Here are the best Gutenberg block plugins to redesign your WordPress site!
- Want to replace your bloated pagebuilder?
- Scared you won’t be able to do fancy layouts?
- Scared you can’t keep your existing design?
- Scared that Gutenberg blocks are too hard to use?
Well, you’re in luck!
There is so much Gutenberg development nowadays and tons of 3rd-party extensions available. It blows me away how fast G-blocks are evolving.
I’ve played with all the best ones and will now share my favorites with you. They are EASY to use (very low learning curve), also in my opinion more flexible than pagebuilders and much more lightweight than pagebuilders.
Intro to Gutenberg blocks
The new WordPress editor builds content in blocks.
Previously, you were mostly typing into a text box and attaching images/embeds for media. And then for other special functionality on the page, you either had to add shortcodes or use a custom page template or hack widgets into your pages.
With Gutenberg, everything is added in blocks. You want text? That’s a block. You want images? That’s a block. But there are many more possible block options than just text and images. Just about all plugin functionality nowadays can be added via a Gutenberg block.
What about if you wanted fancy layouts? No need to code a custom template, you can build it yourself using “layout blocks” that added multiple-column layouts other other special layouts, into which you would add other content blocks.
Really cool, right?
Distinguishing between SINGLE-PURPOSE BLOCKS and BLOCK LIBRARIES
I use these made-up terms to help categorize the different block plugins out there. Gutenberg block plugins are just like regular WordPress plugins. Some do just one thing. Others do many things.
Ideally, you want to install as few plugins as possible to keep your site as light as possible. It’s probably better to have only one block library plugin per site that can do most of what you need. And then for any other specific design or function, you can install a single-purpose block for that. This keeps the bloats down and also not clutter your site with so many darn blocks and plugins.
Make sense?
Distinguishing between MINIMAL library vs PRE-STYLED library.
Here go some more made-up terms. Some of the Gutenberg block libraries out there have tons of blocks (for every design and widget function). They look really polished and probably great for someone switching from a pagebuilder and don’t want to start with a plain design. Other G-block libraries look more plain and simple. They’re better for building from scratch when you have your own style or maybe want to code things in yourself.
Which one is better for you? Depends….if you have zero technical ability and want something that looks professional without any effort, start with the pre-styled libraries. They’re almost like full pagebuilders in the amount of pre-designed options available for you. Just plug and play!
But if you know how to code and want to do really customized non-generic layouts, then you’ll prefer a more minimal library that’s more like a blank canvas for you to style things out exactly as you like. Both options can be fast, both can look nice. It’s just a matter of what feels easier or more freedom to you.
Personally, I think the plain ones are better for my use. Cleaner, more lightweight. But really, you should be fine with any…either will be cleaner and leaner than a pagebuilder. If you don’t know what you’re doing…maybe you should start with the pre-styled ones. Heck, you can have multiple block libraries installed and they’ll still be lighter than your pagebuilder.
Newb questions…that I’m tired of hearing.
Do Gutenberg blocks/builders slow down your website?
- No! The are so much better than the old pagebuilder way. Gutenbergs are so much more native to WordPress, load faster and use fewer assets to do so.
Which is the best Gutenberg block plugin?
- You decide. Try them all and see which one has the blocks and pre-styled designs you use most.
Can you install more than one Gutenberg block plugin without slowing down your site?
- Yes. Having 5 Gutenberg block libraries is still faster than one pagebuilder.
- For single-use Gutenberg blocks, you can mix and match multiple no problem.
- For Gutenberg block libraries, it’s ideal to have only one block library per page. But even if you used elements of multiple together, you’ll still be ok.
Top 5 MINIMAL Gutenberg block libraries
These are my favorite because all I really need are just container and layout options. I don’t need actual block widgets or block functions since I get them from my plugins already. And extra styling or design, I can code them myself. These libraries won’t overwhelm your editor with tons of unused block options.
The qualities I look for most in these blocks are spacing and layout options (multi-columns, different layouts with text and images, displaying posts). If there’s extra widget functionality, that can be nice if it saves me from having to install and extra plugin but that’s a slippery slope…for me, most plugins end up having too much rather than too little.
1. Genesis Blocks formerly “Atomic Blocks” (StudioPress)
Perfect balance of containers and common layouts for you to put stuff inside. Great for doing business sites, comes with posts grid, pricing, accordion, and other common blocks. There’s also prebuilt templates as well so you don’t start from total scratch. I think this is the perfect Goldilocks option if you want something minimal but don’t want to start from scratch.
