If you’re looking for a new theme for your site, there are two options you’ve likely already heard of: The hugely popular
Divi , from Elegant Themes , and Avada , the number one best-seller on
ThemeForest.
Both of these WordPress themes are fully multipurpose, which means, no matter what type of website you’re building — be it a basic blog, a fully featured online shop, or anything in between — using Avada or Divi will give you heaps of different features and options.
However, while these are both excellent WordPress themes, there are some key differences — to be sure you’re choosing the right one for your project, read on.
We’ll kick things off with an overview of each theme before moving on to comparing their appearance, key features and overall value for money. Let’s get started…
Divi Overview
Divi is the flagship theme from Elegant Themes — one of the most popular WordPress theme providers in the business.
Released in 2013, Divi has been continuously improved and updated by its creators, going from strength to strength with each new version.
KEY FEATURES OF DIVI
Thanks to a continuously growing feature set and constant improvements, Divi can now be used to create just about any type of website you like . No matter how big or small your project, using Divi isn’t overkill, nor will it leave you wanting more.
DIVI DRAG-AND-DROP PAGE BUILDER
The core feature of this theme is the Divi Builder — a drag-and-drop page builder tool designed to help users create their own custom page layouts with ease.
With Divi Builder, you can create custom layouts for both posts and pages using an intuitive back-end user interface. Your layouts can include multiple rows, and each row can contain multiple columns. These layouts can then be populated with 46 useful content modules.
As well as fairly standard content modules, such as text, images, buttons, and galleries, you’ll find a powerful selection of features — ones that’d usually require you to install additional plugins to use. Such modules include pricing tables, sliders, testimonials, portfolios, and much more.
Furthermore, all of the Divi Builder modules can be personalized through the WordPress Customizer interface — so you can ensure each element on your website works with your overall design. You’re also free to add your own custom CSS to personalize your layouts and the elements they contain.
What’s more, thanks to the live preview feature of the Customizer, you can see what effect your changes are having on these modules instantly.
It’s worth noting that Divi Builder is now also available as a standalone WordPress plugin that can be used alongside any theme. For more info, have a quick read of our Divi Builder plugin review .
PRE-BUILT LAYOUTS AND TEMPLATES
Divi Builder also includes a growing collection of more than 20 pre-built layouts — including a wide range of useful page templates that may well save you a huge amount of time when you’re creating your site.
Each of these pre-built layouts can, of course, be edited via the aforementioned Divi Builder, giving you plenty of control over how your website will look. Once you’ve done your customizations, you’ll be able to save your own layouts for repeat/future use.
Divi also includes a number of portfolio layouts for creating either your portfolio website homepage or the internal portfolio pages of your site.
You’ll also find a good selection of internal page layouts that are suitable for creating both corporate and business websites.
DIVI LEADS SPLIT TESTING TOOL
A new feature that was added in version 2.7 is the Divi Leads split testing tool. This powerful optimization tool makes it very easy to create multiple variations of your page elements — such as buttons, images, or call-to-actions — and then display them to different segments of your audience. The purpose of this is to find out which version produces the best results.
Split testing is vital for any website that’s been built with a specific goal in mind. Thanks to Divi Leads, the whole process of optimizing your website for higher goal conversion rates is now very straightforward.
Clicking on an element in your Divi Builder layout gives you the option of creating one or more variations of that element. You can define your goal, then sit back and wait for the results to come in.
THEME OPTIONS
Through the Divi theme options panel, you can make a wide range of changes to your website. This covers social media integration, the number of posts to display at a time and how to present them, navigation and menu settings, and advertisement management.
However, when it comes to really personalizing how your website looks, most of the relevant theme options are found through the intuitive WordPress Customizer tool.
Through this interface, you can customize the layout settings, typography choices, header properties, footer elements, button styles, color schemes, and much more.
Again, as this all takes places through the Customizer, you get a live preview of your changes as you make them.
PORTABILITY BETWEEN SITES
Another area where Divi shines is its portability — i.e. the ease with which you can move your work, settings, layouts, and other assets between Divi-powered websites.
If you’re a web designer creating sites for clients, or you have multiple WordPress websites of your own, this’ll likely be a huge draw, potentially saving you a fair amount of time and effort by enabling you to quickly import and export content between projects.
DIVI PRICING INFORMATION
To access Divi, you’ll need to join the Elegant Themes club and shell out either $69, which grants you access to all of their themes (including the Impressive Extra theme — well worth checking out if you aren’t already familiar with it), or the higher price of $89, which grants you access to all of their themes and plugins.

