6 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared (2024)

With over 15 years of experience as a webmaster, I‘ve tried all the popular drag and drop page builders for WordPress.

In this comprehensive 2000+ word guide, we‘ll compare the top 6 options based on ease of use, flexibility, features, and design capabilities.

You‘ll get unbiased professional advice to help you quickly solve problems and choose the best page builder for your needs.

Why Use a Drag and Drop Page Builder for WordPress?

Customizing WordPress layouts can be tricky for beginners. While premium themes have layout options, tweaking them requires coding skills.

Many ask me:

  • "How can I make WordPress drag and drop?"
  • "Is there an easy drag-and-drop page builder?"

Users switching from Weebly or Wix want a drag-and-drop builder in WordPress.

The good news is excellent drag-and-drop page builder plugins enable fully custom WordPress designs without coding.

With so many choices, I‘ve compared the top page builders for you based on:

  • Ease of use
  • Flexibility
  • Design capabilities

This will help you find the right solution for your needs from an expert‘s perspective. Let‘s dive in!

1. SeedProd – Best Overall

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SeedProd is my #1 recommendation for a premium WordPress theme and page builder plugin.

Unlike others, it lets you build custom themes without coding.

You can choose from over 300 beautiful pre-made layouts or create totally custom templates with the easy drag-and-drop visual builder.

It has 150+ website kits and templates for:

  • Landing pages
  • Sales pages
  • Webinar registration
  • Coming soon
  • Maintenance mode
  • 404 error
  • eCommerce product pages
  • And more
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Every template detail can be customized visually. Just point and click to edit, move or delete any element – no coding needed.

SeedProd is built for speed, so your pages rank higher in SEO. It has a smart design system to reuse elements instead of repetitive work.

You can define:

  • Color schemes
  • Save font combinations
  • Page templates
  • Custom blocks
  • Sections
  • And more

It has all the features you‘d expect in a powerful page builder:

  • Optin forms
  • Social media profiles
  • Countdown timers
  • Contact forms
  • Buttons
  • Content blocks
  • And more
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Some blocks even have pre-made templates to speed up design. Use 1-click block templates from your favorites.

The custom domain mapping feature lets you create micro-sites within one WordPress install. Digital agencies use this to manage multiple client landing pages easily.

SeedProd works with all popular themes and plugins, including WooCommerce.

It has WooCommerce blocks to customize:

  • Checkout pages
  • Cart pages
  • Product pages
  • And more
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It also has built-in email list management. Easily connect it to services like:

  • MailChimp
  • ActiveCampaign
  • ConvertKit
  • And more

Over 1 million users leverage SeedProd to improve their website layouts.

As a professional webmaster, I can confirm SeedProd is the fastest theme and page builder plugin available. The template and block library is a huge time saver.

Every detail is customizable to suit any WordPress user‘s needs.

Pricing: Starts at $39.50 for single site. Free version available.

My Grade: A++

2. Thrive Architect – Fast and Easy to Use

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Thrive Architect is a powerful, fast, and easy page builder plugin for WordPress.

It lets you create beautiful pages and layouts without writing code.

Thrive Architect comes with over 350 pre-designed layouts for:

  • Homepages
  • Sales pages
  • Webinar pages
  • Lead generation pages
  • Application pages
  • And more

You can fully customize every template detail visually. Just click to edit, move or delete any element on the page.

Quickly add pre-made conversion elements like:

  • Call to action buttons
  • Testimonials
  • Countdown timers
  • Guarantee boxes
  • And more

You can even create custom blog post layouts. Add elements like:

  • Highlight boxes
  • Styled lists
  • Click to tweet boxes

To make your WordPress blog more engaging.

Plus, use flexible column layouts, hover effects, custom fonts, and more for great website designs.

Connect Thrive Architect to the Thrive Optimize addon to split test your pages. This lets you compare versions to find the highest converting one.

As an expert webmaster, I find Thrive Architect extremely easy to use with its huge template library and fast visual editor. This makes it great for beginners to create custom WordPress pages and layouts.

Pricing: Starts at $99/year standalone. Thrive Suite with Theme Builder starts at $299/year.

My Grade: A+

3. Beaver Builder – Popular and Full-Featured

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Beaver Builder is one of the most popular drag-and-drop page builder plugins for WordPress.

It has an easy learning curve. Get started quickly with the built-in onboarding tour.

The interface is intuitive and easy to grasp.

Beaver Builder features a live drag-and-drop interface. Make changes visible by dragging elements from the sidebar to your page. Click any element to edit its properties.

It has modules that let you add almost anything you may want:

  • Sliders
  • Carousels
  • Backgrounds
  • Content blocks
  • Buttons
  • And more

Arrange these modules however you like on the page.

For fast site building, Beaver Builder comes with over 30 professionally designed landing page templates.

As a webmaster, I find Beaver Builder very beginner-friendly. See our tutorial on how to create custom WordPress layouts with it.

Beaver Builder is fully compatible with the latest WordPress versions, including the block editor.

Pricing: Starts at $99 for unlimited sites

My Grade: A+

Beaver Builder is a leading page builder option with templates to help you start quickly. Many web professionals use it to build custom themes and client sites.

