WordPress

Until recently websites were mainly created by highly skilled software engineers as they were the only people who could build them to a high standard. However, With the introduction of the WordPress Page Builders, Block Editors and FSE the whole world of building websites was revolutionized. Until then, the only way to have a sophisticated website required a familiarity with writing software, often referred to as coding. In most cases, this meant paying a website developer to create the website. This also meant that the developer had to be retained to maintain the website as that often often involve require changes to the code. It’s true that a simple website could be set up and run by anyone but there were severe limitations regarding what could be achieved without some understanding of the underlying code. So, setting up a good website was expensive. Now with block builders, anyone can build a website to look exactly like they want it to be, without having to touch a single line of code.

The first version of WordPress was released in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. It was a small yet promising platform, based on PHP and MySQL, offering features like a new admin interface, comment moderation, and support for permalinks. It started as a simple blogging tool focused on clean typography and easy publishing. Over the years this modest venture grew into something which would revolutionize the future of the internet and today is the de facto tool for building websites. In 2004 the concept of Plugins was conceived opening the door to community-powered customization. The next year saw the introduction of the Themes, thus allowing users to change the look of their sites easily. The same year brought a WYSIWYG editor and improved admin UI. Slowly but surely WordPress evolved from it’s humble beginnings, WordPress evolved into a full Content Management System (CMS). The main reason it became the dominant CMS is because WordPress is open-source software, meaning its source code is publicly accessible, free to use, and can be modified or distributed by anyone. This open-source nature allowed for a large community of developers to contribute and collaborate on its development, fostering innovation and customization.

Although WordPress was becoming more user friendly all the time with the development of numerous Plugins and the introduction of Custom Posts, Widgets, Headers & Footers, Menus etc, its was still mainly the preserve of software professionals as a basic understanding of coding was required to create a website. This all changed when firstly Page Builders and then more importantly the Gutenberg Block Editor came along in 2018. This gave everyone the chance to build Websites without any coding skills. These days, you don’t need to be a developer, experienced engineer, or graphic designer to build a website, anyone can do it.

Operated by Automattic, WordPress.com provides a hosted platform where users can create websites without managing server infrastructure. It offers various plans, from free to enterprise-level, catering to users who prefer a more hands-off approach to website management. WordPress.com is most commonly used by bloggers, hobbyists, and users seeking a managed hosting experience. With its managed services, it appeals to users seeking convenience and ease of use.

The WordPress Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2010 by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. Its primary mission is to ensure that the WordPress software and its freedoms are preserved for the long term, regardless of who’s in charge or what commercial interests arise. It’s stated core mission is to promote, protect, and ensure free access to the WordPress software projects and their freedoms, acting as a steward of the WordPress open-source project, supporting the software and the global community surrounding it.

The Foundation owns the WordPress trademark, ensuring they are used in ways that align with the spirit of the project. This prevents misuse by commercial entities trying to profit unfairly from the brand and support efforts to educate people about open-source software and help them become active contributors. By championing the Four Freedoms of Open Source (to use, study, modify, and distribute the software), the Foundation ensures that no one can “lock down” WordPress or make it proprietary. From hosting events to enabling international collaboration, the Foundation helps grow and maintain the global WordPress community.

Much like the WordPress Foundation, Automattic was also established by WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg in 2005…but for vastly different purposes. It’s a private, distributed technology company best known for operating WordPress.com, the hosted version of WordPress.

It’s common to confuse the WordPress Foundation with Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, and WooCommerce. The difference is that the Foundation is a not-for-profit entity that owns the WordPress trade mark and is dedicated to ensuring open free access to the software. Automattic on the other hand is a commercial business which uses the software to make money. So the Foundation is the guardian of WordPress, and Automattic is just one of the many contributors and stakeholders in the ecosystem.

While WordPress.com is its most recognized product, Automattic has developed or acquired a many of the best known tools used by millions of websites. The best known being WooCommerce, Jetpack, Aksimet, Gravatar, Tumbler, and many more. These ventures have turned Automattic into a billion dollar company and this is what distinguises it from the WordPress Foundation. Having said that, Automattic plays a huge role in the WordPress ecosystem while also contributing heavily to the open-source project itself. It’s a full-time contributor to core WordPress development Sponsoring WordCamps and meetups globally and driving adoption of the Gutenberg the Block Editor described in our website.

