Webflow vs Elementor: A direct comparison of both builders

When it comes to creating new websites, we now have more choices than ever before. Numerous providers promise easy compilation of websites using a drag-and-drop interface, completely without coding. Two of the most well-known solutions are Webflow and Elementor. During Webflow is a standalone solution for building websites, Elementor is a WordPress plugin.

But what exactly are the differences (and similarities) between the two solutions? In this article, we'll look at what Webflow and Elementor actually are, what advantages and disadvantages both solutions offer, and which builder is the right choice for you.

What is Webflow?

Webflow is a no-code website builder, which has been one of the most popular solutions for creating professional websites for many years. Webflow places great value on flexibility; the website editor is primarily touted for its great freedom in design, the intuitive editor for animations and an accessible content management system (CMS).

But Webflow also offers numerous other features that make creating websites easier than ever. In addition to fully designed templates, Webflow has a huge community that helps out with specially created plug-ins (so-called apps) and a variety of tutorials. Within the developer community, Webflow is particularly appreciated for its full control over the code;

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What is Elementor?

Elementor is a plugin for WordPress, which should make it easier to create websites. WordPress, in turn, is a CMS which, according to current estimates, powers around half of all websites on the Internet. Elementor is basically a drag-and-drop construction kit that is intended to offer users a great deal of design flexibility. Because of its ease of use, Elementor has been one of the most popular WordPress plug-ins out there for many years. At the heart of this are the widgets, which are placed on the page via a drag-and-drop interface. This allows us to place complex elements such as image galleries, sliders or tabs on our site in just a few seconds. Elementor also provides templates and components to help users to bring their ideas to life.

The Elementor plug-in is an easy way to bring WordPress-powered websites to the next level. Because where the integrated WordPress editor and also the Gutenberg page builder quickly reach their limits, Elementor opens up completely new possibilities. However, Elementor is of course also not free of limitations; because granular adjustments to the design are often only possible via CSS or HTML. In addition, like any other WordPress plugin, Elementor depends on regular updates. Users often complain that a new update affects the functionality of Elementor or, in the worst case, even destroys the layout of their own site. For sites that must be available around the clock, this is of course a big risk. But what exactly are the advantages and disadvantages of Elementor? Let's now take a closer look at the Webflow vs. Elementor platforms.

Elementor vs. Webflow: Pros and cons

Performance, design freedom, SEO: How do the Elementor plug-in and Webflow compare? If you're also faced with the choice of whether to use Elementor or Webflow, you should take a closer look at the following points. Because we look at the advantages and disadvantages of both platforms and show which solution is the better choice for your case.

Here you can find out what the characteristics of a good website are.

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Webflow vs Elementor: Costs

While the basic version of Elementor is available free of charge, switching to Elementor Pro is essential in almost all cases. Because many features, such as detailed customization of the navigation bar, footer, archives or much more, are only available in the paid version of Elementor. Even if you want to use Elementor to customize dynamic content (such as blog posts), you can't avoid the Pro version.

Elementor Pro prices start at €60 per year. A monthly payment, as offered by many other providers, is not possible with Elementor. Webflow, on the other hand, offers monthly or yearly subscriptions. The cheapest plan with Webflow costs $168 per year and costs $18 if you pay monthly. Although Elementor Pro seems cheaper at first glance, there are still a few other costs that can be added to a WordPress site. This includes, for example, additional plug-ins that are required depending on the type of website. In addition, the appropriate hosting must also be ordered, which in many cases can also generate costs of between 50 and 100€ per year. The amounts for an Elementor-powered WordPress website quickly add up to 200 or 300€ per year. Meanwhile, the corresponding plan with Webflow costs just under $270 per year — and offers even significantly more than Elementor Pro can offer at a comparable price.

Here you can find information about Webflow costs.

Comparing SEO between Webflow and Elementor

SEO is essential for just about every website — because if you want to be found on the Internet, you need a technically flawless search engine optimization. While Webflow offers numerous tools and features for SEO right out of the box, Elementor usually requires additional plug-ins to get the most out of search engine optimization. There are also many free offers here, but for larger SEO projects, a paid plug-in is usually unavoidable.

The SEO features that Webflow offers for dynamic content are particularly practical. Because in just a few clicks, we have created rules for what the meta titles and descriptions for our CMS content should look like. Instead of laboriously writing texts for every piece of content, we can take features from our CMS and insert them into the titles and descriptions of the pages. This allows search engines to quickly find out what our CMS content is about and index it better. In addition, we have full control over which pages should be indexed in the first place.

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Design flexibility: Does Elementor or Webflow do better?

The topic of design is becoming increasingly important on websites. Because today, it is no longer enough to put a purely informative website about your own company online. Visual elements, a clear brand identity and a modern design make a significant contribution to users seeing a site as professional — and the brand behind it as reputable. Therefore, the question is which tool offers more freedom in the visual design of the website: Elementor or Webflow?

While Elementor offers significantly more freedom than the basic version of WordPress, we also reach our limits relatively quickly here. Although the ready-made animations are sufficient for small hobby websites, they have no chance against the animations that are possible in Webflow for professional projects. Although we can also extend Elementor with other plug-ins and add new widgets, this is often at the expense of performance, as the additional plug-ins can worsen the loading times of our website. And the more time a website takes to load, the higher is the probability that users will drop out.

Webflow, on the other hand, offers complete control over the look and functionality of the page. Professional animations can be put together in just a few minutes, and ambitious elements (such as scroll animations) can also be implemented with the Webflow Designer. Although the Elementor plug-in now also allows animations and interactive elements, you often rely on pre-designed templates. Complex animations can then only be realized with your own code (JavaScript); Webflow is clearly ahead of the pack here with its intuitive interactions. Webflow also provides users with webflow university where users can learn how to harness its full potential.

