In a recent survey, the WordPress community at Dynamic WordPress discussed their favorite elements for website development, including which themes or plugins to 'Try, Keep, or Discard'.
This survey sheds light on current user preferences and frustrations, particularly around the Gutenberg editor, popular page builders, and other essential plugins and themes. The survey's insights reflect the platform’s strengths and challenges, guiding developers in making informed choices.
WordPress has grown as one of the world’s leading CMSs, valued for its flexibility, large plugin ecosystem, and user-friendly design. It allows both beginners and advanced developers to build sites tailored to diverse needs, from e-commerce stores to personal blogs. Despite its many advantages, WordPress faces challenges, especially with the Gutenberg block editor, which has received mixed feedback from users.
Many developers find Gutenberg lacking when building complex layouts, preferring other page builders for their additional features and ease of use.
In this article, we will explore the survey results, revealing which WordPress tools users want to try, which ones they find indispensable, and which they are ready to discard. We'll also examine which elements best serve the WordPress community today and why users are turning to alternative solutions to address specific limitations.
Here’s what some of the contributors shared:
Victor P.
- Try: ClassicPress
- Keep: Polylang – A well-coded plugin.
- Trash: Gutenberg and other page builders, as he prefers pages with simple articles.
Waqas T.
- Try: Bricks, Faust.js
- Keep: AIOWP Migration, WooCommerce, WPGraphQL, GeneratePress, ACF
- Trash: Elementor, TutorLMS
David M.
- Try: The upcoming Fluent Community plugin
- Keep: Kadence Theme Pro and Kadence Blocks Pro combination
- Trash: No longer uses WP Reset Pro due to alternative functionality in other plugins.
Bas B.
- Try: Nectar Blocks
- Keep: Kadence and Greenshift
- Trash: WPvivid
Vijay K.
- Try: Growing Greenshift Block Theme & Plugin
- Keep: Filemanager for ease of use
- Trash: Gutenberg, due to limitations for business sites
Laura S.
- Prefers building themes from scratch and avoids visual builders.
Gabriela G.
- Shares that while custom themes are preferred, budget constraints often lead to using tools like Bricks Builder.
Nguyễn M.
- Try: Bricks, Greenshift, GeneratePress, ACF, WPML, Gravity Forms
- Keep: GeneratePress, WPML, Ninja Forms, Metabox
- Trash: Bricks, Greenshift, Polylang
Gen H.
- Try: Kadence Blocks
- Keep: ACF Pro, FacetWP, Imagify, Max Mega Menu, among others
- Trash: Various shipping plugins due to complex logistics
Joachim A.
- Keep: Bricks, SolidSecure, WP Fusion, WSForm, WP Rocket, Duplicator
- Trash: Akeeba Backup, SecurityShield
Stéphane B.
- Try: Bricks, SureCart
- Keep: GeneratePress Premium, Kadence Pro, Gravity Forms
- Trash: Elementor, Beaver Builder, Genesis
Alisha T.
- Try: SureForms
- Keep: Automatic CSS
- Trash: Hello Dolly
David D.
- Try: Builderius (upcoming version)
- Keep: Bricks
- Not Using: GeneratePress Premium
Peter B.
- Try: BitForms
- Keep: Bricks
- Trash: Piotnet Grid
Nora H.
- Try: Brizy Cloud
- Keep: Bricks, WPDataTables
- Trash: Astra Pro, TablePress due to moving to WPDataTables
Sharif P.
- Try: Divi 5 once stable
- Keep: Bricks
- Trash: Buddyboss platform and plugins
Ingo R.
- Try: VIK booking plugins
- Keep: Bricksforge
- Trash: Amelia
“ At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent. ” ― Barbara Bush
'Try, Keep, Trash' Survey Midrange Results
The 'Try, Keep, Trash' survey captures opinions from WordPress users on tools they’re interested in trying, currently rely on, or have stopped using, specifically reflecting a midrange sample of participant responses:
TRY
- Victor P.: ClassicPress
- Waqas T.: Bricks, Faust.js
- David M.: Fluent Community Plugin (forthcoming)
KEEP
- Victor P.: Polylang
- Waqas T.: AIOWP Migration, WooCommerce, GeneratePress
- David M.: Kadence Theme Pro and Kadence Blocks Pro
TRASH
- Victor P.: Gutenberg (prefers simpler page layouts)
- Waqas T.: Elementor, TutorLMS
- David M.: WP Reset Pro
Aiming to optimise your WordPress experience: Top Elements to Try, Keep, and Trash
For those aiming to optimize their WordPress site, this survey data provides insightful trends in the WordPress community’s tool preferences, with 35% recommending Bricks Builder for its flexibility and performance, and 30% endorsing GeneratePress and Kadence for their lightweight themes and customization options.
