My Review of Divi WordPress Theme & Why I’m Leaving it

Hey, what’s up?

If you’re currently considering a WordPress theme like Divi or if you’re thinking about leaving Divi, then this could be for you.

Let’s go right in!

1- WHAT IS DIVI?

Divi is a popular multipurpose theme and page builder plugin for WordPress made by Elegant Themes. It has a visual editor which allows creating and design WordPress websites without coding knowledge.

In my case, I purchased the lifetime deal for $249 on March 11 of 2024. So that was more than 2 months ago.

2- MY OWN USAGE & NEEDS

We all have different needs depending on own current situation.

As of right now, I have created 3 websites:

• thefrankring.com, which is my personal website where I share my own journey and thoughts.
• livredecook.com, which is an online cookbook for myself and my family. Unless you can understand french, I don’t recommend it.
• fraxoweb.com, which is a website for my company. For now, it’s very simple, and I might need to take the time to make it better, but I don’t feel like it’s necessary for now.

That being said, I do create websites, but I don’t spend my whole life on WordPress.

I do know how WordPress works, but I mostly create websites for myself and my family. Maybe that’s going to change in the future, who knows?

As of right now, these are only simple websites and blogs. But at some point, I might turn them into online stores. So I need a multipurpose theme that support WooCommerce that keeps it simple and efficient.

I have a computer science and I do know coding. I could use other technologies, but I much prefer the non-coding approach from WordPress and the ability to create an online store.

3- PROS

• Full control and customization
• Colorful and fun to work with
• Amazing premade templates
• Multipurpose
• Lifetime and unlimited websites
• Has its own theme builder

4- CONS

• Too complex & steep learning curve
• Not on the theme store
• Feels slow, buggy and laggy
• Too many options
• Overdesigned and overwhelming
• Prisoner of the Divi theme
• Use of other paid plugins

5- WHERE IS DIVI HEADING

I think Divi is taking a completely different direction than WordPress. From my perspective, it feels like they are trying to recreate WordPress.

Technically, Divi is a front-end framework but at this point, I think they should separate themselves from WordPress and become their own independent platform.

I mean, the theme isn’t even on the WordPress theme store anyway. They should make the jump.

They should either dissociate themselves from WordPress or recreate a theme that is easier to use, starting literally from zero and from scratch.

6- HOW I SEE MY FUTURE

Unfortunately, I do not see my future with Divi. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to try it, and I do not regret purchasing a lifetime license. Maybe I’ll come back in the future, who know?

For now, I will stick with WordPress because that’s what I know and feel comfortable.

We’ll see how it goes, but for now, I think I will stick with the default WordPress themes. Every year, they release a new theme in accordance with their predecessors and up to date with their technologies and updates.

Ultimately, WordPress is free and open source, and I think they know what’s best for their own users. So I will trust them.

By using the default WordPress themes, I will be able to test and review them. Hopefully, these reviews will give useful feedback to the WordPress community for them to improve their themes.

7- WHY NOT USE A PREMIUM THEME?

Another option that I have is to use and purchase premium themes that are available on the theme store. And yes, some of them might be better than the WordPress themes.

That being said, they come with inconveniences.
Firstly, you might need to pay for the theme.

There are free options, but they are usually incomplete and always promote a pro version, which I find enjoying.

Personally, I hate and avoid subscription as much as possible. So that’s another thing.

You can also purchase lifetime license themes, but ultimately, I think all themes are doomed to become obsolete at some point. So what’s really the point?

For example, Neve and Astra are popular premium themes. But the new technology Full-Site Editing (FSE) is out since a few years and these themes aren’t supporting it. They need to create a new theme to support it.

Neve FSE and Raft are both themes that support the new technology, and they are currently free to use. But I’m expecting them to create a pro paid version at some point. In my case, I’m not creating enough websites to actually be very important for me. Again, it’s mostly for my own blog and some other simple websites. Because of that, I don’t feel confident investing time and energy in them.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, in the last months, I tried to use Divi as my premium theme for my websites. I don’t think that it is bad, but I simply think that it’s not for me. I value something more simple, lightweight and easy to use because I also do other things than create websites. Creating websites is one of the many things that I do, so I need to keep it fast and simple.

I think Divi is targeted for users that work full time inside WordPress and that want absolute full control and customization over their websites.

For now, I will stick with default WordPress themes because they are much simpler to use and up-to-date with the new technologies that WordPress is using. That will also allow me to review and follow WordPress more closely. That being said, I’m aware that by using these themes, I might not have the same level of option and customization. But that’s something that I’m willing to deal with for now because I only use it for my own simple websites.

So that’s pretty much it, I hope this was helpful to you. If this blog was valuable to you, you could consider following me on social media and if you have any thoughts or comments, you can leave them below.

I hope this helps, peace!