Elementor vs Zenfolio: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

Elementor and Zenfolio both offer unique strengths tailored to different user needs, but Elementor generally provides a more versatile and powerful website building experience.

• 
  Elementor (Overall Grade: 7.4/10)
  
  excels with its extensive design functionalities, ease of use, and robust integration with WordPress. It is ideal for users seeking a flexible and customizable website builder with a wide range of templates and widgets. Elementor’s strong ecommerce capabilities, advanced marketing features, and comprehensive customer support make it a preferred choice for both beginners and professional web designers.
• 
  Zenfolio (Overall Grade: 6.4/10)
  
  is specifically designed for photographers and visual artists, offering elegant templates and integrated ecommerce features for selling prints and digital downloads. While it may not offer the same level of design flexibility as Elementor, Zenfolio provides specialized tools for managing and growing a photography business online. Its user-friendly interface and dedicated features make it a solid choice for photographers looking to showcase and sell their work.

Best for ecommerce

Verdict

: Elementor is more versatile and powerful for general ecommerce needs, while Zenfolio is tailored specifically for photographers and visual artists.

• 
  Elementor
  
  : With a score of 7.6, Elementor excels in ecommerce through its integration with WooCommerce, offering extensive customization options and a wide range of ecommerce widgets. It is ideal for users who need a flexible and powerful platform to build and manage online stores. However, it may require a learning curve and additional plugins for advanced features.
• 
  Zenfolio
  
  : Scoring 6.3, Zenfolio is designed specifically for photographers and visual artists. It provides integrated ecommerce features for selling prints and digital downloads, making it a great choice for those in the visual arts industry. While it may not offer the same level of flexibility as Elementor, it simplifies the ecommerce process for its target audience.

Best for informational & business websites

Verdict

: Elementor is the superior choice for creating informational and business websites due to its flexibility, extensive design features, and user-friendly interface. Zenfolio, while excellent for photographers, lacks the versatility needed for broader business applications.

• 
  Elementor
  
  : Elementor shines with its visual drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for users to create highly customized websites without coding. Its wide range of widgets and templates, along with responsive design capabilities, make it ideal for both beginners and professional web designers. Elementor’s integration with WordPress themes and plugins further enhances its functionality, making it a robust choice for informational and business websites. With a score of 8.9, Elementor stands out for its versatility and ease of use.
• 
  Zenfolio
  
  : Zenfolio is tailored specifically for professional photographers and visual artists, offering elegant, mobile-friendly templates and integrated e-commerce capabilities. While it excels in showcasing and selling visual work, its design flexibility and customization options are limited compared to Elementor. Zenfolio’s focus on photography-specific needs makes it less suitable for broader business applications. With a score of 6.9, Zenfolio is best for those in the photography industry but may not meet the needs of other business types.

Detailed comparison

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Winner: Elementor.

If you’re looking for a platform that offers more creative control, a wide array of design features, and a larger selection of templates, Elementor is the preferred choice.

Elementor offers an extensive range of templates and designs, with over 100 responsive website kits covering various categories like business, creative, education, and more, directly available through Elementor’s platform. Additional sources like Envato Elements, Template Monster, and others provide a wider selection, including free and premium options, catering to diverse web design needs.

Elementor Themes

Compared to Elementor, Zenfolio offers a variety of customizable templates and features specifically tailored for photographers, with a focus on showcasing and selling their work. While it provides several customization options, including blocks for different layouts and styles, it may not offer as much versatility outside of photography-specific needs.

Zenfolio Themes

🏆 Winner: Elementor

. Scoring an impressive 8.8, Elementor is renowned for its user-friendly interface, enabling both novices and professionals to create websites with ease. Zenfolio, with a score of 6.3, offers a specialized platform for photographers but has limitations in design flexibility and might not fully cater to those seeking extensive customization.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Elementor

. Elementor provides an extensive array of learning resources suitable for both beginners and advanced users through its Elementor Academy. Zenfolio, on the other hand, offers a set of tutorials and articles in their help center but users have expressed a desire for more comprehensive learning resources.

Elementor and Zenfolio both offer ecommerce capabilities, but they cater to different needs and audiences. Elementor, with its integration with WooCommerce, provides a robust platform for creating and customizing online stores. It offers a wide range of ecommerce widgets and customizable product pages, making it a powerful tool for building ecommerce sites. However, it may require a learning curve and additional plugins for advanced features.

