Beaver Builder vs. Divi
WordPress is the most flexible platform to use to design your website. You can use any number of page builder plugins to make your site even more customizable. Beaver Builder and Divi are two popular page builders.
But which one is better? Can you do the same things with both page builders? Keep reading to learn more about the features, performance, and prices of each.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Beaver Builder?
Here are the pros and cons of using Beaver Builder:
Pros:
- Optional theme available for use with the plugin: If you want to make sure Beaver Builder works with your site, you can use the Beaver Builder theme along with the plugin.
- Works with new and existing sites: You can use Beaver Builder with your current website without making huge changes, and you can use it with new sites.
- Drag and drop elements on the page: You don’t have to know how to code with Beaver Builder, so you can get started immediately.
Cons:
- Cheaper plans have limited features: Unless you get the most expensive plan, you won’t be able to take off the Beaver Builder branding. The Standard plan also only works on one site.
- More expensive than Divi: One year of the cheapest Beaver Builder plan is more expensive than Divi, and you don’t get as many features.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Divi?
Here are the pros and cons of using Divi:
Pros:
- Access to multiple WordPress products: When you sign up for Divi, you get access to a theme and plugin. But you also get access to plugins for email and social media management.
- Yearly and lifetime plans available: If you know you want to use Divi long-term, you can save money and buy a lifetime plan for less than three times the annual price.
- Regular product updates: You get access to regular product updates and support, no matter which plan you choose.
Cons:
- Has a steep learning curve: If you’re new to web design, you may find it takes a while to get the hang of using Divi. It can even be hard for some professionals.
- Hard to switch between themes: As your website grows and changes, you may want to use a new theme. But Divi can make it hard to switch things over from your old theme.
Beaver Builder Overview
Beaver Builder is a popular WordPress plugin that you can use to create pages with a visual editor. You don’t have to worry about knowing how to code or work with the text editor in WordPress.
They offer a variety of plans to fit your needs and budget, and they all have fantastic features. You can choose from their many modules and templates to make web design easy and quick. The higher tiers offer a theme to make your website look cohesive from top to bottom.
Divi Overview
Divi is part of Elegant Themes, and you get a suite of products to use on your WordPress website. The Divi page builder is a plugin, but there’s also a Divi theme, so it’s similar to Beaver Builder in that sense.
However, Divi also comes with plugins to help you manage your social media and email. It’s a great option if you have an online business that you want to run from a single place. Divi is a visual editor, so you can make almost any design come to life.
Who is Beaver Builder Best For?
Beaver Builder is best for people who have a WordPress website that they want to improve. You can use it with your existing website, and you don’t have to worry about switching to a new theme. You can maintain your basic site structure while converting to the Beaver Builder.
But you don’t have to have an existing website to use the page builder. The templates use professional designs, so you don’t have to hire a web designer. You can get a new site up and running in a day, and you can make sure you love the end result.
Beaver Builder has three price tiers, so you can choose the plan that’s best for you. It doesn’t matter if you’re designing your personal site or if you have web design clients. The page builder has an option for you.
Who is Divi Best For?
Divi is best for someone who wants limitless design potential for their website. It can replace the standard WordPress editor with an advanced visual editor, so you don’t need to code. You can drag and drop elements where you want them on the page.
However, if you prefer to use some CSS, you can use that with the CSS editor. You can also edit the text easily with the inline text editor. If you like the design of one page, you can save it and apply the format to new pages later.
Divi is also great for people who want to run an entire business with one platform. You can do more than create your website with the various products that come with a Divi subscription.
Reliability and Performance
Reliability and performance are essential when building a website. Here’s how the two page builders stack up:
Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder uses the Bootstrap framework, so it’s lightweight and easy to use. In one test, a page with the Beaver Builder loaded faster than 94 percent of websites. It performs well among websites, so you don’t have to wait long for your website to load.
If the page builder ever does have an issue, you can contact support. All Beaver Builder plans come with customer support, so you can get the help you need. Then, you can keep working on and promoting your website.
You can use Beaver Builder with any website host that offers WordPress. That means you can find a host that fits your budget and needs. However, your site reliability and performance will depend on that of your chosen hosting company.
Divi
Compared to Beaver Builder, Divi loads slightly faster. It outperforms about 97 percent of websites in the same test. You can use the visual or backend editor, and you can still get fast results when loading the page.
Now, these results are for the Divi plugin, not the theme. If you decide to use the Divi theme, you may have different results. Results can also vary based on your website host, your location and other factors.
If you want to choose a reliable website host for Divi, they recommend SiteGround, FlyWheel or Pressable. SiteGround is the more affordable option, but the other two make it easy to set up your Divi site.
Tools & Features
Both page builders have some great tools and features. Here’s how they compare:
Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder has a few excellent features.
Templates
Beaver Builder has dozens of premium templates that you can use to design your website. You can use templates for your regular content, such as your homepage or blog. But if you want to sell products or services, you can use the landing pages for that.
