Just How many WordPress page builders are there?

Just How many WordPress page builders are there? Here’s a big ole list.

In recent years, page builders have become more and more part of the WordPress ecosystem. The idea of the front end, drag and drop builders have helped WordPress compete, slightly, with other website builders such as Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace.

While page builders may never eliminate the need to have developers work on a WordPress website, they have helped make custom page building quicker helping developers get projects out the door in a more timely manner.

Over the past year, I have come across a number of page builders that I hear little about. So, I set out to find out about as many page builders as I could.

Page builders such as Beaver Builder, Elementor, SiteOrigin, and Divi are among the more popular options.

I created a spreadsheet and started tracking down everyone I can find. With the help of several roundup blog posts, I started documenting basic information such as the builder’s website, place in the WordPress repository, cost, and, in some cases, basic background info.

Page builders have had quite an evolution.

Visual Composer seems to be the builder who has been around the longest. Visual Composer’s popularity is tied to its use in hundreds of premium themes on marketplaces such as CodeCanyon and Themeforest.  VC claims to have been around since 2008. Therefore, we can trace page builders back to at least 2008.

Beaver Builder started as Fastline, the name of the company that built the plugin.

Observations

The vast majority of these plugins have both free and premium versions. You simply upgrade to get more features. In some cases, it is completely free. Free is a nice price point to try something out that may be useful.

Look beyond the popular plugins because some of the free plugins have really nice user interfaces and very good reviews. Many are only commercial with several being sold at CodeCanyon. Several have Github accounts and you can see the pull requests and various forks of the plugin.

The spirit of open source is very much alive in the page builder plugin space, so the ability to try something and modify it for your own is accessible to developers. Page builders are here to stay. If anything, they will probably get better with each new version.

In the list, I try to indicate if the plugin is in the WordPress Repository. One thing is for sure, there are dozens of options using a page builder with WordPress. The choice is up to you.

The major players

1. Beaver Builder

Beaver Builder is one of the most popular page builders on the market with a very robust community and several add-ons.

Originally started as Fastline, the group changed the name about three months into the project. Beaver Builder comes with a lite version that is available on the WordPress repository, but you’ll quickly find you want to upgrade to the premium to get some more of their best features.

Beaver Builder is excellent for spinning up custom home pages, blog pages, portfolio pages and other types of custom pages. 

Also, Beaver Builder is releasing a new add-on:

“Beaver Themer” plugin extends this layout building experience to dynamic parts of the theme like single posts, archives pages, custom fields and much more. ProBeaver

Beaver Builder starts a $99 for the premium plugin. You can see the pricing and the features for each tier here.

2. Elementor

Elementor is one of the newest and fastest-growing page builders. It has an easy to use drag and drop functionality like the other page builders.

Like many of the other page builders, Elementor is an open-source, but it also has a pro version. Elementor starts at $49 for a one-year license which includes some really cool features such as Live Custom CSS, Embed Anywhere, and loads of Pro templates.

Elementor was launched on June 1, 2016, and has since shown extreme growth, with thousands of new users added every week. On 12th of December, 2016, Elementor Pro will be released, with the focus of helping web designers improve their design workflow. Elementor

Elementor will be one year old from its launch this June. The WordPress repository indicates 80,000 installs.

3. SiteOrigin

SiteOrigin is much like Beaver Builder and Elementor with a free version and a premium version of the plugin.

Hi! We’re SiteOrigin. We’re a small, hard-working WordPress theme and plugin creation studio. Started by Greg Priday in 2011, the heart of SiteOrigin is in Cape Town, South Africa, but we’re a remote company so you’ll find us all over the world. SiteOrigin is extending beyond borders. SiteOrigin

The free page builder plugin is very powerful and feature-rich, especially when it is combined with the Widgets Bundle.

Upgrading to the premium plugin will extend your possibilities to a greater level and help you create some fantastic pages.

4. Divi Page Builder

Divi Page Builder was originally a part of the very popular Divi Theme by Elegant Themes.

Now, the page builder is a plugin that was created as a standalone plugin and can be used with any WordPress theme.

The Divi Builder gives you the freedom to explore new and exciting layout possibilities. Create stunning landing pages that capture your visitors, and build story-driven blog posts that capture your visitor’s imagination. Elegant Themes

Elegant Themes began developing the plugin a couple of years ago, and now, if you choose to switch to another Elegant Theme, you can use the page builder to keep your customized pages.

Elegant Theme members have access to the page builder plugin.

