Comprehensive Beaver Builder Review

There are quite a few ways to build a WordPress site, and using a page builder is one of them. Of all of the page builder plugins out there, Beaver Builder is one of them. In this article, you’ll learn about Beaver Builder and how it stacks up as a WordPress page builder.

What is Beaver Builder?

Beaver Builder is a drag and drop WordPress page builder plugin. It’s designed to help WordPress users build a site with either little knowledge or no knowledge of coding for the web. You can either download the free version of Beaver Builder on WordPress.org, or purchase the premium version on their website.

This page builder powers about 0.4% of websites online, according to W3Techs. That’s still a pretty substantial amount since there are around 1.6 billion websites on the Internet. Beaver Builder seems to be a plugin that has a slow and steady growth in its community, so it looks like it’s not going to go away any time soon.

Aside from the page builder, Beaver Builder offers a Bootstrap based theme called the Beaver Builder Framework, which is designed to go hand in hand with the plugin. This theme framework allows you to build beautiful responsive websites.

What kind of sites can you build with Beaver Builder?

With Beaver Builder, like most page builders, you can create any website you want. It can be as simple or as fancy as you wish, depending on your creative skills.

Pros and Cons Overview of Beaver Builder

When looking into a page builder plugin like Beaver Builder, it’s logical that you’d want to know how it will benefit you, and how it may fall short. Here’s some pros and cons of Beaver Builder.

Pros of Choosing Beaver Builder

Lots of great basic design options to add to your site.

Beaver Builder offers a lot of basic design elements that you can add to your site. The page builder is focused on the user being able to quickly create content.

Create responsive designed websites with ease.

You can create responsive sites that can be seen in any device. This is important, as 3 out of 4 dollars spent online, are done through mobile shopping.

No code skills are necessary.

Like any other drag and drop page builder, Beaver Builder requires no coding skills in order to use it. You might need some design skills and a knack for being creative.

Lightweight.

Beaver builder was built so you shouldn’t run into your site slowing down while you’re trying to create content.

You have options to white-label your Beaver Builder install.

White-labeling is a great feature with Beaver Builder, especially if you’re designing for clients and like to focus on branding, so you get your name out there with your customers.

Cons of Choosing Beaver Builder

Lacks a lot of advanced features like global design templating.

Unfortunately, Beaver builder doesn’t contain some essential features that other page builders do, like being able to do global design templating. This is great to re-use specific areas all over the website.

Page builder’s features are a bit simpler than others in the WordPress market.

While in most website design projects, you can get the job done with Beaver Builder, it still doesn’t have an extensive list of features. The free version of Beaver Builder includes less than a handful of pre-built templates, and standard modules like:

• Ability to add Audio

• Add buttons

• Heading control

• Insert HTML

• Insert Icon

• Add and manage photos

• Sidebar support

• Text Editor

• Ability to add Video

The premium version of Beaver Builder includes all of these, plus over 30 landing page templates and 25 content page templates. These are great to use as a guide for designing your website. As for modules, the premium version includes:

• Content slider

• Map integration

• Testimonial widget

• Slideshow

• Callout

• Call-to-Action button

• Contact form

• Navigation menu widget

• Subscribe widget

• Content accordion

• Pricing table

• Tabbed content module

• Countdown

• Posts Carousel

• Posts Slider

Design templates are really limited.

Compared to other page builders like Elementor, which has hundreds of pre-built design templates, Beaver Builder doesn’t offer a lot.

No right mouse clicking allowed in Beaver Builder interface.

If you want to copy and paste, you won’t be able to do that within the Beaver Builder interface. This actually might be a pain in the rear, if you’re trying to create content on the fly.

Compatibility with other themes is very limited.

Beaver builder is designed to be compatible with popular downloaded themes, rather than every WordPress theme, whether free or premium. The WP Beaver Builder team at leasts has a recommended list of themes that work with their plugin.

Comprehensive Beaver Builder Review

• Installation and setup

• Ease of Use

• Design element selection

• Customization options

• Template options

• Support

• Cost

Installation and Setup

When you first install Beaver Builder, the plugin prompts you to Add a New page and take the page builder for a whirl. When you create a new page, the plugin gives you a walkthrough to show you what you can add to the site and how to edit your posts and pages. This is super handy for newbies that may need that extra hand holding in order to learn how to use the plugin.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Reason: The walkthrough was a sweet touch by the WP Beaver Builder team, and allows you to ease into getting to know the page builder.

Ease of Use

There’s always a learning curve when facing new technology. Beaver Builder’s walkthrough, knowledgebase, and YouTube video channel are all great resources to learn the page builder.

Rating: 5 out 5

Reason: The WP Beaver Builder team did a good job covering their bases so their end-users will be able to comfortably and quickly learn how to use their WordPress page builder.

Design element selection

No matter if it’s the free or premium version, there’s a lot of design elements that Beaver Builder doesn’t have, that other page builders include.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Reason: The only reason that the score isn’t lower, is that the modules offered by Beaver Builder, especially in the premium version, do allow some flexibility in design. If you want to use the free version, you might be installing other plugins to get the design elements you need.

Customization options

Beaver Builder is pretty straightforward in their approach for design. Each module you use, you can customize some of the styling.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Reason: Even if Beaver Builder doesn’t offer a lot of modules to work with, at least with what you have, you can play around and get each design element to look how you wish them to be.

Template options

There’s not too much to be said in this area, as Beaver Builder doesn’t offer a lot in both of their versions. Additionally, some of those templates may not work well with some themes.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Reason: Some of the templates offered, may be pleasing to the eye, but there’s just not a lot of variety.

Support

Technical support is included in the premium version of the plugin. While the free WordPress.org version of Beaver Builder has a support forum, it is not a priority with the plugin developer.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Reason: The WP Beaver Builder team does provide some support, but if you need immediate help, you’ll want to purchase the premium version.

Cost

If you don’t need much, then you can stick with using the free version of Beaver Builder. The difference from the free to premium version depends on the package level you purchase and can include any of the following perks:

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reason: The free version is great but if you want more add-ons to do a better design job, you’ll need to purchase the premium version. The lowest price for $99 per year for unlimited websites is a great deal. Additionally this plugin should be multisite capable in all versions and priced packages.

In Summary

Now that you know some of the ins and outs of the drag and drop WordPress page builder named Beaver Builder, it’s time to take the plugin for a test drive. See if it is something you can use for designing your website’s pages, so they look unique and eye-catching. Happy page building!

Frequently Asked Questions