In case you didn’t know, the development team behind this are closely related to StudioPress and Genesis theme (my favorite developers theme). It’s no wonder at all that I would like it.
2. Advanced Gutenberg (JoomUnited)
Many useful pagebuilder blocks but unstyled. Has counter, testimonials, layout summary (TOC), tabs and accordions, and many more. Great for recreating all your pagebuilder layouts AND get their little widget icons and functions as well. I think the generic name is horrible…maybe great for SEO but terrible for branding. They should have called it “JoomBlocks”.
Kind of funny background on JoomUnited, they are also Joomla developers (Joomla was the former popular CMS before WordPress took over), and have a solid history of making quality plugins for both WordPress and Joomla. I’ve seen and enjoyed their other work as well.
3. GenerateBlocks (Tom Usborne)
From the maker of GeneratePress (one of my favorite themes). This is the Gutenberg block library I use the most as it’s super lean and minimal. All it has is CONTAINER, GRID, HEADLINE, and BUTTONS. And all I mostly only use the container and grid blocks. The rest I build by hand. But that’s because I build many custom sites and know how to code things in the way I like.
I think it’ll be too minimal for most people and not conducive to helping newbies create polished layouts. But if you want to do things in the most clean and minimal way…I seriously think you can do nearly everything with only the container and grid blocks alone. Whatever other widget functions can come from your other plugins.
Notes from actual use:
- It’s just too minimal for quick use. If you want to stay super lean and style things from scratch, it’s great. But otherwise, you should start with another library if you’re new to Gutenberg.
- Button spacing can get real annoying. This is partly to do with default WP core button styling as well.
4. Guteblock (Sweans)
Has different multi-column layout options. Good if you have many little cards for arranging text and images around each other. It’s not for me but many people doing pagebuilder-style layouts but don’t want the extra-styling might like this.
- Appears abandoned and dwindling user base (only 200+ active installs).
5. Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg (Brainstorm Force)
Made by the same company behind the Astra theme. It was just ok for me, feels like another me-too plugin from BSF. Has the typical widget blocks. Perhaps might be nice if you already have Astra theme and want to stay in the same eco-system. Otherwise, I highly suggest skipping this one and going straight to the next section.
NOTE: ehhh…I don’t like all the inline styles. I’ll be looking to replace this #5 spot asap.
Top 5 PRE-STYLED Gutenberg block libraries
I think this is where the fun begins for most of you…and honestly, even for me as well. The block libraries listed here are more than just the usual standard container blocks and common widgets. They have many more widget options (sliders, counters, timeline, table of contents, tabs/accordions, pricing tables) and on and on and on. And they also have prebuilt templates for you to import.
If you’re coming from a pagebuilder and loved the pagebuilder experience, you should definitely start with these. They have many options that already look nice and tons of widgets for you to choose from. They’re a lot of fun, look great and surprisingly easy to use. What I care most about the block libraries here is that they stay manageable and don’t overwhelm you with their options.
1 . Qubely (Themeum)
Oh man, there is gonna be a pagebuilder war starting in the Gutenberg blocks world and Qubely is the first ruler as far as I can see.
This thing looks great! So polished, everything about the plugin is so nice. Feels premium and yet I’m surprised at what you get for free. They also have a PRO plan too which I think is totally worth it if you want the extra features. Do you wanna know I like them?…I put my email in their newsletter! (Which I never ever do!)
When I first wrote this guide, I had Gutentor (the current #3) as being the best pre-styled Gutenberg blocks library but Qubely is easily miles ahead once you compare them side-by-side. Qubely has the right balance of many helpful widgets but not so many that you have 4 tabs worth (like Gutentor).
The prebuilt designs are the most polished of any block library that I see. You can compare both Qubely and Gutentor’s website for yourself and you’ll see that Qubely feels like a better development company and with better design.
My affiliate link for Qubely Pro. (They still have LIFETIME plans now.)
2. Stackable (Gambit Technologies)
Ouch, this is so painful and straight up disrespectful to put them at #2. Because everything about them screams first place. The blocks look great. The designs are awesome. They also have PRO plan that unlocks many more sexy designs. Also too, check out their Stackable showcase (really awesome designs at the bottom, just look!).
They got everything you need. Many block options. Many predesign templates to choose from. So why are they not #1? I felt that Qubely gave you slightly more in the free version. Qubely has a few extra widgets (like table-of-contents, timeline, image comparison) which look great and weren’t included in Stackable. The only unique advantages I can think of for Stackable is a much more active Facebook group and they seem to be featured more than Qubely. Gun to the head, I feel Stackable might be a better development team as well.
