Despite all the pros of pre-built themes which filled the WordPress repository, you might be tired of their limits. Most of the changes you can implement freely on the website are related to the website's structure and content area. And yet, you can't change some fundamentals — headers, footers, error pages… Or go beyond the limits of the pre-coded template layouts.
Hopefully, the market proposes some solutions — the specific plugins, and
You probably have heard about the Elementor theme builder already, and it’s a nice tool, no doubt. However,
So I decided to take some bold actions and compare JetThemeCore with Elementor Pro and its theme builder. Let’s see how the performance, features, and pricing of these tools differ.
What is Theme Builder?
Before we jump into the WordPress theme builders comparison, let’s unravel what Theme Builder is. Because you might be like: “Wait, I know about Page/Site Builder. Aren’t they the same things?” Well, yes and no.
WordPress theme builder and page builder are similar enough and have some common features and overlapping functionality. At the same time, they aren’t mutually exclusive — one plugin can include both page and theme builder features. Many page builders on the market provide theme builder functionality, e.g., the well-known Elementor Pro.
While page builder allows you to create a single-use design for a page or post, theme builder helps design a template you can apply to the part or all of your website content. It also includes the parts you can’t always edit freely, such as headers, footers, error pages, etc. Thus, you can create a custom single post template and apply it automatically to all your posts to make them look uniform. So, you don’t need to recreate this design again and again.
Otherwise, the principle on which they operate is similar.
JetThemeCore Theme Builder Essentials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvkfWHjAjZE
Pricing
There were times when you could buy JetThemeCore as a part of
Crocoblock also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, in case the plugin doesn’t meet your expectations.
Features
First, let’s overview the most killing features of JetThemeCore before we jump straight into looking at how it works.
- First and foremost — 100% compatibility with WordPress block editor. From now on, you have full control over your website based on a pure Gutenberg. At the same time, you don’t need to give up on Elementor JetThemecore is compatible with it too. So, you can continue creating your websites with the numerous styling options Elementor provides.
- JetThemeCore works flawlessly with popular themes (the ones you can find in the Crocoblock Dashboard) — Elementor Hello, OceanWP, Astra, Blocksy, GeneratePress, and Kava.
- The re-imagined UI/UX of Theme Builder — you can create and edit page templates in one place, the uniform Theme Builder dashboard. Here you’ll see all the page structures and assign the elements separately, leave some structures empty to output the default one or the one your current theme proposes, etc.
- Various templates you can create:
- Header & footer;
- Single page (e.g., landing page or About Us page);
- Single post page template;
- Archive post page template;
- Error 404 page;
- Search results page;
- WooCommerce templates (shop, account pages; product single pages, product category archives, etc.);
- Single post page (custom layout for blog page, etc.);
- Custom post type pages.
- Flexible multi-conditions configuration — it is more convenient to set and combine conditions for your website and show/hide a particular header on certain pages while leaving others with the default one at the same time.
- Advanced conditions (my favorite) — include three sub-conditions:
- URL Parameter — enter a parameter and value in the field;
- Device — choose Mobile, Tablet, and Desktop to make the website responsive.
- Roles — select for which user roles the template will be visible.
- Apart from that, the manipulations you can perform with the templates are as follows:
- Import and export in JSON format;
- Search, filter, and duplicate them;
- Enable/disable elements in particular page structures.
- Dynamic content integration is guaranteed.
It looks really impressive. Now, we’re going to understand the working principle and the process of creating some templates together.
How to create header/footer or page
Thanks to the extensive
Let’s start with the website’s header. According to the guide, you’ll need JetThemeCore and a free version of Elementor.
You might face the need of placing different headers on your website. And here the Crocoblock team got you covered too.
If you want to create a custom WordPress footer, you can look through the following step-by-step tutorial:
Also, here are some useful guidelines on creating custom templates for various pages:
How to Create a WordPress Single Post Page Template How to Create a Custom Blog Posts Archive Template How to Set a Custom WordPress 404 Page
Last, but not least, you might need this to make sure all the templates you build are responsive:
If these tutorials are not enough for you to understand the subtleties, you’re always welcome to
Elementor Pro Theme Builder Essentials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWx8NQm2hdI
Pricing
Elementor Theme Builder is available only in the Elementor Pro subscription. The price starts from $49 per year for one website activation. For 25 websites and VIP support, you’ll need to pay $199 per year. Elementor also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can stay on the safe side if something goes wrong.
