Elementor and Gutenberg are the two names you must’ve heard a lot if you’re a WordPress fan. These are used to design and operate your site manually. If you’re a website designer, you already know how these work. However, if you still have any doubts, this guide will be of great help to you.
If we try to compare Elementor Vs. Gutenberg, it can get a bit difficult as both the builders are very well optimized and user friendly. Gutenberg is a bit faster than the Elementor. Elementor, on the other hand, comes with a greater number of exclusive features. So, it ultimately depends on your requirements of which one suits you the best.
Here, we’ll show you the differences between Gutenberg vs. Elementor and how it works in real life. We’ll get into their individual features that are most common. And we’ll also talk about their limitations.
What is Elementor?
Elementor is, without a doubt, the most well-known page builder on the internet. This page builder has altered the very concept of website development in a very short time. Its fame is mainly for its webpage design.
With this plugin, one can design any kind of advanced and complex layout without having any knowledge of coding. Any user can use it to develop highly functional websites regardless of their technical knowledge of webpage design or its lackings thereof.
Moreover, you can also make a complete WordPress theme if you’re using Elementor pro!
Elementor comes with custom designs, built-in layouts, and widgets. There is no need to start from scratch if you’re utilizing this website builder. You can use the previously included designs to develop your site instead.
Besides all that, it has a particular drag-and-drop function that makes the whole website building process much more manageable. It’s as simple as dragging and dropping the piece you wish to use onto your page.
The theme builder also shows the instant changes that occur on your website while you’re editing.
Features
You may be wondering why Elementor has become so well-liked as a WordP page builder plugin. Here’s why:
- Ready-made standard template library
- Requires no coding knowledge
- Includes some helpful widgets
- Can seamlessly integrate with other popular plugins
- Interactive users’ community
- Helps add advanced design elements to your site
How Does Elementor Work?
Elementor has a very particular way of functioning. The difference might be visible only regarding the terminologies.
Widgets
Elementor lets the users customize every single detail of their WordPress website. This WordPress page builder plugin provides you with several widgets that help you to introduce particular types of designs to your site. Using this feature, anyone can create a custom layout in a short time.
Add-ons
Moreover, it offers an API that allows developers to create third-party add-ons that can be helpful too. With the help of these add-ons, your design potential can improve the overall experience of using the core plugin.
Real-time Preview
There’s also a unique editing feature that allows you to see the changes then and there without saving the progress. It gives you a real-time preview of your page while you’re editing it.
Drag & Drop
Elementor has the flexibility to drag and drop certain blocks and widgets. All you need to do is to adjust their dimensions, arrange the blocks, and you can even design a complex layout too.
Theme
Inside Elementor, you can customize your elegant themes style. There’s also an option to override the initial styles too. That is if you want it.
However, you can’t alter the basic settings, such as colors or fonts. You can resize the elements, change the background, use gradients, modify images, etc. Complete control over the design will be on you. It’s super easy creating a page using Elementor!
Templates
This page builder plugin comes with previously made starter templates that help customize your WordPress website instantly. Moreover, you’ll have the option of saving the entire template to reuse in another project.
What is Gutenberg?
Gutenberg is the new classic editor in the WordPress website. It helps you design a fantastic content layout making it a very powerful block editor.
In coding, the entire content of the webpage is located inside a large HTML file. All the custom settings, texts, and widgets are embedded in one file. It just makes things more complicated and isn’t easy to operate.
But that’s not the case with Gutenberg editor as it operates content with the help of a block editor. You can use different blocks for different purposes. Some of the standard blocks are a gallery, image, paragraph, heading, etc. Every block has its individual layout settings.
Working with Gutenberg editor is really fun and exciting. It feels like you’re building a custom LEGO set for yourself. You simply have to arrange the blocks in a neat and standard order to create a webpage. Most importantly, there’s an option for saving these settings so you can use them later.
