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ToolGPA

Elementor vs WordPress.com

We give Elementor a 2.2 GPA and WordPress.com a 3.4, out of 4.0. WordPress.com grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

Elementor

Drag-and-drop page builder plugin and hosting for WordPress

Free plan · from $5/mo
Full detailselementor.com

WordPress.com

Hosted WordPress with themes, plugins and a free plan

Free plan · from $4/mo
Full detailswordpress.com

How we grade them

2.2GPAElementorFair3.4GPAWordPress.comVery good
Value for money
CGraded against its alternatives, Divi and the hosted builders. Advanced Solo, the plan with stored forms, popups and store widgets, is $7 a month for one site, billed $84 a year. Cheap for an editor, but hosting is extra: Elementor Host is $15 a month in its first year, taking one site to about $22.
APersonal is $4 a month for one site on yearly billing ($9 monthly), with your own domain, no ads and plugin installs. That's under 60% of this category's cheapest quarter ($5.40). Payment buttons need Premium, which is still only $8.
Free plan and trial
CThe free plugin has no time limit and builds real pages with the core widgets. But the theme builder and popups are Pro, and nothing goes live until you pay someone for hosting, since Elementor's plans don't include it.
CFree for good with unlimited pages and posts, but it's on a wordpress.com address with 1 GB of storage, WordPress.com ads shown to your visitors and no plugins. Fine for a hobby blog, not a business.
Features
CVisual editing with responsive controls, a theme builder for the whole site, forms, popups, WooCommerce page design and AI on the One plans. Plenty. The gap is the one the listing names: it needs a WordPress site, and no editor plan includes hosting.
AEvery paid plan can install any of more than 60,000 plugins, which no other builder here matches. Add themes, the block editor, WooCommerce on Commerce, and SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments on Business, and it covers the whole job and then some.
Ease of use
CNo rating on record. The editor is drag-and-drop with global styles, but first you need WordPress running on a host, then the plugin, then Pro, so there's real setup and a learning curve. Elementor Host takes out the hosting step for another fee.
B4.62 from about 22,300 App Store ratings. The AI builder gets a site going through a chat, but with plugins and themes in the mix there's more to choose and set than in a closed builder.
Platforms and integrations
BIt runs in the browser inside WordPress, works with WooCommerce and Google Analytics, and Elementor MCP connects sites to Claude, Codex and Cursor. No desktop or phone app is listed.
AWeb, iPhone and Android, plus WordPress Studio on Mac, Windows and Linux for building sites locally. Plugins connect it to almost anything, alongside WooCommerce, Jetpack, PayPal, Stripe and GitHub.
Best fordesigning WordPress sites visuallyWordPress without running your own server

The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Elementor and WordPress.com. How we grade

Price against what you get

Elementor starts at $5 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. WordPress.com starts at $4 a month and scores 3.7.

WordPress.com scores higher and starts $1 a month lower. Of the other website and landing page builders on the chart, 1 scores higher than Elementor for less, and none scores higher than WordPress.com for less.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

D1.0C2.0B3.0A4.0$0.5$1$2$5$10$20$50$100More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessElementorWordPress.com

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

  • The best score at each price
  • Has a free plan
  • No free plan
The full chart of website and landing page builders, and the best at every price

Where they differ

  • Elementor starts at $5 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($60 a year). WordPress.com starts at $4 per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly).
  • Only WordPress.com lists iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
  • Elementor also covers forms.
  • WordPress.com also covers email campaigns.
In commonFree planWebAI featuresTemplatesNo-code

At a glance

ElementorWordPress.com
PricingFree planFree plan
Starts at$5 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($60 a year)$4 per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly)
Free planThe free Elementor editor plugin for WordPress, with drag-and-drop tools, key widgets and core site-building features. You supply WordPress and hosting.a wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB of storage, unlimited pages and posts and 7 days of basic stats. Visitors see WordPress.com ads, and plugins need a paid plan.
Free trialNone listedNone listed
Web
macOS
Windows
Linux
iOS
Android
Made byElementor Ltd.Automattic Inc.
Price read fromelementor.comwordpress.com
CheckedOct 17, 2026Oct 17, 2026

Who each one suits

Elementor

  • WordPress users who want to design pages visually without code
  • Freelancers and agencies building many WordPress client sites
  • WooCommerce shops that want custom product and checkout pages

WordPress.com

  • Bloggers and writers who want WordPress without running a server
  • Sites that need a specific WordPress plugin or theme
  • Developers who want SSH, WP-CLI and Git on managed hosting

Worth knowing

Elementor

  • Elementor needs a WordPress site; the plugin and Pro plans do not include hosting, and Elementor Host does not include a Pro license.
  • Pro and One plans are billed annually, with no monthly option on the pricing page, and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
  • Essential stores no form submissions and has no popups, custom code or ecommerce widgets.
  • Elementor Host is a separate subscription, from $15 a month billed annually for one site ($180 the first year), and renews at list price.

