The way people create websites with WordPress has changed within the last few years. People used to rely on a theme to create a unique WordPress-based site. Today, you can create a beautiful, unique website using a page builder plugin. Some page builder plugins, including Elementor, can be used on any WordPress theme so a theme is no longer a determining factor when it comes to site look. You can use a page builder plugin to create a website with your design. No CSS or HTML skills required as a page builder plugin offers a drag-and-drop, visual editor.

Speaking of WordPress page builder plugin, Elementor is the most popular one with over 5 million active installations. It has a very intuitive interface, vibrant community, and well-established ecosystem. With the release of version 3.0, Elementor has even offered a new experience in website creation. You can now create a website in a totally visual way.

Elementor is not the only WordPress page builder plugin, however. If you are not into how it works, you can use the following alternatives. Same as Elementor, the following page builder plugins are are available as freemium plugins.

1. Brizy

Brizy is relatively a new plugin. It started available in 2018. Meaning that Brizy is younger than Elementor. You can read the changelog of Brizy on this page. You can download the free version of Brizy on the WordPress plugin directory. The free version of Brizy offers more design elements than Elementor. Here are the design elements you will get from the free version of Brizy:

As you can see, there is an element that you can use to create a form, allowing you to create a form on your WordPress site without installing a form builder plugin. The Form element supports 14 field types. Other features offered by the free version of Brizy include maintenance mode and role manager. To streamline your job, Brizy also offers tons or premade block templates you can use when creating a new page.

What about the pro version?

The pro version of Brizy allows you to create both the custom header template and custom footer template. You can also create a popup on your WordPress without installing a popup builder plugin as Brizy Pro also comes with a popup builder. Want to add dynamic content? Brizy also supports integration with Pods and Advanced Custom Fields.

The interface of Brizy is a combination of Elementor and Gutenberg. It comes with a left panel where you can add elements and set the page layout. To edit the elements, you have an editing bar just like Gutenberg. The editing bar will appear as you click an element.

2. Beaver Builder

Beaver Builder is another page builder that you can use to replace Elementor. Beaver Builder is also released as a freemium plugin although the free version offers limited enough features. The free version of Beaver Builder offers only 9 design elements (called modules).

• Audio
• Button
• HTML
• Heading
• Icon
• Photo
• Sidebar
• Text Editor
• Video

As you can see on the list above, the modules offered by the free version of Beaver Builder are pretty basic. There is no module to create a form like Brizy. Even map.

The interface of Beaver Builder itself is pretty similar to Divi Builder (a premium page builder developed by Elegant Themes). The settings panel appears as a popup. It will appear when you click a module.

The features available on the pro version of Beaver Builder are varied, depending on the plan you subscribe to. Theme Builder, for instance, is only available on Pro ($199/year) and Agency ($399/year) plans.

3. Visual Composer

If you are looking for a page builder plugin that has a centralized panel like Elementor, Visual Composer is one of the options you can opt to. The Visual Composer panel (which lies on the left side) has two functions: to add elements and as a settings panel. The panel will turn into a settings panel as you click a design element on the canvas area, just like Elementor. While the interface of Visual Composer offers a great enough experience to create a website in a visual way, the offered design elements on the free version are not so. You will only get the following design elements on the free version of Visual Composer:

Same as the first two page builders above, you can also download the free version of Visual Composer on the WordPress plugin directory.

The pro version?

The features offered by Visual Composer are not much different from Elementor. It also offers a Theme Builder, Popup Builder, and the ability to add dynamic content via Advanced Custom Fields and Pods.

4. MotoPress Content Editor

Not as popular as the three plugins above, but MotoPress Content Editor is a worth trying plugin if you are looking for an Elementor alternative. You can also use MotoPress Content Editor to create a WordPress-based website in a visual way. You can even add content types like blog posts, slider, and image gallery to your page. MotoPress Content Editor is also released as a freemium plugin. The free version of MotoPress Content Editor offers the following design elements: