Divi is the major WordPressThemeBuilder software of Elegant Themes. But Elegant Themes did the unthinkable on the Divi Blog – a 30-page review of WordPress Alternatives in a breathtakingly frank discussion of the competitive environment Divi and WordPress find themselves in.
Here is a distressed screen capture:
1 – Divi is not only a leading WordPress PageBuilder but also has been a pioneer in many WordPress UI innovations;
2 – Divi, likeElementor, has made recent advances in integration with Gutenberg Editor plus incorporating a broad set of AI tools:
Describes how Divi will integrate with Gutenberg Block coding and shortcodes.
Divi has gone full monte on AI to give it a leg-up on ThemeBuilder competitors and also as a new revenue source.
3 – The Elegant Theme Blog is garnering a reputation for excellent reviews of both WordPress and Web Development trends. This is similar to the Zapier and Kinsta blogs; but so far the Elegant Theme Blog has managed to avoid favoring “homebrew” tools. So let’s examine the Divi arguments for WordPress Alternatives.
Why Switch from WordPress?
Elegant Themes reviewer Chris Morris offers 3 arguments on how WordPress might be found wanting by prospective users:
1 – It’s hard to figure out how to build a website on WordPress because of all the options—analysis paralysis;
2 – If you’re not careful, building with WordPress can get expensive since there can be multiple line items with running a WP site (domain, hosting, theme, plugins, extra security. etc.);
3 – WordPress offers too much for some projects,so using it can slow time to first delivery;
Masterwp.guru describes key factors that have impacted WordPress Web Development
4 -Rapid change in Web Trends has profoundly modified Web Development workflows and calculus as seen below;
5 – “WordPress is not in Kansas Anymore” also underlines “analysis paralysis” problems due to WordPress’ complex layout and design features which add large learning curves to both frontend and backend processes. But other Webuilder have similar large learning curve problems;
6 – A second review, “How WordPress Lost the Low-code/No-code Market” tracks 2 factors. First, Web Builder and Enterprise Low-code tools are Cloud-based and come packed with “free” backup, SEO, security, and performance-optimizing features. as part of the total package. In effect, this matches if not exceeds WordPress website customizable features.
7 – With 10 high-risk security deficits, WordPress is one of the most vulnerable Web platforms for small businesses. However, WPBeginner describes a set of WordPress security practices that can substantially reduce its vulnerabilities.
So Elegant Themes reviewer Chris Morris describes how 11 Web Builders use Cloud performance and protections as attractive alternatives to WordPress.
The Astonishingly Large List of Web Builder Alternatives to WordPress
Can you imagine going to the Oracle Blog or Salesforce 360 Blog and finding a candid assessment of the best Cloud-based Data Integration tools? Or then a candid list of pros, cons, and pricing with easy-to-access links to the competitor’s websites? This is what Divi has done in its list of top 11 Web Builder alternatives. The Web Bulders are ranked with their name and link at the top of each pros and cons evaluation; Here is a summary of that list:
1 – Shopify is the best, easy-to-setup Webuilder for online eCommerce stores.
2 – Wix delivers top-notch Webuiler design features with new AI functionality.
3 – Squarespace delivers pro website designs with strong templates and customization choices.
4 – Webflow offers a top Web Design UI interface and advanced API features for development.
5 – Duda delivers a simple drag-and-drop interface supported by a wide array of specialized templates.
6 – Drupal is an original, free Open-Source CMS with large-scale applications.
7 – Hubspot is a one-stop shop for creating websites, managing content, and nurturing custom relationships.
8 – Ghost offers a publishing platform enabling creators to publish, distribute, and monetize their digital content easily.
9 – Medium like Ghosts is a publishing platform that provides extra social community benefits.
10- GoogleSites is an easy-to-use app generator featuring Google Docs components and simple drag-and-drop operations. Here is a sample site. If you are an extensive user of Google Docs and need to create an info/marketing website very quickly with no hassles and no costs[yet], try Google Sites. Also, consider Carrd.co as another easy-to-use quick app generator.
11- Weebly like Duda is a versatile UI-driven Webbuilder specializing in online sales.
12- Other Notable Alternatives features links and excepts on 14 more WordPress alternatives. It is significant that none of the fast-growing. large, and well financed Low-code/No-code tools are cited here.
