WPBakery Page Builder: The Definitive Guide

WPBakery Page Builder is one of the oldest and most widely used page builders for WordPress. It’s powered more than 5.8 million sites since launching in 2011, often without users realizing it.

If you’ve bought a premium WordPress theme from ThemeForest in the last decade, there’s a good chance WPBakery came bundled with it. This explains its large user base, although newer WordPress page builders tend to get more attention now.

This guide covers what WPBakery is, how the licensing works, how to install it, and how to actually use the editor to build pages on your WordPress site.

What is the WPBakery Page Builder?

WPBakery Page Builder is a drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress. It lets you build custom layouts without touching any code, using rows, columns, and pre-made content elements like text blocks, buttons, images, and galleries.

WPBakery Page Builder launched in 2011 as Visual Composer and was rebranded in 2017 after it was split into two separate plugins. Now, Visual Composer and WPBakery are distinct products with different features, though they share a history, which can be confusing.

One unique feature is that it provides both a frontend and backend editor, while most other builders offer only one editing mode.

WPBakery isn’t in the official WordPress plugin directory, as it’s premium-only. You either get it bundled with a theme or buy from them directly.

WPBakery vs Elementor

Elementor is the page builder WPBakery is most often compared to, since both target similar audiences. Here are the main differences worth knowing.

WPBakery uses a lifetime license model, including one year of updates and support. Elementor has an annual subscription for updates and support.

Elementor offers a free version in the WordPress directory, letting you try before paying. WPBakery lacks a free version, but provides a free demo sandbox online.

The editing experience is different, too. Elementor relies entirely on a frontend visual editor where you drag widgets onto a live preview. WPBakery offers both a frontend editor and a backend editor, which some users prefer for content-heavy layouts where the schematic view is faster to work with.

Both builders offer extensive libraries and templates. Elementor has more third-party addons, while WPBakery’s addon ecosystem is mature due to its longevity.

Do I Need a Specific Theme for WPBakery?

WPBakery works with any properly coded WordPress theme. You don’t have to switch themes to use it, and your existing styling will mostly carry over.

Many premium ThemeForest themes come bundled with WPBakery. If so, you don’t need a separate license. The theme provides an integration license. Direct WPBakery support is unavailable, but plugin functionality remains unchanged.

WPBakery Pricing and Licensing

WPBakery sells a lifetime license, granting ownership plus one year of support, updates, and access to templates and AI.

There are three license tiers: Regular ($82, one site), 5 Sites ($299), and 10 Sites ($592).

All three tiers include the same features: free updates, the template library, WPBakery AI, and partner discounts. The only difference is how many sites you can install the plugin on.

After that first year, the plugin keeps working and manual updates remain free. But to keep ticket support, auto-updates, and access to cloud features like the template library and AI, you’ll need to renew Support Plus for $59 per year.

You can either pay $59 for a one-year manual extension or subscribe at the same price for auto-renewals. The subscription option adds priority support and free Templatera and Easy Tables addons (worth $15 each).

WPBakery offers a 15-day refund policy for lifetime licenses, giving you a window to test the plugin and request a refund if it isn’t a good fit.

How to Install WPBakery Page Builder

Installing WPBakery is the same as installing any other premium WordPress plugin. The exact steps depend on whether you bought it directly or got it through a theme.

Installing WPBakery from the WordPress Dashboard

If you purchased WPBakery from the WPBakery website, log in to your account and download the .zip file from My Licenses. Then, log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New.

Click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page, then click Choose File and select the WPBakery .zip file you downloaded. After that, click Install Now, and once the installation finishes, click Activate Plugin.

After activation, you’ll see a new menu item in your WordPress dashboard called WPBakery Page Builder.

Activating Your WPBakery License

To get updates and access cloud features like the template library and AI, you need to activate your license. Open WPBakery Page Builder > Product License and enter the license key from your purchase email or your WPBakery account.

Click Activate, and the plugin should confirm your license is valid.

If you’re using a theme that bundles WPBakery, you don’t need to enter a license key. The plugin will work with the integration license that came with the theme. You won’t get cloud features like the template library through this route, though.

How to Use WPBakery Page Builder

Once WPBakery is installed and activated, you can start building pages. Here’s how the editor is structured and how to put a layout together. Most users won’t be building complete pages from scratch, but instead modifying an existing theme with the tool.

Accessing the Editor

To open the WPBakery editor, create or edit a page in WordPress. You’ll see Backend Editor and Frontend Editor buttons at the top.

Click Backend Editor to work with the schematic view, which shows your layout as labeled blocks.

Click Frontend Editor to build directly on top of a live preview of your page.

You can switch between the two editors at any time. Some users prefer the backend editor for content-heavy pages and the frontend editor for design work where they need to see styling changes immediately.

The WPBakery Editor Structure

The frontend editor has a top toolbar with the main controls and a sidebar that opens when you select an element.

The toolbar includes buttons for adding new elements, accessing the template library, making SEO changes, undoing or redoing changes, accessing settings, and saving your work.

When you hover over any element on the page, you’ll see a small toolbar appear with quick controls: edit, clone, drag handle, and delete.

Adding Rows and Columns

Every WPBakery layout starts with a row. Rows are the main building blocks of your page, and they can be split into columns to hold different content side by side.

To add a new row, click the + button in the toolbar or in the page area. The element library will open. Find the Row element at the top of the list, then click it to add it to your page.