Ultimately, both of them could be either first or second place. You really can’t go wrong. Everything about them is top class. Try both and see which one you like better. Then go buy their pro plan.
- UPDATE – Stackable is officially my #1 pick considering all their recent improvements, and also in combination with Qubely’s announcement that they weren’t making enough money to support Qubely development for the longterm.
My affiliate link for Stackable Pro (No lifetime plan available.)
3. Gutenberg Pagebuilder (Gutentor)
This is basically a full-on pagebuilder but in Gutenberg. If you ever wanted all your pagebuilder layouts and many predesigned templates and hundreds of widget options…this is the one! I feel like it has more widget options than any other Gutenberg block library.
While I don’t like having more Gutenberg block tabs, I do appreciate that they organized their blocks into Elements, Module, Posts, and Widget. (Hmmm…why didn’t they make all those words plural?) In any case, I think some people will feel it’s overkill. Others will love all the options it has. (I also hope they go away from the generic plugin name.)
4. CoBlocks (GoDaddy)
Absolutely fantastic for replacing complicated pagebuilder layouts. Has dividers, menus, pricing tables, carousels, collages, media layouts. This one is super fun with the shape dividers (put in a CSS class and use image as the background, hehe). Tons of options and still very lightweight. Just FYI, Godaddy didn’t built it…they simply acquired it. Let’s hope it stays amazing.
Notes from actual use:
- I really wanted to like this one, but it was a little buggy at times. Some blocks broke and had to be rebuilt.
- It has many useful blocks but some blocks don’t have all the options like others. For example their container blocks don’t have so many margin and padding options like GenerateBlocks and KadenceBlocks.
- I did really like their accordion, and probably the only thing I would use on some sites.
- I would use KadenceBlocks instead if I were you.
Brand new to the scene and already I think it’s deserving of the #3 spot. I only list it here at #5 because I want to see how it matures. First off, Kioken aims to be the best pagebuilder replacement and looking at the feature-set, I’d have to say I’m very impressed.
Kioken can do a handful of things that other blocks can’t. Vertical text and animations (I think many newbies are gonna love this). I think they’re following design trends pretty well. The designs look very polished. Here’s a showcase site built with Kioken.
If there’s any cons, it’s that they’re still really new and the site design library doesn’t have many options. Also they don’t have as many block widget options like the other libraries. But it’s still a solid choice and especially if you like their design style. I think their PRO version is worth checking out if you like the free one.
- This plugin looks abandoned by its devs.
6. Getwid (MotoPress)
This one is also a lot of fun and very underrated. It has many unique blocks like progress bar, content timeline, even CPT block (wow). Also has a template library so you can import prebuilt layouts. So why isn’t this one ranked higher? It’s not that it isn’t great, it’s that the others have so much more polish. But I can also see certain scenarios where you might prefer this one. It’s got lots of widgets and un-styled (so you can style them yourself).
- Plugin was closed on WP repo (may be reinstated soon), but you can still get it from their website.
Block libraries I didn’t like
These are the ones you can skip. I felt they were missing too many key functions and/or didn’t offer enough unique functionality to make them worth the install.
- Advanced Gutenberg Blocks (maximebj) – a random collection of blocks that do such specific functions you probably won’t use more than 2 or 3 of them if even that much. I also don’t like that it failed to open sometimes (on my bloated test site). (Closed. No longer available.)
- BlockyPage – nothing wrong with it. Feels like a copycat of other G-block plugins except only two minor differences. I don’t like that it takes over the full-width of your editor header area, but do like that it added buttons for desktop, tablet, mobile view. (Appears abandoned.)
- Gutenberg Blocks and Template Library (Otter) – meh. The collection of blocks was too specific for my needs and their template library import didn’t work. Maybe the library didn’t work because I had 10 other G-block libraries enabled but still…I wasn’t compelled to diagnose it. I’m also not a fan of how it takes over the top of every page editor. (Getting popular. 100K downloads.)
- Kadence Blocks – arghhh, so close. I wanted to like them as a clean DIY block library but it’s missing some essential blocks like the Container block (if not for that alone, it could have replaced GenerateBlocks pretty easily). It’s still worth checking out but I think the others are better and will cover more use cases.
- Ultimate Blocks – feels like a collection of widgets, doesn’t have anything for building content layouts. I liked the countdown and “how-to” block but those alone are not enough to justify using it.
