Elementor in 2026: Everything You Need to Know

What Makes Elementor the Most Widely Used WordPress Page Builder

Elementor has grown from a simple drag-and-drop page builder into a full website creation platform used on over 16 million websites. Its visual editing approach lets you design pages in real time without writing code, while its Theme Builder extends that control to headers, footers, single post templates, archive pages, and WooCommerce product layouts.

Whether you are building a portfolio, a corporate site, an online store, or a blog, Elementor provides the tools to create professional designs without relying on a developer. This guide covers everything from the basics of the interface to advanced techniques for dynamic content, performance optimization, and the growing add-on ecosystem.

Understanding the Elementor Interface

Elementor replaces the default WordPress editor with a live visual editor. When you click "Edit with Elementor," the page loads in a split view: your content canvas on the right and the Elementor panel on the left.

Key Interface Elements

• Left Panel: Contains widgets, settings, navigation, and the responsive mode switcher. Widgets are organized by category (Basic, Pro, General, Site, WooCommerce)
• Canvas: Your live page preview where you drag, drop, and arrange elements. Click any element to edit it directly
• Section/Column structure: Pages are built with Sections (full-width rows) containing Columns that hold Widgets. Elementor 3.6+ introduced Containers (Flexbox) as a more modern alternative to the Section/Column model
• Navigator: A tree view of your page structure, essential for managing complex layouts with nested elements
• Responsive mode: Switch between Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile views. Most settings can be customized per breakpoint
• History panel: Undo/redo with a full revision history. You can roll back to any previous saved state

Flexbox Containers vs. Sections

Elementor's newer Container element uses CSS Flexbox layout, replacing the older Section/Column system. Containers generate cleaner HTML with fewer wrapper divs, resulting in lighter pages. They also offer more flexible layout options including row and column direction, wrapping, alignment, and gap controls that were not possible with the legacy system. New projects should use Containers exclusively. Enable them in Elementor → Settings → Features.

Widget Library Overview

Elementor's widget library is organized into categories. The free version includes approximately 40 widgets, while Elementor Pro adds over 50 additional widgets and features.

Template System

Templates are pre-designed layouts you can save, reuse, and share across your site. Elementor's template system works at multiple levels.

Template Types

• Page Templates: Complete page designs you can import and customize
• Section Templates: Individual sections (hero, features, pricing, FAQ) you can combine to build pages
• Global Widgets: A widget configured once that appears identically on every page where it is used. Edit the global widget, and all instances update simultaneously — ideal for CTAs, banners, and contact information
• Theme Builder Templates (Pro): Control the design of your entire theme including headers, footers, single posts, archive pages, and search results

Elementor includes a Template Library with hundreds of professionally designed templates. You can also save any section or page as a template for reuse and export templates as JSON files to share between sites.

Theme Builder: Full Site Control

Theme Builder is arguably Elementor Pro's most valuable feature. It lets you design every part of your WordPress theme visually, without touching PHP template files. Access it from Elementor → Theme Builder.

Template Areas

• Header: Design a custom header with your logo, navigation menu, search, cart icon, and any other elements. Create multiple headers with display conditions (e.g., a different header for the blog vs. the shop)
• Footer: Custom footer with columns, widgets, newsletter signup, social links, and copyright text
• Single Post: Control the layout of individual blog posts including title, featured image, content, author bio, comments, and related posts
• Single Page: Default template for pages not edited with Elementor
• Archive: Design category pages, tag pages, author archives, date archives, and search results
• Product (WooCommerce): Custom single product page layout with complete control over the product image gallery, title, price, add-to-cart button, tabs, and related products
• Product Archive: Custom shop page and product category page layouts
• 404 Page: Design a custom "page not found" experience

Popup Builder

Elementor Pro includes a full-featured popup builder that eliminates the need for standalone popup plugins. You can create popups visually using the same drag-and-drop interface and trigger them based on various user interactions.

Popup Triggers

• On page load: Appears when the page loads (with optional delay)
• On scroll: Triggers after scrolling a percentage of the page or reaching a specific element
• On click: Appears when a visitor clicks a button, link, or other element
• After inactivity: Shows when the visitor has been idle for a set time
• On exit intent: Detects when the cursor moves toward the browser close button (desktop only)

Common popup use cases include email newsletter signups, promotional announcements, login/registration forms, cookie consent notices, and age verification gates. Use display conditions to show different popups on different pages and set frequency rules to avoid annoying visitors with the same popup repeatedly.