Elementor ecommerce features:

• WooCommerce Integration
• Customizable Product Pages
• Ecommerce Widgets
• Product Categories and Filters
• Shopping Cart Customization

Zenfolio ecommerce features:

• Multiple Currency Support
• Discount Coupons
• Order management
• Gift Certificates
• Tax management

Ecommerce themes & templates

Elementor offers a diverse range of ecommerce-specific templates suitable for various online stores. These templates are designed to be mobile-responsive and SEO-friendly, ensuring optimal performance across devices and search engines. Zenfolio, on the other hand, provides customizable website templates with integrated e-commerce features for photographers, designed to showcase and sell their work across various genres.

Product page customization

Elementor offers extensive customization options for WooCommerce product pages, including custom layouts, WooCommerce widgets for various product elements, and options for styling product galleries and ‘Add to Cart’ buttons. Zenfolio allows for each product page to be adjusted to clearly display its unique attributes, with options such as size or color. It also supports customization in pricing and shipping settings, allowing sellers to cater to various needs effectively.

Payment processing

Elementor supports several payment gateways, notably through plugins and integrations, with Stripe and PayPal being prominent options for simple and widespread use. Zenfolio supports Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, integrating them seamlessly into its platform designed for photographers to sell their work online. The platform charges a commerce fee of 7% per order (excluding tax and shipping) and a payment processing fee for transactions through Stripe or PayPal.

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Winner: Elementor

. Elementor, with a score of 8.5, is a popular website builder plugin for WordPress that allows users to create and edit websites through a visual drag-and-drop interface. It offers a wide range of widgets and templates, enabling users to design their sites without needing to write code. Elementor is known for its flexibility, allowing for the customization of every detail on a webpage, making it suitable for both beginners and professional web designers.

Zenfolio, scoring 7.6, is a comprehensive website builder and online service designed specifically for professional photographers and visual artists to showcase, share, and sell their work online. It offers a range of customizable website templates that are both elegant and mobile-friendly, allowing users to create a professional web presence without needing any coding skills.

Mobile editor/app

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Winner: Zenfolio

. Elementor does not have a dedicated mobile editor, which is a significant disadvantage when compared to Zenfolio. Zenfolio, on the other hand, offers a mobile editor app designed for Zenfolio account holders to manage their websites and galleries directly from their mobile devices.

The app includes features for receiving notifications, managing galleries, handling sales-related tasks, and showcasing photos through a client presentation mode. Additionally, the app supports uploading and editing photos, as well as accessing various tools for reports, CRM, bookings, and blog management, although some features may still necessitate desktop use for full functionality.

This makes Zenfolio a more versatile and convenient option for users who need to manage their websites on the go.

Overall Result

:

Zenfolio Wins

. Zenfolio scores 8.4 in product testing options, outperforming Elementor which scores 5.6. Zenfolio offers a 14-day free trial during which users can test all premium features. Elementor, on the other hand, does not offer a trial version, but users can test all premium features during the refundable period. Both platforms offer a 30-day money back guarantee.

Zenfolio and Elementor have similar price scores, but Zenfolio offers more discounts for annual billing.

🏆

Winner: Elementor

Elementor offers managed WordPress hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a data center in Belgium. Zenfolio, on the other hand, offers cloud hosting but does not disclose any information about its uptime or the locations of its data centers. This lack of transparency gives Elementor the edge in this category.

🏆 Winner: Elementor

Both Elementor and Zenfolio prioritize website performance and page speed, but Elementor has a higher website speed optimization score and employs more strategies for speed optimization.

Elementor, a popular website builder plugin for WordPress, prioritizes website performance and page speed. It employs strategies such as lazy loading, code minification, caching, and CDN to optimize website speed. However, Elementor does not disclose any information about its Core Web Vitals improvements or provide specific data on load times and PageSpeed score ranges, stating that these vary depending on optimization and website complexity.

Zenfolio, a website builder designed for professional photographers and visual artists, also prioritizes website performance and page speed. Its main strategy for speed optimization is mobile responsive design. Like Elementor, Zenfolio does not provide any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements or specific data on load times and PageSpeed score ranges, stating that these vary depending on optimization and website complexity. Despite this, Zenfolio has a lower website speed optimization score than Elementor, making Elementor the winner in this comparison.

