If you buy a theme it almost certainly ships with one of the two. The difference is bigger than it looks — and the consequences last for years.
Elementor
- Live editing — you see the page as you build it
- A huge community, endless tutorials, countless add-ons
- The free version is usable; Pro adds forms, popups, a theme builder
- Downside: it adds code; a carelessly built site can get heavy
WP Bakery (formerly Visual Composer)
- Older, comes free with many purchased themes (the cost is in the theme price)
- Works on a shortcode system — editing feels more like blocks behind the scenes, the live preview is weaker
- Stable and familiar on older projects
- The big downside: if you disable it, your content stays as a pile of shortcodes in the text. That is lock-in that hurts at every theme change.
An honest recommendation
For a new site in 2026: Gutenberg if it is a normal site with a blog (fastest, no lock-in), Elementor if you want design freedom and want to make changes yourself. WP Bakery — only if you already have a project on it and it works.
If you are stuck with WP Bakery
- Do not panic — if the site works and no redesign is planned, there is no urgent need to migrate
- When you do change: it is practically a new site (content is moved manually or by cleaning shortcodes)
- Plan it together with the theme change — not twice the work
The rule for every builder
The more layers (theme plus builder plus 15 add-ons), the slower the site and the harder the maintenance. The fastest sites we see: a light theme plus Gutenberg plus 5-8 plugins. The slowest: a bought template plus WP Bakery plus 30 plugins from the demo pack.
Our advice before buying a theme
Check WHICH builder it ships with. If it is WP Bakery and you are planning long term — think twice; the theme price is nothing next to the cost of lock-in.