Should You Dump Your Page Builder for Gutenberg? 12 WordPress Experts Provide the Answer

Andy Feliciotti

Andy Feliciotti is a WordPress developer who provides WordPress tips and tutorials on SmartWP.

Let’s tune in to Andy’s views on Gutenberg vs Page Builders:

I think page builders are currently still relevant for WordPress, especially as people seek different features and experiences. That in itself is the beauty of WordPress if you don’t like how something functions you can swap it out for something that fits your needs!

I still think Gutenberg has some catching up to do on the ease of use side compared plugins like Elementor. Since page builders can be more rapidly developed vs Gutenberg since they are independent I think we’ll always see a list of running pros and cons.

Andy Feliciotti

Santanu Debnath

Santanu Debnath is a developer and blogger whose passion for WordPress led him to launch BloggingJoy where he shares exciting blogging tips with his readers.

This is what Santanu has to say on the PageBuilders vs Gutenberg issue:

The way Gutenberg is evolving it is clear that the entire website creation process has changed now. The aim is to provide the end-user an interface that is very much interactive, easy to understand, and quick design-friendly.

Page-builders are amazing as they give huge power in the hand of every website owner. Gutenberg will definitely grow, but I believe paid page-builder tools will have advantages as they offer more features & power compared to Gutenberg.

In fact, theme builders are doing an even better job. Recently I have started using Thrive Theme Builder and I have realized that it is so easy to create an entire website using a Theme Builder.

There is no doubt that Gutenberg is changing the entire WordPress experience, but the Page Builders & Theme Builders are providing some amazing interfaces on top of that. It is really worth investing for a Page Builder or Theme Builder to create a conversion-optimized website.

Santanu Debnath

Rob Powell

Rob Powell is the founder of Rob Powell Biz Blog where he provides valuable traffic and SEO tips to budding bloggers.

Here is what Rob has to say on this matter:

The WordPress Block Editor, previously known as Gutenberg, has made great strides forward since it was first released. And it’s a huge improvement on the previous WP editor. But the WordPress block editor still offers nowhere near the flexibility and functionality of commercial page editors.

There are two main areas where the WP block editor is lacking.

(1) Not a True Front-End Editor

The WP block editor is not a true front-end page editor. In the WordPress block editor, what you see on the screen is an approximation to what your content would look like when published. But it is not an exact ‘front-end’ view of your published article or page.

(2) Not a Page Builder

The WordPress block editor is a page editor but not a page builder. You can create a rudimentary landing page using the WordPress block editor. But it doesn’t offer anything like the layout and styling options available in commercial page builders.

Rob Powell

Biljana Jovanovic

Biljana Jovanovic is a content team member at WPKlik, a comprehensive database about everything WordPress.

Let’s read Biljana’s take on the debate about Gutenberg versus WordPress page builders:

While the Gutenberg block editor has certainly affected the way we create posts in WordPress and made that whole process a lot easier, I think comparing it to page builders is somewhat of a long shot. With each new update, it’s becoming more and more obvious that Gutenberg is an improvement on the classic editor, but it’s still nowhere near even the less powerful page builders.

It just doesn’t have the capabilities necessary to create the types of page layouts we’re used to working with and viewing. It might get there someday, but I think there’s a whole lot of work to be done before we can even start comparing Gutenberg to some of the best page builders available today. So yes, I think page builders are definitely still relevant and will be for some time yet.

Biljana Jovanovic

Jasmeet Singh

Jasmeet Singh is a veteran blogger who provides practical blogging and WordPress advice at Blogging Unplugged.

I summarized Jasmeet’s in-depth views on this issue below:

Even after the completion of phase 2, Gutenberg won’t be able to compete with or give us an alternate to features like theme editor or building pages from scratch as it will remain theme style dependent.

You will be able to customize the site with ease, but it won’t allow you to make changes to the layout of the theme or create pages by breaking the layout. Now, it is important to keep in mind WordPress in its current state does offer site customization features and for beginners, it can be a bit challenging.