You can use both types of templates based on the page you want to create. That way, you can make sure your entire site looks how you want it to.
Responsive Design
With more people using their phones to browse the web, responsive sites are more important than ever. Luckily, you can use any template from Beaver Builder, and it will work on mobile devices. You can use the templates and make them look good on any screen size.
You won’t have to create one design for mobile browsers and another for desktop browsers. So you can save time when designing your site.
Customizable
No matter what theme you want to use, you can customize your Beaver Builder pages. You can drag and drop elements where you want them, and you don’t need to mess with coding. Even if you’ve never designed a website, you can still design a good looking site.
You can search through the various templates from Beaver Builder to find a template you like. Then, you can build off that to create a unique page that suits your needs.
Divi
Divi also has some useful features to help you create a fantastic site.
Responsive Design
Like Beaver Builder, you can use Divi to create a website that looks good on any screen. You don’t have to worry about if your pages will load on a smartphone. So you can focus more on the design.
Font & Text Styling
If you want to customize your website, being able to use your chosen fonts is important. You can use fonts that Divi already has, but you can also upload your own. That way, you can create a cohesive website that fits with your brand.
You can also control the look of lists, anchor text and block quotes. You can even change the size and style of your chosen font.
Advanced Coding
While visual editors can do a lot, sometimes, you need to use code to get your website to look how you want. Divi has an advanced code editor that you can use to work on the backend of your site.
You can add custom CSS to any element, and you can add custom code anywhere on the page. While writing code, you can take advantage of auto-complete, error reporting and find and replace.
Filters and Effects
Divi lets you adjust the position of your page elements across three axes. You can skew the design and transform your site. If you want to bring out a photo, you can add a drop shadow behind it to help it stand out.
You can also add shadows behind the text, so you can emphasize a particular heading or sentence. Divi lets you animate the elements on your site with options like fade, zoom and bounce.
Layouts Library
If you want to get started but don’t have any design ideas, you can start with the layouts library. It contains over 100 websites and over 800 layouts. You can use the library for ideas, or you can use it to create your entire site.
Other Plugins
The Divi builder plugin is probably the most popular product from Elegant Themes. However, your subscription comes with a few other products. First, Extra is a theme that works well for online magazines and bloggers.
If you have an email list, you can connect it to Bloom, which is an email opt-in plugin. Monarch is a social media sharing plugin that makes it easy to share your website on social media platforms.
Pricing Summary
When deciding which page builder is best for you, you should consider your budget. The price isn’t the only important factor, but it can help to know your options.
Here are the prices for Beaver Builder and Divi:
Beaver Builder
The first plan from Beaver Builder is the Standard Plan, and it starts at about $100 per year. You can use it with as many sites as you want, but it’s not compatible with multisite WordPress installations. This plan comes with the Beaver Builder plugin and access to modules and templates.
Other features include world-class support and access to the full Beaver Builder plugin. However, this plan lacks access to the Beaver Builder theme, so you will need to use it with another WordPress theme.
Next up is the Pro Plan, which costs around $200 per year. You get all of the features available with the Standard Plan, but this one is compatible with multisite installations. That makes it easy to set up if you have multiple sites on the same hosting account. This plan also includes the Beaver Builder Theme.
The Agency Plan starts at around $400 per year, and it includes everything on the Pro Plan. However, you can also replace or change the core Beaver Builder Templates. You can also change the instances of Page Builder and Beaver Builder in your WordPress admin panel.
If you renew your subscription after a year, you can get a 40 percent discount. So if you end up liking the page builder, you can save money during your second year.
Cancellation
If you don’t end up liking Beaver Builder, you can cancel your subscription at any time. You can get a refund if you cancel within 30 days of purchasing your subscription. You can also change your plan any time during the year if you realize you need more or fewer features.
If you decide not to renew your subscription, you can cancel the automatic renewal so that you don’t have to pay for another year.
Divi
A Divi subscription also gets you various plugins to help grow your business. You don’t have to pay extra for them, but you do have a couple of payment options.
If you want to try Divi for a year, you can get yearly access for around $90 per year. Then, you can renew each year or switch to a different page builder.
However, if you know that you want to use Divi long-term, you can save money with the lifetime access plan. You pay for it once, and you can use Divi on as many websites as you want. Then, you won’t have to worry about renewals.
Cancellation
Like Beaver Builder, Divi has a 30-day refund policy if you don’t like the product. If you cancel the annual plan after that, your account will remain active until the year ends. However, you won’t get the money back on your purchase.
You also won’t get your money back after 30 days if you choose the lifetime plan. But you can stop using it and come back to it later and not have to pay again.
Which Is the Best Value?
When comparing features, access and overall price, Divi is the better value. The annual plan costs less than the cheapest Beaver Builder plan, and you get more than just the page builder. You also get plugins to help with social sharing and email marketing.
Comparing the page builders themselves, you also have more features and control with Divi. While Beaver Builder has some features, Divi has a more exhaustive list. You can use the builder to create pages no matter what your vision is.