A word to the Gutenberg naysayers
I know some people are terrified of losing their way of WordPress and don’t want to switch to Gutenberg. Many of them have argued with me or even tried to show me links of the Gutenberg plugin getting tons of reviews.
My message is “don’t worry”.
Gutenberg is improving so rapidly, I can’t even keep up with it. It has opened the door for so many more ways of creating, designing, and editing content in WordPress sites.
It’s not only the future of WordPress (it’s already the current state of WordPress). Maybe you don’t like how that sounds but actually what it means is that Gutenberg blocks will keep improving and competing with each other to take as much market share as possible. You will have more power, freedom, and flexibility than ever before…AND…your site will be so much leaner than with a pagebuilder.
Great article. My favorite is Kadence blocks with Kadence theme. It is an awesome combo. Also checkout Kioken blocks – another great option.
Thanks for sharing Kioken! I checked it out right now and put it at #5 on the PRE-STYLED blocks library list. Thanks, Tomi!
No problem, Kioken blocks deserve that #5 place. Also, in your post you did not mention the html output from building a site with gutenberg. I tried to comment about it in your FB group. It seems that, for every element (like heading, column, button) the native gutenberg (and 3rd party Gute-blocks addons) is using just too much divs. Just check out any site built with gutenberg. I would love to hear your thought on that, Johnny 🙂
I think SOME Gutenberg blocks (not all) are indeed guilty of their own “divception” but it’s still much lighter in the DOM than any pagebuilder. If you have an example to share, I’d love to take a look.
I just did a small test of how many “layers” some of these block plugins make. I made a very simple 2 column layout with and added a paragraph.
Generateblocks: 5
Stackable: 10
Qubely: 6
Kioken: 7
Kadence: 6
I also looked at what some of the blocks added in terms of CSS/JS filed, even to a simple thing as a 2 column lay-out.
GenerateBlocks: and I didnt even add a slider…
Kadence: 4kb css
This is not a very good test, because I didnt test how much other blocks would add.. But it’s shocking to me how much Kioken added to a simple 2 column layout with a paragraph :S.
Arg sorry, it removed some of the text..
I just did a small test of how many “layers” some of these block plugins make. I made a very simple 2 column layout with and added a paragraph.
Generateblocks: 5
Stackable: 10
Qubely: 6
Kioken: 7
Kadence: 6
I also looked at what some of the blocks added in terms of CSS/JS filed, even to a simple thing as a 2 column lay-out.
GenerateBlocks: less than 1kb css
Stackable: 10kb css, 34kb JS
Qubely: 20kb css, 21kb JS, FontAwesome (12kb)
Kioken: 21kb css, 21kb JS, 128kb slider (!), AND A LOT MORE 🙁 => and I didnt even add a slider…
Kadence: 4kb css
This is not a very good test, because I didnt test how much other blocks would add.. But it’s shocking to me how much Kioken added to a simple 2 column layout with a paragraph :S.
I’m shocked how much Kioken added, too! I’m really surprised and do wonder if you accidentally enabled stuff? Anyway, thanks for sharing this and your numbers are along what I would have guessed. What you should have added for full context was how much DIVI/Elementor add. That way people get a real perspective!
Hi Jhonny what is the best Elementor or blocks?
Thanks
You’re literally commenting on the very post that answers that question. Try all the ones I listed and pick what you like.
Nice in-depth read and research Johnny. I’m surprised Kioken Blocks didn’t make your list. Have you seen it yet? And how well do these guten blocks play together just in case you have to stack a couple for clients that are only interested in using the wp customizer.
Love the clean look on your site you have now too.
Hey Brian,
I simply wasn’t aware of that one when I first made the video/article but Tomi mentioned it and it’s now made the #5 spot on the PRESTYLED blocks list. I played with it just now and enjoyed what I saw. You can definitely mixed different block libraries together but I prefer to have just one per site and fill in any missing blocks with single-purpose block plugins (as noted in the guide).
Thanks for your comments on my site. I don’t use any block libraries here, just my own custom-made ones.
Nice round-up. I’d love to see you compare these plugins in relation to their loading on a site eg which ones allow for module disabling, have smallest CSS/js resources, load them only on utilised pages etc!
Hi Jason, they’re all pretty lightweight. I have 12 libraries enabled on my test site and it’s still pretty fast. 🙂
There is also EditorsKit to add the rest. Could not get the fine grain control I needed from most and only narrowed it down to: Qubely , Kioken and EditorsKit with Ultimate Blocks due to its content filter.