Not sure if Elementor is the right choice for you? Check our Squarespace vs Webflow comparisons.

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Direct comparison of Elementor vs. Webflow performance

Webflow scales with the site and delivers excellent performance even with larger websites. Depending on traffic, we may then have to upgrade to a higher package; however, the resources provided ensure that our site always remains available even in the event of exceptional traffic. Intelligent surge protection also secures our site and makes Webflow is an excellent solution for all types of projects — from small hobby sites to enterprise projects.

Elementor, on the other hand, quickly reaches its limits when it comes to larger pages. When our animations get more complex and we combine lots of containers and widgets, it quickly brings the Elementor editor to its knees. And when we also use custom code, we reach the limit of what can be done with Elementor. However, it is not only Elementor that is often the bottleneck, but also hosting. For this reason, we usually have to switch to a larger package for larger pages, which of course also entails higher costs. Anyone planning to future-proof their site and be prepared for any expansion is therefore definitely better off with Webflow.

There is also a problem that has plagued WordPress for many years: unnecessary code. Clean code not only makes working on a website much easier; it also ensures shorter loading times. While we at Webflow can determine for ourselves how many containers, text elements, and images we use, Elementor often automatically adds numerous divs and other elements that unnecessarily inflate the code. There is no way to remove these elements, so our hands are literally tied when it comes to optimizing the page speed for a website powered by Elementor.

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E-commerce: Native to Webflow, only possible with plug-ins in Elementor

Become natural Website builder such as Webflow and WordPress is not only used for classic websites and blogs. Nowadays, we can even create complete online shops with a drag-and-drop interface. As a result, we are no longer dependent on specialized solutions such as Shopify to bring our business into the digital world.

Probably the most well-known and accessible e-commerce plugin for WordPress is WooCommerce. This free tool offers numerous essential features, such as product management, payment processing and much more in one package. Elementor offers numerous interfaces and widgets that are specifically optimized for WooCommerce and designed to create an online shop. This allows us to create pages for dynamic content — such as products and categories — and also adapt the ordering and payment process.

Webflow, on the other hand, has native e-commerce functionality that can be added to a Webflow page as a paid add-on. Similar to the content management system, we can manage products, create categories, and customize other aspects of our shop in a clear interface. In terms of price, Webflow e-commerce is within the same range as other e-commerce solutions à la Shopify. An e-commerce site starts at $29 per month (if paid annually) or $49 if you pay monthly. Although this seems a bit expensive at first glance, Elementor also requires planning costs for hosting and — depending on the desired functionality — additional plug-ins. Therefore, a Webflow shop can be cheaper than a solution with WordPress, Elementor and WooCommerce.

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Content management system in Elementor and Webflow

The core of WordPress is, without question, the content management system. Originally designed as a solution for creating blogs, the CMS is still one of the main advantages of WordPress today. The intuitive interface and the ability to organize blog articles and other content into categories still make WordPress a popular choice for blogs and other sites that primarily display dynamic content. Elementor also builds on this and gives users a high degree of flexibility when designing the site.

But here too, scalability is once again one of the main reasons why more and more website operators are moving away from WordPress. Because the more extensive our CMS becomes, the more we lose on the speed of our website. If we want more performance, we usually have to choose another plan for our hosting.

Webflow, on the other hand, is designed to grow with you right from the start. While we can start with a small CMS collection, we're working our way up. If our site grows, we can simply switch to another plan that guarantees us more CMS items and bandwidth. This ensures that our site has also grown larger collections and more traffic at all times.

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Comparing other features of Elementor vs. Webflow

In addition to the features already mentioned, Webflow also offers a quick and easy solution for adding new languages to the website. However, the add-on comes at an additional cost; plans for the Localization feature start at $12 per month per language. As a plus, however, we get maximum control over the content of our site; from simple adjustments for headlines to texts that are only displayed in certain languages, just about anything is possible. For brands that want to offer their products in multiple languages, the Localization feature is still a real game changer.

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Webflow or Elementor: Which solution is right for you?

Which of the two solutions you ultimately choose depends primarily on the framework conditions of your project. While Elementor with suitable hosting is enough for a simple blog or pages with little content, Webflow is the first choice for larger projects. Full control over the code and the ability to scale the page at any time at the push of a button make Webflow the perfect solution for professional websites that grow with traffic and content.

But of course, your needs play the overriding role here. Also, If we would recommend Webflow almost without exception, there may be situations in which Elementor can also be a good choice. Below, we will make a direct comparison between Webflow and Elementor and compare the advantages, disadvantages and use cases of both platforms.

Not sure if Elementor is the right builder for you? Check out our Framer vs. Webflow comparison

Elementor or Webflow? We have a clear recommendation!

The direct comparison between Elementor and Webflow shows that both solutions have their advantages and make creating professional websites easier than ever. But while both have features that are suitable for different use cases, Webflow trumps Elementor in almost every respect.

As an experienced Webflow agency, we rely exclusively on Webflow. Why Because we so appreciate Webflow's sheer limitless possibilities. No other website builder offers the same level of flexibility in website design, functionality, and scalability as Webflow. Our team has the experience of over 100 successfully designed projects and also has the necessary expertise to implement your website in Webflow. Whether it's a new site or moving from another CMS to Webflow: We support you and bring your project to life.

Book your non-binding one now Webflow Support Consultation or ask us directly a free request — we'd love to hear from you. and let's find out together how your Webflow page will inspire your customers.

Or take a look at our Webflow projects & references — from small business sites to complex platforms, everything is included.