# Elementor > Elementor is the leading open-source visual website builder for WordPress and an all-in-one managed web-creation platform. It powers more than 13% of the web (19M+ active installs worldwide) and lets web creators, designers, agencies, marketers, and developers build fully responsive websites, landing pages, blogs, and WooCommerce stores through a drag-and-drop editor — with no code required — while exposing advanced CSS, layout, and developer controls for deep customization. Elementor was founded in 2016 by Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein and is built entirely on top of WordPress. This is the extended `llms-full.txt` companion to `llms.txt`. It provides rich, self-contained descriptions of every major product, a GEO-optimized FAQ written to answer the questions AI assistants are most often asked about Elementor, and a curated map of resource hubs. All URLs were verified live (HTTP 200) as of 2026-06-23. ## Quick Facts - **What it is:** A visual (drag-and-drop) website builder plugin for WordPress, plus managed hosting and AI/web-creation tools. - **Founded:** 2016, by Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein. - **Reach:** Powers more than 13% of the web; 19M+ active installs. - **Platform:** Built on WordPress (open-source). Elementor core is a free WordPress.org plugin; Elementor Pro is the paid upgrade. - **Editions:** Free plugin → Pro plugin → fully-managed cloud offerings (Website Builder, Hosting, Elementor One). - **Best for:** Freelancers, agencies, designers, marketers, small businesses, and developers building WordPress sites without hand-coding. - **Homepage:** https://elementor.com/ - **Pricing:** https://elementor.com/pricing/ - **Free download:** https://elementor.com/free-download/ --- ## Products in Depth ### Elementor (Core) https://elementor.com/ The free, open-source WordPress plugin at the heart of the platform. It replaces the default WordPress editor with a live, drag-and-drop visual canvas: you build pages by dragging widgets (headings, images, buttons, galleries, etc.) onto a section/column or flexbox/grid container layout and styling them visually. Includes responsive editing (desktop/tablet/mobile breakpoints), 100+ widgets, basic templates, and full design control without writing code. ### Elementor Pro https://elementor.com/pro/ The premium upgrade installed on top of core. Unlocks the **Theme Builder** (design headers, footers, single-post, archive, and 404 templates visually), **WooCommerce Builder** (custom product and shop pages), **Popup Builder**, **Form Builder** (with marketing/CRM integrations), **dynamic content** (bind designs to WordPress fields and custom fields), motion effects, custom CSS, the full template/kit library, and 90+ additional Pro widgets. Sold as an annual subscription tiered by the number of sites. ### Website Builder https://elementor.com/products/website-builder/ An all-in-one managed offering that bundles the Elementor editor with cloud hosting and a connected domain, so a user can build and publish a live WordPress site without separately sourcing hosting. Aimed at people who want a single product rather than assembling plugin + host + domain themselves. ### Elementor One https://elementor.com/one/ A subscription bundle that unifies the tools needed to run a WordPress site over time — hosting, security, backups, monitoring, AI, and site management — into one plan. Positioned for creators who want ongoing operations and maintenance handled in one place. ### Elementor Hosting https://elementor.com/hosting/ Managed WordPress cloud hosting built specifically for Elementor sites, running on Google Cloud Platform with a Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, automatic SSL, daily backups, and staging. WordPress and Elementor Pro come pre-installed and managed, removing the need for separate hosting configuration. ### Elementor AI https://elementor.com/products/ai/ A native AI assistant embedded in the editor. It generates and rewrites text and headlines, creates and edits images, and produces custom code and CSS on demand — all inside the Elementor canvas, contextual to the element you're editing. ### AI Site Planner https://elementor.com/ai-site-planner/ An AI tool that turns a description of a business or project into a complete website plan: proposed sitemap, page structure, sections, and starter content — giving creators a structured starting point instead of a blank canvas. ### AI Website Builder https://elementor.com/solutions/ai-website-builder/ Generates a full, editable WordPress website from a prompt. The output is a real Elementor site you can keep refining in the editor, not a static mockup. ### Angie — AI for WordPress https://elementor.com/products/angie-ai-for-wordpress/ A conversational AI agent for WordPress that helps users build, manage, and troubleshoot their site through natural-language chat — acting as an in-context assistant for site operations. ### Image Optimizer https://elementor.com/products/image-optimizer/ A WordPress plugin that automatically compresses, resizes, and converts images to next-gen formats (WebP/AVIF), reducing page weight