Showit vs. Elementor (WordPress)
WHICH PLATFORM IS BEST FOR YOU?
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decisions. decisions.
We’re big fans of both Showit and WordPress. Both are solid website platforms that provide a considerable amount of control over your website aesthetic and a great website building experience.
And if you’re here reading this, you probably agree. But you want to know which platform will be best for your needs. Well, we’ll try to figure that out here.
For the purposes of this post, when we mention WordPress, we’re referring to Elementor, which is a website building plugin for WordPress. (There are countless page building plugins for WordPress, but we think Elementor is best.)
What is Showit?
Showit is a drag-and-drop website builder created specifically for creative professionals.
the Lowdown
- Design within the Showit app – a ‘standalone’ website builder comparable to Squarespace or Wix
- App has a similar feel to Adobe platform
- Doesn’t require another website platform like WordPress in order to work.
- Pay Showit a monthly or annual subscription to get access to their builder and for them to host your website
What is Elementor?
the Lowdown
- Design within the Elementor app installed on your WordPress website
- Elementor is free, but our sites require the Pro version – which is about $50 a year and renews at a discount
- Powerful designer that integrates with e-commerce and many third party platforms
Visual Comparison
It’s probably easiest to show you an example. Here are two examples of our Positano website design—one is built with Showit and one with Elementor. Can you tell which is which?
The Details
We put the two platforms head to head in a few key areas
Showit boasts an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor that has a similar feel to the Adobe Suite, which should make photographers feel at home. It still requires some time to get oriented, but the learning curve isn’t too steep. Additionally, Showit has an active Facebook user community and a wide array of help documentation to answer any questions you have as you get set-up.
WordPress has a reputation of being more technically challenging. However, the Elementor drag-and-drop builder makes designing and launching a website far easier. Provided you’re starting with a pre-designed theme, you should have little difficulty customizing and launching a website.
With that said, WordPress still requires more getting used to than Showit due to the control one has over their website. You’ll still be responsible for setting up hosting, making sure plugins don’t conflict with one another, and making sure the back-end of your website is updated.
Who has the edge? Showit
Showit gives you the ability to design the mobile version of your website within a mobile frame. This is very convenient for an understanding exactly what your mobile content should look like on a phone.
You will need to design the mobile version of your website in addition to desktop version. Elements don’t automatically snap into place as they do in some other website builders. The advantage, however, is the amount of control over your mobile design.
There have been some reports that Showit websites fail to render properly on certain Android phones, and there is no way to control exactly how a Showit website will look on a tablet device such as an iPad. Regardless, the Showit provides far more control over the mobile version of a website than rivals Squarespace and Wix.
Elementor not only gives you the ability to easily design the phone and desktop versions of your website, but the tablet version as well. You simply toggle between the three views: mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Unlike Showit, when you design your desktop layout, the mobile layout generates in a fairly intuitive way. All of your styles and elements snap into place so you don’t have to redo a ton on the mobile side—just minor tweaks (although you can customize this as much as you want). Having access to the tablet view is particularly helpful because there may be things that you want to appear on tablet but not on phones.
Elementor is also naturally more responsive than Showit in that content will automatically grow with text.
Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor
This is a tougher category to compare because we were able to create almost matching versions of our website designs on both Showit and Elementor (see the example above). There are also certain design elements that are easier to achieve in each platform.
However, if we’re just discussing design aesthetic—there’s a bit more flexibility on Showit than Elementor. It’s not that you can’t achieve the same thing with Elementor, it’s just a bit more challenging in some cases. Of the two identical websites above, it took us longer to develop the Elementor version than the Showit version.
Who has the edge? Showit
It’s hard to beat WordPress when it comes to features and tools.
Due to its popularity and open-source nature, many online marketing tools have some sort of integration with WordPress.
It’s also much easier to quickly add additional functionality to your website through the use of a plugin.
One reason we really like Showit is that WordPress is used for blogging. This way Showit users can take advantage of the WordPress ecosystem. The only downside is that not all WordPress plugins will work with Showit, and you may not have the ability to add plugins if don’t have the top-tier Showit subscription.
If you’re using Elementor, however, you’ll have access to most of the WordPress ecosystem.
Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor
Let’s clear something up: Showit is not ‘bad’ for SEO (more about that in this post 5 Things We Wish People Knew about SEO).
But WordPress is more optimizable, and there are more tools available to help optimize a WordPress website.
And all things equal, it will be easier to optimize a WordPress website because one usually has more control over their website, such as access to their server.
Showit does have built-in SEO tools and if you have a WordPress blog, you can also utilize some WordPress tools, too. But, you won’t get access to your server, which does limit what you can do to optimize your website.
Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor
WordPress is used by millions of people. So needless to say, there’s probably someone out there that can help if you’re having a problem with your WordPress website.
Moreover there are seemingly countless WordPress-oriented Facebook groups and YouTube channels dedicated to community support for some aspect of the platform. Elementor also has their own community group on Facebook, which—at the time of writing this—has over 30,000 people.
Showit has a much smaller user base, but an active community and mighty support team. The Facebook group has around 5,000 members, but there are plenty of Showit designers in the group that are usually willing to lend a hand. If you purchase a template from us, for instance, you get email support from us and access to our Showit set-up course in addition to your access to the Showit support team and their help documentation. That’s a lot of support. (Note: Users who purchase an Elementor design from us also get access to our email support and Elementor set-up course.)
Both Elementor and Showit have support teams that can be reached by email. Showit’s support team, however, can also be reached by live chat within the Showit app. Ask five Showit users why they like Showit, and don’t be surprised when all five say ‘outstanding support.’
