First of all, this is not an in-depth comparison. There are already too many articles online doing that. This is more about my experience with both page builders. If you read my previous blogs about Website Development, you already know that I was using Oxygen Builder to create this website and how I praised this page builder, but pay attention to the word “was”…
Unfortunately, I left Oxygen Builder in favour (again) of Elementor. As a visitor of this website, you did not notice the changes because I built the Elementor version on a development subsite, but now it’s live. My goal was to re-create this site almost pixel-perfect in Elementor, and I must admit it was easier than I thought!
Oxygen Builder
Why did I stop using it?
There are several reasons, the most important are:
- There are several bugs in Oxygen Builder and the developers are too slow to solve them.
- The Gutenberg integration is a joke and it is not working like advertised.
- I was busier with the technical aspect of the website than with the content.
- Slow editor load time.
- The direction the developers are going with the product.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Oxygen Builder, but at this stage, it feels like it’s not mature enough for production sites. Yes, you can do EVERYTHING with the page builder as long as you have knowledge of PHP, Javascript and CSS. The lack of essential widgets was also a reason to leave. I ended up installing plug-ins for almost everything; basic functions like social sharing buttons, custom fonts, contact forms etc. all the functions/widgets that a normal website uses. In the end, I had 15 plug-ins installed! Too many for my taste.
Elementor
Why did I return?
With Elementor, you can almost develop a site with your eyes closed. Everything feels more mature and stable. There is almost no need for extra plug-ins, social sharing buttons, custom fonts, and forms are all included in the builder.
Yes, Elementor is still bloated with code, but the developers are aware, and they are working on solutions (Experimental).
The number one reason people like me went for Oxygen Builder was the bloated code of Elementor and speed. I did a test with the old and new websites and compared them. Yes, Oxygen Builder is still faster. I’m not talking about seconds but about milliseconds.
Is Elementor perfect? The short answer is no. In my case for this website, I needed more breakpoints, but the good news is (if I check the beta versions of Elementor) that’s coming! (Update: Elementor 3.3.7 has this option).
Elementor Add-ons
Sometimes you need a widget or widgets, and you wish Elementor had them built-in, but we cannot expect everything from a page builder. That’s why a huge environment of add-ons exists for Elementor compared with the lack of add-ons for Oxygen.
But so far, the only add-on I recommend is Extras for Elementor by Namogo. Their “Posts Extra” widget is one of the most useful add-ons that I discovered while returning to Elementor. With this widget, you can control every aspect of the post listing. You can even create your own from scratch. Another useful widget is “Display Conditions”, used for showing or not sections, columns or widgets.
Update!
Unfortunately, I ditched the Extras for Elementor addon. I had some bugs, questions and recommendations for the developers. So I opened a support ticket on their website. It’s now more than 3 weeks that I’m still waiting for a response! The same when joining their Facebook group, still waiting to be accepted.
In the end, I wrote an email for a refund. Until now, no answer. If a company doesn’t answer after one week, that’s, for me, a big no.
In the meantime, I discovered another addon, Dynamic Content for Elementor, from the company Dynamic, with even more options to discover. I write a blog about this addon soon. Let’s try and see for now…
So will I stay with Elementor or go for another solution? Only the future will tell because the world of page builders is rapidly evolving…
Stay tuned!
