Overview

Elementor was founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is the most widely used WordPress visual page builder in the world. As the top-ranked website builder in the WordPress ecosystem by installs, Elementor lets users design professional pages through drag and drop; the free version includes 40+ basic widgets, while the Pro version unlocks Theme Builder, dynamic content, and e-commerce building capabilities.

Co-founded by Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein, Elementor went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) in 2021, becoming one of the few WordPress ecosystem companies to successfully list. As of 2026, Elementor has over 15 million active installs and 700K+ paid users, ships 100+ professional widgets and 300+ professional templates, and has launched Elementor AI generative AI features, covering the full range from personal blogs to enterprise e-commerce.

Key Strengths

  • Market leadership: Over 15 million active installs, ranking first in the WordPress page builder category, with a rich template and tutorial ecosystem, making it easier to find developers familiar with it for hiring or outsourcing. See website builder platform comparison for its positioning among alternatives.
  • True WYSIWYG drag-and-drop editing: Front-end live editing shows the final result while editing, eliminating back-and-forth between design mockups and code, significantly shortening page delivery cycles.
  • 100+ professional widgets for high-frequency needs: Modules such as buttons, forms, carousels, videos, maps, and progress bars work out of the box, paired with 300+ professional templates for a quick start, ideal for rapid landing page building.
  • Full-site customization with Theme Builder: Edit headers, footers, post templates, and archive pages visually without code, replacing traditional theme systems and giving designers complete control over visual style.
  • Deep WooCommerce integration: Visually build product pages, cart, and checkout, with dynamic content for personalized display, making it a frequent choice for e-commerce website building.

Product Ecosystem

Elementor Free

The free page builder includes 40+ basic widgets and core drag-and-drop editing, installable directly from WordPress.org, meeting the needs of personal blogs and simple business sites.

Elementor Pro

The paid version (from $59/year for one site) adds Theme Builder, dynamic content, WooCommerce Builder, Form Builder, Popup Builder, and advanced motion effects, making it the standard for most commercial projects.

Theme Builder and Popup Builder

Theme Builder supports visual customization of entire site templates; Popup Builder provides popup design, trigger conditions, and A/B testing, commonly used for campaigns and conversion optimization.

Elementor AI

Integrates generative AI capabilities for AI copywriting, AI code, and AI image generation, assisting content creation and page design, in line with the AI website builder trend.

Elementor Cloud Website

The official hosted website solution bundles Elementor Pro with managed hosting, ready out of the box, reducing the operational cost of self-hosted WordPress environments.

Limitations

  • Noticeable performance overhead: Loading all widgets and scripts at once increases page weight, requiring caching, lazy loading, and critical CSS optimization, otherwise LCP and SEO performance are affected.
  • Deep dependency on WordPress: An existing WordPress installation and hosting are required, so non-WordPress users cannot use it, which should be weighed during technology selection.
  • Advanced features require payment: Theme Builder, forms, WooCommerce Builder, and dynamic content are concentrated in Pro plans (from $59/year), while the free version only covers basic editing.
  • Templates tend to look alike: Many sites use the same templates and widgets, so designers without deep customization skills may find flexibility limited, and complex interactions still require code.

Use Cases

  • Freelancers and website agencies (Recommended: ★★★★★): Deliver client sites through drag and drop with a mature template and ecosystem, improving delivery efficiency.
  • WooCommerce e-commerce sites (Recommended: ★★★★★): Visually build the full shopping flow, extending payments and logistics through the CMS ecosystem plugin system.
  • Marketing landing pages (Recommended: ★★★★): Rapidly produce high-conversion landing pages from 300+ templates, with popups and A/B testing for optimization.
  • No-code beginners (Recommended: ★★★★): Zero-code onboarding with abundant community tutorials, suitable for personal blogs and small business websites.
  • High-traffic complex sites (Recommended: ★★★): Requires professional performance tuning and managed hosting; otherwise performance bottlenecks may occur.

Pricing

Plan Price Sites Core Features
Elementor Free $0 1 40+ basic widgets, basic drag-and-drop editing
Pro Essential $59/year 1 Theme Builder, forms, dynamic content
Pro Advanced $199/year 3 Multi-site license, WooCommerce Builder
Pro Expert $399/year 25 Popups, A/B testing, more Pro widgets
Pro Agency $799/year 1000 Unlimited sites, client white labeling

Note: Prices above are official public pricing, billed annually. For deployment environments, see website hosting selection to estimate hosting costs.

FAQ

  • Does Elementor slow down my website? It can, especially when many widgets and animations are used. Enable lazy loading, caching, and critical CSS, and trim unused widget scripts; see performance optimization practices for details.

  • What is the difference between Elementor Free and Pro? The free version provides 40+ basic widgets and basic editing; Pro (from $59/year) adds Theme Builder, WooCommerce Builder, forms, dynamic content, and popups, suitable for commercial projects; see website builder comparison.

  • What hosting does Elementor require? Officially recommended is a WordPress host supporting PHP 7.4+ and MySQL; higher-traffic sites should consider SSD and object caching, and you can compare options in the WordPress hosting market.

  • Elementor vs. WordPress native Gutenberg, which one? Gutenberg is WordPress's native block editor, lightweight but limited; Elementor provides more complete visual design and theme customization, suitable for design-driven sites. See website builder comparison for details.