Website building with WordPress can sometimes feel akin to solving a complex puzzle. Without proper guidance or tools, aligning content blocks into an appealing design that best represents your business becomes an uphill task. As you stare at a cold, blank WordPress editor screen, you wonder: How can I bring my unique vision to life without getting tangled in confusing lines of code?
Enters the WordPress block plugins to revolutionize your site-building experience. These game-changers are here to unleash your inner design unicorn and make website building a breeze, even if you’re more tech-savvy at ordering pizza than wrangling PHP.
As of today, there are 210,079 live WordPress websites using Gutenberg blocks worldwide
We all know at the heart of every stunning website lies an intuitive and powerful page builder. For millions around the globe who swear by WordPress (and rightly so), Gutenberg and its block plugins are the secret sauce that gets their creative juices flowing. And why wouldn’t they be? Imagine being able to manoeuvre essential elements – text, images, videos – flawlessly across your blank canvas with simple drag-and-drop features!
Aspiring for a visually stunning yet technically efficient website turns into reality when equipped with carefully chosen block plugins — those not only add sheen but provide real substance as well. Let’s not forget how these easily accessible plugins remove the need for constant developer intervention.
Keeping pace with advancing times, we enter 2024 and find ourselves in a digital landscape where visitors expect more than just basic aesthetics from websites; they crave engaging user experience with minimum hassles. If you’re nodding along this narrative so far, prepare yourself to delve into our curation of ‘5 Best WordPress Block Plugins for 2024’, designed specifically to make your website building feel like a gentle breeze rather than a stormy encounter.
Top 5 WordPress Block Builder Plugins to Streamline Your Website Building
We’ll dissect each of the five plugin’s strengths and unveil their hidden gems in the form of features, benefits, and weaknesses to help you find the perfect match to turn your website-building experience from a teeth-clenching ordeal into a joyful pixel party. So, strap on your design goggles, grab your virtual paintbrush, and prepare to paint your digital masterpiece with the power of block plugins!
Note: All the features and pricing plan mentioned in each plugin is valid at the time of writing this post.
01. GenerateBlocks – For Light-Weight Websites
GenerateBlocks is a powerful WordPress block plugin designed to extend the capabilities of the default WordPress editor, Gutenberg. This plugin offers users an innovative and flexible way to build stunning website layouts without ever touching a line of code. Developed by the team behind GeneratePress, one of the most popular themes for WordPress, it adds six new blocks to the Gutenberg editor – Container, Grid, Headline, Image, Query Loop, and Button. Each block boasts advanced customization options aimed at providing maximum design freedom within the constraints of clean, lightweight, and highly performant code.
Its additional features include advanced typography options, custom spacing and padding controls, gradient overlays for visual depth, background image settings with size & position controls, and much more. With its minimalist approach but advanced capabilities, GenerateBlocks empowers to create unique designs by combining various types of blocks or by nesting them within each other. You can use it with any theme and customize every little detail of your site while retaining a high level of performance.
If you are looking for ways to fine-tune your WordPress website layout without delving into complicated coding processes or feeling limited by predefined templates, this tool can be your immaculate pick.
Main Highlights & Benefits
| Performance Above All | It prioritizes speed and efficiency with lightweight code that minimizes website load times, ensuring a seamless user experience. |
| Back to Basics | Offers a core set of essential blocks—Container, Grid, Headline, Image Query Loon, and Button—that act as building blocks for endless layout possibilities. |
| Limitless Design Freedom | Encourages creativity and flexibility through versatile styling options, allowing users to tailor block appearance to match their unique vision. |
| Custom Block Creation | Empower developers to create custom blocks using GenerateBlocks’ clean code base for extended functionality and tailored solutions. |
| Seamless Integration | Works in fine-tune with core WordPress blocks and other block plugins, ensuring a cohesive editing experience. |
Pros
| ✅ The plugin does not overload your website with unnecessary code, helping maintain fast loading speeds. ✅ It offers extensive customization options for every block beyond what you get in the default Gutenberg editor. ✅ The plugin smoothly integrates with the WordPress Gutenberg editor without causing conflicts. ✅ Even though it offers advanced features, it maintains a simple and user-friendly interface, making it accessible even for beginners. |
Cons
| ❌ Compared to plugins like Elementor or Divi, it provides only six custom blocks. ❌ There can be occasional compatibility problems with certain themes or other plugins. |
Pricing: The personal plan for a single site starts at $39/yr
Our Two Cents: It is worth considering if your needs align more towards speed optimization and visual customization rather than layout complexity. However, its limited set of blocks could be restrictive if you’re looking to build more complex layouts or require specialized design components. Furthermore, while it has a user-friendly interface, new users might need some acclimatization time before fully exploiting its potential. But if you need a broader range of specialty blocks and are less concerned about load times and code bulkiness, you might want to look at alternatives like Elementor or Divi.