Each row has a small toolbar that appears when you hover over it. From there, you can change the column layout. Click the column layout icon to choose between layouts like 1/1, 1/2 + 1/2, 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3, and so on. You can also create custom column splits.

You can also control how wide your rows are. The default option keeps them at your theme’s content width. Stretch row pushes the row’s background to full screen width while keeping the content centered. Stretch row and content pushes both edge-to-edge, which is what you want for full-screen hero or banner sections.

Adding Content Elements

Once you have rows and columns in place, you can drop content elements into them. Click the + button inside any column to open the element library.

WPBakery includes more than 50 built-in content elements organized into categories. The most commonly used ones include Text Block, Single Image, Button, Video Player, Custom Heading, Separator, Posts Grid, Google Maps, and a built-in FAQ block.

Most are self-explanatory, and they all share a similar approach. You drop one into a column, click the pencil icon to edit it, fill in the settings on the General tab.

Then, you can make changes to how it looks in the Design Options tab.

You can drag elements to reorder them or move them to a different column. The drag handle appears in the small toolbar when you hover over an element.

Editing Elements

We just touched on this above, but to edit an element, hover over it and click the pencil icon. A settings panel will open with two main tabs.

The General tab has element-specific settings. For a Text Block, this is the content area itself. For a Single Image, it’s the image source, alignment, and link options. For a Button it’s the text, link, style, and color.

The Design Options tab has settings that work the same across most elements. Things like margin, padding, border, background color or image, and border radius. This is where you fine-tune spacing and styling.

After making changes, click Save Changes at the bottom of the settings panel to apply them.

Saving and Previewing Your Work

WPBakery doesn’t auto-save, so you’ll want to save your work regularly. Click the Update button in the top toolbar to save your changes, or use the Save Draft option if you don’t want to publish yet.

You can also preview your page at any time by opening it in a new tab from the WordPress page editor.

Customizing Elements with Design Options

The Design Options tab on every element gives you control over spacing, borders, and backgrounds without writing any CSS.

The most commonly used settings are margin and padding. Margin controls the space outside the element, and padding controls the space inside it. Both let you set values for top, right, bottom, and left independently, or apply one value to all sides at once.

Border lets you set the width, color, and style of the element’s border on each side. Border radius rounds the corners. A value like 8px gives slightly rounded corners, while a higher value like 50% turns squares into circles.

The Background section sets a solid color, gradient, or image as the element’s background. For images, you can control their sizing and whether they tile or stretch.

If you need to add custom CSS to a specific element, the General tab includes Element ID and Extra class name fields. You can give the element an ID or class, then target it with custom CSS in your theme’s stylesheet or in the WPBakery custom CSS area.

Using the WPBakery Template Library

WPBakery’s template panel has two tabs. My Templates is where your own saved layouts live, and Template library is the cloud-based collection of pre-made templates from WPBakery.

To open the panel, click the Template Library button in the editor toolbar.

My Templates lets you save rows or full layouts so you can reuse them on other pages. After you’ve built a layout you want to keep, click the save icon and give it a name. This works whether your Support Plus is active or not.

The Template library has more than 100 pre-made templates covering common page types like homepages, about pages, services, and portfolios. This part is one of the cloud features tied to Support Plus, so you’ll need an active subscription to use it.

Creating Responsive Layouts

WPBakery handles responsiveness automatically. Your rows and columns will automatically adjust on smaller screens, and most elements will scale appropriately on tablets and phones.

When you need more control, columns have built-in responsive settings under the Responsive Options tab in the column edit window. From there you can set different column widths for each device size and hide individual columns on specific screen sizes.

The frontend editor includes a responsive preview button that lets you check how your layout looks on different screen sizes without leaving the editor.

WPBakery AI

WPBakery includes built-in AI features for content generation, writing code, and translation. On most content elements, you’ll see an AI button that lets you generate or rewrite copy directly inside the editor.

The AI is available to direct license owners with active Support Plus, so it’s not accessible if you got WPBakery bundled with a theme. There’s also a monthly credit limit on AI usage.

Built-in SEO Toolkit

WPBakery added a dedicated SEO toolkit to the builder, allowing you to handle basic SEO tasks without leaving the editor. The toolkit covers meta titles and descriptions, focus keyword optimization, social media snippets, a live preview of how your page will appear in search results, and content optimization tips.

If you already use a dedicated SEO plugin like Rank Math SEO or Yoast SEO, you can keep using it alongside WPBakery. It’s is fully compatible with both plugins and follows SEO best practices, including clean HTML output, semantic headings, and accessible markup.

WPBakery Page Builder FAQs

Closing Thoughts: Is WPBakery Right For You?

WPBakery is a solid choice if you want a page builder with a one-time payment and you don’t mind a slightly older interface compared to newer builders. The lifetime license alone makes it appealing for anyone who doesn’t want to keep paying for software year after year.

It’s especially worth considering if you’re already using a theme that bundles WPBakery, since you get the builder for free. The plugin works well with most premium themes and has a mature ecosystem of addons and integrations to extend it.

If you’re starting from scratch and want the most modern editing experience, you might prefer Elementor or another newer block-based builder. But for getting professional pages built without code, WPBakery still does the job for millions of sites.

For those running WordPress sites with WPBakery or another builder, reliable hosting matters as much as the builder itself. Page builders can add overhead to your site, so a fast hosting plan helps your pages load quickly. If you’re shopping for a host, our WordPress hosting plans at SupportHost are tuned to handle builder-heavy sites without slowdowns.

Now over to you. Are you currently using WPBakery, or are you comparing it against another builder? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below.