DIVI SUMMARY
In summary, Divi has a LOT to offer. If you aren’t a coder, but would still like full control over how your website looks and functions, Divi’s an excellent choice of theme.
Avada Overview
Becoming the number one bestselling WordPress theme on the mega-popular ThemeForest marketplace isn’t easy…
…however, currently boasting well over a staggering 200,000 sales — twice that of its nearest competitor — Avada easily takes the top spot!
KEY FEATURES OF AVADA
Like Divi, Avada is a true multipurpose theme that can be used to create just about any type of website . Whether you need an online portfolio, a site for your offline business, or a busy content-rich news site, Avada aims to provide you with everything you could possibility need.
PRE-BUILT DEMO WEBSITES
One of the key reasons why Avada is suitable for almost any type of WordPress website is that you get access to a large selection of pre-built demo websites that can be applied to your WordPress site in just a few clicks.
Unlike Divi and its library of layouts that can be applied to your posts and pages on an individual basis, Avada lets you quickly import an entire demo website. After that, all that’s left to do is add your own content. If one of the demo versions matches up with your project, then the speed with which you can get your website online will likely be very appealing.
With version 4 of Avada, there are 18 demo versions to choose from. These include agency, photography, gym, café, hotel, architecture, travel, lifestyle, fashion, and multiple online shop website demos.
The import process works very well, and you really can get the foundation for your new website up and running in next to no time at all.
FUSION BUILDER
To help you edit any of the included demos and layouts, or create your own from scratch, Avada features the Fusion Builder: A custom drag-and-drop page builder tool for WordPress.
As with the Divi Builder, work done using the Fusion Builder takes place on the back-end of your WordPress website. Through the user interface, you can create layouts of rows and columns, and then populate them with the available Builder Elements.
These Builder Elements allow you to add buttons, pricing tables, sliders, testimonials, and products from your online store to your custom layouts.
PRE-BUILT PAGE LAYOUTS
The Fusion Builder comes with a good selection of pre-built templates, and you can either use them as they are or edit them through the drag-and-drop interface.

With Fusion Builder, you’re also free to save your own custom layouts for reuse within your website.
FUSION SHORTCODES
Many of the elements that can be inserted into your Fusion Builder layouts are also available when using the standard WordPress post and page editors. This is thanks to the handy Avada shortcode (What are Shortcodes? ) library.
With the Fusion Shortcodes feature of Avada, you can select an element you’d like to add to your content, and then customize how it will look and function. Some of the shortcode options include customizable alerts, countdown timers, maps, recent post lists, videos, and much more.
THEME OPTIONS
Through the Avada 4.0 theme options control panel, you can modify almost every aspect of your website. This includes changing the layout, customizing the menu sizing, choosing a color scheme, selecting a header layout — and a whole lot more.
A few of these settings can also be configured through the WordPress Customizer interface, which gives you a helpful live preview of your changes as you make them (as opposed to having to switch windows to see what impact your choices are having).
However, only a small number of site settings can be found in the Customizer, making the back-end theme options panel the place where most of your changes will be made.
Again, as with Divi, the goal is to empower non-coders to be able to build the website they’ve always wanted — all through a series of visual customization tools and settings. However, if your requirements are more exacting, you still have the option of adding your own custom CSS through the theme options panel.
AVADA PRICING INFORMATION
Avada is available from the ThemeForest marketplace for $59, which includes six months of support from ThemeFusion, the theme developers. This support period can be extended to 12 months by paying an extra $17.70. What’s more, lifetime theme updates are included with every purchase!
Note: For an even more in-depth look at this theme, check out our hands-on Avada WordPress theme review.
Divi vs Avada: Core Features Compared
As you can see, at least on paper, both Divi and Avada share a similar set of features. Both themes offer an impressive number of pre-made page layouts, both are equipped with custom-built drag-and-drop page builders, and both offer plenty of customization options for non-coders.
However, as is usually the case, the devil is in the detail, so let’s look at how their features compare to help you decide whether Avada or Divi is the best option for your site.
Avada vs Divi: Overall Appearance

