Avada vs Divi: May 2022 Comparison Review
When it comes to premium WordPress themes, Avada and Divi are often thought to be two of the most popular options. And if you follow suit and agree, you wouldn’t be wrong.
Divi has raked in an impressive 683,235 sales (and counting). And Avada has nearly 600,000 sales on ThemeForest, sticking to its reputation as one of the fastest growing and most sought after WordPress themes in the market.
Both WordPress themes are multipurpose, meaning they meet the needs of all website owners no matter the industry. They both have plenty of pre-designed templates to help you launch quickly or inspire your next project.
But the thing is, that’s about where the similarities stop when it comes to this Avada vs Divi comparison.
If you really want to dig in and see which premium WordPress theme – Avada or Divi – will help you succeed the most, keeping reading. We’ve rounded up each theme’s best features and pitted them against each other to see which one (if any) reigns supreme.
Let’s take a look.
Overview: Avada vs Divi
Avada
Avada has been a best-selling WordPress theme for many years now. Launched in 2012 by ThemeFusion, it is truly multipurpose in that it can help you create any type of website, online business, eCommerce shop, landing page, or blog.
Plus, it comes packed with tons of helpful WordPress plugins designed to give you the power to customize the look and feel of your site with ease – and without having to spend more money.
It is sold on many theme marketplaces, namely ThemeForest, and is trusted by thousands of WordPress users. In fact, it comes with an impressive 4.76 average star rating and continues to hold strong to its reputation as one of the best.
Best features of Avada include:
- 70+ design elements for controlling the look and functionality of your site
- 8 section layouts including the new custom 404 pages and search result layouts
- WooCommerce compatibility for creating an online shop
- Gutenberg optimization
- Privacy tools like custom registration messages, privacy banners, and tracking code consent
- WPML and Polylang compatibility for creating a multilingual site
- One page parallax option for endless scrolling
- Support for up to 6 columns
- Child theme ready (comes with basic child theme)
- Automatic patch tools for fixing errors (no other theme has)
- 100% SEO optimized and compatible with Yoast SEO
- CSS3 animations for better visual appeal and engagement
And that’s just the beginning.
Divi
Divi, launched in 2013 by Elegant Themes, has made huge strides over the years, all of which have helped it land itself at the top of the most popular WordPress themes list for many years, much like Avada. The team at Elegant Themes has continued to refine its flagship theme, and its built-in page builder Divi Builder, in an effort to solidify it as the number one selling WordPress theme ever.
In the past, Elegant Themes offered site owners approximately 87 themes and a handful of premium plugins. However, they have since done away with most of that in an attempt to offer only the highest quality products to people. This includes the Divi and Extra themes and premium plugins Monarch, Bloom, and Divi Builder.
And suffice to say, the strategy is working.
Best features of Divi include:
- Page building in real-time for seeing changes as you make them
- Inline text editing on the front end of your site
- Global elements and styles that can be applied to your entire site and saved for later
- 40+ website elements such as image galleries, CTA buttons, and contact forms
- Magic Color Manager for color schemes that can saved for later use
- Full control over border, filter, and shadow customizations
- Custom background images, colors, gradients, and videos
- Keyboard shortcuts for faster site creation
- Email service provider support for building a bigger email list
- Built-in split testing for A/B testing for making data and visitor driven improvements
- WooCommerce compatibility, even with Divi Builder plugin
- Translation into 32 languages and support for RTL languages
And, much like Avada, that’s just the beginning.
Now let’s run an Avada vs Divi showdown to see which one is the better WordPress theme.
Exclusive Page Builders
Both Avada and Divi have built-in page builders that website owners can use to customize their websites from top to bottom. Both are user-friendly and give you complete control over every element on your site.
Avada Page Builder: Fusion Builder
Avada comes pre-packaged with an exclusive page builder called Fusion Builder. It’s strictly a backend drag and drop page builder plugin that is easily activated on your WordPress website once Avada is installed on your site.
Unlike Divi Builder, which you’ll see in a minute, this page builder has a no nonsense feel to it. It lacks a colorful and exciting interface, however, it gets the job done and it gets it done fast.
Though it’s not designed to have a huge learning curve, it’s good to know that there’s a video tutorial that you can view to get you started. After all, Avada is packed with features and most of them come in the page builder.
It comes with tons of pre-designed rows, called containers, that you can pick from, making it easy to create a truly customized layout for every webpage on your site.
In addition, Fusion Builder boasts the following standout features:
- More than 65 custom elements like Google Map, countdown timer, and pricing table
- Global and individualized customizations
- Nested columns
- Edit, clone, save, delete, copy, paste before and after by right clicking your mouse
- Fusion Builder Library for storing everything
- Dashboard for quick changes outside the page builder
- Import single demo content pages and customize anything
- Unlimited history – undo edits in real-time
- Support for all post types
- Sticky control bar never leaves your side
Divi Page Builder: Divi Builder
Elegant Themes has worked hard to create an all-in-one theme that has everything you need to create stunning sites without a lot of technical knowledge. That’s why Divi comes pre-packaged with the drag and drop Divi Builder page builder plugin. And the best part is, once you upload and install the Divi theme on your site, the page builder is ready to go.
