Elementor, Divi, Avada and the block editor: when page builders earn their keep and when core WordPress is enough.
Page builders like Elementor, Divi and Avada gave WordPress the visual design controls that core spent years without. They also brought licence fees, heavier pages and a layer of lock-in that only becomes visible when you try to leave. Every release of WordPress core chips away at the gap, and every release of the big builders responds.
We host page builder sites every day and have built plenty ourselves, so these articles skip the tribalism. Expect release coverage, security advisories, performance comparisons and honest advice on the question every site owner eventually asks: do I still need this plugin?
WordPress 7.1 shipped on 19 August with responsive styling and hover states built into the editor, two jobs that have pushed people towards Elementor for years. Updated for the release: what actually landed, the one thing we got wrong in July, the two settings that can hide the new controls, and the UK maths on whether your page builder site should care.
