With so many features and functionalities, choosing between Elementor Free and Elementor Pro can be trivial.
Elementor’s free version comes with great design options and features and in addition to that, Elementor Pro takes those designing options to a whole another level and can be of great use to make professional websites. Both have excellent customization possibilities but which one to go for can still make you scratch your head in confusion.
In this article, we will learn about the features and functionalities of both of them. Let’s have a good look at both of them and dig into their functionalities and what do they have to offer.
🍺 Elementor Free/ Lite Version
The Elementor lite version is the free one and can be downloaded directly from WordPress.org. Don’t go by the notion that it is free so it might not be able to do a lot. With this plugin, you can single-handedly create a fully functioning website and that too without touching a single line of code.
Let’s jump in and see what does the free version has to offer.
Templates Library
The free version of Elementor comes with a pretty good template library which you can use to build web pages easily. The library comprises of 100+ free elementor templates as well as content blocks which you can add to the page by just selecting from the group.
Widgets
The free version of the Elementor comes with loads of widgets that you can drag and drop to design the page you want. There are more than 25 Elementor widgets that come with the free version of the plugin and more are expected to arrive.
Elementor Canvas
The Elementor canvas layout removes all the elements on the page including the header, footer and the sidebars giving you the whole page to start designing. You can create landing pages or any other page using the canvas layout. There is another full-width layout as well which removes the sidebar and gives you a page to work on with the default header and footer.
Responsive Editing
This feature allows you to switch to the mobile or tablet view mode and edit the page accordingly. With this feature, you can make fully functional websites and pages so that your users will have the option to access your site from any device they want. Merely switching the layout in the editor, will give you the option to make changes live to the page.
RTL and Translation Ready
Elementor is fully functional when it comes to RTL support. Elementor is multilingual and offers full support for both RTL and LTR languages. Apart from RTL compatibility, the plugin’s translation is done into more than 23 different languages, and the list of translated languages is growing.
Background Options
The free plugin offers you to customize the background of the page extensively. You can change the background of the page or post to impressive gradient style. You can also add a video on the background of the sections and make them come alive.
That’s all with the lite features. Now it’s time to look at the pro features.
🚀 Elementor Pro Features
Elementor Pro version works as an add-on to the lite version and adds more functionality to the builder. Many feature sets make the Elementor Pro useful, let’s have a look at them.
Theme Builder
The Theme Builder is the most prominent tool as it allows you to take control of almost every section of the website. The Elementor standard version allows you to make changes to the content part only but with the Pro version, you can practically edit the whole site. You can create a custom header, edit sidebars, redesign your footer, and even create custom layout pages.
Theme builder can be a massive advantage for you if you are a website design agency or want to design more than just the content part. With this tool, you will be able to do more and that too in lesser time.
Professional Page Templates and Blocks
The Elementor has loads of Pre-designed templates and blocks which you can use to design pages faster. In addition to those templates, Elementor Pro offers more professionally designed templates and blocks. If you rely mostly on pre-designed templates, then Elementor Pro is the choice for you.
Form Builder
Every website needs a contact form and many other forms for that matter. The Pro pack of the builder comes with a very impressive form builder that you can use to create Forms on your website quickly. The reason this single widget holds so much importance is that it is entirely visual! You can design your form from the front end and can connect it with any automation marketing platform or a CRM of your choice easily.
Global Settings
Global widgets come handy when you are planning on showing the same widget in multiple places on the website. The Pro version gives you the power to customize a widget from a single location, and it will take effect on all the global widgets on the website. This feature makes the design faster and reduces redundant tasks of making changes all over the site.
Elementor Pro Elements
This is an obvious one, yet it cannot be overlooked. The Elementor plugin comes with a pretty good set of widgets but if you are an agency developing websites for your clients, you are going to need more, and that is where the Pro version comes in. The Elementor Pro version adds more than 30 other impressive widgets including the theme elements which will offer you much more customization and design options.
More elements give you the freedom to design the website the way you want, and if you wish to take this customization one step further, you can check out PowerPack Elementor addons. It comes with 50+ impressive widgets, and more are on the way!
Live Custom CSS
Well, this one is not a biggie as you might not be using it given deep customization from the Elementor builder but as a developer or designer, this can come handy at times. This feature of the Elementor Pro allows you to add custom CSS to any widget or a block and see the changes you made there live on the editor.
If you are familiar with coding and often find yourself engaging in scenarios where you need to make changes that are not in the reach of drag and drop builders, then I recommend you to get the Pro pack.
Embed Anywhere
The Elementor Pro features an option that allows you to embed the widgets or the rows anywhere you want with the help of shortcodes. It can be beneficial as you can use the shortcodes to display widgets in the footer, sidebars and even on blog posts.
This feature can be useful for anyone depending on the requirements. It can also be used to add subscription box, banners or any other widget using the shortcode on the blog posts. That way you can write your blog you usually do and embed the shortcode where needed.
WooCommerce Integration
With the Pro version, you can easily customize your e-commerce store as it comes with multiple WooCommerce widgets. You can drag and drop the widgets to customize the WooCommerce store parts.
Saving Option
With the Standard Elementor plugin, you can store row templates with the save button easily, but you do not get the option to save widgets. The option to save widgets is only available with the Elementor Pro. Although it might not seem to be that much of a requirement, in case of more complex widget such as tables and post grids, it can be very time consuming to customize the same thing again and again when you can load it via a saved template.
Saving option is more of a useful feature for developers compared to end users as this can be used to create default templates and designs of widgets and can be later altered according to needs.
Elementor Pro Pricing
The Pro version does offer a lot, but it comes with a price tag. In this factor, the Elementor lite takes it all as there is no price tag attributed to it. If you are not familiar with page builders and want to try your hands on with the product, then this is a good option for you as you can try what it is like to work with page builders and later when you want to take more control of the builder get the pro version.
Elementor Free vs. Elementor Pro: Final Word!
Which Elementor version you should go for is your choice as it mostly depends on how you are going to use it and what you are going to use it for. I think it is safe to say-
- If you are a Professional Designer and most of your day goes in designing pages and websites, then I will suggest you go with the Elementor Pro version. You’ll find yourself completing tasks faster and in a much more effective way.
- On the other hand, If you are a Generic User, I will recommend you to start with the Free version and see how everything works and how you can make use of the Elementor plugin. Once you get serious about it and conclude that you will be using it for your future designing, then you can upgrade to the Pro version of Elementor.
