Elementor AI Fails WordPress Agencies: A Detailed Breakdown

This is my final post summarizing where WordPress agencies stand with Elementor AI opt-out struggles, what Elementor should do to make things right, and what the closest alternatives to Elementor are.

Disclaimer

I’m not an Elementor hater. In fact, Elementor’s very own Head of WordPress Relations (Miriam S.) stated in a podcast where we both appeared, “I can see your frustrations come from a point of caring.”

Main Topic

Elementor AI is enabled by default, and there is no way to opt out.

Issues

• Elementor AI is put in front of clients from multiple (many) insertion points.
  • This causes agencies to field many client questions, ranging from general curiosity to concerns regarding security and performance.
  • This causes agencies to field many support questions because clients click on Elementor AI offerings, thinking they need them for their websites.
• Elementor AI is breaking and slowing down productivity rather than improving it.
  • See ‘Bug Report’ section.
• Elementor is phoning home with its ‘AI Health Check.’
  • What exactly is the ‘AI Health Check’ doing?
  • How often is it doing it?

Elementor AI Advertising – Insertion Points

• Upon firing up a new WordPress install, a ‘Build Smart with AI’ link is shown in the ‘Elementor Overview’ block of the WordPress Dashboard.
• Elementor has a newer ‘Home’ area (WP Dashboard > Elementor > Home) where their AI is advertised.
  • This is 1 of 2 places within someone’s website where this advertisement belongs.
• Elementor has a newer ‘Add-ons’ area (WP Dashboard > Elementor > Add-ons) where their AI is advertised.
  • This is 1 of 2 places within someone’s website where this advertisement belongs.
• Upon creating your first content with Elementor, a ‘Discover your new superpowers’ dialog box appears, stating, “With AI for text, code, image generation, and editing, you can bring your vision to life faster than ever. Start your free trial now – no credit card required!“
• Upon creating/editing your first content with Elementor, a ‘Build with AI’ icon is one of the options. It is styled with Elementor’s primary brand color to stand out from all the others.
• Upon adding text-based widgets to a page, a ‘Write with AI’ link is presented, styled with Elementor’s primary brand color to stand out from all other options.
• Upon adding image-based widgets to a page, a ‘Create with AI’ icon is presented, styled with Elementor’s primary brand color to stand out from all other options.
• Upon editing content with WordPress Core, a ‘Generate with Elementor AI’ link is presented. It is styled with Elementor’s primary brand color to stand out from all other WordPress Core options.
• Upon editing content with WordPress Core, a ‘Generate with Elementor AI’ link is presented. It is styled with Elementor’s primary brand color to stand out from all other WordPress Core options.

Elementor-based Options

Bug Reports (GitHub)

• According to Elementor, despite creating issues that we, as customers, cannot solve on our own, Elementor AI cannot be classified as a bug.
  • Elementor’s major core version 3.22 prevented customers from loading the Elementor editor due to Elementor AI.
  • Elementor’s major core version 3.23 caused slow loading for all things related to the WordPress Dashboard due to Elementor AI’s ‘Health Check.’
• What is or isn’t deemed a bug is seemingly determined by a single person.
• Opting out of Elementor AI must be done through a feature request or by filing a complaint with Elementor support.

Feature Request (GitHub)

• One recourse (as provided by the Elementor team) to potentially opt out of Elementor AI is to submit a feature request, but as we see below, that’s seemingly a stall tactic.
  • The #2 most requested “feature” (with four more votes, it will be #1) is the ability to disable Elementor AI.
  • The #4 most requested “feature” (with 11 more votes, it will be #1) is the ability to disable Elementor AI.
  • These feature requests were filed in June of 2023.
  • Combining these two requests would create a feature request in the #1 position, with the next closest request 74 votes behind.
  • In a community that thrives on new bells and whistles (i.e., features), it’s very telling that two of the top priorities are to remove something.

File Complaint (Elementor Support)

• Another recourse (as provided by the Elementor team) is to file a complaint with Elementor support.
  • I filed a complaint with Elementor and recorded the process. It went about as you would expect.
  • My request was “denied” because this is “a way they advertise” this feature to Elementor users.

Livestream w/ Matt Medeiros

At this time, my live stream with Matt Medeiros on this topic on Tuesday at noon EST is the only recourse left (for me anyway) to try to facilitate change and bring awareness to WordPress agencies that may be considering Elementor as their tool of choice.

What Elementor Should Do

• Best-case scenario: Remove ALL aspects of Elementor AI from the builder and move it to a plugin.
• The next best option is to allow admins to disable Elementor AI completely or for a subset of users (e.g., roles).
  • Elementor has a Role Manager feature (WP Dashboard > Elementor > Role Manager) that could easily be leveraged.

Elementor Alternatives

The closest alternatives to Elementor, as far as I know, are Bricks and Breakdance. These are not affiliate links.

Bricks Builder

At the time of this writing, they don’t offer (or therefore advertise) AI.

AI is available separately (as it should be) as an option and is provided by entities outside Bricks (ex. Advanced Themer).

Breakdance

At the time of this writing, they advertise AI in the builder but give you a choice to install it.

Video Walkthrough

To learn more about these issues and see behind the scenes, please have a look at the following video.