- Website creation
- WordPress page builders
Elementor: design a WordPress site without writing code
Good tool
Elementor adds a drag-and-drop visual editor to WordPress: you build your pages on screen, block by block, watching the result live, then fine-tune how they display on every screen size. The core plugin is free and enough to lay out a simple site; the Pro version adds theme template building, forms, popups and WooCommerce store pages. More than ten million websites have installed it, a figure few WordPress plugins ever reach.
What is Elementor?
Elementor is a WordPress plugin: you install it from the official directory, like any other plugin, and it adds an “Edit with Elementor” button to every page. That takes you into a visual editor where you drop widgets (heading, image, button, gallery, map or form) into containers you arrange with your mouse. Since version 4, known as the Atomic Editor, the tool follows the logic of a design system: color and font variables, plus classes and components you can reuse from one page to the next. It works with most themes, but the company recommends its own, Hello, a minimal theme that leaves all the layout to Elementor.
The free version includes the editor, about forty widgets and a template library. Elementor Pro adds around 85 widgets, the Theme Builder for designing headers, footers and post templates, a form builder, a popup builder and WooCommerce pages. Since January 2026, the Elementor One subscription bundles Pro with services paid for in credits: AI, image optimization, accessibility, a cookie banner and email sending. The company also sells turnkey WordPress hosting and offers Elementor MCP, which connects a site to assistants such as Claude, Codex or Cursor.
The company was founded in Israel in 2016 by Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein. Carried by its free version, the plugin took off within a few years; Lightspeed Venture Partners invested in 2020, hosting followed in 2022 and the first AI features in 2023. Elementor now claims more than 22 million websites built with its tool.
Elementor at a glance
- Type
- WordPress page builder (plugin)
- Company
- Elementor Ltd.
- Founded
- 2016
- Founders
- Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein
- Headquarters
- Ramat Gan (Israel)
- Installs
- More than 10 million (wordpress.org)
- Share of all websites
- 12.5% (W3Techs, November 2026)
- Free plan
- Yes, the core plugin
- Starting price
- $60 a year, plus tax (Essential, 1 site)
What is Elementor used for?
-
Build your pages with drag and drop
You edit each page exactly as it will appear online: grab a widget, drop it into a container, and the layout follows.
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Start from a template or a kit
A library of page templates and full website kits to adapt to your brand.
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Design your theme templates
The Theme Builder in the Pro version designs the header, footer and post templates.
-
Collect leads
Forms and popups designed in the editor, with the Pro version.
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Lay out your store
Product page, cart, checkout: WooCommerce templates can be redesigned with the mouse, too.
-
Adapt the display to every screen
Settings for each screen size, with your own breakpoints, for desktop, tablet and phone.
-
Generate with Elementor AI
Text, images, code and sections produced by AI, within the credits included in your subscription.
Elementor review
Good tool
Elementor owes its success to a simple idea: giving every WordPress user a full visual editor for free. The core version is enough to lay out a clean business website, and the ecosystem that has grown around it, from templates and third-party add-ons to tutorials and freelancers, has no equivalent. According to W3Techs, the tool runs on 12.5% of all websites: you can always find someone who knows how to use it.
That success comes at a technical cost. A page built with Elementor loads more code than a page made with the WordPress editor, and you have to put real work into optimization to get a fast site. Its frequent updates have a reputation for breaking a layout here and there, and the move to the version 4 editor put off quite a few users. Your content also stays tied to the plugin: deactivate it and you are left with pages to rebuild. On the sales side, the dashboard pushes paid plans relentlessly, and the subscription, which renews automatically every year, often catches people off guard when they try to cancel.
The most serious threat, though, doesn’t come from rival builders. Elementor grew by selling a promise: you no longer need a developer to get a good-looking page. AI now keeps that promise without Elementor, whether an assistant writes the code directly, a tool like Lovable delivers a complete site from a description (at the cost of leaving WordPress and everything that comes with it), or the native WordPress editor is simply enough. The ground Elementor thrives on is shrinking, too: according to W3Techs, WordPress powered 43.6% of websites in early 2025, versus 39.5% at the end of 2026. The company has chosen to ride the wave rather than be swept away by it, with its AI credits and Elementor MCP, which lets Claude or Cursor work directly in its pages. It’s a smart move, but nothing guarantees people will keep paying a subscription for layouts an AI can produce on its own.
