Page builders for WordPress come as either built into a theme, or as a stand alone WordPress plugin. They offer options like adding forms, widgets, columns, rows, icons, accordion menus, and more, in order for your website to look unique. Aside from offering those features, you can build general templates for specific pages, and even use styling options for each area you add through the page builder.
The concept of page builders, when it comes to design, is using design blocks to build each section of your site, kind of similar to drawing a design concept on paper. Usually the design had a header, content, footer, and sometimes sidebar area. Then within each area, are smaller areas that are for different content elements, like forms, blog posts, images, and much more.
What makes a good page builder?
Choosing a good page builder can be a bit difficult, because there are so many of them. Some are free, but have extensions you may need to pay for. Others may be premium ones. However, here’s a few tips on choosing a good page builder:
Read what other people are saying about the page builder.
Check out sites that use the page builder.
See if the developer has in-depth documentation and video about how to use the page builder.
Test out the page builder on a fresh WordPress installation.
Find out if the page builder is built into the theme, or can be used with any theme.
1. Read what other people are saying about the page builder.
Reviews for any product are super important, including page builders. Make sure to read what other people are saying before determining what is best for your website.
2. Check out sites that use the page builder.
Sometimes on the page builder developer’s website, they may have a showcase section, or even some pre-built options that you can use as inspiration for your own site’s design.
3. See if the developer has in-depth documentation and video about how to use the page builder.
Having documentation handy, especially videos will help you understand the page builder better, so you can quickly learn and build your own site.
4. Test out the page builder on a fresh WordPress installation.
Always test out new plugins, and themes, especially so with page builders. You will be the one to use it, and if you can’t, you may want to choose another page builder or consider hiring a web designer proficient enough in using the tool.
5. Find out if the page builder is built into the theme, or can be used with any theme.
Try to avoid page builders that are built into a theme. This means you want a page builder that is a plugin, and can be used for any theme. Now, even if you change the theme, you can use the page builder to remove or edit design areas you don’t need, and redo the general theme template. There are no page builder converters, so if you end up changing to another, you practically have to redo everything on your site.
4 Best Free Page Builders for WordPress
Before listing some of the best free page builders for WordPress, if it is a plugin, do not install two page builders at the same time.
They may conflict with each other, and even slow down your site. The only one on this list that you shouldn’t find a conflict with, is Gutenberg, as it’s built into WordPress, and because it’s the default content editor, the majority of plugins, including page builders, have been built to play nicely with it.
Elementor