Akram vs Elementor
The Elementor alternative that keeps your pages light.
Elementor made visual building normal on WordPress. Akram keeps the way of working you know, renders pages when you save them, and includes the theme builder, popups, forms and WooCommerce for free.
Benchmark
One page, measured both ways.
A realistic landing page built in Elementor 4.3.5 (free) on Hello Elementor, then converted with Akram’s migration tool. Same theme, server and image. Logged-out visitor, cache disabled, median of 5 runs.
Side by side
What you get, and what it costs.
Elementor’s free version is a capable page builder. Most site-wide features sit in Elementor Pro. Akram has them in the free plugin, plus real-time co-editing.
| Feature | Akram | Elementor |
|---|---|---|
| Price per year | ||
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| Theme builder, popups and forms on 1 site | Free | $84 |
| 3 sites | Free | $108 |
| 25 sites | Free | $204 |
| Custom code (CSS and JavaScript) | Akram Pro, coming soon | From $84 |
| Building | ||
| Drag & drop editor | Yes | Yes |
| Responsive controls (4 devices) | Yes | Yes |
| Theme builder (header, footer, archive, 404) | Yes | Pro plan |
| Popup builder | Yes | Pro plan |
| Form builder with submissions inbox | Yes | Pro plan |
| Display conditions | Yes | Pro plan |
| Dynamic content (ACF, custom fields) | Yes | Pro plan |
| WooCommerce builder widgets | Yes | Pro plan |
| Real-time co-editing | Yes | No |
| Performance | ||
| JavaScript on our test page | 4.9 KB | 333 KB |
| Page rendered on save | Yes | No |
| jQuery required on the front end | No | Varies by widget |
| Self-hosted Google Fonts | Yes | Yes |
| Ownership | ||
| Content readable after deactivation | Yes | Partly |
| One-click migration from Elementor | Yes | — |
| White label | Yes | Third-party add-ons |
| Client role manager | Yes | Pro plan |
Elementor prices are its published yearly prices before tax, checked October 2026 (Expert: September 2026). Check elementor.com for current plans.
Why it is different
Three decisions that make the difference.
Render on save
The layout is turned into HTML when you click Save. Visitors don’t pay for the builder on every page view.
Scripts per widget
A page loads only the scripts for widgets it actually uses. A plain page loads none at all.
Nothing locked
The theme builder, popups, forms and WooCommerce are in the free plugin on WordPress.org, on any number of sites.
Coming from Elementor? Keep your pages.
Akram converts Elementor pages for you, one by one or all at once. Your original data is untouched, so you can switch back at any time.
- Install Akram next to ElementorBoth can run at the same time while you migrate.
- Open Tools → Migrate from ElementorPick pages, or convert all of them in one go.
- Review and publishConverted pages stop loading Elementor’s files straight away.
Switching questions
Before you switch
Is Akram a fork of Elementor?
No. Akram is written from scratch with a different architecture: pages are rendered when you save, not on each visit. It can import Elementor pages, but it shares no code with Elementor.
Can I run Akram and Elementor at the same time?
Yes. That is the recommended way to migrate. Pages you convert stop loading Elementor’s files; pages you haven’t converted keep working as before.
Which Elementor widgets does the migration convert?
Sections, columns and containers, plus 33 widget types including heading, text, image, button, icon box, icon list, tabs, accordion, toggle, counter, testimonial, video, form, price table, posts and nav menu. Anything it can’t convert is marked clearly on the page so you can replace it.
Will my SEO change?
Your URLs, titles and content stay the same. Pages usually get lighter and faster, which helps Core Web Vitals.
Try it on one page first.
Install Akram next to Elementor, convert a single page and compare the numbers on your own site.