As more and more people are starting to use the newer versions of WordPress, a question comes to one’s mind that if Gutenberg is the new WordPress Page Builder, is efficient enough or not.
Every element in Gutenberg is treated as a block which allows one to add content and elements to a page. One can apply custom styling and colours to each block using Gutenberg.
WordPress Page Building Plugins are drag and drop based tools which allow one to create web pages without any need to write some code. Top Page Building plugins are Beaver Builder, Visual Component which come with ready to use templates for page building.
Key difference between GutenBerg and other plugins is that Gutenberg is an inbuilt feature to build pages while WordPress Page Builders are third-party plugins created and maintained by other developers.
On the first look, both might sound similar in terms of functionality, however as you go through this article , you might conclude that they are different in terms of usability but vastly different in terms of how they let you build pages.
1. Drag & Drop vs Block Based Approach:
Page Builders allow you to drag and drop elements to your page, give control over their dimensions and create columns or blocks inside these elements.
On the other hand, Gutenberg has a block based approach which allows you to drag and drop the elements, allow control over the dimensions, position and the layout of the page using rows and columns.
2. Custom themes and CSS Compatibility:
Gutenberg is reliant on the pre-written themes for WordPress pages and also gives support for custom themes for each block, but it does not override the users themes.
On the other hand, Page Builders have support for custom CSS based themes which get overridden. This can be helpful when building pages or customising the page.
3. Approach towards editing:
Gutenberg is a backend editor, which means that getting a preview of what the content will look like in real time is not possible. However it gives you the best idea about what your content will look like.
Page Builders are totally focused on page building, hence live previews and editing are possible without the need to save the page.
4. Layout and Design:
Gutenberg allows you to create complex layouts using Columns, Rows , Tables and custom images. But this limits the different types of layouts you can create.
Page Builder plugins come with more options to customise page layout. You can also change or add content without affecting the entire layout.
5. Element Customisation:
Both of these page builders treat elements as either blocks, widgets or simply as page elements.
Gutenberg which treats each element as blocks comes with a set of pre-built blocks which are commonly used across all pages. These blocks can also be reused in other webpages.
Access to an API which allows users to create custom blocks extend its usability. Moreover, relevant plugins have their own Gutenberg blocks.
Page builders come with a set of pre-built elements such as sliders, navigation bars and elements, forms and more. They also offer add-ons and API’s to help developers come up with more and more elements.
6. Formatting:
Gutenberg comes with its own pre-written options regarding styling and formatting, but its options are limited. Ability to write custom themes extends its usability in terms of formatting.
Page Builders on the other hand provide more options in terms of formatting by making use of colours, gradients, images and so on.
In case you want a TL;DR(Too long; didn’t read),
Gutenberg has more functionality but its control over the page is limited. Page Building plugins have lesser functionalities but allow users to have more control over the page and its styling.