Features
Gutenberg is predominantly known as a classic editor that has changed the editing experience inside the WordPress plugin. Here are some of its unique features:
- Compatible with mobile
- Rapid processing
- Includes special features for writers and bloggers
- Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter post emb edding option
- Has a drop-down menu
- The top-left menu helps to get a quick overview
Undoubtedly, this new block editor has enriched the overall editing experience by adding a lot of unique attributes and features to the program.
How Does Gutenberg Work?
In the old WordPress editor, you had to write in a text box and include everything inside that box. Adding separate contents on the same page felt somewhat congested. But Gutenberg editor has an all-in-all better approach.
Individual Content Blocks
Gutenberg has individual blocks for every content. For example, an image, a paragraph, a heading are all separate blocks.
Custom Layouts
Creating a custom layout was once a highly complex process. But Gutenberg editor simplified it by adapting to the page builder features. Now you can make custom layouts by adding new blocks. It allows you to save some space.
External Plugins
There’s an option to install external plugins to extend the block list of Gutenberg. It simplifies your working procedure. However, by using third-party extensions, it’s possible to get pretty close to Elementor in terms of flexibility.
Visualization
Gutenberg is a very smart block editor. It can give you nearly the exact preview of the content while you’re updating. But you can see the actual view by clicking the preview option too.
Drag & Drop
Gutenberg also has the drag-and-drop feature. But Gutenberg only lets you add and move the blocks. Resizing them isn’t an option here. But you can try to include the blocks and drag them to anyplace you need.
Theme
Gutenberg doesn’t have permission to override your personal, elegant themes settings. You can freely customize your design with custom CSS. But the overview of the page relies only on the chosen WordPress theme.
In addition to this, Gutenberg comes with a number of customization options that help upgrade your presentation.
Templates
This WordPress page builder plugin has a wide variety of blocks included by the default editor. You can save these for later and reuse them on some other projects too. Although Gutenberg lets you use certain types of structures, the basic layout of the page will stay the same.
Installation Process
Both Gutenberg and Elementor both have a relatively simple installation process. You just have to follow the steps, and you’ll be done.
The installation process for Elementor
- After purchasing the Elementor, go to the Elementor home page and then to the account page.
- Now, quickly insert your details and click on “Login.”
- After logging in, go to the “my account” page. It displays the details and allows you to download the plugin.
- Now, click on “Download Plugin,” and the file will get instantly downloaded.
- Next, head over to the WordPress dashboard, click on “Plugins,” “Add New,” “Upload Plugin,” “Choose File,” and then choose Elementor.
- Press “Install Now” and activate it. Once activated, you also have to activate the license key. Activating it will enable you to get automatic updates for the plugin.
- Go over to the “My Account” page and copy the license key
- Then head back over to the dashboard and click on activate license key option.
- Paste the license key and click “Activate.”
Voila! You’ve successfully installed the Elementor.
The installation process for Gutenberg
- Go to the WordPress dashboard, click on “Plugins,” and press “Add New.”
- Search for “Gutenberg” and install it
- Go to “Plugins” and then “Installed Plugins.”
- Press “Activate” as it will enable Gutenberg block editor within WordPress
And that’s how you can install Gutenberg with a few simple steps!
Speed Difference
Google added speed as one of the ranking factors officially. The reason behind it was that it’s directly connected to the user experience. The users prioritize the speed of a site over anything else.
You’ve to make every option of your website rapidly available to the visitors if you want your website to rank high. In this case, the speed of the website is a huge factor.
Gutenberg websites are speedy as they are lightweight and fast. Unlike other WordPress block editors, Gutenberg doesn’t bring extra codes to your website. It’s a neat and straightforward process that doesn’t get much complex.
Elementor websites are fast too. But compared to Gutenberg, they are a tad bit slower. Because of the extra codes that help assist its features. If you had excellent optimizing techniques and widgets, it would help speed up your Elementor website.
The Learning Curve
Elementor had a headstart compared to Gutenberg as it was founded in 2016. In contrast, Gutenberg was launched in 2018. So, Elementor has a two-year advantage over Gutenberg. More people have been using it before Gutenberg even existed. So, it has naturally evolved more with time than Gutenberg.
