Elementor vs WPBakery: Choosing Your WordPress Builder Without Breaking the Site—or the Bank
Elementor vs WPBakery is one of the most common comparisons for anyone building or rebuilding a WordPress site. Choosing the right page builder can save you time, money, and frustration—especially when you’re trying to balance performance, ease of use, and long-term flexibility.
At Produktiv, our devs work with both Elementor and WPBakery every week. This isn’t a sales pitch—it’s a straight-up, head-to-head comparison from a development team that’s seen both the shiny and the broken sides of each builder.
So this isn’t a religious crusade. It’s a test drive. A head-to-head. A developer’s honest take.
Let’s open the garage.
🚗 Elementor: The Modern Ride
Drag, Drop, and Don’t Look Back
Elementor is the shiny, new machine with a dashboard that tells you what’s wrong before you feel it. It’s intuitive. It’s smooth. It’s made for marketers and clients who want control after the site launches.
Why We Use It:
- Clean Interface: No scrolling through endless panels. Just click, drag, and boom—there’s your block.
- Flexible Design: Easily create layouts that look custom without writing a line of code (though we still do, of course).
- Speedy Hand-Offs: Clients love it. They can edit content without calling us. We love that too.
- Third-Party Compatibility: Plays well with most major plugins. Less chance of a meltdown.
Where It Can Struggle:
- Can Get Bloated: Too many widgets and plugins? Say goodbye to load times.
- Free vs Pro: The free version is nice, but if you want the good stuff—Pro it is.
- Global Styling: Not always as “global” as it promises. Get ready to fine-tune.
🚙 WPBakery: The Reliable Old Truck
Built to Last, Until It Doesn’t
WPBakery is the sturdy pickup that’s been hauling content since WordPress 3.0. If you’re working on an older site, chances are you’ve met it. And maybe cursed it. Or maybe you still use it, because it does get the job done.
Why We Still Use It:
- Legacy Compatibility: Still widely used in older themes and templates. If you’re retrofitting, it’s often the only option.
- Backend Editor: Not everyone needs a live preview. Sometimes, it’s faster to work under the hood.
- Simple Builds: For low-lift landing pages or MVPs, it’s got enough tools to get by.
Where It Gets Rusty:
- Messy Code Output: Inline styles and shortcodes galore. If you care about cleanliness, beware.
- Client Confusion: Not intuitive. Expect more “Can you update this for me?” emails.
- Lacks the Polish: No sleek animations. No fancy grids. Just the basics.
🧰 How We Host at Produktiv
Sometimes, a site calls for Elementor—especially when we’re building a marketing site that the client wants to update weekly. Other times, the backend simplicity of WPBakery is all we need for a short-term campaign or internal tool.
That’s why we compare Elementor vs WPBakery for every build—based on what the site really needs.
Our dev team makes the decision based on:
- Your tech stack
- Performance goals
- Who’s updating the site post-launch
- How many integrations are required
- And yes—your long-term roadmap
And we don’t leave you in the lurch. We build, test, optimize, and document—so you’re not stuck googling “how to remove this awful padding in WPBakery.”
👨🔧 Dev Dad’s Verdict
Elementor is your choice if:
- You want modern design, flexibility, and fast client handoffs
- You care about animations, layouts, and that custom-site-feel
- You plan to scale and update your content often
WPBakery is your choice if:
- You’re working with a legacy theme or budget constraints
- You need a simple page builder for a short-term or internal use case
- You’re fine with some duct tape and don’t care what the code looks like
At Produktiv, we make both options work. But we never recommend based on trend—we recommend based on what’s best for the build.
Our take on Elementor vs WPBakery is always practical, project-based, and honest.
Because good developers don’t pick sides.
They pick smart.
🔧 Need a Dev Team That Picks the Right Tools?
We build marketing sites that don’t just look good—they run fast, scale smoothly, and make your content team actually want to log in.
💻 Explore our Website Development Services →
Written by Stan Fedorko, Development Lead at Produktiv.
