with WordPress at no additional cost.
- It reduces dependence on a proprietary third-party builder.
- Pages can be lighter and less complicated.
- WordPress continues to improve the editor as part of its core platform.
- Blocks and patterns can be reused across the website.
- It is a good fit for content-focused websites and blogs.
The block editor still has limitations.
Some layout controls are difficult to find, and creating highly customized designs can require additional block plugins or custom CSS.
The editing experience can also vary significantly depending on the theme.
Nevertheless, Gutenberg should no longer be dismissed as merely a blogging editor.
For the right project, it can replace a traditional page builder entirely.
Avada
Avada is one of the stronger alternatives among the multipurpose WordPress themes and page-building systems I have used.
Avada:
It provides a large collection of design controls, templates, and website-building features.
It can be a practical option for users who want a broad toolkit contained within one ecosystem.
My experience with Avada has generally been better than my experience with many of the less common WordPress builders.
However, like other large multipurpose themes, it contains far more settings and functionality than many websites actually need.
That can make an Avada site more difficult for an inexperienced client to manage.
It also means that performance depends heavily on configuration, optimization, and restraint during the design process.
I did not have an opportunity to complete a new Avada test build during this round of evaluations, but I would still consider it one of the more capable alternatives to Divi and Elementor.
WPBakery Page Builder
WPBakery Page Builder is my least favorite of the major WordPress page builders we have used.
WPBakery:
To be fair, WPBakery has been included with a very large number of commercial WordPress themes, and many developers have successfully built websites with it.
It offers both front-end and back-end editing and remains actively maintained.
My problem is primarily with the day-to-day editing experience.
I find its layout structure less intuitive and more cumbersome than the alternatives.
Maintaining older WPBakery sites can also become frustrating when the builder is tightly integrated with a discontinued theme or collection of theme-specific modules.
I still maintain one pet-project website built with WPBakery.
Migrating it would require more effort than the site currently justifies. Since it is not a revenue-generating project, it will probably remain in legacy mode for at least another year.
This illustrates an important issue when choosing any WordPress page builder: the cost is not limited to the initial license or development time.
You should also consider how difficult it may be to maintain, migrate, or replace the builder several years later. Of all the WordPress page builders 2026, this one might not make it to the 2027 evalution.
Which WordPress Page Builder Are We Choosing in 2026?
There is no single page builder that is ideal for every WordPress project.
For custom marketing websites that require extensive visual control, Elementor combined with the Hello Elementor theme remains one of the strongest options we tested.
It provides a clean starting point, a mature visual builder, and a large support ecosystem.
For existing Divi agencies and websites, Divi 5 is a meaningful and necessary improvement.
It addresses many of Divi 4’s performance limitations while preserving a path for older websites and modules.
Beaver Builder has impressed me with its stability and straightforward editing experience.
It may not receive as much attention as Elementor or Divi, but it remains a credible option for agencies and developers.
For simpler websites, the native WordPress block editor is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
It reduces builder dependency and may provide a cleaner long-term foundation for content-focused sites.
Avada remains a capable all-in-one solution, while WPBakery is the builder I would be least likely to select for a new project.
Final Thoughts on WordPress page builders 2026
The best WordPress page builder is not necessarily the one with the largest number of features.
The better choice is the platform that fits the project, performs well, remains maintainable, and can be handed off to the client without creating unnecessary confusion.
Our experience supporting hundreds of WordPress websites has made us increasingly cautious about obscure builders and heavily customized theme systems.
A builder may look impressive during the initial demo, but the real test comes several years later when WordPress, PHP, plugins, and hosting environments have all changed.
In 2026, our focus is less on finding one builder for every project and more on creating a small collection of dependable base builds.
Elementor, Divi 5, and the native WordPress block editor are likely to handle the majority of our upcoming projects, with Beaver Builder remaining a solid option when it fits the client’s existing ecosystem. WordPress page builders 2026 evaluation is now officially in the books.