Elementor has all of its editing tools in one place, making it much more user-friendly. Elementor’s toolbox has the blocks arranged in order of the quantity of their use.
On the other hand, Gutenberg has two separate toolboxes. One of them is required to search and pick blocks, and the other is just for editing. You’ve to switch between these two toolboxes repeatedly while you are editing a page.
It can be a disturbing experience for some users. But, if you can figure out the panels, you can do more work in less time in Gutenberg!
Featuring and Options
Elementor and Gutenberg are going head-to-head in terms of their features and customization options.
Although Gutenberg editor has recently picked up the pace and is arguably the World’s best WordPress block editor, it still lacks in some areas that concern the general users.
Creating complete website themes, headers, and footers is an easy task in Elementor. But, Gutenberg editor currently doesn’t offer this much flexibility.
However, it provides reusable blocks that can be put on specific pages without constructing them from scratch. Besides that, it doesn’t offer much variety.
The motion effects are also a unique tool in Elementor, but the Gutenberg plugin doesn’t include something that fancy.
The Complete Ecosystem
Elementor has all sorts of things included in it. In most cases, using Elementor does not necessitate using third-party plugins.
Elementor Widgets work as alternatives for external plugins and let you do more without the external ones. You can trust the widgets as they come from the same source.
However, while using Gutenberg editor, you’ve to use the plugins included with WordPress. These plugins don’t always come from trusted sources. If you select a free plugin that’s been updated for some time, it’ll make your website vulnerable to hacking.
There’s no such risk if you use Elementor. But, you can remove the threat in Gutenberg by getting paid plugins and keeping them updated as those get regular maintenance.
SEO
Search engine optimization or SEO helps decide the visibility of a particular website. The higher the SEO score, the more it’ll be visible to the potential customers. Low page loading speed and using shortcodes have a terrible impact on SEO.
Elementor
Elementor page builder provides an excellent SEO feature that’s optimized by google. It’s definitely one of the most SEO-friendly theme builders to date.
The specific code standards and rapid page loading speed makes it more optimized. External plugins such as the Yoast SEO can be helpful and can further increase SEO.
Gutenberg
Gutenberg plugin is also an SEO-friendly visual builder. It has one of the quickest load times. However, the Gutenberg editor has had some problems regarding the shortcode.
This problem eventually hampers the SEO score of the website and can cause the loading time to increase. Although it’s a rare problem, this can decrease the overall performance of the WordPress site.
In reality, neither of them is too different from the other. It’s also true in terms of SEO. Overall, there isn’t any significant difference. But if you get into the details, a lot can be said then.
However, you shouldn’t expect to get great SEO just by using a classic editor and some starter templates. Study the SEO area thoroughly and make adjustments according to your projects.
Creating Pages
The Elementor plugin has an easy-to-use toolbox and many additional features that make it easier to construct headers, footers, home pages, and landing pages. But Gutenberg editor outshines Elementor when it’s time for creating blog pages.
The Gutenberg WordPress editor is handy and specially optimized for blog editors. Keyboard shortcuts make it simple to upload and format many types of content. You don’t have to jump between toolboxes while writing in Gutenberg.
Elementor plugin treats the blog pages the same as any other web page that requires heavy designing. But, the fact is that blog pages are usually content-heavy, not design-heavy. Gutenberg editor does excellent work in this particular sector of website design. It treats the blog page perfectly.
So we can say that Gutenberg page builder is undoubtedly the best WordPress block editor for making blog pages. But if you’re not going for blogging, then pick Elementor page builder as it’s more advanced and is extremely easy to use.
Conclusion
A debate on Gutenberg vs. Elementor is rather a vain discussion as both of them are top-notch page builders. Telling one apart from the other is an arduous task. If one excels in a particular part, the other one excels in another.
Therefore, in this context, it’s evident that no one can come out as the winner. The only thing that can differ from user to user is the overall experience of the interface and the ease of using the particular builders. If someone is comfortable with either of these, then they can use it without having any doubts.
We hope this guide was helpful enough to assist you in choosing between the two builders. So, choose one that fits your requirements and get ready to design your very own website from scratch!