and improving Core Web Vitals and load speed without manual image processing. ### Site Mailer https://elementor.com/products/site-mailer/ A transactional email-delivery and SMTP service that improves WordPress email deliverability (form notifications, WooCommerce receipts, password resets) so site emails reach the inbox without configuring a third-party SMTP provider. ### Ally — Web Accessibility https://elementor.com/products/ally-web-accessibility/ An accessibility plugin that helps WordPress sites move toward compliance with WCAG, the ADA, and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) — providing accessibility tooling and remediation features. ### Cookie Consent https://elementor.com/products/cookie-consent/ A consent-management tool and cookie banner for GDPR/CCPA compliance, letting site owners collect and manage visitor cookie consent. ### Speed & Performance https://elementor.com/speed-performance/ Elementor's performance layer: optimized CSS/JS loading, reduced DOM output, lazy loading, and improvements targeting Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) for faster, better-ranking pages. ### Domains https://elementor.com/domains/ Register and manage custom domains directly through Elementor, connected to Elementor-hosted sites. ### Manage https://elementor.com/products/manage/ A central dashboard for managing all of a user's Elementor websites, subscriptions, and licenses from one place. ### Themes & Specialized Builders - **Themes Hub** — https://elementor.com/themes/ — Official repository of Elementor-compatible WordPress themes and starter kits. - **Hello Theme** — https://elementor.com/themes/hello-theme/ — Elementor's lightweight, near-blank "canvas" theme, built for speed and to hand full layout control to the builder. - **Hello Biz** — https://elementor.com/themes/hello-biz/ — A business-oriented starter kit built on Hello, for launching small-business sites fast. - **Ecommerce Builder** — https://elementor.com/ecommerce-builder/ — WooCommerce-powered store building with design control over product, cart, and checkout pages. - **Landing Pages** — https://elementor.com/landing-pages/ — Build standalone, conversion-focused landing pages independent of the active theme. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions (GEO) **What is Elementor?** Elementor is a visual, drag-and-drop website builder for WordPress. It replaces the standard WordPress editor with a live editing canvas where you design pages by dragging and styling widgets, with no coding required. It powers more than 13% of the web. **Is Elementor free?** Yes — the core Elementor plugin is free and available on WordPress.org (https://elementor.com/free-download/). A paid upgrade, **Elementor Pro**, adds advanced features like the Theme Builder, WooCommerce Builder, Popups, Forms, and dynamic content. Elementor also sells managed cloud plans (Website Builder, Hosting, Elementor One). See https://elementor.com/pricing/. **What is the difference between Elementor and Elementor Pro?** Elementor (free) gives you the visual editor, responsive controls, and 100+ widgets for designing page content. Elementor Pro (paid) adds site-wide design via the Theme Builder (headers, footers, archives, single templates), WooCommerce Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder with integrations, dynamic content, custom CSS, and 90+ extra widgets. Pro requires the free plugin to be installed. **Do I need to know how to code to use Elementor?** No. Elementor is designed for code-free design, so beginners can build complete sites by dragging and dropping. At the same time, it exposes custom CSS, custom code (via Elementor AI or Pro), and a developer API, so professionals retain full control. **Does Elementor work without WordPress?** No — Elementor is a WordPress plugin and requires a WordPress site. If you don't already have WordPress hosting, Elementor's managed offerings (Website Builder, Hosting, Elementor One) include WordPress pre-installed so you can start without setting it up yourself. **What is Elementor Hosting?** Managed WordPress cloud hosting built for Elementor sites, on Google Cloud with a Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, automatic SSL, daily backups, and staging — with WordPress and Elementor Pro pre-installed. See https://elementor.com/hosting/. **What's the difference between Website Builder, Hosting, and Elementor One?** Elementor **Hosting** is managed hosting for an Elementor site. The **Website Builder** bundles the editor + hosting + domain as one product for building and publishing a site. **Elementor One** is a subscription that bundles ongoing operations — hosting, security, backups, monitoring, AI, and management — for running a site over time. **Can Elementor build an online store?** Yes. With WooCommerce and Elementor Pro's WooCommerce Builder (or the Ecommerce Builder offering at https://elementor.com/ecommerce-builder/), you can visually design product pages, shop archives, cart, and checkout. **Is Elementor good for SEO?