Thrive Architect and Elementor are probably the two best WordPress page builders on the market right now.

They both offer insanely simple to use drag and drop  (WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get) builders with loads of built in elements. On top of that, the level of configuration of each element is so deep it almost covers 100% of what you can do with code.

When you add in libraries of pre-built templates and websites to the mix, you get yourself a tool that in many ways can replace your web designer or web master.

If you have used one of the older style page builders before (like Divi or Visual Composer) you are in for a treat. Throw away any grudges you might have built up over the years. These tools are powerful, easy to learn, easy to use and build stunning websites 

I have done a few videos on each of these plugins, and included two below so you can see me building a homepage from scratch with both. It gives you a great idea of how they work, what elements there are and how easy it is to create stunning websites.

Each of these powerful page builders comes with a big selection of prebuilt elements.

Why is this important? 

It means you can just drag and drop something straight onto the page. Something you would have to otherwise build yourself (or have to do with HTML). It saves you hours of work.

There is a bit of a difference in how they approach this idea:

Thrive Architect has quite a list of elements, but they are focused more on providing conversion focused features (email list building/sign ups, animations etc)

Elementor tries to provide almost any element you could possibly need. However, most of the more complex elements are available only on the pro version of the plugin.

The non-pro version of Elementor is free, whereas Thrive's is a one-price-fits all model.

I made the table below to try to give you a decent overview of what elements are available on each. It does not include functionality (so email signups, css customization, global widgets) which I will talk about in detail below.

* If I have missed something please let me know.

Winner: Elementor Pro

If you are looking at pure number of elements available, Elementor Pro wins hands down. But, have a close look at the kinds of elements Thrive vs Elementor have, and see which you really need or prefer. They differ, but not on anything important. And also keep in mind that some of them can be created by combining existing elements (as long as there is no complicated functionality in them that is missing).

One of the superpowers of page builder plugins is the ability to create pages and whole websites with the click of a button, or two.

Both Elementor and Thrive Themes have dozens of templates ready to go.

And of course, there are some differences between the two...

Thrive Architect page templates come in series that are meant to be used together. And in most cases, they are landing pages meant to get people to sign up to your email list or something similar.

Their template sets come with things like:

Just bear in mind that Thrive Architect is focused on conversion / selling / email signups. So, if you are looking for templates to help you with that, which replaces the need for something like a Leadpages subscription, it's a great buy.

If you are looking for templates that give you a website with one click (all pages included - home, about, contact etc) then Elementor Pro is a way better bet.

The free version of Elementor comes with quite a few templates, but if you want a huge amount of choice (over 130) and the ability to create a whole website or single page or landing page fast, Elementor Pro is the plugin for you.

The range of templates they offer is crazy. Things like:

They are both great for building pages fast and importing or using pre-built templates, but keep in mind their focus - Thrive = Landing pages, Elementor = Websites.

Winner: Elementor Pro

If you are looking at pure number of templates available, Elementor Pro wins hands down (again).

But, the Thrive team are more focused on conversions and landing pages. Which means if that is your focus too, and you only use the builder for blog posts or certain areas of your site (and don't need all the templates) it might be better to use Thrive Architect, especially with all the Email Providers you can connect to with just a few clicks (more on that at the end).

There is not much to choose between here, but having used both of these a bit, I will give you a quick rundown of how they compare.

Both use a very similar side-bar menu structure, to allow you to drag and drop elements and then edit them extensively with tonnes of options. You can see the interfaces in screenshots below.

The devil is in the detail though. Elementor (at least for now) have the edge with better organised editing options for the elements. There are usually three tabs/sections which divide up the areas you can edit. It is way easier to find what you are looking for.

Thrive Architect, which often has more editing options, is hard to use because once you open them all, you have a HUGE list to scroll through. It's a pain in the neck! I believe they are looking at changing that though.

Another way they differ is with text editing. Elementor usually gives you panels to edit your text in on the sidebar. Thrive edits things inline. But again, I believe Elementor are catching up to Thrive on this.

So they are very similar and almost copying each other as they release new versions!

Note: Both these builders do have a few small annoyances.