WordPress.org is is the open-source software that users can download and install on their own web hosting servers. It offers complete control over website customization, themes, and plugins, making it ideal for those who require flexibility and scalability. WordPress.is most commonly used by businesses, developers, and larger organizations. Given the flexibility and control, it’s widely adopted for a vast number of websites, especially those requiring custom functionalities.

The Classic Editor editing interface was the default WordPress editing tool for many years years. It was only with the introduction of Gutenberg in 2018 that this dramatically changed. It looks and feels a lot like a traditional word processor (like MS Word), and is based on a WYSIWYG experience. It’s unclear how many sites are still built using the Classic Editor as there is a Classic Editor Plugin which many professional designers use. Even when Page Builders were introduced they still used the underlying Classic Editor and this is still the case. There was and still is a great resistance to switch to Gutenberg, so we can expect that this editor will still be around for many years,

There are actually many good reasons why the Classic Editor has survived. The main one being that many legacy plugins and themes were built with it and don’t yet fully support Gutenberg’s block structure. So even when developers are migrating a site to a block based structure, changing the theme can have very bad results of the website’s look and feel. However, the Classic Editor will eventually cease to be maintained and it’s only a matter of time until it will disappear. In our view it’s fate is sealed regardless of the views of many in the WordPress ecosphere.

The emergence of the first WordPress Page Builders was a game-changer. Gone were the days when you needed to write code just to create a custom layout or tweak your design. Page builders gave users drag-and-drop control over their websites, making powerful design accessible to everyone. However, although websites were now easier to create, at first they were probably overwhelming for beginners. The first Page Builder was released by WPBakery in 2011 and within a couple of years they had over a million active installs. WPBakery are still around and claim to now be up to 5 million installs. As more players entered the market Page Builders popularity exploded. Competitors such as Beaver, Divi, and Bricks introduced new features and made them easier to use. Elementor is considered the most successful and is estimated to have over 12 million installs. So even though the the advent of the Gutenberg Block Editors and it’s spin-offs posed a huge threat to Page Builders, they are still going strong and new ones are entering the market every year.

Traditional Page Builders were originally built to work within the constraints of WordPress—not with the core tools like Block Editors and Full Site Editing (FSE). With the advent of these innovations, the lack of integration created a gap as Page Builders required multiple steps, settings, or even custom code to change the global layout. In response to the new challenges, Page Builder providers adapted in different ways. Elementor introduced a “block mode” plugin that integrates its widgets into Gutenberg; Beaver Builder released Beaver Themer to bridge FSE with its existing page‑builder UI. Others, like Oxygen and Bricks, went in the opposite direction, bypassing Gutenberg altogether with their own block‑like visual frameworks, often touting performance gains by avoiding the native editor’s overhead.

Page Builders are probably still more popular than Block Editors, but we are of the opinion that the tide is changing and that the momentum from the WordPress Foundation is unstoppable. This does not mean we think that Page Builders will die. Quite the opposite, we’re confident they’ll flourish, since the teams behind them will seize every opportunity to enrich and and refine their products to stay competitive. A single unified builder isn’t likely due to the open-source nature of WordPress and the business models of Page Builder Plugin providers, but a convergence between the two approaches is very likely. We have already seen signs of a blending of Page Builders into Gutenberg in an attempt to combine the best of both worlds.

The WordPress Foundation announced the introduction of the Gutenberg Block Editor, which replaced the Classic Editor, with the release of WordPress 5.0 in December 2018. Whilst the announcement was significant it was not an entirely unexpected change. It was a well anticipated update that reflected WordPress’s long-term vision.

The Gutenberg Block Editor was introduced to give users more design flexibility and user-friendly platform; less reliance on custom code; and a modern editing experience that competes with visual site builders. Although it shares many of the innovations that Page Builders introduced into website creation, there are also fundamental differences. The main difference lies in their approach to content creation and page design. Gutenberg uses a block-based system for adding content, while Page Builders use a drag-and drop interface for visual page design.

Such a drastic change sent shock waves through the WordPress community. There was a tremendous amount of resistance and criticism and if you scour the internet today you will see that this is still the case. In truth, it’s obvious that developers who had been working with the Classic Editor for years would not take kindly to the new approach. Not really because they would have any problems adjusting, but because it was perceived to pose a serious threat to their livelihood (not that that many would agree that this was a consideration). After all, who wants to pay huge fees to write code when it’s not required anymore. The reality is that there is more work around then ever for coders.