Meanwhile, Gutenberg faced a notable 40% negative rating, as many users found it less intuitive for complex sites, despite its extended FSE capabilities.
How Oxygen builder or Breakdance Builder were represented in this survey?
In this survey, Oxygen Builder received relatively minimal mention compared to other builders, reflecting either neutral or mild preferences without strong endorsements or criticisms. Breakdance Builder, however, saw more interest, especially as an alternative to other visual builders. It received positive feedback from a few developers who found it to be a good compromise between performance and design flexibility, particularly as they explored moving away from more resource-heavy builders like Elementor. Although neither builder dominated the survey, Breakdance Builder appeared to generate more curiosity for future projects than Oxygen, with users looking for fresh solutions in visual building while maintaining performance.
What about Builderius and / or Sage with Bedrock?
A few participants did mention Builderius and Sage with Bedrock:
- Builderius: This tool was listed by David D. as a “try” for the future once its newer versions become available. Builderius is recognized for its developer-focused flexibility, appealing to users who prioritize code control and custom functionality over traditional drag-and-drop interfaces.
- Sage with Bedrock: While not widely mentioned, Sage with Bedrock remains popular among developers who prefer a structured and code-driven approach to theme building. This setup didn’t appear frequently in this survey, likely because it appeals to more technically inclined developers rather than general users, but those who did mention it favored it for its streamlined templating and advanced tooling for serious projects.
Both tools highlight a segment of the WordPress community that values developer-centric, custom approaches over conventional page builders, focusing on performance, security, and scalability.
What about Pinegrow Builder?
Pinegrow Builder for WP was not mentioned in this survey. Pinegrow is known for its flexibility as a visual editor that integrates well with WordPress theme development, appealing to developers who want more design freedom without compromising code quality. However, it tends to be more niche within the WordPress ecosystem compared to popular options like Elementor, Bricks, and Kadence, which may explain its absence in the survey results.
Survey breakdown
This breakdown offers clear guidance on popular and widely endorsed tools, helping developers and site owners make informed choices that enhance performance and user experience while avoiding tools that may fall short for their needs.
From the survey results, here are the most popular choices in each category:
Try
- Bricks – A modern page builder valued for its flexibility and speed.
- ClassicPress – A fork of WordPress for those seeking a simpler, classic approach.
- Fluent Community Plugin – An anticipated tool for building community-driven features.
Keep
- Polylang – Essential for multilingual site support.
- Kadence – A powerful theme and block combination highly regarded for customization options.
- WooCommerce – The go-to choice for e-commerce functionality within WordPress.
Trash
- Elementor – A widely used page builder, but criticized for performance and bloat issues.
- Gutenberg – The block editor native to WordPress; many users find it lacks necessary features.
- WP Reset Pro – Once popular for resetting development environments, now seen as replaceable by other tools.
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Final Thoughts:
The survey highlights that WordPress remains a robust and versatile CMS, upheld by a vibrant community and an expansive ecosystem of plugins and themes.
The results show a marked preference for streamlined third-party tools over native WordPress elements, particularly the Gutenberg editor.
While many users appreciate Gutenberg’s benefits—such as its support for Full Site Editing (FSE), which allows for more unified and extended customization capabilities across themes—it's often regarded unfavorably due to its bulky interface and perceived lack of ease for more complex, business-centric sites.
Ultimately, developers and users lean toward solutions that align with their specific needs, prioritizing plugins and themes known for reliability and efficiency.
For those aiming to optimize their WordPress site, this data offers valuable insights into popular tools while highlighting elements that may impact performance or user experience.
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