Also learn ☞ How to Make Entire Block Clickable in GeneratePress Theme Using GenerateBlocks
02. Kadence Blocks – For Fast-Loading Versatile Websites
Kadence Blocks is a versatile block plugin for WordPress that greatly expands the capabilities of the default editor. It provides additional blocks and options to allow users to build custom layouts and designs more intuitively and efficiently directly within the Gutenberg interface. Created by Kadence WP, known for its dedicated work in crafting high-performance WordPress themes and tools, it offers both basic and advanced blocks. Basic blocks cover fundamental design needs like buttons, icons, spacers, and dividers, while advanced blocks provide complex features like rows or advanced galleries that allow for detailed customization, such as column structure manipulation, media queries for responsive settings, etc.
Among its standout features is the Row Layout Block which combines multiple blocks into pre-made templates, thereby saving considerable time. This includes predefined layouts such as complete ‘Hero sections’ with call-to-action buttons, testimonials, or even services sections. It also offers extensive typography options allowing users to choose from hundreds of Google fonts; advanced color controls including gradient overlays; custom margin/padding settings; z-index positioning controls; CSS animations/transitions on scroll or hover; and many more.
This popular block editor plugin serves as an excellent tool for builders who want granular control over their site layout, delivering professional-level design options while still maintaining user-friendly operability. So whether you’re building a dynamic landing page or an immersive blog post, Kadence Blocks will elevate your Gutenberg editing experience.
Main Highlights & Benefits
| Block Powerhouse | Boasts a diverse collection of blocks covering everything from headers and footers to dynamic content displays and forms. |
| Layout Mastermind | Excel in creating complex layouts with advanced row and column options, flexible spacing, and dynamic adjustments. |
| Gutenberg’s BFF | Plays harmoniously with core WordPress blocks, allowing you to seamlessly blend Kadence Blocks with your existing content. |
| Customization Champion | Offers extensive styling controls for fine-tuning every aspect of your blocks, from colors and fonts to animations and borders. |
| Performance-Conscious | Maintains a lightweight codebase to ensure your website loads fast and stays responsive. |
Pros
| ✅ Offers advanced configuration options, including custom widths, responsive controls, and Google fonts. This allows users to fine-tune the appearance of their site extensively. ✅ The plugin comes with an array of prebuilt layouts and blocks such as rows, galleries, tabs, testimonials, and more, easing the process of building feature-rich webpages. ✅ It includes a global color palette feature allowing you to update colors across your entire site from one place. ✅ It has a standout aspect as its built-in animation effects, which allow users to add dynamic elements to their pages. |
Cons
| ❌ While the free version is powerful in its own right, several useful blocks are reserved only for premium/paid users. ❌ Users reported compatibility problems with certain themes or other plugins which might require technical workarounds. |
Pricing: For unlimited websites, its pro plan starts at $89/yr
Our Two Cents: If you’re looking for detailed control over your website design along with access to numerous innovative features (and are willing to navigate through a slight learning curve), then Kadence Blocks can certainly be an asset to your WordPress toolkit. Its strengths lie in its advanced customization options, features galore, integrated animation effects, responsive settings, and global colour palette function. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that the limited availability of blocks in the free version could pose a drawback for those unwilling or unable to upgrade to the pro version. Additionally, you should be prepared for potential compatibility issues with certain themes or plugins.
More info on ☞ How to Use the Kadence Blocks Editor Effectively
03. Crocoblock – For Dynamic Elementor & Woo Websites
Crocoblock is an innovative and all-inclusive toolkit offering a multitude of advanced plugins and themes built specifically for WordPress. Designed to work seamlessly with the Elementor page builder, it empowers you to create complex and highly dynamic websites without any coding skills. The true magic lies in its 20+ comprehensive set of JetPlugins, including tools like JetWooBuilder that enables you to create essential Woo shop pages. Each plugin is purpose-built to cater to distinct aspects of website creation, aiding users in building everything from attractive headers or footers (JetThemeCore) to diversified listings (JetEngine), animated menus (JetMenu), robust blog layouts (JetBlog), product displays (JetWooBuilder) and more.
