For as long as there have been multiple products in a specific category, there have been comparisons made. There is no doubt these comparisons help us choose the right product for our needs. I can’t imagine these comparisons ever being created without at least a small amount of bias. But today I’m here to talk about one such comparison that is loaded with bias and includes information that I simply can’t trust.
Before I talk about this comparison, I want to roll back the clock about 20 years for a comparison where I was involved. Adobe was creating a comparison of Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW. They reached out to me because I was the CorelDRAW guru at that time. Prior to publication, I was provided their view of how the products compared and I gave them feedback where I didn’t think it fairly represented CorelDRAW’s capabilities. Yes, I was compensated for that. At least I felt like Adobe wanted to put out an accurate comparison even though it would obviously favor their product.
Comparing WordPress Page Builders
I freely admit that I’m a die-hard proponent of Elegant Themes and their Divi theme. It contains the Divi page builder. I use the Divi theme on all sites I build for clients. In some instances I use something else only because a client already has a site built while I suggest we makeover the site with Divi. I say this to admit my bias towards Divi in this comparison.
Now let me link to the article that has me up in arms. Elementor vs Divi vs SeedProd (Compared) – Which is the Best? was published in April 2022 and my post is written nine months later. As I mention issues I have with the comparison, I’m not talking about features added in that time frame.
The most egregious error is a massive conflict of interest that isn’t adequately disclosed. The wpbeginner.com Web site and the SeedProd page builder are owned by the same company. Given that information, it is no surprise that they conclude that SeedProd is the best choice. Even if that is their conclusion, it doesn’t explain why they include inaccurate information.
Am I the only one who has noticed this? Not at all. Below is an embedded tweet thread all about this.
SeedProd?!?!?! https://t.co/xv63nWcGLX pic.twitter.com/uNMVrYblzk
— Daniel Schutzsmith (@schutzsmith) September 23, 2022
User Numbers
In their overview, they talk about active users of each product. They specifically mention the Divi Builder plug-in which leaves out the Divi Theme. It also ignores the fact that some users build multiple sites with their tool of choice. So it is best to compare the number of sites using a specific technology. I used BuiltWith to get an idea of the number of sites built with each tool. Below are what I found and my numbers are linked to a page with details.
According to their article, Elementor has five million active users, Divi (Elegant Themes) has 806,000 customers and SeedProd is used by over 1 million professionals. Clearly their numbers are far different than the actual usage stats measured by an independent party.
Integrations
As we move down the various categories compared, we get to integrations. This is the section that compelled me to write this post. The write-up on Divi ends with “Sadly, it doesn’t integrate with third-party email marketing tools or CRMs.” which is blatantly incorrect. I use the Email Optin Divi module quite regularly and it can integrate with 20 popular email marketing providers (see graphic below). This isn’t anything new, it has been around for several years.
Pricing
Pricing screenshots are shown for each of the products. With Elementor and SeedProd, all of the plans are annual. So the price may be lower for the initial purchase, but it will be far higher after 2-3 years when compared to Elegant Themes lifetime access. My own story is that I bought Lifetime Access for a total of $198 (coupons lowered the price) in November 2015 and I still use it today on a large number of sites.
While making a decision on the “winner” in this category can be subjective, the statement they make is laughable. “SeedProd offers affordable pricing plans compared to Elementor and Divi. Plus, you get more features and integrations with SeedProd, making it excellent value for money.”
In Conclusion
I’ve made it clear that Divi is my tool of choice. Maybe you prefer a different page builder or none at all. Elementor and Divi are generally considered as two of the top options. If I didn’t currently have a page builder I use, I’d also put Beaver Builder and Oxygen in consideration. One tool I wouldn’t consider is SeedProd and the deceptive marketing displayed by their post means I will never consider it nor recommend it.
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