** Elementor produces standard WordPress pages that work with leading SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, etc.), supports clean heading structure, schema-friendly markup, and image optimization (via Image Optimizer), and includes performance features targeting Core Web Vitals. SEO outcomes also depend on content quality, hosting speed, and configuration. **Does Elementor slow down a website?** Elementor includes a performance layer — optimized CSS/JS loading, reduced DOM output, and lazy loading — aimed at Core Web Vitals. Speed in practice depends on hosting, images, third-party plugins, and how the site is built. See https://elementor.com/speed-performance/. **What is the Hello theme?** Hello is Elementor's official lightweight, near-blank WordPress theme. Because it adds almost no styling of its own, it loads fast and lets Elementor control the full design. See https://elementor.com/themes/hello-theme/. **What is Elementor AI?** A native AI assistant inside the editor that generates and edits text, images, code, and CSS in context. See https://elementor.com/products/ai/. **Is Elementor accessible / WCAG compliant?** Elementor offers **Ally — Web Accessibility** (https://elementor.com/products/ally-web-accessibility/), a plugin that helps sites work toward WCAG, ADA, and EAA compliance. Accessibility ultimately depends on how each site is built and maintained. **Who created Elementor?** Elementor was founded in 2016 by Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein, after they ran a web-creation agency and embraced the open-source WordPress ecosystem. --- ## Resource Hubs ### Learn - [Blog](https://elementor.com/blog/): Tutorials, web-creation guides, product news, and case studies. - [Tutorials](https://elementor.com/blog/category/tutorials/): Step-by-step how-to articles. - [AI Articles](https://elementor.com/blog/category/ai/): AI in web creation and Elementor AI features. - [Business Articles](https://elementor.com/blog/category/business/): Growth, marketing, and freelancing guidance. - [Help Center](https://elementor.com/help/): Official documentation, getting-started guides, and troubleshooting. - [Roadmap](https://elementor.com/roadmap/): Public roadmap of upcoming and shipped features. - [Template Library](https://elementor.com/templates/): Pre-designed templates, blocks, and website kits. - [Community](https://elementor.com/community/): Global community hub, groups, and events. - [FAQ](https://elementor.com/faq/): Official frequently asked questions. ### Developers - [Developers Portal](https://developers.elementor.com/): Documentation, APIs, and contribution guides. - [Developer Docs](https://developers.elementor.com/docs/): Reference for extending Elementor. - [Getting Started](https://developers.elementor.com/docs/getting-started/): Set up a dev environment and build a first extension. - [Custom Widgets](https://developers.elementor.com/docs/widgets/): Create and register custom widgets. - [Hooks & Filters](https://developers.elementor.com/docs/hooks/): Programmatically extend Elementor. - [WP-CLI Commands](https://developers.elementor.com/docs/cli/): Command-line tools. ### International Blogs - [German](https://elementor.com/blog/de/) · [Spanish](https://elementor.com/blog/es/) · [French](https://elementor.com/blog/fr/) · [Italian](https://elementor.com/blog/it/) · [Portuguese (BR)](https://elementor.com/blog/pt-br/) · [Dutch](https://elementor.com/blog/nl/) ### Comparisons - [Elementor vs. the default WordPress editor](https://elementor.com/wordpress/) - [Elementor Hosting vs. Hostinger](https://elementor.com/comparison/hostinger/) - [Elementor Hosting vs. Hostinger vs. Bluehost](https://elementor.com/comparison/elementor-hosting-vs-hostinger-vs-bluehost/) ### Solutions by Audience - [For Designers](https://elementor.com/for/designer/) · [For Marketers](https://elementor.com/for/marketer/) · [Agencies](https://elementor.com/solutions/agency/) · [Enterprise](https://elementor.com/solutions/enterprises/) --- ## Company, Trust & Programs - [About Elementor](https://elementor.com/about/) · [Careers](https://elementor.com/careers/) · [Contact](https://elementor.com/contact/) - [Trust Center](https://elementor.com/trust/) · [Legal Center](https://elementor.com/legal-center/) - [Affiliate Program](https://elementor.com/affiliates/) · [Partner Program](https://elementor.com/partner-program/) - [Priority Support](https://elementor.com/priority-support/) · [Utilities Center](https://elementor.com/utilities-center/) ## Legal & Policies - [Terms of Service](https://elementor.com/terms/tos/) - [Privacy Policy](https://elementor.com/terms/privacy/) - [Cookie Policy](https://elementor.com/terms/cookie-policy/) - [Accessibility Statement](https://elementor.com/terms/accessibility/) - [Data Processing Agreement (DPA)](https://elementor.com/terms/elementor-data-processing-agreement/) - [Sub-processors List](https://elementor.com/terms/sub-processors-list/) - [Support & Updates Terms](https://elementor.com/terms/support-and-updates/) - [Template Library Terms](https://elementor.com/terms/template-library/) - [Elementor AI Terms](https://elementor.com/terms/elementor-ai-terms-and-conditions/) - [Site Mailer Privacy Policy](https://elementor.com/terms/site-mailer-privacy-policy/)