WooCommerce Builder

The WooCommerce Builder lets you design custom product pages, shop pages, cart, checkout, and my-account pages visually. This is particularly valuable because WooCommerce's default templates are functional but basic.

What You Can Customize

• Single product page layout (rearrange product images, title, price, description, reviews)
• Product archive/shop page grid layouts and filtering
• Cart page design with cross-sell product recommendations
• Checkout page layout optimized for conversions
• My Account page with custom dashboard widgets
• Thank-you page with upsell opportunities

Form Builder

Elementor Pro includes a form builder widget that handles contact forms, registration forms, newsletter signups, and multi-step forms. Forms integrate with email marketing services (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, ConvertKit, Drip), CRMs, and custom webhooks. Form submissions can trigger automated actions like sending emails, adding subscribers to lists, or posting data to external APIs.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic content connects Elementor widgets to your WordPress data. Instead of typing static text into a heading widget, you can pull the page title, custom field value, or any other dynamic data. This is the foundation for creating template-driven designs that populate automatically.

Dynamic Sources

• Post and page fields (title, excerpt, content, featured image, date, author)
• Custom fields (ACF, Pods, JetEngine, Meta Box, Toolset)
• Site information (site title, tagline, logo)
• User data (display name, email, avatar, role)
• WooCommerce product data (price, SKU, stock status, sale badge)
• Archive information (term name, description, count)

Custom CSS and Advanced Styling

While Elementor's visual controls handle most styling needs, Custom CSS (Pro feature) lets you add CSS rules to any widget, section, or column. This is useful for animations, pseudo-elements, and styles that are not available through the visual interface.

Use the selector keyword as a placeholder for the element's CSS selector. For example: selector .elementor-heading-title { text-shadow: 2px 2px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.3); }

Responsive Editing

Elementor provides per-breakpoint controls for most settings. Click the device icon next to any setting to reveal responsive options. You can set different values for desktop, tablet, and mobile for properties like font size, padding, margin, column width, visibility, and layout direction.

Responsive Tips

• Design desktop first, then adjust tablet and mobile
• Use the Hide on Desktop/Tablet/Mobile option to show different layouts per device
• Set font sizes in relative units (em/rem) or use Elementor's responsive font scaling
• Test on actual devices, not just the responsive preview — real device rendering can differ
• Custom breakpoints (Pro) let you define your own device widths beyond the default three

Elementor Free vs. Pro: Feature Comparison

For a detailed comparison of Elementor with other page builders, see our Page Builder Comparison and Elementor vs. Gutenberg articles.

Performance Optimization for Elementor Sites

Elementor generates additional HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that can impact page load times if not managed properly. Here are specific optimization strategies for Elementor sites.

For a comprehensive guide to WordPress performance including server-side optimizations, see our WordPress Speed Optimization Guide.

Add-Ons Ecosystem

A thriving ecosystem of third-party add-ons extends Elementor with additional widgets, features, and integrations. Popular add-ons include:

• Essential Addons for Elementor: 90+ widgets including data tables, pricing tables, content timeline, advanced accordion, and filterable gallery
• Happy Addons Pro: 110+ widgets with cross-domain copy-paste, preset designs, and advanced features like image comparison and particle effects
• JetEngine: Dynamic content framework with custom post types, custom fields, query builder, and dynamic listings
• PowerPack: 80+ widgets including advanced menu, WooCommerce widgets, display conditions, and content protection
• Jetelements: Additional widgets focused on design elements like parallax, particles, and animated text

Elementor AI

Elementor AI, launched in 2023 and significantly expanded in 2025-2026, integrates artificial intelligence directly into the editor. You can generate text content, create and edit images, generate custom CSS code, and get layout suggestions without leaving the Elementor interface. AI is particularly useful for generating initial copy for sections, creating placeholder images during design, and writing custom CSS for effects that are not available through the visual interface. Pro users get expanded AI capabilities including higher usage limits and access to advanced models.

