Thrive Architect VS Elementor: Which One is the Winner?

Can't decide between Thrive Architect and Elementor? By the time you're done reading this article i'm confident you'll be able to make your decision.

Both of these wordpress page builders are excellent, but they both have some subtle differences. These differences will determine which one is best for you and the site you are looking to create.

Both of these WordPress theme builders are fantastic at what they do, but they each accomplish the job in a slightly different way.  I want to help you to decide which is the best one of the two of them and one that is going to be absolutely perfect for your page building needs.

Elementor Free Version

I do want to point out that there is a free version of Elementor. However, I'm not going to include it in any comparison on this page. We only want to talk about Elementor Pro. 

This is because the free version is lacking a lot of features, and it would be a very unfair comparison when we pit it against Thrive Architect.

Now, right away, you will be able to see that Elementor Pro is slightly cheaper. However, do bear in mind that you are not going to be getting as much for your money here. You see, Thrive Architect is going to give you lifetime updates for free. 

This means that whenever the plugin is updated, you will be given an update. You don't get this with Elementor Pro. You get one year of updates only.

When that year is done, if you want more updates (and this includes security fixes), you are going to need to pay for another licence. The cost of this is going to start to stack up rather quickly.

Features of Thrive Architect and Elementor Pro

There are a lot of features in each of the plugins. Before we discuss the differences between the two, you should have a look through this chart to see the various features available at a 'glance'. If there is something that you really need in your WordPress theme builder plugin, then you will be able to see which one is right for you:

Honestly, in terms of major features, there isn't really anything that one plugin has which the other doesn't. The only major difference is that you have the ability to try out Elementor for free before you jump into buying the Pro version of the plugin.

But even then that isn't a major thing. After all, the Free version barely contains enough features for you to be able to determine whether the Pro version is the right option. You do have a full 30-days to try out Thrive Architect, which is a far better demo than Elementor Free gives you.

Speaking of updates, here's an update that Thrive Architect recently announced. It may be a bit dated by the time you read this but chances are they have already created many new updates since this video. I'll try to keep this updated if they release more videos.

Page Content Templates 

One thing people love about Elementor Pro is that you are able to create page content templates with it. This is great for designing your website. This is a feature which is planned to come later on with Thrive Architect, though.

In fact, by the time you read this, there is a good chance that it already would have been released so you can check that out too. It is not an essential feature, but it is great if you are looking to design something more than your standard landing page.

Having Thrive Architect integrate with so many different email marketing providers will reduce the amount of effort you need to put into getting your squeeze pages set up.

One major benefit is that Thrive Architect has also released several additional plugins under the same banner. These will cost money, but they can add useful additional features to your website.

All of these plugins will have been tested extensively with Thrive Architect, so you know that they are going to work without causing you any issues.

While there is a lot of overlap between Elementor Pro and Thrive Architect here, it is evident that both products are aimed at different markets.

This is where you will likely be making your decision about which product is right for you.

If you are looking to build a basic website, perhaps a portfolio or a social site, then Elementor Pro probably has the elements that you need.

However, if you want to make a site that makes money and converts exceedingly well, then Thrive Architect is going to have all of the features that you need packed into it. There is a reason why Thrive Architect is often the 'go to' plugin for so many of the top internet marketers out there.

For example; Thrive Architect will allow you to build up review sites easily, and comes with several elements which will make your content a bit easier to read for your users. There are also tools for conversions e.g. buttons and logos.

However, as mentioned before, Elementor Pro is going to be a lot better at building portfolio-focused websites. Perhaps for a light business website that isn't really there to do much beyond give an online presence to a company.

Landing Pages

Most of the people who are picking up a WordPress page builder are going to want to build a landing page at some time. It is the landing page which will give you the vast majority of your conversions, so you need to make sure that whatever page builder you choose, it is going to help you on that front.

These are the landing page features included in each Elementor Pro and Thrive Architect:

These are full templates, and you get a decent chunk of them in each of the page builders. Although, as with the elements that we talked about earlier, the landing pages are aimed at completely different markets.

Thrive Architect is purely designed for those who are looking to create a complete sales funnel. 

Every single page that you can make with Thrive Architect is there to drive people from start to finish throughout the sales process. It accomplishes this exceedingly well.

With Thrive Architect, you can have a quality marketing website up and running in next-to-no time at all.

Elementor Pro, on the other hand, is more focused on general landing pages. Basically, these are there to help you to put together a website very quickly.

They are not templates that are necessarily about 'making the sale'. As we mentioned a little bit before in this review. Elementor Pro can also create content page templates.

Although, do bear in mind that this is a feature that will be coming to Thrive Architect at some point, so it shouldn't be a feature that you focus on too much.

Thrive Architect really does make the landing page process incredibly easy. So, if you want those quality landing pages, then Thrive Architect is really the only route to go down.

Thrive Architect

Thrive Architect is completely distraction-free. No windows getting in your way. Nothing. The whole purpose of Thrive Architect is to make the creation process as fluid as possible.

You have full control over the sizing and color of every element on the page. Just adjust the sliders as you see fit. This will enable you to create a site that is perfect for your project.

The same applies to text. Full customization using the inline editor.

You can change the position of any element. You can put it anywhere on the page. New elements can be added with a single click.

Elementor Pro

Elementor Pro is distraction free too.

You do have control over the elements on the page. However, you have a bit less control over the text editing. This is because everything will be done through the standard WordPress editor, as opposed to the team at Elementor Pro creating their own system like Thrive Architect.

You are only able to position your content in columns. These need to be set-up before you start work. This means that you are going to have less control over the placement of any elements on the page. Elements can only be added vertically.

This post you are reading has been created using Thrive Architect. Now it may seem biased that i'm recommending Thrive Architect over Elementor but I do run Elementor on one of my niche sites. 

It's a pain in the butt to switch from Elementor to Thrive and vice versa so I just left it as is. Whichever one you choose, stick with it or it's going to be painful to switch.

Most people that read my blog are looking to make money online and with Thrive being more marketing and conversion focused, it's the goto page builder I recommend.

For all other purposes, Elementor will do you just fine.