Elementor Cloud: Worth A Look? And Why Are They Launching This?
Elementor Cloud is a new hosting offer from the Elementor folks. Is it worth a look? And… why did they even bother?
So, I got this email the other day. And it was an announcement about the launch of Elementor Cloud.
Interesting move, I thought.
Elementor is, of course, a very popular page builder for Wordpress. It is known as a plugin because that’s what it is. So, this move of essentially turning Elementor into a platform of it’s own is… interesting.
So, is it worth looking at?
And why are they launching this?
I have not used Elementor Cloud. This is not a review. While I am an affiliate for Elementor, I am not promoting Elementor Cloud because I have no experience with it at all. I’m just going to comment on it as an outsider here.
Is Elementor Cloud Worth A Consideration?
So, essentially, it looks like you can host one website on Wordpress and Elementor PRO will be pre-installed. You can run most Wordpress plugins, too.
It will be hosted on Google Cloud. This is a pretty robust infrastructure that many other web hosts use as well. You get built-in CDN from Cloudflare.
It comes with 100GB of bandwidth, 100K monthly visits, and 20GB of storage. All more than enough for most sites.
Wordpress will be pre-installed, of course, along with full Elementor Pro. You can run any of your own plugins, too.
Essentially, this is standard web hosting. But, it has the advantage of being on Google Cloud so it is likely going to run much smoother than the crappy shared hosting from many low-priced hosting companies.
I found it interesting that their list of “incompatible plugins” include things like Divi, Oxygen, Beaver Builder, etc. In essence, they’re forbidding you from using any of the competing page builders. π They aren’t “incompatible”… they just don’t want you to use them.
They have also banned use of a lot of the common migration plugins to other hosts. While they do say you can export your site and take it with you elsewhere, they definitely make it a little harder by not allowing the installation of migration plugins.
All in all, though, the price is just $99/year.
Considering the price of Elementor Pro online is $49/year, you’re basically paying $50/year for hosting. And, seeing as it is on Google Cloud, it is likely pretty decent hosting and your site is likely to run pretty well.
In exchange for that pricing, though, you’re locked into Elementor and they do give you some definite boundaries on what you cannot run on your site.
I personally use, love and recommend Cloudways for hosting. You can read my Cloudways review here. I also have a full tutorial on how to switch to Cloudways. And, if you want my ongoing support to manage your site for you on Cloudways, I also have Concierge Hosting available.
Why Did They Launch Elementor Cloud? My Thoughts…
I think it comes down to 2 things….
- SAAS is a great business model and leads to recurring revenue with a degree of lock-in
- They probably see the field of page builders slowly waning as Wordpress’s own block editor gets into the arena of full-site editing
SAAS (for software as a service) is a nice business model. No doubt, they’re looking at the potential new recurring revenue stream here.
Plus, it is hosting. People don’t usually switch hosts on a dime. So, while you’re not technically locked into anything with Elementor Cloud, there is a degree of inertia that sets in and people just won’t usually move unless they’ve got a good reason. Not to mention that they’re not going to make it all that easy since they ban the migration plugins of many competing web hosts.
There’s also the potential of them re-positioning into an alternative to solutions like Squarespace or Wix. I could see it happening. Maybe they’re thinking ahead here.
Also…
Wordpress is clearly infringing on the territory of page builders.
The block editor is now getting into the ability to do full-site editing. While we’re still rather early in the capabilities here, it will come where people can (and will) just design their own sites and landing pages using the block editor alone. Solutions like Kadence Blocks are adding more and more capability to the block editor and more and more people are deciding to build their sites using blocks. There is also a solid case to be made that site performance is higher with this approach since most page builders (including Elementor) introduce more overhead.
So, could the folks at Elementor see the writing on the wall here?
Could they be strategizing about their future in a world where page builders like Elementor just aren’t as necessary anymore?
I think so. But, I can only speculate. π
In The End…
Elementor Cloud is not something I would be personally interested in. However, I can see the potential draw.
$99/year for solid hosting and a full-featured page builder is pretty good deal.
I don’t know many details about it, though, because it is so new.
Am I going to start recommending this to my clients and readers? No. But, I can see why it might be attractive.
I build a lot of client sites with Thrive Themes. I personally prefer their editor and find it more intuitive and fast to use. But, I respect Elementor and I use it on this very site. I’m just not a fan of hosting that decides what you can and cannot use. And the fact that they will ban other plugins they deem as competitors shows me their motivation.
Got A Question?
Have a question about this article? Need some help with this topic (or anything else)? Send it in and I’ll get back to you personally. I think that’s better than a blog comment. π