Both themes look great. Each of the predefined layouts of Divi is of a very high standard, and the pre-built demo websites of Avada are highly professional in their appearance as well.
Overall, Avada offers more variety, with 18 different demo versions that you can import to your site in just a few clicks. However, with either theme you’re not limited in any way to just the pre-built options, thanks to the easy-to-use drag-and-drop page builders.

 

When it comes to deciding which theme has the best design, it’s really up to you to explore the different layouts and demos to find out which ones are the most appealing and suitable for your project.
Divi vs Avada: Page Builders
Both themes allow you to create custom layouts for your posts and pages through a back-end drag-and-drop interface. By using sections, rows, and columns, you can build custom layouts and then insert the available elements.
While both page builders sound similar, the Divi Builder is the more polished of the two. Its user interface is nicer to look at and has some additional features that make it much easier to use. This includes a preview mode, which gives you an easy way to see how the modules in your layouts will look to your visitors.
Divi Builder also gives you the option of saving any modules you’ve customized to your library for reuse elsewhere on your site or on other projects. You can also create global library items — when these are updated, the changes are applied to each instance of that item, no matter where it’s located on your website.
With Divi, you also have the option of using the selective sync feature to only apply certain changes to all instances of a module. This could mean only applying the custom CSS and advanced design setting changes, leaving the other properties of the module intact.
The Fusion Builder is fine for creating custom page layouts in WordPress — however, the Divi Builder includes many more advanced tools and features that’ll appeal to those who really want to build custom layouts for their website, as well as speed up their workflow and make it more efficient.
Avada vs Divi: Pre- Built Layouts and Demos
Both themes have a great selection of pre-built page templates that can be easily applied to your website and customized through the drag-and-drop builder tools.
However, Avada also gives you 18 website demos to choose from, making the process of quickly setting up a new website very straightforward. Each demo is themed around a certain type of project, which is something that isn’t found in Divi.
Divi vs Avada: Customization Options
With the ability to modify the library of page elements through the intuitive WordPress Customizer tool (as well as many other aspects of your website), Divi offers unrivaled personalization options.
That’s not to say that Avada is lacking, but, as the Avada theme options are more limited, Divi does give you more control over the appearance of your site — while also giving you a live preview of your changes as you make them.
Avada vs Divi: Other Notable Differences
The other main difference between Divi and Avada is the newly added Divi Leads feature. If you want to optimize your website for better results, whether that’s more sales, higher page views, or some other goal, the Divi Leads tool gives you a quick and easy way to split test your design and content choices.
Avada includes two premium WordPress plugins: Slider Revolution and LayerSlider. While Divi does include a few different slider modules, they can’t compete with the power of these two slideshow plugins. Therefore, if the idea of publishing advanced animated slideshows on your website appeals to you, Avada has everything you need.
Divi vs Avada: Best Value
With Divi available for $69 and Avada for $59, both options represent great value for money. However, for $69 you not only get access to Divi, but also the other 86 WordPress templates from Elegant Themes. For $20 extra, you also get access to six plugins.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say which of these two themes is actually the best. Both are high-quality products that’ll appeal to those who want the freedom to create any kind of website they like while enjoying a vast selection of professional pre-built demos and layouts on offer.
The Divi Leads split testing tool is an appealing feature, of course, as nearly all websites have been built with some sort of goal in mind — whether that’s more sales or simply more page views. That said, it’s also worth remembering that there are plenty of great split testing WordPress plugins available, so choosing Avada needn’t mean saying no to conversion rate optimization.
Both Divi and Avada are, of course, solid themes, and which one is actually the best choice for your own project will likely come down to deciding which of these two incredible themes offers the various features you require.