Features
You know a free version of Elementor is one of the most popular WordPress plugins for creating web pages. But with Elementor Pro, a premium add-on, you can turn Elementor into a complete WordPress site builder and create all parts of your theme using the in-built Theme Builder.
- With Elementor Pro Theme Builder, you can create various parts of your theme: header, footer, pages and posts, archive templates, search results page, and WooCommerce products and product archives.
- Separate dashboard to manage templates from one interface.
- Dedicated WooCommerce integration — the theme builder allows you to create pages for both your store and individual products (single product page).
- Display conditions — you can assign a certain template to a specific page/post/category, etc.; Elementor offers many parameters to choose from. Or, you can also create a global header and enable it only in some specific areas.
- The library of pre-made templates to save you some time — if you don't want to develop your entire website from scratch, Elementor Pro includes imported site templates. You will be able to quickly import templates for all the most important pages of your site and customize them.
- Integration with popular dynamic plugins, e.g., JetEngine, ACF, Pods, Toolset, etc. It guarantees dynamic Elementor Pro feature. You can dynamically insert information from custom fields added using a toolkit, advanced custom fields, or modules.
- Import and export templates in JSON format.
That’s it for the most prominent Elementor Pro Theme Builder features. Now, let’s unravel how to build some templates with it.
How to create header/footer or page
First, you can look through the video tutorial by Elementor team on building the header with their
Or you can go further and try to build a transparent header menu:
The step-by-step guidelines on creating a single post template in Elementor is here:
The team also prepared tutorial about creating a footer:
Some other video tutorials you might find useful:
Woocommerce Product Page with Elementor Pro - How to build it yourself How to Create a 404 Page Template in WordPress using Elementor's Theme Builder How to Create a Search Results Page Template With Elementor Theme Builder
For those who prefer written tutorials, you can find the whole documentation on Elementor Theme Builder
Which One Is the Best WordPress Theme Builder?
First, let's cover some paramount differences between JetThemeCore and Elementor Pro Theme Builder, which might be critical for you.
As you can see from the comparison table below, the functionality of both these builders is almost identical. Yet, JetThemeCore doesn't offer the library of pre-made templates, while Elementor Pro Theme Builder doesn't provide Advanced conditions for user roles or devices.
And, of course, Elementor Theme Builder doesn’t work with WordPress block editor, focusing only on the Elementor ecosystem.
However, according to Crocoblock developers, the main difference between JetThemeCore and Theme builder is their operation principles. JetThemeCore allows creating page templates using content templates and rendering them in any WordPress theme. It rewrites the structure of the page (header, body, footer) completely or partially, working with any theme without reference to the “location” function.
Also, JetThemeCore has a different template structure building UI, more like Divi than Elementor, and it is a considerable difference too.
Elementor Pro & JetThemeCore Together: Is It Possible?
Yes, it is possible, but I don’t know why you would need that in the first place.
Let us get all this straightened out.
The functionality of both theme builders is almost identical, despite some differences in operation. You can build the whole site with JetThemeCore or Elementor Pro or use them simultaneously, but it’s a fuss. JetThemeCore uses its own library of content templates, but if necessary, you can simply copy the content in Elementor.
If you did the whole site using Elementor, you should be able to change themes with little or nothing changing on your site while transferring to JetThemeCore. One thing to check, though, when changing themes is the fonts, if you are using the theme fonts.
Also, you can create several templates using Elementor Pro and then use JetThemeCore to apply Advanced conditions functionality: assign a particular footer to pages viewed on the mobile devices, for instance. However, it’s a bit pricey, don’t you think? Elementor Free is pretty enough to build the header and then apply it to some of your pages with the help of JetThemeCore.
Wrapping Up
That’s it for our JetThemeCore and Elementor Pro Theme Builder comparison. Without a doubt, Elementor Pro is a nice tool for creating custom page parts, such as header or footers, or separate post and archive templates. Yet, the brand new JetThemeCore WordPress theme builder seems to be a real game-changer. It works with any theme, supports Gutenberg, and allows you to structure custom templates more clearly and integrate them into page templates more effectively, thus simplifying the creation of complex sites.
Have you ever tried JetThemeCore or Theme Builder by Elementor? Please share your experience.