But here’s the kicker. Unlike Avada’s Fusion Builder, Divi Builder comes in two forms: the backend builder and frontend visual builder.
While this may seem a bit overwhelming to those new to Divi, we assure it’s not. In fact, it’s actually really convenient because Elegant Themes has taken the time to create a page builder plugin that suits people no matter their styling preference.
And don’t worry, they both have the exact same features. You just access them in different ways that’s all.
Backend Divi Builder
This page builder interface lives in your WordPress dashboard and is accessed like you would access any other plugin’s settings. It replaces the default WordPress post editor and is a quick and easy way to make changes to your site when you’re already inside the dashboard.
Are you using Gutenberg on your WordPress website? If you’re new to WordPress and Gutenberg is all you know, or you’re done with being old school and like the new block content editor, no worries. Divi Builder was designed to work with Gutenberg too.
Frontend Visual Builder
Elegant Themes’ Visual Builder gives you the freedom to edit on the frontend of your website. This makes for much faster design and is very useful whether you’re just starting out or are making small tweaks before going live. Every change you make using the Visual Builder appears in real-time – all you have to do is click and start typing.
No matter which way you prefer to design your site, know that Divi Builder comes with features like:
- Responsive editing for a seamless look in any device
- Save and manage unlimited custom designs for later use
- Undo, redo, and revisions possible with editing history
- Access to pre-made page designs, placed into categorized website packs based on niches
- Hover state styling and animations for creating interactive site elements
- Complete font and text styling using included fonts or your own
- Shape dividers creating content transitions and breaking up text
- Multi-select and bulk editing for faster creation time
- Searchable settings for accessing settings immediately
- Contact form and pricing table building
- Divi WooCommerce modules for building an online store
Winner: We have to give this one to Divi. Though each page builder offers plenty of features for easy site building, the fact that Divi lets website owners build on either the front or backend of their sites is a major plus. Plus, Fusion Builder doesn’t have a real-time preview; instead you have to save and preview every time to make sure your site is just right.
Theme Templates
In addition to having exclusive page builders right in the themes themselves, both Avada and Divi have impressive theme template options. They can be used to build a site right away without a lot of work or give you some inspiration if you’re new to web designing.
Avada
Avada comes with a convenient one-click demo importer for importing full websites or single webpages directly into your website. From there, you can customize them as you see fit.
Using the intuitive theme options panel, you can change font styles, color schemes, and layouts with a few clicks. Plus, in an effort to extend the functionality of your site without having to hunt elsewhere, the Avada theme includes these popular premium WordPress plugins at no added cost:
- Slider Revolution
- Layer Slider
- FWLB (Fusion White Label Branding)
- Convert Plus
- ACF Pro
It also makes it easy to integrate your website with plugins such as WooCommerce, bbPress, The Events Calendar, and Contact Form 7.
Divi
Divi also comes with an extensive number of pre-made designs (800+ to be exact) to help you create a unique website from scratch.
Called Website Packs, Divi provides site owners with over 100 packs of webpages, all organized into convenient categories like eCommerce, health & fitness, technology, and more. All you have to do is click the website pack you like and import the webpages you want to use on your site.
Once you customize a pre-made layout, you can save it to the library for later. Not to mention, you can add layouts to existing content, replace content that’s already published, clone existing pages, and a whole lot more. All of this lends itself to faster, more effective page building no matter how skilled at web design you are.
Lastly, much like Avada, Divi comes with exclusive Elegant Themes plugins designed to help you succeed:
- Divi Builder: we already mentioned that the Divi theme comes with the Divi Builder plugin for visual drag and drop web design.
- Monarch: a social sharing plugin designed to gather you more followers and help loyal reader share your best content, products, and services with others.
- Bloom: an email opt-in plugin for helping you build a bigger email list, forge stronger relationships with people once they leave your site, and generate more leads, conversions, and sales.
Winner: we’re calling this one a tie. Each theme has a ton of pre-built templates, websites, and webpages for you to choose from. They also integrate seamlessly with popular WordPress plugins like WooCommerce. The only glaring difference here is that Avada comes with premium plugins created by others, while Divi packages its own exclusive set of premium plugins.
Ease of Use
In the Avada vs Divi competition, everyone wants to know how easy each theme is to use in real life. After all, themes that are this multipurpose and featured-packed are sure to come with some sort of difficulty for beginners, right? We think not.
Avada
When you install and activate the Avada theme on your website, you’ll immediately see a welcome screen that is inviting and comforting seeing as there’s a lot to Avada and you might not know where to start.