Security
Running a website has its vulnerabilities, so you should consider the security behind anything you use on your site. Here’s how the Beaver Builder and Divi compare when it comes to security:
Beaver Builder
Older versions of the Beaver Builder plugin have some security issues. Hackers can get into the plugin and create or edit pages and more. Luckily, you can get rid of that vulnerability by updating to the most recent version of the plugin.
Beaver Builder updates the plugin frequently, so you should make a point to check your site at least weekly. Then, you can update any plugins that are available for updates.
You should also make sure you install an SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate on your website. That way, you can protect sensitive information for you and your visitors. If you run an online store, it’s even more important to use a security certificate.
Your WordPress version can also affect your site security. Always update to the most recent WordPress version as soon as you can to protect your site from security breaches.
Divi
Divi is also fairly safe and secure, but older versions can be vulnerable to attacks. Wordfence released a report in August 2023about a critical vulnerability for Divi and some other products from Elegant Themes.
However, users could eliminate the risk by updating to the newest version of Divi. If you can’t always do that, you can use the Security Patcher Plugin as a short-term solution until you can update your Divi plugin.
Divi does update their plugin regularly, so you should stay on top of those updates. That way, you can always make sure your website is safe from hackers.
Customer Service
Good customer service can make a huge difference when using a new product. Consider the options you have for getting help with Beaver Builder and Divi:
Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder offers a contact us form that you can use for basic questions. You can use it to ask about refunds, report a bug or suggest a new feature. If you have a support-related question, you can use the support form. The support form is only for customers with an account.
Before contacting Beaver Builder, you can check out their knowledge base. It covers common questions about the builder, your account, upgrades and more.
If you can’t find the answer you need, you can also check out the community forum. Someone may have asked your question, and you can find the answer. But if not, you can ask it in the forums and get help from other users.
The general FAQ page on the Beaver Builder website is another great resource. If you have the most basic question, you can probably find the answer in the FAQs.
Divi
Divi has a contact form you can use to ask about billing and sales. For more advanced help, you can open a chat with someone on the Divi support team. However, you will need to have an active Divi account to use their chat feature.
If you want to learn more before you sign up or if you don’t want to wait for a chat agent, you have other options. You can browse the Elegant Themes documentation to learn more about Divi and the other products. You can search based on your issue to find a relevant article.
For specific questions, you can also ask the community or post your question in the Divi Facebook group. Then, you can get help from other users, which is useful if you have a particular issue.
The Divi blog is another place where you can learn more basic things about the program. IT’s great for learning and getting answers to some basic or more common questions and problems.
Final Thoughts
Beaver Builder is a feature-rich yet straightforward page builder for WordPress sites. You can use it for your site or clients, and it works well.
Divi is another excellent page builder with even more features that give you flexibility and control. You can use the builder for any number of sites.
Both page builders are great, so you should consider which features are more important to you. Then, you can choose the best page builder for you.
FAQs
Here are some common questions about Beaver Builder and Divi, along with their answers;
Which Page Builder Is Best for Beginners?
If you’re new to web design and page builders, you should start with Beaver Builder. While it is more expensive than Divi, it has just enough features to get you started. You don’t have to worry about all of the options available with Divi, so you can get your site up and running quickly.
Beaver Builder is also a good choice for beginners because you can try Beaver Builder Lite. It’s a free version of the plugin with more limited features. But it’s a good option if you want to try out Beaver Builder without getting a demo or having to pay.
Which Page Builder Is Best for Professionals?
Divi is an excellent option for professional web designers. You can use it with as many websites as you want, so it’s great for web design firms. It has all of the features you could want in a visual designer, but you can also use CSS and custom coding.
Divi is very flexible, and it’s cost-effective for individual designers and small firms. However, Beaver Builder can also be good for web designers with larger budgets or clients who want a Beaver Builder template.
What’s the Most Important Feature?
When looking at page builders, the choices can be overwhelming. It can help to focus on one or two features that stand out. However, those important features can vary from person to person or company to company.
An advanced web designer might prefer Divi’s flexibility, while a newer designer may want the simplicity of Beaver Builder. Consider what you’re looking for in a page builder. If you still can’t decide, do the demo option for both to see which you like better.
Can I Try Either Page Builder?
Speaking of trying page builders, you can try both Beaver Builder and Divi before you buy them. Both offer a demo, so you can see how it works on your site. You can get the full effect and use all of the features.
However, you can also try the free “lite” version of Beaver Builder. You can use some of the more basic features, and you can test it over a longer period. Then, you can upgrade if you want more options for your site.
What If I Need Help?
Beaver Builder and Divi both offer fantastic customer support. You can contact support directly for individual help, or you can look at forums and documentation on the Beaver Builder or Divi website.
Sometimes, the documentation or blog will have a post that perfectly answers your question. The forums are also useful if you have a question on the weekend when customer support may not be as active.