Grabbing the elements to drag/drop is a pain as the move icon is so small (on both, but worse on Elementor.

And figuring out exactly where to click and how to add new columns, copy elements, multiple select etc could be a lot better. 

However, given how powerful both these tools are, I forgive them their failings :>

Winner: Elementor

Right now I give Elementor the edge on usuability (as of end of 2017) but there is not much between them. It's the other things like elements, templates and the more detailed features (email integration, templating etc) that makes the real difference.

You know how important mobile ready websites are in 2018, both for Google and your customers.

So, it's important that your favorite page builder can help you create a mobile-ready website, right?

Well, you are in luck. Both these page builders do the same thing in terms of helping out with mobile.

1. They give you the ability to hide/show elements on the three main website sizes (pc, tablet, mobile). That way, you can construct specific areas or elements to suit these sizes - and then only use/show them on that size screen.

2. They show you an easy to tweak preview on each of those 3 main sizes, so you can fine-tune your design using the builder, before it goes live.

Winner: None

As far as I know, they both provide exactly the same functionality here. Very handy and mobile-friendly.

It's a win-win!

Both of these page builders allow you to re-use elements, or groups of elements again and again.

It's great. You can create and style a button, or a whole section. Then save it and re-use it somewhere else on your website. This saves you lots of time and helps you keep the style/branding across your website too.

Maybe I missed something, but I do see a downside. If you want to re-use an element and not change it everywhere with Elementor, it does not work because of this functionality. I have not used this yet, so someone let me know if I misunderstood this.

Winner: Elementor Pro

These are two different plugins in this area. But both give you reusable elements. 

If you plan on building a complete website, Elementor Pro is a better bet with the Global Widget. Otherwise, Thrive is also just as good.

There are more than enough options to tweak just about anything with these page builders, but as a web designer, I still find that some things you just have to do with CSS.

So, having access to either the elements CSS or the ability to add CSS classes or IDs is crucial.

Yes, you are going to hear me say it again. Both these page builders give you the ability to tweak the CSS, but they do it differently.

Thrive Architect allows you to add a CSS class or id to just about everything (but not columns and a couple of other structural elements - no idea why). They also give you the ability to throw in your own custom CSS on the page. So you can target any element, if you know enough CSS, and tweak it from there.

Elementor Pro gives you access to a CSS class and ID too. But they take it a step further and give you a live custom CSS field on everything. So, you can inject your CSS right into the element and, watch your changes happen write as you type them!

This makes things a little easier when you are trying to find something on the page. Developers will probably want to use classes and ids, but for everyone else this is a godsend!

Winner: Elementor Pro

If you need access to CSS on elements, and don't have the coding background to deal with CSS classes and IDs, I would go with Elementor Pro. 

But, if you are familiar with CSS and can add it to your theme or to each page you make, Thrive Architect will work well too. Especially for web designers.

Both their email support teams are pretty good, and they both have good documentation online.

However, I find that Thrive has lost their way a little in the last year or so. They have awesome products, and I have been using them since the beginning (a few years now) but there are way too many bugs and inconsistencies for such an amazing product. Nothing is going to really stop you creating a great website, I am just a little disappointed with their code and their support sometimes. It is just not as top-notch as I would expect.

Elementor I don't have as much experience with, but I tried their support a couple of days ago and it was very fast.

On top of that, I have yet to find any real bugs in their page builder. Maybe they are lucky to have started from scratch (Thrive had to move from their old version to the new one - keeping all old-functionality working, which is painful for them). They also have a very active and helpful Facebook group, which means you get very fast and on-the-ground community support from people using the tool daily.

Winner:

Although both are very good at support, I feel that Elementor has the edge in terms of a great code-base (error and bug free) and lots of opportunity for quick and helpful support.

The final question! Price.

Here is the lowdown.

ELEMENTOR

Elementor is Free for the basic plugin. This is great if you just want a simple page builder and don't need all the special elements or conversion options. It does not come with the top-end features like Custom CSS, Global Widgets, Anywhere Widget and the bigger library of elements and page templates. You can see a full comparison here.

Elementor Pro

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