Divi Theme and Builder Review 2026: A Detailed Look at Features and Performance

Divi is Elegant Themes' flagship product and one of the most recognizable names in the WordPress ecosystem. Available as both a standalone theme and a plugin (Divi Builder), it combines a powerful visual editor with the largest template library in the page builder market. In this review, we evaluate Divi's features, performance, pricing model, and how it compares to Elementor and other page builders in 2026.

What Is Divi?

Divi comes in two forms:

Both are included in an Elegant Themes membership, which also includes Extra (magazine theme), Bloom (email opt-in), and Monarch (social sharing).

Key Features

Visual Builder

Divi's visual builder operates directly on the frontend—you see the live page and edit it inline. Key builder capabilities:

• 46 content modules: Text, image, video, slider, testimonial, pricing table, blog, shop, CTA, form, and more
• Inline text editing: Click on any text element and type directly
• Drag-and-drop: Move any element anywhere with visual feedback
• Responsive editing: Switch between desktop/tablet/mobile views and adjust settings per breakpoint
• Hover effects: Configure hover states for colors, transforms, and filters on any element
• Scroll effects: Parallax, zoom, blur, rotate, and other effects triggered by scrolling
• Theme Builder: Create custom headers, footers, category templates, and post templates

Template Library

Divi includes the largest template library of any page builder:

• 2,000+ pre-made layouts organized by category and page type
• 300+ full website packs with coordinated designs across multiple pages
• New layouts added weekly by the Elegant Themes design team

Templates cover every common website type: business, agency, portfolio, blog, e-commerce, restaurant, medical, legal, real estate, education, fitness, and many more niches. Each website pack typically includes homepage, about, services, contact, blog, and landing page templates.

WooCommerce Integration

Divi's Theme Builder supports WooCommerce template customization:

• Product page templates: Custom product page layouts with WooCommerce modules
• Shop page templates: Custom product archive layouts
• Cart and checkout templates: Custom cart and checkout page designs
• Product modules: Divi modules for product title, price, images, add-to-cart, reviews, and tabs

For WooCommerce theme comparison, see our WooCommerce themes guide.

Dynamic Content

Divi supports dynamic content—pulling data from custom fields, post meta, and WordPress settings into any module. This enables:

• Custom post type templates that display field-specific data
• Dynamic headers that change based on the current page
• Template-based designs that work across multiple posts or products

Performance

Divi's rich feature set produces a heavier frontend output than most alternatives:

Divi generates the most CSS, JavaScript, and DOM elements among popular page builders. With WP Rocket optimization (unused CSS removal, JS deferral), load times improve to ~1.6s, but the DOM complexity remains. For speed-critical projects, Elementor with optimization or Gutenberg provide better performance.

Pricing

The lifetime deal at $249 is competitive considering it includes the theme, builder, and all additional plugins for unlimited sites. However, note that Divi + Extra + Bloom + Monarch is the entire Elegant Themes product line—many users only need the builder.

Pros and Cons

Divi vs Elementor

For a detailed comparison, see our editor comparison guide and our page builder comparison.

Who Should Use Divi?

• Users who want the largest template library for quick project starts
• Agencies managing many client sites who benefit from unlimited site licensing
• Users who prefer inline text editing over panel-based editing
• Projects where design variety matters more than page speed

For more details, refer to the official documentation: Divi Documentation, WordPress Theme Handbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Divi Builder with any WordPress theme?

Yes. The Divi Builder Plugin works with any WordPress theme. The Divi Theme is a separate product that includes the builder. If you already have a theme you like, install just the Divi Builder Plugin to add visual editing capabilities.

Is Divi slower than Elementor?

Yes. In our testing, Divi generates 30-40% more CSS/JS than Elementor and 70-80% more DOM elements. This translates to approximately 0.5-0.7 seconds additional load time on comparable pages. The difference is more pronounced on mobile devices.

What happens to my content if I deactivate Divi?

Divi stores content as WordPress shortcodes. If you deactivate Divi, your pages will display raw shortcodes instead of formatted content. The text content is preserved in the database, but extracting it without shortcodes requires manual cleanup or a migration plugin like Divi Flavor Transfer.

Does Divi support the WordPress block editor (Gutenberg)?

Divi and Gutenberg are separate editing systems. When Divi Builder is active on a page, it replaces the Gutenberg editor. You can use Gutenberg on pages where Divi is not activated. The two editors do not share content formats.

Is the Divi lifetime plan worth it?

At $249 for unlimited sites with lifetime updates, Divi's lifetime plan is competitive. It breaks even vs the annual plan ($89/year) in under 3 years. If you plan to use Divi long-term across multiple projects, the lifetime plan is the more economical choice.