Who has the edge? Showit
There are a few factors here, but in general Elementor is going to be less expensive than Showit.
A Showit subscription will run between $228-$408/year depending on what subscription is chosen (and it will cost more if you choose a monthly subscription).
If you want to blog on Showit, you’ll have to choose one of the more expensive plans. And if you want to be able to do things like add WordPress plugins, you’ll need to be on their most expensive plan.
Elementor, on the other hand, costs $59/year and renews at a 25% discount the following year. You would be responsible for finding a website host, which could, of course, vary in cost. But you will get full access to the WordPress ecosystem.
(P.S. If you’re looking for a host, we recommend Flywheel or Siteground, or letting us manage your hosting.)
Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor
Visual Learner?
TL:DR
A quick comparison
Showit
Ease of Use
When paired with a cart system (such as Shopify), it’s good for small shops
WordPress/Elementor
Power meets easy to update when combined with the Elementor drag-and-drop page builder plugin.
Ease of Use
Drag and drop. Uses columns, margins and padding to create layouts.
WooCommerce provides total shop flexibility shops. Great for small & large shops
Which website platform is best for you?
It’s possible to create a beautiful, functional website with both platforms.
We find that for many photographers and creative, service-based businesses, Showit is a great choice.
Especially if you don’t feel comfortable with—or don’t want to deal with—the more technical aspects of having a website like hosting.
We also typically recommend Showit to people who are switching from a platform like Squarespace or Wix since it’ll be closer to what they’re used to with added creative control.
Ecommerce can be done successfully on Showit, but it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not natively an e-commerce website platform. Usually we recommend WordPress for e-commerce websites if the business is primarily an e-commerce business.
If you want additional control over your website (like to configure your own server settings) or you need membership or e-commerce functionality, you’ll probably want to go with WordPress.
Did you guess correctly?
Positano #1 was built with Elementor (WordPress)
Positano #2 was built with Showit
Showit
WordPress/Elementor
the quiz
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Showit FAQ
We offer two types of templates: Showit and Elementor/WordPress templates. Showit templates are designed specifically for the Showit platform and can only be used within Showit.
You’ll receive everything you need to publish your new site—embedded Google fonts, graphics, color palettes, etc. We’ll send you an email immediately after your purchase with directions for installing your template. And you’ll also get access to a series of videos explaining how to make updates to your site as well as a few editable logo files to go with your site. If we used specialty display fonts in a demo (for headlines typically), we’ll also send over a link to grab a copy (if you like the font!) for yourself.
Submit a request and Showit will send over directions for updating your DNS settings. They will also set up WordPress for you and connect it to your site. If you already have a blog on WordPress or Squarespace, they’ll even migrate your old posts to the new site.
Showit will actually migrate your old blog for you! Even if you’re coming from Squarespace. All you need to do is submit a request—it generally takes about 7 days.
No. Choose your Showit subscription and you’re good to go! Showit will host your website.
Showit has SEO features built-in for all Showit users. Additionally, WordPress is generally considered one of the most search engine friendly content management systems. You can check out a tutorial on using the SEO settings in Showit here.
As with anything else, it takes a little time to learn. But we think Showit is one of the easiest website builders on the market. The back-end has a similar feel to Lightroom and the Adobe Suite, so photographers and designers should adjust easily.
They also have a good U.S. based support staff that quickly answers questions. We used to exclusively design custom WordPress websites. But since Showit launched their new platform, most of our clients have decided to use Showit because it’s easy to use and powerful enough to do what they need it to do. Oh, and the best part? You don’t need to know any coding language to use Showit. And if you get stuck, you can always email us at [email protected].
Yep, not a problem!
Yes, the Showit has a support team ready to answer your questions and help you along the way. We also provide access to video demos for each of our full templates. And we’re happy to answer questions as well at [email protected].
No. The images you see in the template are meant to serve as a guide and must be replaced.
Elementor FAQ
We’ll provide the theme files, video tutorials and instructions for getting set-up, and customizing your website.
All you’ll need to do is purchase a one (1) site license of Elementor, which is the builder you’ll use to customize your website. Elementor is $59, but check the Elementor website for their latest pricing.
All Google fonts, graphics, color palettes etc will be built into the site, but you’re welcome to change them to match your brand. If we used specialty display fonts in a demo (for headlines typically), we’ll also send over a link to grab a copy (if you like the font!) for yourself.
Yep, you’ll get access to our set-up course which contains step-by-step directions for installing and customizing your template. You can also reach out to us at [email protected] with any additional questions.
Pretty much anything can be customized.
We can host your website; however, you’re free to pick your own host as well. If you’re looking for a host, we recommend Flywheel.
If you’re interested in hosting with us check out the Palm Tree Club as it includes the template fo’ free (with a one year commitment).
Yes, all our websites are built with SEO in mind and there are countless WordPress plugins and resources to optimize everything from images to site speed.
You don’t need to know any code to make basic updates to your site. However if you want to make significant changes, as with any website, code may be helpful.
As with anything else, it takes a little time to learn but in addition to the getting started course we’ve put together we’re here to answer any questions you might have along the way.
There are tons of tools and resources out there to help. If you get stuck, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
Yep, not a problem!
We design custom Showit and WordPress websites. If you’re interested in a custom website, please inquire using the contact form on the contact page. We can also be hired to customize any of the templates in The Palm Shop.
PS – Don’t see your question here? Feel free to ask us via that little chat icon in the lower right corner of your screen.
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