Did this check run a few weeks ago as the importance of using G.Blocks for blog posts and then using this prepared content to import into a template (Elementor or other single post tpls) is the most important aspect and use case.
Hi Johnny,
Very nice & very helpful! Thanks for that.
You write “AND…your site will be so much leaner than with a pagebuilder.”
Perhaps Oxygen Builder is not a pagebuilder…? What´s your take on that? Better use only WordPress with Gutenberg (blocks)?
Thanks a lot! Best wishes
Oxygen Builder is lean and great in a different way. I consider it more like a visual themebuilder. You can read my review on that. But generally, I recommend Gutenberg blocks for most people (as it’s easier and less technical for them).
Are any of the styled block libraries providing a way to add my own custom templates or pattern to the library?
Yes, I believe you can save your own. Try it and see. 🙂
I’ve created patterns with Kadence and a custom plugin and it works just fine. You can also create nested columns in a container and save the container as a reusable block. Finally, you should be able to use any of the libraries to create a block template, either for blog posts or any CPT.
Hey guys, I have just saw, that you can create your very own block pattern with the latest version of Gutenberg! 😀
So now we can create a library of our favorite pattern from Kadence, Getwid, Kioken etc. by replicating/copying them as custom block pattern and merge them into a custom plugin!
https://melchoyce.design/2020/03/30/creating-a-simple-block-pattern-plugin-for-the-gutenberg-editor/
How cool is that?
Thanks for this, Sascha. It’s very cool and simple. I’ll add it to my other Gutenberg resource post. For those reading this, you can get a nice library of templates from the GutenbergHub site…many templates with pre-made code and CSS for you to copy.
Hi, Johnny. Thanks for this great list. Is Qubely fully compatible with GeneratePress (sorry if this is a stupid question: just a beginner here:).
Qubely should work with any theme that allows Gutenberg. And in fact, I tested it using a GeneratePress theme. Hope that helps. 🙂
Helped a lot 🙂 Thanks for replying, Johnny.
Thank you so much, for the great videos and very helpful info!
I’m on the fence of switching from Astra/OceanWP + Elementor, looked at Kadence and still wasn’t sure… But after watching these vids it makes one thing clear: the time of traditional page builders like Elementor is just behind us.
What theme would you recommend, for example to use with Qubely or Stackable?
Well, decided to go with GeneratePress + GenerateBlocks, and have to say: feels top notch, so far! 😀
Hi Marc, I didn’t notice your comment but GeneratePress is a great choice! Solid development from them for a decade now. Glad you enjoyed it. Welcome to the future. 🙂
Thnx mate!
And keep up the good work, really like your site and the videos you’re making; guess yesterday has been an important day for me, since I feel times are changing and your info helped me with making important choices; feels good! 🙂
One little question: do you know if I can use one of the extended Gutenberg Block libraries (like Qubely, Stackable, etc) in combination with GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks? Of course I’m gonna ask this question at their forum and/or facebook group, but may be you have a valuable opinion…
Cheers!
Yes, you can use them together. I had 20 installed at the same time during the test.
Hi Johnny, sorry, one more question…
Looking at Gutenberg Block libraries, I see a lot of people talking about inline styles. You’re mentioning inline styles as well. What does that mean, why is it bad, and how can I judge if a library uses inline styles?
Great, thank you!
Oh man I wish I’d seen this before I started working with Ultimate Add-Ons for Gutenberg. Some of those other fancier ones are AMAZING and just what I need. So, what happens if I delete Ultimate Add-ons and start using something like Qubeley? Will my old posts using the Add-Ons look horrible? Or should I just leave the Add-On plug-in installed?
I would probably slowly shift things over and don’t delete the old block plugin until you’re 100% sure you’re not using it. Hehe…I think to be safe, you should try going only as fancy as you absolutely need. Most of the time, you can do fancy stuff even with the simpler ones if you know how to combine different block elements.
But have fun and explore, Kristin!
Yo Johnny, got in to a weird ass debate over in the Kadence Theme facebook page. Anyways, the long shot is I tested Kadence and their row block allows rows to be added inside rows, hence it acts identically to the GenerateBlocks container block, unless I’m missing something. I couldn’t build a row layout in GenerateBlocks that I couldn’t create in exactly the same way in Kadence.
I’m sorry but I didn’t understand your question. What are you trying to do (but can’t)?
More of a statement than a question mate.
I was asking Kadence whether they had anything to say about your comment “Kadence Blocks – arghhh, so close. I wanted to like them as a clean DIY block library but it’s missing some essential blocks like the Container block (if not for that alone, it could have replaced GenerateBlocks pretty easily).”