WordPress.com

  • The free plan shows WordPress.com ads to visitors and cannot use a custom domain or plugins.
  • Monthly billing costs more than double the yearly rate on Personal and Premium and does not include the free first-year domain.
  • Backups, developer tools and priority support start on Business at $25 a month billed yearly.
  • The desktop app, WordPress Studio, is for building sites locally; site management on the go uses the Jetpack mobile app.

Key features

Elementor

Visual drag-and-drop editor
Pages are designed visually inside WordPress, with responsive controls for desktop, tablet and mobile and global styles for fonts and colors.
Theme Builder and dynamic content
Pro plans design headers, footers and templates for the whole site and pull WordPress content into them. Custom fields and post types start on Advanced Solo.
Forms and popups
A form builder sends leads to marketing tools and stores submissions from Advanced Solo up, where the popup builder is also included.
WooCommerce store design
Ecommerce widgets lay out WooCommerce product, cart and checkout pages. They are not included in Essential.
AI and Elementor MCP
One plans generate code, copy, images and layouts from prompts using monthly credits, and Elementor MCP connects sites to Claude, Codex and Cursor.
Elementor Host
Managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with a CDN, daily backups, staging and a free domain for the first year, sold apart from the editor plans.

WordPress.com

Themes and the block editor
Sites are built from free and premium themes in the WordPress block editor, with unlimited pages, posts and users on every plan.
Plugins on every paid plan
Personal and above can install any of more than 60,000 plugins from the marketplace or upload one directly. The free plan cannot.
AI site builder and assistant
A guided builder creates a site through a chat, within usage limits. Business and Commerce add the WordPress AI Assistant for content, design and site management.
Managed hosting and security
Every plan includes a global CDN, SSL, a firewall, malware removal and managed updates. Real-time backups and one-click restores start on Business.
Developer access
Business and Commerce add SFTP and SSH, WP-CLI, Git commands and GitHub deployments. WordPress Studio, a free desktop app, runs WordPress sites locally.
WooCommerce store
Commerce bundles WooCommerce extensions for unlimited products, upsells, bulk discounts and inventory, and accepts 135+ currencies.

Plans

Elementor

  • Free$0

    The basic Elementor editor plugin with drag-and-drop tools and core widgets, installed on your own WordPress site.

  • Essential$5

    per month for 1 site, billed annually ($60 a year)

    57 Pro widgets, Theme Builder, 10 cloud templates and forms without submission storage. No popups, custom code or ecommerce features.

  • Advanced Solo$7

    per month for 1 site, billed annually ($84 a year)

    85 Pro widgets, popups, custom code and CSS, ecommerce features and custom fields. Advanced is the same for 3 sites at $9 a month ($108 a year).

  • Expert$17

    per month for 25 sites, billed annually ($204 a year)

    Everything in Advanced across 25 sites, with storage for 5,000 cloud templates.

  • One$19

    per month for 1 site, billed annually ($228 a year)

    Editor Pro plus 25,000 monthly credits for AI, image optimization, accessibility, cookie consent and email delivery. First year advertised at $180.

  • One Agency$45

    per month for unlimited sites, billed annually ($540 a year)

    One for unlimited sites with 350,000 monthly credits shared across client sites. First year advertised at $432.

WordPress.com

  • Free$0

    A wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB of storage and basic stats, with WordPress.com ads shown to visitors.

  • Personal$4

    per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly)

    6 GB of storage, no ads, all premium themes, plugin installs and the AI site builder. $2.75 a month if paid every 3 years.

  • Premium$8

    per site / month, billed yearly ($18 billed monthly)

    13 GB of storage, premium stats with UTM tracking, PayPal and Stripe payment buttons and video uploads. $5.50 a month if paid every 3 years.

  • Business$25

    per site / month, billed yearly ($40 billed monthly)

    50 GB, priority support, SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments, real-time backups, VideoPress and email marketing to 500 subscribers.

  • Commerce$45

    per site / month, billed yearly ($70 billed monthly)

    Everything in Business plus WooCommerce store extensions, abandoned-cart emails and selling in 60+ countries with no transaction fee.

  • EnterpriseCustom

    WordPress VIP hosting for large organizations, priced through sales.

Ways to pay less

Elementor

  • Other savings

    Birthday sale: 21% off the first year of One

    The pricing page shows One at $180 for the first year instead of $228, and One Agency at $432 instead of $540. Both renew at the regular yearly rate. No end date is given.

WordPress.com

  • Annual discount

    Pay yearly to save 35% to 55% over monthly

    Personal is $4 a month billed yearly against $9 monthly; Premium $8 against $18; Business $25 against $40; Commerce $45 against $70.

  • Other savings

    Pay every 2 or 3 years for a lower monthly rate

    Paying every 3 years brings Personal to $2.75 a month ($99), Premium to $5.50 ($198), Business to $17.50 ($630) and Commerce to $31.50 ($1,134).

  • Other savings

    Free domain for the first year

    Yearly and multi-year paid plans include a custom domain such as .com, .net or .org free for the first year. Monthly plans do not.

More comparisons