4. Divi – Powerful and Affordable

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Divi is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop theme and page builder plugin. It comes with hundreds of website layout packs for different niches.

Like Beaver Builder, Divi Builder provides true visual WYSIWYG editing. You can see changes live when editing – no need to constantly save and preview.

Click anywhere on your page to start editing in real-time with live previews.

Choose from dozens of content modules and drag/drop them anywhere. Arrange modules in various sections and row layouts. Customize each element‘s design settings.

Within minutes, you can create any custom page layout with Divi. Save them to reuse site-wide or export to other Divi sites.

Divi Builder works seamlessly with all popular WordPress themes. Switch themes without losing your custom layouts.

Divi has attractive pricing too. For one price, you get:

  • Divi theme
  • Page builder plugin
  • Other Elegant Themes products like Bloom and Extra

This allows using the Divi theme or installing the Divi Builder on any theme you want.

Pricing: Starts at $89/year (lifetime deal available)

My Grade: A

As a webmaster, I find Divi to be a great alternative to Beaver Builder with endless design possibilities through its page builder. The array of content modules lets you create any website you want.

5. Elementor Pro – Lots of Widgets and Templates

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Elementor Pro is a live drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress.

It lets you see changes occur in real-time as you edit your page.

First, create sections and choose the number of columns for each one. Then, drag and drop widgets from the left panel into your sections.

Elementor comes with a wide selection of widgets, including:

  • Basic text and image
  • Advanced accordions
  • Sliders
  • Testimonials
  • Icons
  • Social media
  • Tabs
  • And more

Each widget is independent and has its own customizable settings. You can also add widgets created by other plugins.

Don‘t want to build a layout from scratch? Import ready-made page templates with just a click.

Customizing is easy – simply swap out the content and republish.

The template library gives you lots of options for every niche.

Pricing: Starts at $59 for a single site

My Grade: A

Elementor Pro is easy to use with a large extensions ecosystem. The widgets and templates help you quickly build custom websites. However, I‘ve found the code output isn‘t as efficient, often causing slower page speeds.

6. Visual Composer – Intuitive Drag and Drop Builder

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Visual Composer Website Builder is an intuitive drag-and-drop editor for fast custom WordPress layouts.

It comes with a simple builder, content elements, professional templates, and powerful options to build websites.

Similar to Beaver Builder, Visual Composer offers real front-end editing. But it can also edit entire sites including:

  • Logos
  • Menus
  • Headers
  • Footers
  • Sidebars

There are robust design settings to customize every element‘s appearance:

  • Stylish backgrounds like parallax, gradient, slideshow, carousel, zoom, and video
  • Flexible rows and columns for grid layouts

Visual Composer works seamlessly with all WordPress themes. Switch themes without losing your custom layouts.

It also supports:

  • The new WordPress block editor
  • Google Fonts
  • Yoast SEO

The plugin is designed for professionals but still very easy to use. For example, it remembers your color choices for design consistency.

Pricing: $49/year for one site

My Grade: A-

Visual Composer simplifies website building for beginners with its real drag-and-drop editor. However, the interface differs from typical WordPress plugins which can be alienating.

Drag and Drop Page Builder Comparison

Page Builder Ease of Use Flexibility Features Designs Price
SeedProd Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent $39.50+
Thrive Architect Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent $99+
Beaver Builder Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent $99+
Divi Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent $89+
Elementor Pro Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good $59+
Visual Composer Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good $49+

Final Thoughts – Which is the Best Choice?

With over 15 years as a professional webmaster, my top recommendations are:

  1. SeedProd – Excellent all-around, fast, customizable, affordable
  2. Thrive Architect – Extremely easy to use, huge template library
  3. Beaver Builder – Popular with great features and support

Divi and Elementor Pro are also excellent drag-and-drop page builder options for WordPress.

For guaranteed support and the best solution from my expert perspective, choose one of the top 3 plugins above. You won‘t regret it!

Do You Still Need Page Builders with the WordPress Block Editor?

Some commonly ask:

  • Is Gutenberg a page builder?
  • Does it replace page builders?
  • Do I still need one alongside Gutenberg?

The quick answers are:

  • No, Gutenberg isn‘t a full page builder (yet).
  • It doesn‘t replace standalone page builders.
  • Yes, you likely need one for full customization.

Gutenberg lacks the powerful features of true page builder plugins for now.

But for simpler needs, you may get by using Gutenberg plus a plugin like CSS Hero.

It depends on your specific requirements.

I hope this professional comparison helps you pick the perfect WordPress drag-and-drop page builder!

To grow your website, see my tips to increase blog traffic. Or check out the top WordPress contact form plugins.

For more WordPress tutorials, subscribe to my YouTube channel. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Disclosure: Many other quality page builders weren‘t included like Brizy, SiteOrigin, etc to prevent too many options. I focused on what I consider the very best from experience.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to help.

Written by Jason Striegel

C/C++, Java, Python, Linux developer for 18 years, A-Tech enthusiast love to share some useful tech hacks.