They said that their row block was identical to the container in GB.
I tested it and indeed it does provide the exact same functionality.
Ahhhh ok, I understand now. Perhaps they’ve updated something. I’m actually in talks with the developer now and auditing the theme as we speak. I’ll look at the KadenceBlocks again at some point.
Does Qubely and Genesis Blocks bloat the page or even entire site?
No. Blocks are such a great way to go about things!
I’ve also updated the article to answer more about Gutenberg blocks impact on performance.
Thank you for the round-up. Uninstalled Qubely pretty quickly again though. Their image block doesn’t use srcset and instead wants you to manually define a single retina image… Icon blocks are loading an entire font awesome library again. Lots of divs. And so on. Lots of pretty things to cover all bases but less pretty under the hood if lean is what you’re after.
Thanks for your feedback. I suggest you check out Genesis Pro. Maybe that will do it for you. Qubely and Stackable are the top 2 full-featured libraries right now but both have some bugs and quirks.
Whats your take on blocksy?
Blocksy is a theme, not a plugin. But here’s my Blocksy theme review.
ah my bad. So do you recommend to use blocksy or https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorplus/
I recommend you read my guide and try the ones I mention here first before asking about others.
Thank you for a thorough and instructive review. I learned so much from this post! And am so glad for your amazing site. May your tribe increase!
Glad you really liked this, Morgan. Best wishes to your tribe as well.
Oops I forgot to ask: any opinion on Redux? I only ask because I stumbled across it while installing a few of the plugins you recommend here, and noticed it has nearly a million downloads and lots of 5 star reviews.
(I’m going to try it out as well, but as a newbie don’t feel qualified to judge more than whether it’s easy to use.)
Just curious if you had an opinion.
Thanks again for all your work on this helpful post!
I generally hate Redux. And I’m assuming you mean the theme framework.
They call it “Redux – Gutenberg Blocks Library & Framework” — and I’m guessing it’s either the same as what you mean, or if not it’s guilty by association (joke). So I’ve crossed it off my list. THANKS!
Yeah, I have a feeling it’s done by the same guys. Give it a try and see if you like. 🙂
GhostKit!
Hey Johnny,
Great info!! Thank you for that.
I still had a question… What happens when you decide to use another set of block? When you delete the plugin, what happens to the blocks and also do they leave any code behind?
Try for yourself! Whatever you disable may leave behind unstyled content.
I don’t like Kadence .. Covert9 is a new available on GitHub besides the repo.
Rich Tabor and Jeffrey Caradang are behind CoBlocks.
May I recommend you Editorskit and EditorPlus?
Jeffrey Caradang is the developer of the former. It enriches the editor. Does not provide any blocks. However it integrates Adshare a block ( a blocks library). Can’t work without it. The same goes for Editor Plus by Munir Kamal but it does provide several blocks + integration with Gutenberghub dot com.
There are a few others which I love like Ghostkit,SiteOrigin bundle ( block based ),etc but it’s 2:20 am here now. Will come back some other day.
Hehe, I’m a big fan of Rich Tabor and Jeffrey Carandang (he’s built many cool plugins). Fun fact…I almost hired his wife at one point but our schedules didn’t match up. I’ve already covered the Editorskit in another Gutenberg guide. Really super handy and makes Gutenberg so much easier to work with.
Hello Johnny,
Great article !
I discovered your blog after researching how to optimize my new website.
I have been a webdeveloper for more than 10 years, and now is in whole different line.
Took “opportunity” of the lockdown to get back to dev. Discovered Elementor.
Thought at first : Wow. Did right to change jobs. But the fact you need to add extra plugins (Asset Clean Up and Wp-Rocket in my case) to mitigate the bloat of it, did not appeal to me.
GeneratePress is now my go-to theme. And about your selection of blocks, I tried the first ones (including GenerateBlocks, which I found “limited”), but I must say the Kadence blocks are IMHO pretty neat. For instance, they provide a tabs widget that comes handy. And it’s sleek !
My two cents.
Yes, Kadence blocks can definitely by a nice middle-ground if GB feels too minimal for you. I’m really glad you found one you like.
Hello Jonny, thanks for the informative content I enjoy it so much.
Is it wise to use just the Gutenberg blocks itself? My argument is that I will be stuck in a system and if I want to not use the block library it will break all the content designed with it. Once you choose one you’re stuck with it for the rest of your life :p
This is a good question and I hope a good solution will exist in the future. Indeed yes…if you remove a Gutenberg block plugin, your content dependencies on it will fall apart. It’s no different from you disabling a pagebuilder plugin and pages break in result of that. I’ve been thinking to develop a plugin that scans content for used pagebuilders/blocks so that you know which content to convert before you get rid of them.
