Elementor vs Divi: what is the difference?

The basic difference

Elementor is a page builder plugin. You install it on top of any reasonably well-built theme, and it takes over the editing of the pages you build with it. There is a free version in the WordPress plugin directory and a paid Pro version with extra features.

Divi, from Elegant Themes, is a theme with a built-in visual builder. The same builder is also available as a separate plugin, the Divi Builder, for use with other themes. There is no free version; it is sold through an Elegant Themes membership.

So the first question is not which builder is better, but whether you want your builder to be your theme, or a plugin that sits on top of a theme you choose.

Editing experience

Elementor

Elementor shows a live preview of the page with a fixed panel on one side. You drag widgets from the panel onto the page and adjust their settings in the panel. Structure is built from containers that hold widgets. Responsive settings let you change spacing, sizes and visibility for desktop, tablet and mobile separately.

Divi

Divi's Visual Builder works directly on the page. Settings appear in floating windows next to the element you are editing, and you can often edit text inline by clicking it. Pages are built from sections, rows and modules. It also has a wireframe view for seeing the structure of complex pages.

Neither approach is objectively better. People who like a consistent sidebar tend to prefer Elementor; people who like editing in place tend to prefer Divi. Try both on a test page before deciding.

Templates, theme building and design systems

Both builders let you design site-wide parts of the website, such as headers, footers, blog post templates and archive pages:

• Elementor does this with its Theme Builder, which is a Pro feature. The free version builds individual pages and relies on your theme for headers and footers. Our Elementor Free vs Pro guide explains which features need Pro.
• Divi includes its Theme Builder as part of the product.

Both offer global colours and fonts, reusable saved elements and large libraries of ready-made layouts. Both have active communities selling or sharing template kits, child themes and add-on modules.

Licensing models

We are not quoting prices here because they change, so check each provider's current pricing page. The structures, however, are worth understanding:

• Elementor has a genuinely usable free version. Elementor Pro is a paid licence, typically priced by the number of sites it can be used on and renewed periodically to keep receiving updates and support.
• Divi is part of an Elegant Themes membership that has typically allowed use on many sites, with different membership options available. That can suit agencies and people running several sites.

Whichever you choose, keep the licence active on live sites. A builder that stops receiving updates becomes a security and compatibility risk.

Lock-in, moving away and performance

Both builders tie your page layouts to themselves. If you switch builders, you rebuild the pages.

The way they leave content behind differs. When Elementor is deactivated, pages generally fall back to their basic text and images without the layout. Divi has historically stored layouts in a shortcode format, so deactivating it could leave pages full of bracketed shortcode text that needs cleaning up. Newer versions of Divi have been moving away from this, so check the current documentation for the version you would be using.

In both cases, the practical advice is the same: choose with the expectation of staying, and keep content that does not need a designed layout, such as blog posts, in the standard WordPress editor. Our comparison of Elementor and the block editor explains that approach.

What about performance?

Both builders add code to the pages they build, and both have worked on producing leaner output over time. In practice the differences between a well-built Elementor page and a well-built Divi page are usually smaller than the differences caused by heavy images, too many plugins, animation-heavy designs or weak hosting. Judge performance on your own pages rather than on general claims.

How to decide

Elementor tends to suit you if

• you want to start free and only pay for Pro if you need it;
• you want to choose your own theme, such as a lightweight one;
• you prefer a fixed sidebar editing panel;
• you want access to a very large ecosystem of add-ons, kits and tutorials.

Divi tends to suit you if

• you want theme and builder in one product from one company;
• you build many sites and the membership model fits how you work;
• you like editing directly on the page;
• you want the Theme Builder included from the start.

Questions to settle before you commit

1. Who will edit the site day to day, and which editor do they find easier?
2. Do you need custom headers, footers and templates, and is that included in the version you are considering?
3. How many sites will you run, and how does each licence model fit that number?
4. Does your designer or developer already work with one of them?
5. If the person who built the site moves on, how easily could someone else pick it up?

A short trial answers most of these. Build the same simple page, say a services page with a heading, some text, an image, a button and a contact form, in each builder. Then ask the person who will edit the site day to day to change the text and swap the image. The builder they find easier is usually the right one, because a site that is awkward to edit tends to go out of date.

If you choose Elementor

Pair it with a lightweight theme; our guide to choosing a theme for Elementor covers the options. WP Web Hosting plans come with Elementor (free) pre-installed, and if you add Elementor Pro through us we activate and update the licence for you.

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