One of the most groundbreaking tools within it is JetEngine. This dynamic content plugin allows you to create custom post types, taxonomies, meta boxes, and listings templates and even allows for dynamic map listings. Beyond its suite of plugins, it also provides professionally designed website templates and pre-styled sections. These allow you to further expedite your design process while maintaining high standards of aesthetics and functionality.
One of its standout qualities is the provision for deep customization at every juncture – from block-level styling control over colours, typography, margins/padding, etc., to conditional visibility features based on user roles or triggers. Whether you’re a web developer creating advanced sites or a business owner seeking an online presence with few resource commitments – Crocoblock will deliver by providing advanced solutions for WordPress-based projects while ensuring ease of use.
Main Highlights & Benefits
| Mega Block, Widgets & Template Library | Access over 20 blocks via JetPlugins covering a wide range of functionalities, including headers, footers, pricing tables, forms, post grids, dynamic lists, and much more including 200+ widgets and 60+ templates for Elementor users. |
| JetEngine for Dynamic Content | This powerhouse plugin within Crocoblock unlocks dynamic content features, allowing you to create custom post types, listings, and dynamic fields for flexible content management. |
| Theme Integration | Work seamlessly with their own themes, providing a cohesive design experience and pre-built templates to streamline your workflow. |
| Woo Enhancements | Extend your Woo store’s capabilities with blocks for product sliders, multi-step checkouts, custom product layouts, and dynamic product filtering. |
| Marketing and Functionality Plugins | Offers additional plugins for popups, booking systems, user dashboards, and more, expanding your website’s potential. |
Pros
| ✅ Has a suite of JetPlugins that offer a vast collection of features, extensions, widgets and design options, making it a very comprehensive solution for WordPress and Woo site builders. ✅ It can handle dynamic content. This feature allows users to create and manage complex websites with custom post types and fields. ✅ Offers a community forum for interactive support along with detailed tutorials, making troubleshooting much more manageable. ✅ Gets frequent updates of its software with new features, maintaining pace with current design trends and user needs. |
Cons
| ❌ The pricing structure can be complex as individual plugins or plugin packages are sold separately, which might confuse some users. ❌ Given its comprehensive nature, it can be resource-intensive, which may slow down some lower-end hosting environments or clutter up the WordPress back end. |
Pricing: Annual subscription plan for a single project starts at $199
Our Two Cents: It is undeniably a powerful and comprehensive tool for building versatile WordPress sites. Its vast features, dynamic content capability, and professionally designed templates can serve users who need advanced capabilities to design complex websites. However, If you have the patience to navigate through the learning curve and need access to extensive functionalities for complex websites, then it’s worth considering Crocoblock. However, should you prefer simplicity over extensive functionality or run on lower-end hosting, other less resource-intensive plugins might serve you better.
Recommended reading ☞ E-commerce Order Fulfillment: A Complete Guide for Business Success
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Since the customers pick a delivery date and time set by you, order fulfillment and customer satisfaction becomes a breeze.
04. Cwicly – For Flexible Intuitive Websites
Cwicly emerges as a fresh and innovative force in the WordPress block plugin landscape, empowering users to craft visually captivating and interactive content experiences with ease. It primarily introduces itself as a lightweight WordPress plugin that adds useful content blocks to enhance your site. It provides a range of Gutenberg blocks to help you build pages quickly.
With its user-friendly block organization process, it simplifies block management, allowing users to organize and categorize blocks effortlessly. You can easily discover the perfect block as the plugin provides a visually appealing and categorized library, ensuring you find the right block for your content. It empowers you to create personalized blocks, enhancing the flexibility of your WordPress site while allowing you to tailor the content precisely with custom blocks.
Its focus on modern design principles, intuitive usability, and a growing collection of versatile blocks sets it apart as a compelling choice for those seeking to elevate their content creation. It concentrates on creating blocks that improve user experience and interaction. The blocks have customizable settings and are designed to make page building faster for any WordPress site. With lightweight code, Cwicly enhances page functionality without impacting site performance. Safe to say, it’s a simple yet powerful block plugin for Gutenberg users.