In any case, just be happy that it’s much easier to remove Gutenberg blocks than it is for pagebuilders.
I was really excited about exploring the block libraries in this article and spent the last few days reviewing nearly all of them. I actually found that I really liked Kadence even though WP Johnny narrowly found it to be a library he didn’t like he said that he would otherwise put it in third place in the minimal category but several other reviewers pit it against pre-styled libraries and found it to be lighter and more powerful than qubely and stackable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AZYMLXFq8w&fbclid=IwAR3HMzr08k2NXxAG9oGDiq6mEr7kGQ6yr_5nP47fdMn8rkK2A6R95HGIQXE).
I think the question of who will dominate the design-front is still a very open question based on wider adoption and whether or not the developers are making a move to implement ready-made design templates, which Kadence clearly is doing. However, even though I really like Kadence and might use it in some projects in the future, I am ultimately going to go with WP EditorPlus with GenerateBlocks!
I really like that EditorPlus focuses on extended the features of the core gutenberg blocks and only adds advanced blocks that are missing from gutenberg. The developer is also the same one that runs Gutenberg Hub with a growing template library and makes it very easy to transfer templates using EditorPlus. That model is much more aligned with wordpress as an open source platform and community then other block libraries and especially moreso then page builders! Like gutenberg itself, it’s still playing catch up with the others in terms of features and blocks, which I guess is why it doesn’t make this list. For instance, the gutenberg group and column blocks are very limited but the GenerateBlocks library that only comes with container, grid, headline and button blocks is a perfect match with EditorPlus to achieve the same advanced layouts that you can do with kadence or qubely out of the box. Maybe needing 2 block libraries is redundant but that’s also kind of what other block libraries are doing too and instead of a bunch of duplicate blocks they really compliment each other! The fact that it extends core blocks means that you would only lose some of the associated styling when you disable it while the others would result in either missing elements across the site or worse, shortcode hell.
I appreciate your thoughts, Brandon. And even though I might tote Stackable on Qubely highly…I don’t use them on my personal sites at all. Gutenberg options are a wide range from full pre-styled library to very minimal blocks or custom-built blocks. Hard to explain but that’s the advantage of it, it gives you a wide range of options to fit your needs.
Can you take a look at https://www.wpxpo.com/productx/
And some more woocommerce blocks? As all you have mentioned have non or just a very few.
What are you looking for specifically?
Hello, what is the best for in terms of pro plugin and what theme will be best for that plugin ? i am looking for advanced post block, list type design.
I am looking for post grid block, I am not satisfied with my current post grid. can you please loot at my blog- https://examresulthub.com/ and suggest something /?
Gutenberg VS oxygen or Zion ?
performance wise, which will generate a cleaner code and faster page, Gutenberg or oxygen/Zion ?
I couldn’t find any benchmark or case study
Gutenberg and Oxygen are pretty even. Zion is probably close as well but I haven’t tried it personally. But the main difference between these 3 for me is more about workflow than speed.
Can we tell which has that little bit of a lighter page ?
by the way, Zion claims to be faster than Oxygen
If you care so much about exact numbers, try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9GY-EP0PG0
If I had to guess, I feel Gutenberg is lighter than Oxygen. Zion, I haven’t tried.
probably you haven’t tested, but maybe you can estimate by looking at which has the cleaner code ?
These are lean/clean enough especially when comparing them to traditional pagebuilders. It’s a massive difference.
Hey Johnny,
I have a question. I’m not sure if you’re the right one to ask this. I know you can disallow/allow blocks from your site. When you disallow a specific block does it remove the script/style from that specific block or that wouldn’t be possible?
Cheers
I’m not sure what you’re asking. And I’m not sure if the question you’re asking is really the one you want to know about. I think Gutenberg has improved to where a block’s scripts/styles won’t load if it’s not being used on the page.
Okay, that makes sense to me.
Hi,
Super good review that has no bullshit…. I am a lifetime toolset user so I installed Toolset Blocks and recently Stackable Pro. I am still new to GBlocks but my questions is:
Q1: I am finding unique blocks (Getwid like CPT block). As i add more blocks is there
a good way to integrated all the blocks u collect. I would like to only use the ones that
I find useful… a few blocks from toolset, stackable, Getwid, etc.) Is this possible with code
and/or a block?
