A few years back, WordPress page builders felt like a crowded market.
There were drag-and-drop tools everywhere — from long-standing builders like WPBakery to niche newcomers like Brizy, Oxygen, and Beaver Builder alongside countless bundled theme builders and add-ons.
Fast forward to 2026, and one page builder comes in most conversations: Elementor. It’s now the most widely used third-party page builder, powering over half of the page builder installations among WordPress sites in some measurements.
But Elementor wasn’t the first page builder to be developed. In fact, when it launched in 2016, WPBakery and Divi were already very, very popular. So how did Elementor go past all of it’s competitors?
The short answer isn’t “one magical feature.” It’s a mix of product timing, user experience, ecosystem, and — yes — a few missteps from other builders.
Let’s go deeper.
The Page Builder Landscape: Then vs. Now
In the early 2010s, page builders were a reaction to something real: WordPress themes were difficult to customize without code.
Builders like WPBakery (then often bundled with premium themes) gave users tools they hadn’t had before. That meant fast adoption — not because they were perfect, but because they solved a problem immediately.
Around that same time, Beaver Builder emerged, focusing on a simpler, cleaner UI. Divi Builder (launched in 2015) brought its own twist as part of a theme and ecosystem.
Then Elementor arrived.
Despite entering later, it grew faster than all its predecessors and rivals. Statistics show that in 2026, Elementor holds roughly 52–59% of the page builder market among sites that use builders at all, with WPBakery and Divi far behind at ~20% and ~9% respectively.
In contrast, many older builders that were once major players now occupy much smaller positions, with tiny fractions of the overall builder share.
What Elementor Did That Others Didn’t (Or Didn’t Do Well Enough)
There isn’t a single “secret sauce,” but several factors seem to have come together for Elementor in a way that didn’t for many competitors.
1. A Freemium Model That Actually Worked
Right from the start, Elementor offered a generous free version that didn’t feel crippled. Users could build real pages without paying — and only later decide whether they needed Pro.
By contrast:
- WPBakery, launched in 2011, historically offered only premium licenses and was often bundled with themes. It did not have a free version that the wider WordPress user base could try out. This may have slowed organic adoption in the early stages.
- Divi bundled builder and theme together, which created loyalty but also tied its growth to Elegant Themes memberships rather than to the broader WordPress plugin ecosystem.
A free version, that was consistently updated — gave Elementor a low barrier to try and adopt, especially for beginners and small businesses.
2. UI/UX Focus That Felt Easier Than Alternatives
When Elementor launched, many builders worked — but didn’t feel intuitive to non-developers.
Early versions of other builders were often:
- Back-end editors without real drag-and-drop
- Confusing UI patterns
- Based on shortcodes which made migrations painful
Elementor’s front-end real-time editing was a step closer to a visual design tool, even if it wasn’t perfect. That resonated with users who didn’t want to keep toggling between editor screens — especially freelancers, agencies, and non-developers.
This aspect is partially an assumption based on user commentary and adoption patterns, but it’s supported by the rapid growth in its active installations — soaring into the millions in just a few years after launch.
3. Ecosystem and Add-Ons (Network Effect)
A thriving ecosystem matters.
Once Elementor became popular, a wave of third-party add-ons, templates, themes, and tutorials for Elementor emerged. That network effect made Elementor not just a builder but a platform other tools catered to.
When developers know they can reach millions of users by integrating with one builder, they pick the one with the biggest audience.
This kind of momentum accelerates growth in a way that’s hard for competitors to match unless they break out into their own ecosystems.
4. Staying Current with Features
Some competitors released strong initial products but then didn’t evolve as aggressively — or their updates felt incremental.
According to usage trends, older tools like WPBakery have seen flat or declining relative share, while Elementor has continued to grow.
For example:
- Elementor added theme building, popups, dynamic content, and AI tools over time.
- Some older builders stayed focused on content layout without expanding into full site building as early.
Listening to user needs and expanding where other builders were slow may have widened Elementor’s appeal.
Where Competitors Fell Short (or Faced Challenges)
This isn’t to say other builders were bad. Many have loyal users and strengths. But certain challenges limited their growth relative to Elementor.
1. Legacy Approaches and Technical Debt
Builders like WPBakery grew up in an earlier era of WordPress development. Their underlying architecture — often based on shortcodes and older UI patterns — made them less flexible or slower to modernize compared to newer tools.
That can affect:
- performance
- ease of integration
- migration friendliness
Users who started with newer builders didn’t face those constraints.
2. Bundled Distribution Doesn’t Always Create Loyalty
WPBakery’s widespread adoption was fueled by being bundled with themes — especially on marketplaces like ThemeForest. That meant users encountered it everywhere.
But “pre-installed” doesn’t always translate to “preferred.” A theme installer might never upgrade it or explore features. That distribution isn’t the same as active choice.
Elementor’s growth, on the other hand, came from users choosing it directly because it solved a problem for them.
3. Fragmentation and Niche Builders
A lot of builders tried to compete by doing things differently — focusing on speed, developer features, marketing funnels, or niche workflows.
While these tools were good in their lanes, they:
- Rarely captured broad market share
- Often appealed to a specific audience
- Didn’t cultivate a large enough ecosystem to accelerate growth
Some — like Brizy or smaller builders — never reached sufficient penetration to challenge the top three.
That’s not necessarily a failure — it just meant they stayed niche.
How Gutenberg Changed the Conversation (Context, Not Replacement)
While not a direct page builder competitor, WordPress’s Gutenberg editor fundamentally shifted the landscape.
Gutenberg has grown as the default editor and, over time, has eaten into the space where page builders might have otherwise gained traction.
This means:
- Some users are building simpler sites without third-party builders at all
- Page builders now compete with core platform evolution, not just each other
So the fact that dedicated builders still command a significant chunk of the page builder market is interesting.
Elementor’s Lead Today: What the Numbers Say
According to recent data:
- Elementor dominates page builder usage with roughly 52–59% share among all third-party builders.
- WPBakery(20%) and Divi (9%) trail significantly behind
- Gutenberg itself is growing and is technically the most common editor overall, but dedicated builders continue to be important for complex layouts and designs.
Those figures paint a clear picture: Elementor didn’t just inch past its competitors — it pulled ahead by a large margin.
So…
No single page builder “failed” catastrophically. But when you put the trends together with the adoption data, a few patterns emerge:
- Builders that started early but didn’t evolve fast enough lost relative share.
- Tools with a low barrier to try and wide ecosystem grew faster.
- Distribution through user choice beats distribution through bundling over time.
- Platform improvements (Gutenberg) shifted expectations and raised the bar for what visual editing should feel like.
Some of this interpretation — especially around strategic mistakes — is an educated guess based on growth patterns and how tools are perceived in the WordPress community.
But the measurable part is clear: Elementor today is by far the dominant third-party page builder, and competitors that were once close rivals now occupy much smaller positions.
If you’re building sites today, it’s worth understanding not just which tool is most popular, but why — because the reasons behind that popularity tell you a lot about the future direction of WordPress site building.