Elementor Free vs Pro

In the WordPress community, there are so many page builders for users to choose from. One of them is Elementor. However, if you’ve taken a look at the plugin, or tried it out, you might’ve noticed that there’s a free version and a pro version of Elementor. In this article, you’ll learn the difference between Elementor free versus pro.

Elementor is a page builder built with the intention of helping website owners, designers, and developers an easier and more streamlined way to build a theme. The plugin has been around since 2016 and has become quite powerful, as it is used by 7.6% of WordPress websites, or over 11 million active installations.

Elementor can be used to build pretty much any type of website. It all depends on your own needs, as well as creative and imagination skills. You can build simple blogs or one page websites, or elaborate and beautifully eye-catching websites. The plugin works with most plugins and themes, so the possibilities of what type of website you can create are endless.

With Elementor installed, you can create dynamic posts and pages. All you have to do is click the big blue button that says “Edit with Elementor” when you create a post or page. The page builder will become the primary content editor over Gutenberg.

While editing your post or page, you can drag and drop content elements from the Elementor sidebar, and watch your changes in real time. Really cool, right?

If you’re reading this article out of curiosity, and because you kept hearing from other people online about recommending Elementor, but not knowing why would you use it, then here are some reasons:

• You like to learn and do things yourself with your website.
• You want to use as little code as possible.
• You use a great theme, but need it to do more than what it offers by default.

You like to learn and do things yourself with your website.

Page builders like Elementor allow you to tinker around and learn how to build a website the way you want it. Sure, there’s going to be a need to spend time learning, but anyone who loves DIY, will also enjoy the challenge in learning Elementor.

You want to use as little code as possible.

Using most page builder plugins usually requires very little to no code. Elementor is designed for you to select options, toggle on and off features, pick colors from a color picker, and above all, drag and drop it into any area on a post or page.

You use a great theme, but need it to do more than what it offers by default.

A lot of the free WordPress themes have great designs, but with Elementor, you can either re-design or add to what is already on the theme.

In order to understand the difference between Elementor Free versus Pro version, you need to know the features that each has.

Elementor Free features

Elementor free is good if you just need the basics, and don’t need to use any templates that the pro version has.The features that the Elementor free version contains lot of basic widgets and modules like:

• Template library
• Ability to import and export templates
• Editing in mobile
• Video Lightbox
• Background Overlay
• Box shadow transformations
• Shaped dividers
• Hover animation
• Page entrance animation
• Testimonials
• Icons
• Buttons
• Video display
• Text editor
• Image module
• Heading control
• Social icons
• Image gallery
• Image carousel
• Counter
• Progress bar
• Content accordion
• Content toggle
• Alert notice module
• Module for inserting HTML
• Module for inserting shortcode
• Sidebar support
• Google maps integration
• SoundCloud integration
• Columns
• Element hover
• Page revisions, as well as ability to redo and undo actions
• Maintenance mode
• Blank canvas template

This is a long list of features, which is great whether you’re just trying out the plugin or don’t need anything more than this. The plugin even works great with the free Hello Elementor theme. Other than the Hello Elementor theme, Elementor offers some suggestions on a few other free themes that work well with the page builder and can help you get your site launched fast.

Elementor Pro features

Elementor Pro includes all of the features of the free version, and a lot more. In fact, many of the Elementor Pro features make it so you won’t need to install any extra plugins, kinda making it like a bit of a Swiss Army knife of website page building. For example, if you need to display testimonials, you won’t need an extra plugin, as Elementor contains this, and the pro version has a testimonial carousel.

Other features of Elementor Pro are:

• Portfolio module
• Create forms
• Slider
• Embed Anywhere module
• Pro templates
• Pricing table module
• Countdown module
• Pricing list module
• WooCommerce product module
• WooCommerce Elements module
• WooCommerce product category module
• WooCommerce Add to Cart module
• Flipbox
• Masonry layout module
• Login widget
• Media Carousel
• Testimonial Carousel
• Call-to-Action widget
• Navigation menu widget
• Pop-up builder
• Scrolling effects options
• Advanced Custom Fields and Toolset plugin integration
• Dynamic single post and archive page designs
• Header and footer builder
• Custom fonts

The Elementor Pro price tiers are based on how many websites you’ll be using the plugin on, with the lowest cost at $49 per year for use on one website.

If you choose higher priced packages, you also receive more perks. One of the best parts of buying a premium plugin, including Elementor Pro, is that you get access to their technical support team. This is for those times when the plugin might not be working as expected. For example, if your site is slowing down, there’s an error, or you’re having problems using the page builder.

Another highlight of the plugin is all the free templates and 100+ responsive website kits that are tailored toward many different site niches. All of these templates are great guides to make your theme fit your brand.

Lastly, if you’re running WooCommerce on your WordPress

If you need anything that Elementor Pros feature lists include, or prefer to take advantage of pre-built templates, then yes, you should buy it. You still also get technical support and updates, which may include new features.

Buying any premium or pro version of a plugin helps support the development of the plugin. It puts food on the table for the developers, so they can continue providing support and plugin updates. For one website, at $49 per year, that is actually super affordable!

Based on what you’ve learned about Elementor free versus pro, you should be able to decide which one will work best for you. With both versions, you get to take advantage of using a world-class page builder. However, just remember that if you choose the pro version of Elementor, you also reap the benefits of getting technical support when the page builder does anything unexpected. Happy page building!