That is why, to ease out the site customization process and to make it more visual, WordPress is extending Gutenberg’s block style editing feature to other parts of the website. Also, it is important to understand, companies consistently evolve their products to help its user base navigate the landscape efficiently and also to allow businesses associated with it to grow easily.

Development of Gutenberg will only allow users to create better-looking pages more efficiently in collaboration with these visual page builders
Having said that, Gutenberg in this stage is an exceptional editor and nothing more. It offers way more features than its predecessor. And in all of this simplicity there is an advantage that one should be aware of and
that is, it can help you create better content quickly.

Jasmeet Singh

Jose Gomez

Jose Gomez is into WordPress development since 2010 and is currently the technical lead at Evinex.

Jose provided the following take on this question:

Although WordPress block editor is fantastic and it is something we all where expecting. In my opinion, it is not as flexible as page builders in terms of custom layouts and styling. In the WordPress Roadmap, we can see that the block editor is one of the priorities for this 2020, so it may become an excellent replacement for page builders like Beaver, Elementor, or Divi soon.

Saying that, if WordPress continues to develop its block editor like it is doing, I believe that most page builders may become irrelevant. But we cannot underestimate customer loyalty, some of them will remain no matter what.

Jose Gomez

Khris Steven

Khris Steven is a long time WordPress user and marketer. He shares interesting marketing advice on his blog Khrisdigital.

This is what Khris has to say on this matter:

I would say that there’s no way Gutenberg could be a full replacement for specialized page builders like Elementor or Divi. I don’t see that happening anytime soon. However, generally, the Gutenberg block editor can be a substitute for just basic content layouts and simplicity for most users, but software like Elementor or Divi Builder gives more flexibility, spacing, controls, styles, and greater intuitive and user-friendly interface.

These special page builders are far more sophisticated than the Gutenberg block editor if you want the best in features and design power.

So in my opinion, the block editor can’t serve as 1-on-1 replacement for page building plugins which are still relevant.

Khris Steven

Stacy Caprio

Stacy Caprio is an experienced WordPress user who provides practical entrepreneurial tips at her.ceo

This is what Stacy has to say on this matter:

The new WordPress block editor has many of the functions a basic page builder also has, making the most basic page builder elements irrelevant for those who know how to use the block editor. Learning the block editor still has a learning curve, so for those who may not be adept at learning new technology, they may prefer to stick with what they know and what is easy for them within their old page builder.

Additionally, just because the block editor has the ability to edit a page in the same way a basic page builder does, you still have to install additional block plugins such as Google maps if you want to add that to a block, and some page builders come with these types of blocks preloaded.

At the end of the day, the new block editor has a learning curve and does not come with every desirable block preloaded, but it does make some page builder features irrelevant.

Stacy Caprio

Daniel Florido

Daniel Florido is the lead developer at Pixelstorm and is a WordPress Trainer, teaching people how to use WordPress and manage their own websites.

Let’s hear Daniels’s views on the Gutenberg vs Page Builders debate:

Page builders like Elementor are still relevant for time being but will diminish over time as Gutenberg becomes more feature-rich, bug-free and the overall UX improves.

Page builders like Elementor, Divi Page builder, and Beaver builders have their own community, and its that community element which is what made WordPress the powerhouse that it is. I imagine the Elementor community will be slow to adopt Gutenberg.

Elementor enthusiasts love building sites with Elementor, they have developed a deep understanding of Elementor and therefore can build sites efficiently. Switching page builders to use Gutenberg would surely impact development time, the developers’ own user experience would suffer, and ultimately the developers’ bottom line.

Daniel Florido

Andreas Johansson

Andreas Johansson is a UX specialist with good experience in WordPress page builders.

Here are Andreas views on Gutenberg and page builders:

I think WordPress page builders will continue to be relevant for some time (at least give or take 1-2 years). WordPress is moving towards having more and more power within the Gutenberg editor, but it is not powerful enough yet to replace a page builder such as Elementor.

At this point in time, I still recommend using both Elementor and Gutenberg. However, it will be very interesting to see what the future holds, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Gutenberg starts catching up to other builders more and more.

Andreas Johansson