Among the page builders, Elementor is one of the best-known extensions. Appeared with version 5.0 of WordPress, Gutenberg is now the default editor of WordPress. Is it still necessary in 2023 to use Elementor? Can I do without it and can Gutenberg compete? So many questions that I will try to answer in this article.

ELEMENTOR in 2023

Elementor is a page/post builder plugin for WordPress, allowing creators to create professional, pixel-perfect websites with a visual and intuitive builder. Elementor lets you quickly build amazing websites for your clients or business with full control over every element, without writing a single line of code.

• Elementor has a freemium version
• Launched May 30, 2016
• Pro version cost: 49 USD/year/site
• Rated 4.2/5 on WordPress.org
• +5 million active installs
• Downloads: 219,325,667

Elementor is arguably the most powerful Freemium Page Builder out there. It is precisely because it is “freemium” that it has had this great success. But it is not the only reason. Indeed, it has shaken up the “codes” of building a website with WordPress, even making people forget the notion of “theme” and the place they took in terms of design until then! Now, it is no longer essential to choose your theme well in view of the features that Elementor offers (in its pro version)…

The benefits of ELEMENTOR

Elementor is freemium, that is, some features are reserved for users who pay an annual license. However, Elementor has many advantages.

In its Free version:

1. One of the best free page builders.
2. An advanced and fluid UX.
3. Real-time preview.
4. The famous drag and drop.

In its Paid version:

1. Lots of ready-to-use designs and templates.
2. Advanced customization of the theme (header, footer, sidebar..)
3. Additional modules (Forms, price list, Woo).
4. Role access.
5. Assistance.

GUTENBERG in 2023

Before, the classic WordPress editor strongly resembled a Word or Open Office type word processor, today with the advent of Gutenberg, it's very different! It's closer to a page builder.

• WordPress block editor as a replacement for TinyMCE
• Launch on December 06, 2018
• Directly integrated into the WordPress core since v5
• Trend 2023: from Content Builder to Page Builder

Gutenberg tackles our challenges and opportunities head-on while simultaneously benefiting everyone who makes a living working in the WP ecosystem. It's about more than just blocks. — MATT MULLENWEG, IN MA.TT

The advantages of GUTENBERG

Gutenberg is now a core feature of WordPress , which means you no longer have to worry about compatibility issues. As this is a core feature, developers can build Gutenberg support into their extensions.

Gutenberg produces cleaner, leaner code . A design built with Gutenberg will generally load faster than the same design made with a page builder.

But that's not all !

• More and more blocks.
• Add-ons that enrich its basic functionality.
• Free ready-to-use templates and designs.
• The ESF is approaching.

Oh I almost forgot, it's just FREE and without compatibility problems !

GUTENBERG: for YOU or for your CUSTOMERS!

We are in 2023, it has been a while since Gutenberg suffered his plasters and his youthful mistakes:

• Simplify your life and support
• Take care of your technical debt with less heavy code (Gutenberg stores pure HTML in the database)
• Boost your SEO: the HTML code generated by Gutenberg is clean, accessible and respectful of standards
• A front rendering that respects the styles of your WordPress theme
• Ergonomics that progresses and improves
• Gutenberg unifies the concepts of editing a website in one way: the block

The GUTENBERG block catalog

This catalog of blocks is enriched day by day, there are many extensions that make life and blocks easier! I have selected 4 of the main ones for you:

Spectra – WordPress Gutenberg Blocks

By Brainstorm Force

Gutenberg Blocks by Kadence Blocks

By Kadence WP

Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks

By Gambit Technologies, Inc

Ultimate Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks Plugin

By Ultimate Blocks

Demo of Spectra Blocks (formerly Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg)

If I had to choose just one, I would choose Spectra. This is the one that I prefer, fluid, varied and powerful, this extension should satisfy you.

GUTENBERG is much FASTER!

In a post titled “ Shit. Gutenberg smokes Elementor ,” Kyle Van Deusen posted benchmarks of his experience building a simple landing page using Elementor and then Gutenberg.

" Like any Elementor user, I became increasingly worried about its future and how heavy it has become," Van Deusen said. “I think Google PageSpeed ​​Insights agrees with this finding. »

After recreating the same design with Gutenberg and Elementor, Van Deusen saw a real difference in the GTMetrix scores.

He found a bigger difference when testing with Google's PageSpeed ​​Insights, where Elementor scored 46% on mobile and 83% on desktop.

“ Because I was so lucky to get decent scores with Elementor sites (especially on mobile), I gave up using this tool,” Van Deusen said. "Not because it's not a valid metric (in fact, it's perhaps the most valuable since that's how Google sees things), but because there wasn't much anything I could do about it. »

In contrast, the page built with Gutenberg gave it a score of 94% on mobile and a score of 99% on desktop.

“ In terms of performance, right out of the box; Gutenberg absolutely smokes Elementor,” Van Deusen said . “As soon as I feel like I'm getting used to it, the wheels eventually come off and I start installing Elementor again. But when your PageSpeed ​​Insights scores jump from 46% to 94%, it's time to pay attention and pay attention. »

In another experiment , WordPress developer Munir Kamal rebuilt the Elementor homepage in Gutenberg to compare the HTML markup generated by the two page builders. The page built with Elementor includes 356 DIVs in the markup compared to 77 for Gutenberg. Kamal found that Elementor generated 796 lines of code against 206 lines for Gutenberg, which gave a difference of 99kb vs 28kb, again to the advantage of the latter.

To conclude, can I do without Elementor thanks to Gutenberg?

In 2023, it is now time to take into account that Gutenberg is the future of WordPress, integrated at the core and in constant development, it will be the content editor that will ensure optimal backward compatibility and better performance. Its ergonomics, its UX are improving day by day, the catalog of blocks is expanding and allows you to do everything Elementor does without paying a penny. The advent of the ESF is underway and there will be no turning back.