Gutenberg vs Elementor: How do they compare

May 13, 2024

Boost your website speed & performance.

The possibilities of building with Wordpress block themes had many think if they should switch from page-builders, including Elementor, to this new type of building websites.

Wordpress Block(Gutenberg) themes already are used by large companies, much of them 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.

UI (Interface) and UX (User Experience)

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 UIX 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.

fse site editor — WordPress Template Editing – Tove theme

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.

For block plugins that leverage Gutenberg, the same applies. Popular block plugins such as Kadence Blocks, GenerateBlocks, or Spectra, all have better speed performance than Elementor.