There are dozens of WordPress page builders out there. Recently, I had the opportunity to compare two of the industry leaders. I’ve been using the Avada Fusion Builder for nearly ten years now and wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I also do white label work for other creators and agencies and this recent project requires I use the Elementor WordPress page builder.
Here are the biggest differences I noticed between these two popular WordPress page builders. Maybe it’ll help you decide if you’re on the fence about which page builder to use.
Avada Fusion Builder
User Interface (UI)
I’ve always loved Avada’s UI. It always felt clean and fully integrated with WordPress. I prefer the backend builder, but Avada does offer a front end builder for those who are more visual. The page builder is drag and drop and the icons and labels are large enough to identify and read easily.
The number of page elements seemed to be more robust in Avada and you can disable elements that your site just doesn’t use in order to clean up the UI and speed up your page load time.
I love that the Avada backend page builder never requires you to leave the WordPress UI. All of the admin menu items are still available right there. And elements like pop ups can be added without exiting your page. Now, if you use the front end builder, you do leave the WordPress interface in order to edit in that mode.
Global Options
Avada has this whole section for their global options and it is impressive. It’s very well organized and includes integrations like Mailchimp and social media as well as fields for tracking code and the like which is really nice for those who aren’t familiar with editing code.
Documentation
Avada has great documentation complete with videos for every element in the Fusion builder. I have grandfathered support so that allows me access to their customer service folks, who have always been really helpful.
Cost
Avada Fusion Builder does not offer a free option, but is super affordable at under $70. And that’s not annually. This is a one time, flat fee and I love that SO MUCH.
Elementor Page Builder
User Interface (UI)
Elementor only offers the front end builder and, like Avada, you do exit the WordPress UI to work on pages. This means that you have to save and exit back to WordPress to get to your other options. It wasn’t horrible, but you do have to leave Elementor to create items like pop ups which was a little irritating.
Elementor’s UI felt dated and hard to use. The labels and icons were so small that they were hard to find or click on sometimes. The drag and drop functionality was a little wonky at times too. There were times I had to save and exit to refresh the UI to get it to work again.
Global Options
Elementor’s global options were accessible right from the editor, which was wonderful. But there weren’t as many as Avada. It seemed like (and I could be wrong) you would have to add several plugins to get the extended functionality Avada offers.
Documentation
I only needed to search for solutions a couple of times (it was really easy to learn this page builder), but I found their documentation really robust and complete. Answers were clear and easily understood.
Cost
Elementor does offer a free option where you get limited “widgets” and some other cool features. From there you go up to $59 or $79 annually for the two more robust options.
Comparison of Avada Fusion Builder and Elementor
I did like Elementor. It was easy to use and didn’t take me nearly as long to adjust as other page builders have. I didn’t get all that “in the weeds” on the one project, but that may have been because it was so darn easy to use. I didn’t love it enough to replace my current process though. I don’t like the idea of having to bill clients a subscription on top of hosting. Avada’s flat fee allows me to build that expense into my initial estimate and then forget about it.
If you need help learning your WordPress page builder or recommendations on which might be best for your project, I invite you to reach out and email me your questions. I’m here to help!