Click on any Web Builder link above to see the complete Pros & Cons story on the Divi Blog. Along the way visit the links to detailed comparisons of popular tools like Shopify, Wix or Weebly with WordPress. This is a generous list Of Small Business Web Builders. But it is missing some key Web Development tools such as Low-code like LCAP, iPaaS and BPA described in detail here. This is a big miss by Chris in his Alternatives review.
In Defense of WordPress
In April 2023 Divi Blog had a review – WordPress vs Everything Else: The Ultimate CMS Showdown which matched up WordPress with many of the Web Builder alternatives presented above. This defensive review occurred before the October Praise of Alternative Web Builders. But strangely, Chris Morris fails to use any of the key arguments in favor of WordPress. Instead, he offers “a couple of reasons why you may want to stick with WordPress.” Only two?
It starts with “You may be looking to replace WordPress, and that’s fine—you are free to do so” This misses a key WordPress advantage – it is easy to switch among most WordPress themes, media, and non-UI interface plugins. Consider the robust choices among SEO, security, performance tuning, backup & migration, membership & events, gallery & slider, and other major plugin groups. – many of which are substantially free and better than the Web Builder free tools. And new integration between PageBuilder and Gutenberg block code means the opportunity for conversion within WordPress tools may be more attractive than adopting a new Web Builder with a substantial learning curve of its own. This cost of switching can be assessed as shown below:
So let’s quickly look at migrating WordPress to the top five Web Builder alternatives:
1 – Spotify can get you halfway there but missing key modules and with difficult details here.
2 – Wix has a WordPress post/page to Wix utility that also gets halfway there but theme, backend, and integration risks remain.
3-Â Squarespace agency envisions a 9-step process and a few weeks per site conversion.
4 – Webflow also falls short on basic post/page conversion – e-commerce, templates, and theme customizations are thin.
5 – Duda has the strongest post, page, and template conversions; but backend routines pale in comparison to WordPress.
Realize also that alternative Web Builders have similar problems as WordPress – learning curves for their operations, security gaps for new routines and integrations, expensive product specialists, etc. As you move among the list of Web Builders, carefully examine each tool’s features and their exact fit to all parts of your website’s mission.
WordPress is Open Source and therefore highly extendible/customizable. This is essentially the WordPress advantage in IT and Web development As Chris points out it has paid off with 40% of the World’s websites using WordPress. The huge theme [3500] and plugin libraries[55,0000 with many being free for basic operations has builtup a huge WordPress software capital.
Look at three arenas where WordPress vendors have not only been pioneers but also are actively setting new standards. From 2005, WordPress pioneered point and click, drag and drop operations with the Visual Editor , widget blocks, and menu layouts. This has been followed by robust theme customizations and plugin setup and support using point and click operations on GUI interfaces. Within the past 3 years, WordPress PageBuilders have brought not just WYSIWYG page layout but high level No-code standards in creating Web pageformating and designs For example, look at Breakdance, BricksBuilder, Elementor, Gutenberg FSE, Oxygen and Seed for their various UI/UX interface innovations which are standard No-code innovations.
Theme Building sets the structure and layout for a website including color usage, typography standards, spacing and sizing within pages and posts, plus structures and layouts permitted with pages with adjustment for desktop, mobile, and now highly varied IOT-Internet of Things devices.
This is the same pricing model adopted by Web Builders but their free startup versions having only barebones features.
However, WordPress’s strength is challenged with keeping up with fast developing frameworks likeKubernites and Docker for app integration or Vue.Js or Svelte or Ember in Javascript libraries. The result is that WordPress is challenged to keep up with the Enterprise Low-code/No-code web developer tools. But WordPress leadership[Matt Mullenweg and his executive team at Automattic]has been bogged down in the transition to its new Gutenberg UI with the result that the media library, admin interface and multi-website control has languished. So this raises the question:
How Can WordPress Respond to Web Builder & Low-Code Challengers?
The critical problem facing WordPress developers is how to respond to the constant rate of change in the IT industry . The need is to be strategic in adopting to competitors advantages. Here is our list:
1 –
2 _ Security is a problem faced by Web Builder and Low-code Sytems also. But WordPress is particularly vulnerable for the following reasons:
a – WordPress websites have more themes and plugins that can be used without screening which