Main Highlights & Benefits
| Visually Stunning Blocks | Its 30+ library of blocks is designed with a modern aesthetic, incorporating sleek typography, eye-catching animations, and interactive elements to captivate audiences. |
| Content-Focused Approach | Prioritizes effective content presentation with blocks that showcase testimonials, team members, post grids, and more in visually engaging ways. |
| Ease of Use | Interface is streamlined for intuitive editing, allowing users of all skill levels to create beautiful layouts without complex settings or steep learning curves. |
| Seamless Integration | Works smoothly with the native WordPress block editor, ensuring a cohesive editing experience and compatibility with other block-based plugins. |
| Continuous Growth | The library of blocks is under active development, promising new additions and enhancements to expand creative possibilities. |
Pros
| ✅ The plugin boasts an intuitive and user-friendly interface, ensuring that both beginners and experienced developers can navigate it with ease. ✅ By streamlining block management, it helps users save time, allowing them to focus more on content creation rather than searching for blocks. ✅ Seamlessly integrates into the WordPress environment, ensuring a smooth experience for users without disrupting their workflow. ✅ Users have the flexibility to create custom blocks, enabling them to tailor their content to specific requirements. |
Cons
| ❌ There are limited user reviews available, making it challenging to gauge the long-term experiences and potential issues users face. ❌ Depending on user expectations, they find the feature set lacking certain advanced functionalities found in other block management plugins. |
Pricing: Yearly plan for a solo website starts at 49€ which is about $53
Our Two Cents: It is a solid choice for WordPress users seeking an efficient and visually pleasing solution for block management. It is particularly beneficial for those who prioritize time-saving features, allowing them to focus on content creation rather than grappling with block organization. However, as a potential user, you should take into account a few considerations. While user reviews are currently limited, indicating the need for more widespread adoption, there might be a learning curve for those new to block management plugins. Additionally, users with specific advanced feature requirements should carefully evaluate whether this block plugin meets their needs.
05. Spectra – For Elevating Astra Theme-Based Websites
Spectra is a powerful WordPress block plugin that offers a range of features to enhance your website’s design and functionality. Best known for its ability to enhance the power of one of the most popular WordPress themes, Astra, while editing the pages. This plugin provides a comprehensive collection of blocks that can be easily added to your WordPress editor. With its blocks, you can effortlessly create visually stunning and engaging content. It includes a variety of blocks such as sliders, testimonials, team members, pricing tables, counters, and more. These blocks are highly customizable, allowing you to tailor them to suit your website’s unique style and branding.
One of the standout features is its intuitive drag-and-drop interface. This makes it incredibly user-friendly, even for those without coding knowledge. You can drag the desired blocks into your editor and customize them using the built-in settings panel. Another highlight of this inventive block plugin is its responsive design. All the blocks are mobile-friendly, ensuring that your content looks great on any device. This is essential in today’s mobile-centric world, where a significant portion of website traffic comes from smartphones and tablets.
It offers seamless integration with popular WordPress themes and Woo plugins. This means you can easily incorporate its blocks into your existing website without compatibility issues. Additionally, the plugin is regularly updated and supported, ensuring a smooth user experience and compatibility with the latest WordPress version. It sure can be termed a versatile WordPress block plugin that empowers you to create beautiful and functional content for your website. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced web developer, this comprehensive block builder offers an array of customizable blocks and an intuitive interface to help you elevate your website design and engage your audience effectively.