Despite not needing to have any coding or technical knowledge, the team behind Avada wants you to know they are there by your side every step of the way. There’s even a demo installer that helps you import demo content onto your site. From there, all you have to do is replace the dummy content with your own.
That said, there are a few downfalls that make using Avada a little tougher than we’d like:
- When you install the theme and required/recommended plugins, multiple menu items end up in your WordPress dashboard effectively pushing down traditional menu items like posts, pages, plugins, and comments
- You must validate your license copy before accessing the theme and your plugins by registering and receiving a token key, which can be annoying and time consuming
Although these are just minor things, it’s important you know what it takes to use Avada on your site.
Divi
Unlike Avada, once you install and activate Divi on your website it’s time to get to building. There are no video tutorials or welcome screens to guide you in the right direction. That said, there are fewer settings and configurations for Divi from the get go, so getting started shouldn’t be that hard even or beginners.
Divi does provide a unique feature in which if enabled, it will automatically update your theme when an update releases. This is a great time-saver especially if you aren’t using managed WordPress hosting. In addition, you don’t have to upload any required plugins to get started like Avada.
One disadvantage that comes with Divi is the fact that it doesn’t automatically support custom post types like Avada does. Instead, to be able to work with custom post types, you have to access Divi’s settings and enable that feature.
Again, this may seem minor to some. But if you rely on custom post types but don’t realize this is a setting that needs enabling, you could end up really frustrated when Divi doesn’t work the way it should.
Winner: we like Avada for this round. The welcome screen, video tutorial, and demo installer outweigh the few negatives we found in terms of ease of use.
Support and Documentation
The level of support you receive and the amount of documentation that’s available can make or break your decision to use a specific WordPress theme. Let’s see how Avada vs Divi stacks up.
Avada
Avada comes with what they call “professional world-class support” and claim that the team is there to build relationships with users, encourage growth, and provide the best experience possible. Because of this, you can get in touch with the Avada support team via a dedicated support center anytime you need it.
In addition, Avada comes with a huge video tutorial library, extensive written documentation that even include help with the premium plugins that ship with Avada.
Divi
When you purchase Divi, you are joining the Elegant Themes theme club and therefore have immediate access to their extensive written documentation, support forums, and customer support team. And, unlike Avada which only provides a support center, the team behind Divi offers 24/7 live chat support for anyone that needs it – not just customers.
Just in case, you also have access to the support ticket system once you become a member. And if you happen to be a developer with advanced needs, know that there are some really great developer documentation articles available too.
Winner: this is another tie. Avada has a great library of video tutorials, whereas Divi doesn’t. Yet, Divi offers 24/7 live chat support, which a lot of people will be drawn to.
Pricing: Avada vs Divi
And finally, we come to what is perhaps one of the most important factors in determining which WordPress theme to use in an Avada vs Divi comparison: price.
Avada
Avada’s pricing is pretty straightforward. For a single site license, you pay $60, which is a steal of deal seeing as Avada is so popular and comes with so many features. This purchase also gets you:
- Access to future updates
- 6 months of support from ThemeFusion
- Help with third-party software
Divi
Divi, on the other hand, is a little different than Avada. To start, you’ll need to sign up for an Elegant Themes membership. There are two plans to choose from: Yearly Access and Lifetime Access.
With the Yearly Access plan, you get all of Elegant Themes’ themes and plugins, including Divi, as well as unlimited website usage, theme updates, and premium support for $89/year. The Lifetime Access plan is a one-time fee of $249 and comes with lifetime access to all of Elegant Themes’ themes and plugins and premium support, as well as unlimited site usage.
It’s also worth noting that Elegant Themes’ offers a 30-day money back guarantee on all products, no questions asked.
Winner: when it comes straight down to price alone, Avada wins here. Not only does it comes with a bunch of premium plugins, it costs far less than Divi. That said, Divi is very appealing thanks to being a theme membership with unlimited site usage and a money back guarantee.
Our Verdict: Avada vs Divi – Which WordPress Theme is Best For You?
At the end of this Avada vs Divi face-off, deciding which premium WordPress theme is the best is tough call. Each theme offers its own unique set of features that can help both beginner website owners and seasoned pros create stunning websites from the ground up.
If you’re looking for the most user-friendly theme that doesn’t come with a lot of settings and configurations, Divi is probably going to be your best bet. The Divi Builder makes creating a unique website, with or without the pre-designed templates, a cinch. And because you have the option to create on the front or backend of your website, there’s no way your website will look anything less than stellar.
On the other hand, if you’re in need of something a little faster, a little less flashy, and a little more helpful, Avada should be your theme of choice. Though you can only edit on the backend of your site, the welcome screen, video tutorials, demo installer, and extensive documentation are sure to help you create a site that people will love.
Are you ready to launch your very first WordPress website? Then check out this user-friendly guide to building a WordPress website and get started today!