🏆 Winner: Elementor.

With a score of 7.6, Elementor leads the way with its wide range of both free and premium add-ons that enhance website building. It offers advanced features such as theme building, dynamic content, and extensive widget libraries. Zenfolio, scoring 6.5, offers a focused set of plugins and integrations specifically designed for photographers. However, Elementor’s versatility and extensive integration capabilities give it the upper hand.

Elementor Applications

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Overall Winner: Elementor

. Elementor stands out for its flexibility and integration with various marketing tools and plugins. Zenfolio, while offering a range of marketing features, is more limited in its SEO capabilities and blogging features.

🏆 Winner: Elementor

. Comparing Elementor vs Zenfolio, Elementor takes the lead in this category with a higher customer support score of 7.2. Elementor offers 24/7 support through ticketing and live chat, ensuring users can get assistance at any time. This round-the-clock availability is a significant advantage for users who may encounter issues outside of regular business hours.

Zenfolio, on the other hand, provides comprehensive support through email 365 days a year, LiveChat from Monday to Thursday, and phone support for Advanced plan subscribers during specific hours. While Zenfolio’s support is robust, its limited live chat and phone support hours may be a drawback for users needing immediate assistance. However, Zenfolio’s rich Support Center with articles and video tutorials is a valuable resource for self-help.

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Winner: Elementor

. Elementor’s security measures are robust and comprehensive, leveraging Google Cloud’s infrastructure for high security, including end-to-end encryption. They also offer advanced hosting features, including the use of Google Cloud Platform’s C2 servers and integration with Cloudflare’s Enterprise CDN, to deliver fast loading times and global reach. Elementor employs both active and passive security measures, including 24/7 monitoring, regular updates, backups, and specialized security protocols to protect against common threats. Their commitment to security is further emphasized by their ISO 27001 certification and a proactive Bug Bounty program.

Although it may not offer the same level of comprehensive security features as Elementor, Zenfolio also emphasizes security, providing SSL encryption for all its websites and protecting users’ work with watermarking. They offer password-protected galleries to control access and provide cloud backup for additional data protection. However, their security measures are not as comprehensive as Elementor’s, resulting in a lower security score.

🏆 Winner: Elementor

. Elementor, with a score of 7.4, offers a range of AI features including an AI builder, AI-driven eCommerce features, AI content generation, and the ability to integrate third-party AI-powered plugins or widgets. On the other hand, Zenfolio, with a score of 2.4, offers limited AI features, with no AI builder, no AI content generation, and no additional AI features. However, Zenfolio does offer AI-driven eCommerce features aimed at enhancing the online selling experience for photographers.

🏆 Winner: Elementor

. Elementor and Zenfolio have different approaches to user management.

• Elementor, being a WordPress plugin, relies on WordPress roles and permissions. Administrators have full access to edit any part of the site, including Elementor settings, while Editors can manage posts and pages made with Elementor. Authors and Contributors have limited capabilities, with the former being able to manage their own posts. Elementor Pro offers a Role Manager feature, enabling further customization of what different roles can do within Elementor. There’s no fixed limit on the number of users—it’s determined by the roles assigned by the site administrator.
• Zenfolio, on the other hand, only allows one user to edit and manage a website.

Elementor User Roles and Access Levels:

Zenfolio does not provide any specific user roles or access levels.

Additional Features

User Feedback

Elementor is widely appreciated for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, enabling rapid creation of professional and responsive websites without coding skills. It offers a vast range of templates and compatibility with WordPress, making it a go-to for diverse users. Despite its benefits, concerns arise regarding website loading times, subscription costs, and occasional compatibility issues. Feedback on customer support and legacy plan management is mixed, with some users experiencing dissatisfaction. Overall, Elementor is valued for its efficiency in web development, although some aspects, particularly support services, could be improved.

Users appreciate Zenfolio for its elegant and affordable site/portfolio designs, highlighting the platform’s suitability for photographers looking to showcase and sell their work online. The Starter plan is praised for its value, though some users express a desire to upgrade to the Pro plan for its enhanced client interaction features and customizable marketing tools. Criticisms include dissatisfaction with the platform’s handling of photo albums and a desire for more privacy and faster loading times. Overall, Zenfolio is valued for its ability to organize and share professional photographs and files, despite some navigational and performance issues.

FAQ