When building a WordPress website, you have the option to use a page builder like Oxygen Builder or Elementor or code a custom theme from scratch. While both approaches have their pros and cons, a page builder is the best option for most users. Oxygen Builder is our preferred builder and go-to solution on most of the WordPress sites we develop. Here we compare the page builder with coding a custom theme to show why Oxygen Builder is the clear winner.
Ease of Use
Oxygen Builder is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for even beginners to create custom pages and layouts without any coding experience. Its drag-and-drop interface allows you to customise your website with ease, giving you complete control over your website’s design and layout. In contrast, coding a custom theme requires a strong understanding of HTML, CSS, and PHP, which can be a challenge for those who are new to web development.
Winner: Oxygen Builder
Customisation
Oxygen Builder allows for a high degree of customisation, giving you complete control over your website’s design and functionality. Its flexible design options make it easy to create a unique website that perfectly reflects your brand and business needs. While coding a custom theme also provides complete control, it requires more time and expertise than using a page builder like Oxygen Builder.
Winner: Tie (Both Oxygen Builder and Custom Theme provide complete control)
Performance
Oxygen Builder is designed to be lightweight and fast, which can improve your website’s performance and speed. The code generated by Oxygen Builder is clean and optimised, reducing bloat and minimising page load times. A custom theme may contain unnecessary code that slows down your website’s performance. In this aspect, Oxygen Builder is the clear winner.
Winner: Oxygen Builder
Compatibility
Oxygen Builder is compatible with most WordPress plugins, which makes it easy to integrate with third-party tools and services. A custom theme may require more work to integrate with plugins and may not be compatible with all plugins. Oxygen Builder’s compatibility makes it easier to add functionality to your website without any coding.
Winner: Oxygen Builder
Cost
Oxygen Builder is a premium plugin that requires a license fee. However, the cost is affordable and provides excellent value for the features it offers. On the other hand, coding a custom theme requires more time and expertise. The cost of a custom theme depends on the developer’s rates and the complexity of the design.
Winner: Oxygen Builder (for its affordability and value)
Conclusion
While both Oxygen Builder and coding a custom theme have their strengths, Oxygen Builder is the clear winner for most users. It is user-friendly, customisable, fast, and compatible with most WordPress plugins.
There are a lot of other technical benefits that we have not covered as only a WordPress developer would understand the finer details. We at Matthew Temple Consulting Limited use Oxygen Builder as part of our standard WordPress development stack and we need a really good reason to not use Oxygen Builder on a website.
