The possibilities of building with Wordpress block themes had many think if they should switch from page-builders, including Elementor.
Large companies already use Wordpress Block(Gutenberg) themes, and many of them are built with custom themes and custom blocks.
Some of the improvements brought by using a block theme may be unheard of, including reduced compatibility issues.
Elementor offers more customization. It’s far ahead in terms of templates and 3rd-party plugins.
Interface
Block themes or block plugins should both work in the Wordpress editor. Elementor has its own proprietary interface. Both options offer drag-and-drop functionality. Every plugin that adds its own editor will also add load time on the admin interface.
Compared to default Gutenberg, Elementor interface has more features. One is that it shows block “state” such as when a block is being hidden on mobile or desktop viewport. This feature is offered in many block plugins.
Speed
Block themes are faster than Elementor as they require less code to run. Loading less code also results in reduced hosting costs.
Elementor has been failing to improve the performance of its plugin for years, while Wordpress, especially block themes(that leverage Gutenberg), has been showing significant improvements each major release, much due to the Wordpress Core Performance Team.
Popular block plugins such as Kadence Blocks, GenerateBlocks, or Spectra, all have better speed than Elementor.
Layouts and Templates
Elementor has a lot of templates, and a large percentage of them are available on Themeforest. For comparison, some of the largest block plugin libraries are:
Block themes also offer built-in patterns and templates:
Pricing
- Kadence Blocks: Free or Unlimited sites at $69/year
- Spectra: Free or $49/year for 1 site
- Generateblocks: Free or $39/year for 1 site
- Aino & Aino Blocks: Free or $59/year for 1 site.
- Elementor: Free, $59/year for 1 site or $399/year for 1k sites.