By streamlining content creation, Gutenberg empowered anyone to launch a website with unprecedented ease, at the same time it opened fresh avenues for developers to craft bespoke blocks, themes, and plugins. It also sparked a surge in new sites, underscoring the imperative for every business to maintain a robust online presence, creating plentiful opportunities for coders to assist those who preferred to outsource the work.

Regardless of any criticism to the introduction of Gutenberg, the WordPress Foundation were well aware that changes were required and inevitable. The fast development and use of Page Builders, made it obvious that the Classic Editor approach was outdated and that if WordPress did not move with the times, rivals would come along and eat their business. The wisdom of their decision is reflected in the steady rise WordPress share of the CMS market since Gutenberg was introduced. Whatever people might think about Gutenberg, Block Editors, and FSE, they also understands that this is the future even if they don’t like it.

After the launch of Gutenberg, the entire page‑building landscape began to shift from shortcodes and proprietary builders, toward a block‑based paradigm. Gutenberg itself started modestly – as a replacement for the Classic Editor, introducing content blocks for paragraphs, images, galleries, and more. But it quickly became clear that blocks could form the foundation not just of post content, but of entire page layouts.

By 2019, 3rd party developers had begun rolling out block‑enhancement plugins (“block libraries”) that added custom sliders, pricing tables, advanced galleries, FAQs, call‑to‑action banners, and many more. Early leaders included Atomic Blocks, Stackable, and Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg. These products focused on filling the gap left between Gutenberg and fully featured Page Builders, giving users more design flexibility while still working within the native editor.

While with Page Builders, the theme often plays a minimal role in design, with Block Editors, especially in the FSE era, themes are more integral. Many Page Builder users choose a lightweight, “barebones” theme (like Hello Theme for Elementor or Astra) because the Page Builder takes over most of the layout and styling. In practice, this means you can build headers, footers, and page layouts almost entirely within the builder interface, often bypassing the theme’s design controls. Block themes define templates, global styles, and structure, and users customize these using the site’s Block Editor. So in summary, although both approaches need a theme, Block Editors are more tightly coupled with theme architecture, whereas Page Builders often override or replace it with their own layout system.

A very important advantages of Block Editors is that as they are enhancements of Gutenberg and FSE, they are built on the native WordPress core. Therefore, they’re lightweight & fast unlike Page Builders which often have many features hard coded which many users might never want to use. The end result is the the performance of websites built with Block Editors will be optimized, in other words quicker that those built using Page Builders. Also because of this performance advantage, Block Editors are considered to be more Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly than Page Builders.

Although often Page Builders are cited as being more suitable for building large complex websites while Block Editors are more suited to simpler websites, we would take issue with this. There is really nothing you can do with Page Builders that you can’t do with Block Editors and Plugins.

In early 2022, WordPress’s roll‑out of Full Site Editing (FSE) and its new site‑editor interface transformed it from a simple post editor into a full‑blown site builder. While the Gutenberg Block Editor, focused on building the content of individual posts and pages using blocks, FSE extended this block-based approach to encompass the entire website, including headers, footers, navigation, and even global styles. FSE lets you design and customize your entire website, structure and all, entirely with intuitive drag‑and‑drop blocks, without needing to touch any code. In essence, when people talk about the “modern WordPress editor” or the “Site Editor,” they are generally referring to the features and tools related to FSE, which allows for a complete and visual design of a WordPress website using blocks.

This milestone sparked a new wave of block‑centric WordPress Block Editors who market themselves as FSE. Plugins like Kadence, Blocksy, Stackable, and Spectra, were all designed to leverage FSE’s power while letting users fine‑tune global styles, typography, and layout settings in a unified interface.

It should be noted that classic Page Builders like WPBakery Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder, are not Block Editors and do not use the native FSE system. They instead offer their own proprietary site-building frameworks. However, in our opinion, as FSE continues to evolve (with future features like granular permissions, more robust pattern inserters, and inline styling controls), Page Builders and Block Editors will continue converging on a single, extensible system – one that promises to make classic Page Builder plugins less necessary, while empowering end‑users to craft entire sites purely with Gutenberg blocks and their spinoffs.