Learn ☞ How to use Spectra with the WordPress block editor
Main Highlights & Benefits
| Astra Theme Friendly | Crafted specifically for Astra, ensuring smooth integration and consistent design aesthetics. |
| Design-Centric Blocks | Enhance your Astra theme with stylish headers, footers, blog layouts, sliders, and more, all beautifully designed and customizable. |
| Blogging & Content Focused | Showcase your blog posts, landing pages, and other content in stunning ways with dedicated blocks and layout options. |
| User-Friendly Interface | Enjoy an intuitive block editor experience that seamlessly complements Astra’s editing environment. |
| Easy Customization | Control every aspect of your blocks with detailed styling options and settings, making your website truly your own. |
Pros
| ✅ Provides a diverse and advanced block library, offering a wide range of pre-designed blocks to enhance content creation. ✅ Offers robust customization options for each block, allowing users to tailor their content to specific design and functionality preferences. ✅ Plugin receives regular updates, ensuring compatibility with the latest WordPress versions and offering potential new features and improvements. ✅ Ensures responsive customer support, addressing queries and issues promptly. |
Cons
| ❌ For users seeking simplicity, its abundance of features and options might be overwhelming. ❌ While there might be a free version, the pricing structure for advanced features could be a consideration for users with budget constraints. |
Pricing: Pro plan with custom blocks starts at $49/yr
Our Two Cents: It is an excellent choice for users who prioritize feature-rich customization and are willing to invest time in exploring its capabilities. It caters to individuals or businesses seeking versatility and creativity in their WordPress content, offering a powerful toolkit for engaging and dynamic web pages; however, users should be prepared for a potential learning curve, particularly if they are new to advanced block plugins. The pricing structure for advanced features might be a consideration for those on a budget. Additionally, the plugin’s effectiveness could depend on seamless integration with the user’s theme and other plugins.
Note: The top five WordPress block plugins that won TheWPWeekly’s recent vote are reviewed above. You can see the full results and other categories, which feature more block plugins and other popular WordPress tools.
Essential Tips to Supercharge Your WordPress Block Editing Workflow
All set to transform your WordPress website from “meh” to “magnificent” by utilizing the power of the above blocks? But wait up; it doesn’t stop at simply installing a fancy block plugin. Mastering the art of block utilization is key to unlocking their full potential. So here are a few essential tips to maximize your block editor game in WordPress:
1. Embrace Reuse, Reduce, Recycle:
- Presets and InnerBlocks: Don’t reinvent the wheel! Save time and consistency with reusable block presets and nested InnerBlocks for frequently used elements.
- Global Styles: Apply unified fonts, colours, and spacing across your site with global styles for a polished look.
2. Think Beyond the Canvas:
- Dynamic Content: Break free from static pages! Integrate dynamic data like recent posts, testimonials, or product feeds to keep your content fresh and engaging.
- Conditional Logic: Show blocks only to specific audiences or based on user actions for personalized experiences.
3. Unleash the Intergalactic Power of Integrations:
- External Tools: Connect your blocks to the outside world! Embed forms, maps, social feeds, and more to add functionality and interactivity.
- Custom Blocks: Code-savvy? Craft your own unique blocks to fill any niche and extend your website’s capabilities.
4. Optimize for the Eye and the Algorithm:
- Accessibility: Ensure your creations are accessible to everyone with inclusive block features and proper alt text.
- SEO Smarts: Optimize your block content for search engines with strategic headers, keyword-rich text, and meta descriptions.
5. Learn, Experiment, Evolve:
- Community is Key: Tap into the vibrant WordPress block community for tutorials, plugins, and inspiration.
- Stay Curious: Keep exploring new block combinations, plugins, and design trends to always push the boundaries of your website’s potential.
Bear in mind that mastering blocks is a journey, not a destination. So, experiment, have fun, and watch your website evolve into a truly unique and powerful online presence!
Revolutionize Your Website Building Experience with The Right WordPress Block Plugins
Now you know that wielding the power of WordPress block plugins for your website isn’t just about installing multiple plugins but ensuring that every plugin added serves a unique purpose and contributes to improving the overall functioning of your site. It is essential to diligently choose high-quality plugins like GenerateBlocks, Kadence Blocks, Crocoblock, Cwicly, and Spectra.
These block plugins are not just optimally coded and regularly updated with fresh features; they also bring their own unique advantages. GenerateBlocks offers an easy interface with minimalistic designs yet doesn’t compromise on efficiency. Kadence Blocks adds advanced elements that are usually available only in premium themes. Crocoblock is a one-stop solution for complex web page designs with JetEngine being its ace suite! Cwicly handles dynamic data like a pro making it truly flexible while Spectra excels in interactive design development.
Now if you really want to Maximize the benefits of these plugins, then you will need to focus on regular updates, understanding their complete functionalities, backing up your data before updates or installations, and finally testing them on a staging site before introducing them to your live site.
No doubt any WordPress block plugins utilized from the list above can significantly enhance your website’s performance if used wisely — after all, it’s quality that drives optimal performance rather than quantity. Build smarter websites by harnessing the full potential of these powerful tools for a truly transformative digital experience!