Elementor is still a good tool, and its free version lets you try it risk-free. Just choose it knowing its limits, without betting that it will stay indispensable.
Strengths
- A free version that is genuinely usable for a simple site.
- The largest ecosystem: templates, third-party add-ons, tutorials and freelancers.
- An intuitive visual editor, with a real design system since version 4.
- A full Theme Builder, forms and popups in the Pro version.
- A company investing in AI, all the way to connecting with Claude or Cursor.
Weaknesses
- Heavier pages than with the WordPress editor, which need optimizing.
- Updates that sometimes break the layout.
- A layout tied to the plugin: deactivating it keeps the text but means redoing the design.
- An annual subscription priced by number of sites, and pushy upsell prompts.
- A trade, no-code page design, that AI is making less and less necessary.
Is Elementor worth it?
Yes, if you want to stay in control of your WordPress site’s design without learning HTML: the free plugin is enough to get started, and the subscription makes sense the day you need custom templates, forms or popups. For an agency, choosing the most widely used tool also reassures the client: any freelancer will be able to take over the site.
Not necessarily, if a few well-written pages are all you need: the native WordPress editor already does that job, with no plugin to maintain. Same conclusion if every tenth of a second counts, or if you don’t want to manage anything at all: Wix, Squarespace or an AI website builder take that work off your hands.
Against Elementor, Divi plays a different card: no free version, but a one-time purchase that covers all your projects, which matters a great deal when you deliver dozens of sites.
How much does Elementor cost?
The Elementor plugin is free. Advanced features require an annual subscription, priced mainly by number of sites: Elementor Pro, from 1 to 25 sites, or Elementor One, which adds credits for AI and the company’s services. Prices are shown before tax, and the subscription renews at the current rate.
| Plan | Per month | Per month, billed yearly | Included | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — | Drag-and-drop editor, about forty widgets, templates, per-screen settings | Trying the tool, simple site |
| Essential | — | $5 | 1 site, Pro widgets and Theme Builder, no popups or e-commerce: $60 a year | Business site that wants custom templates |
| Advanced Solo | — | $7 | 1 site, all Pro features: $84 a year | A complete site, store included |
| Advanced | — | $9 | 3 sites, all Pro features: $108 a year | Freelancers with a few clients |
| Expert | — | $17 | 25 sites, all Pro features: $204 a year | Agencies |
| One | — | $15 | 1 site, Pro and 25,000 credits a month (AI, images, accessibility, email): $180 the first year, then $228 | Anyone who wants AI and built-in services |
| One Agency | — | $36 | Unlimited sites, 350,000 credits a month: $432 the first year, then $540 | Agencies managing many sites |
Source: official Elementor pricing page, checked on November 1, 2026.
- Prices exclude tax; plans are annual and renew automatically.
- Annual plans can be refunded within 30 days.
- Two-, three- or four-year commitments lower the price.
- Elementor hosting, sold separately and billed yearly, has its own pricing.
FAQ
Answers to questions about Elementor
Is Elementor free?
Yes, the core plugin is free and enough to lay out a simple site. Theme templates, forms, popups and WooCommerce pages require a Pro subscription, starting at $60 a year, plus tax, for one site.
Does Elementor slow down a website?
It adds code to every page, so a site built with Elementor is usually heavier than one made with the WordPress editor. A lightweight theme like Hello, good hosting and optimized images and caching narrow the gap.
Can I deactivate Elementor without losing my site?
Partly. Elementor keeps an HTML copy of the content in WordPress: if you deactivate the plugin, text, images and links stay readable, but the layout, forms, popups and Theme Builder templates disappear. So you have to redo the design, not rewrite the content.
Elementor or Divi?
For a first site or a quick test, Elementor wins: you can start without paying, and it is by far the most widely used tool. Divi takes the lead when you deliver many sites, since a single purchase covers every project.
Is Elementor threatened by AI?
The risk is real: if an AI can produce a polished page from a description, paying for a page builder makes less sense. Elementor is trying to turn that into an advantage, by selling AI credits and opening its editor to assistants like Claude through Elementor MCP.
Information checked on November 1, 2026