Workflow Tips for Faster Design

• Start with a template: Even if you plan to customize extensively, beginning with a template is faster than starting from scratch
• Create a design system: Define your global colors, fonts, and button styles before building pages. Elementor's Global Settings let you set these site-wide
• Use global widgets: For elements that repeat across pages (CTAs, newsletter forms, contact info), create a global widget once
• Copy and paste styles: Right-click any element to copy its style, then paste it onto another element
• Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+Z (undo), Ctrl+S (save), Ctrl+Shift+M (responsive mode), Ctrl+I (navigator)
• Use the Finder: Ctrl+E opens a quick search to jump to any page, template, or setting
• Save frequently: Elementor auto-saves, but manual saves ensure your work is preserved

For more details, refer to the official documentation: Elementor Help Center, Elementor Developer Docs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Elementor slow down my website?

Elementor adds frontend code (HTML, CSS, and JS) that can increase page weight. However, with proper optimization — using Containers, minimizing widget count, enabling improved CSS loading, and using a caching plugin — Elementor sites can achieve fast load times. Many high-traffic sites running Elementor score well on Core Web Vitals. The key is disciplined building practices rather than avoiding the tool entirely.

Can I use Elementor with any WordPress theme?

Elementor works with most WordPress themes. However, some themes offer deeper Elementor integration with header/footer compatibility, consistent styling, and dedicated Elementor widgets. Themes like Astra, GeneratePress, OceanWP, and Hello (Elementor's own theme) are specifically optimized for Elementor and provide the smoothest experience.

What is the difference between Elementor Free and Pro?

Elementor Free provides the core visual editor with approximately 40 widgets, basic templates, and responsive controls. Elementor Pro adds 50+ additional widgets, Theme Builder, Popup Builder, WooCommerce Builder, Form Builder, dynamic content, custom CSS, global widgets, motion effects, and premium support. For business sites, Pro is a practical necessity.

Can I use Elementor for WooCommerce stores?

Yes. Elementor Pro's WooCommerce Builder lets you design custom product pages, shop archives, cart, checkout, and account pages visually. You get WooCommerce-specific widgets for displaying products, categories, add-to-cart buttons, and product details. This gives you far more design control than WooCommerce's default templates provide.

How does Elementor compare to Gutenberg in 2026?

Gutenberg (the WordPress Block Editor) has improved significantly but still focuses primarily on content editing. Elementor provides a more comprehensive design experience with advanced layout controls, a larger widget library, and features like Theme Builder and Popup Builder that Gutenberg does not yet match. However, Gutenberg is lighter, loads faster, and is improving with every WordPress release. For a detailed comparison, read our Elementor vs. Gutenberg article.

How do I migrate from another page builder to Elementor?

Migrating from another page builder to Elementor requires rebuilding pages because page builders use proprietary shortcodes and data structures that are not interchangeable. However, you can use the WordPress content (text, images, links) and recreate layouts in Elementor. Some plugins offer partial migration from specific builders, but manual rebuild produces cleaner results. Plan for a gradual migration, converting pages one at a time.

What are Elementor Containers and should I use them?

Containers are Elementor's modern layout system based on CSS Flexbox. They replace the older Section/Column model with a single, flexible element that can act as both a section and a column. Containers produce cleaner HTML, fewer DOM elements, and more flexible layouts. All new projects should use Containers exclusively. Existing sites can gradually migrate by rebuilding sections as Containers.

Can I build a multilingual site with Elementor?

Yes. Elementor is compatible with major translation plugins including WPML, Polylang, and TranslatePress. WPML offers the deepest integration with a dedicated Elementor translation editor. You build your page once in the default language, then translate it into other languages. Theme Builder templates can have separate translations for each language.

How do I add custom fonts to Elementor?

Elementor Pro includes a Custom Fonts feature under Elementor → Custom Fonts. Upload your font files (WOFF2 recommended for web performance) and they become available in the font dropdown throughout the editor. For Elementor Free, you can use a plugin like Custom Fonts or add @font-face declarations via your theme's functions.php or a custom CSS plugin.

Is Elementor Pro worth the cost?

For anyone building a business website, client sites, or an online store, Elementor Pro pays for itself quickly through time savings and reduced need for additional plugins. Theme Builder alone replaces the need for a premium theme, Popup Builder replaces a popup plugin, and Form Builder replaces a form plugin. At $59 per year for a single site, the value proposition is strong for professional use.