Thanks for the useful info.
Mel
[email protected]
I don’t understand your question. Install all the plugins you want, and use only the blocks you want. If you want to hide certain blocks from the list…then uncheck them in the meta options.
Hi,
Sorry I did not describe very good what I was thinking …
For example: from the Getwid blocks I only want the CPT block since I not find other CPT blocks like that. Besides just turning off blocks, Is there a way to make it all look managed like all the blocks are from one library? So the editor looks less cluttered. For example Beaver Build has a nice looking simple but powerful way to edit/save a page. Less clutter looking editor?
Is there a blocks market place to buy specific blocks? If not u should start one!
Anyway, thanks for the reviews and info.
Mel
I’m still confused as to what you want. It sounds to me you want to customize the block selector UI.
Hi again,
Yesss part of my problem is I am still learning the blocks editor…….. I have stackable and toolset. and just found the block manager which might help organize things and turn on/off blocks global etc..
But when I scroll the blocks they are organized by a category (text, media, design etc.) it requires to scroll up and down alot…. That is what I dont like.. If I could turn on/off the category then I would not have to scroll so much.
Or just put the blocks that I want in a custom category? is that possible?
Thanks again
Mel
I don’t know of an easy way (for non-devs) to regroup blocks right now. But perhaps there might be a plugin for it.
Which plugin or block widget or Code you have used to display latest post blocks with hover effect?
You mean on this site? My site uses custom-made ACF gutenberg blocks and then some CSS styling.
Ok got It. I just wanted to confirm I was thinking that somewhere ACF has been used. But not possible with GenerateBlocks or Stackable?
It’s a custom ACF block because it has custom functionality, not only in how the data is displayed on the frontend but how I easily-edit the data on the backend as well. Perhaps Stackable might be able to do it but at the very least you’ll need MetaBox. Anyway, this is a custom code thing. You MIGHT be able to do it with some Gutenberg plugin out there but it would (probably) be heavier than my implementation.
It is a good guide.
Hey Johnny! Thanks so much for this review.
Stackable just put up a LTD on AppSumo (lmao I hope this isn’t a sign that they’re running out of development funding xD), on my way to buy it now thanks to your review 🙂
Haha, I think they’ll be around for a while. Lots of user adoption and the development is very active.
That’s great! BTW, what theme would you recommend to pair with Stackable for a product review site?
I checked your fastest WP themes review out, GeneratePress looks good but idk if I want to pay for Premium until (and unless lol) my site starts profiting.
Alternatively, your review revealed Twenty Twenty to be a good option – should I give that a go? And is the more recent Twenty Twenty One faster?
If Generate premium is something of a must-have, then I figured I could start by subscribing for the annual plan and then paying for the $249 LTD if the site becomes profitable after the first year.
Also, sorry for the lengthy question!
Ahh my bad, Twenty Twenty was reviewed on a different site. But yeah please share your two cents on that regardless, if that’s alright.
You can use the free version of GeneratePress. Or free version of Blocksy and Kadence as well.
Thanks 🙂
Thank you for the insights! we just launched a free Gutenberg plugin that is friendly for any users, please take a look at our demo site, and you can download this plugin for free: https://buba.rocks/demo-blocks/
How many of these (or are ANY of them) written in vanilla JS versus pulling in massive external libraries? I’m a GeneratePress fan and would like to continue the philosophy of lean code if/where possible.
Thank you for the insights! we just launched a free Gutenberg plugin that is friendly for any users, please take a look at our demo site, and you can download this plugin for free: buba.rocks/demo-blocks/
Great Blog Post!! Love the fact that you explained in detail all about these various blocks. Your video was helpful and educational even after all this time you are able to still learn from your content. Thanks for your dedication and sincerity on the topic.
Apparantly Getwid is not dead:
https://motopress.com/blog/motopress-plugins-are-not-available-on-wordpress-org/
And thanks for the list!
Thank you for letting me know! I’ve updated this post again.
I wish Stackable had Tabs/Accordions.
Then I would pull the trigger…
It’s only Tabs that is missing, Accordions is already there, sorry.
Great article, like the others. I’ve been working with WordPress for years, and with Gutenberg since 2020, on some specific projects. The most recent is this simple one at GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks: https://www.teatrodocanto.net/ . I like the simplicity and the load metrics, even being on a shared server and no cache enabled (!). Hugs from Brazil!
You did so good, my friend. I like it! And honestly…I’ve done some really complicated ones. If you’re good at what you do, Gutenberg enhances rather than holds you back. Great job.