5. MotoPress

MotoPress’s page builder comes in both a free and premium ($29) version. It is a recommended plugin by Ivica Delic, owner of the MainWP Facebook group.

Motopress has an impressive list of features built into the page builder. With a lower price point, it is definitely worth taking a look.

Transforms default WordPress editor into the visual and feature-rich front-end composer that allows you to build pages visually.Works with any theme, pages, posts and custom post types. MotoPress

6. Visual Composer Website Builder

Visual Composer is a powerful drag and drop website builder offering both free and premium (starts at $49 per year only) versions, and a demo to get familiar with an intuitive interface of the plugin.

Visual Composer Website Builder is an easy-to-use editor for creating WordPress websites. It comes with a cloud-based online library of assets, including hundreds of pre-designed templates, content elements, and addons to take any website to a new level. Visual Composer.

Suitable for beginners and advanced users, this plugin has no shortcodes (to produce clean and SEO-friendly code) and works with any WordPress theme ensuring fast page loading times. In addition, Premium users can take advantage of the header, footer, sidebar editor, built-in popup builder, a huge variety of valuable compatibilities with third-party plugins, and more features.

The rest of the list

7. Themify Builder

Themify Builder Lite is available in the WordPress Repository. The premium starts at $39. The builder is a standalone plugin from the Themify Themes but is built into their themes.

8. Upfront

Upfront is a page builder that comes with a membership of WPMU Dev. Memberships are $49 per month.

9. WR Pagebuilder

WR Page Builder is from the WooRockets team and available in the WordPress Repository.

10. Live Composer

Live Composer is 100% free and available from the WordPress Repository.

11. Page Builder Sandwich

Page Builder Sandwich is available in the WordPress Repository and has a premium version that starts at $39.

12. Pootle Page Builder

Pootle Page Builder is in the WordPress Repository and also has a premium version starting at $99.

13. Forge Front End Page Builder

Forge is a free, open-source, and can be found in the WordPress Repository.

14. Octonis Page Builder

Octonis is a free, open source. You can download in the WordPress Repository.

15. Onepager Page Builder

Onepager is a ThemeXpert product and free via open source. WordPress Repository.

16. WDS Simple Page Builders

WDS is a page builder by WebDev Studios also available in the WordPress Repository.

17. BCorp Visual Editor

BCorp is a free page builder available in the WordPress Repository.

18. Unyson

Unyson bills itself as a “free drag & drop framework,” thus making it a hybrid page builder/framework.  The plugin is available from the WordPress Repository.

19. Creator

Creator is $33 at CodeCanyon.

20. Awesome Builder

Awesome Builder is $33 at CodeCanyon.

21. Parallax One Page Builder

Parallax One Page Builder costs $23 at CodeCanyon.

22. Fast Page Layout

Fast Page Layout can be purchased for $18 at CodeCanyon.

23. King Composer

King Composer is in the WordPress Repository and a premium version starts at $29.

24. Frontend Builder

Frontend Builder costs $56 and is another plugin that is purchased at CodeCanyon.

25. PT Builder

PT Builder is $20 and can be purchased at CodeCanyon.

26. Tailor

Tailor is one of the few page builders that is completely free. It has been forked 83 times on Github.

27. Pagelines

Pagelines is a builder that serves as a platform. The cost starts at $99 for the premium. The lite version is in the WordPress Repository.

28. Page Builder – Responsive Drag & Drop Page Builder – PluginOPs

A plugin that has a free version in the WordPress Repository, but sells for $27 for the premium.

29. Carrington Build  

A commercial builder framework by Crowd Favorite. The cost starts at $299.

30. Aqua Page Builder

Aqua hasn’t been updated in at least a year and has spotty reviews. Appears Abandoned

31. VelocityPage

This plugin kick-started with some hype. It was originally a product of developer Mark Jaquith. The sell page claims it is no longer for sale.   Appears Abandoned

32. Cornerstone (update)

Cornerstone from Theme.co also comes with the purchase of the X Theme. Cornerstone costs $39 and can be purchased at CodeCanyon.

Wrapping it up

Using a page builder can help WordPress developers save time and create custom pages quicker saving time and increasing their profit margin on a project. It is, however, a tight line to tow. You have to separate the good from the bad.

Fortunately for WordPress entrepreneurs, there is a large group of page builders to choose from.

Do you have some extra time this weekend? Good, you have some time to test, play and review some of these plugins. Can you believe there are 31 page builder plugins?

I am sure I missed some. If you know of any I missed, please list them in the comments below. Also, feel free to tell us which one is your favorite and why.