Showit and Divi are website development platforms, which make it possible to set up various types of projects with no programming proficiency. The integrated functionality and general implication of these systems differ, however, although, both platforms are powered by WordPress CMS. This obviously affects users’ choice.
Showit – is a drag-and-drop cloud website builder that lets beginners and web design pros launch impressive portfolios from scratch. The software mainly targets artists, photographers and creatives willing to showcase their works in an unusual yet spectacular way.
Divi – is a more versatile and multifaceted theme and builder, which offers a broad range of design customization options. It allows replacing a custom WordPress editor with a high end and simple visual editor everyone can use. Due to the drag-and-drop interface and a rich choice of integrable modules, the platform lets you build any project type with no coding knowledge.
Both platforms have their strong and weak points yet they are still used for diverse purposes. If you need a portfolio website, you have an opportunity to pick any of them, though. Which software, however, will suit you most? Which of them has more to offer? Go ahead to look for answers to these and other questions in our review.
Showit vs Divi: General Overview
Showit has one major area of specialization only – portfolio/photography website creation. Its convenient drag-and-drop editor and a broad range of design customization tools ensure creative freedom and sufficient control over the process of project development.
Powered by WordPress, the software is still quite an easy tool for newbies and web design specialists who work on portfolio projects. No programming awareness is required to work with it yet it takes time and effort to master all its features.
The foundation of the website builder dates back to 2006. Its audience and the number of successfully created portfolios has notably increased since that time. According to recent estimates, it has overcome 57,118 projects. Showit now becomes a popular portfolio design solution for WordPress fans.
Divi has distinguished itself as a contemporary theme and website builder that allows replacing a standard and a bit complicated WordPress editor with a simper and more intuitive visual editor. The platform is flexible, full-featured and understandable for all user categories as it does not imply any coding skills to get started.
With Divi, you can set up any project, including portofios and photography websites. Such a diversity of applications results in quite an impressive number of successfully built projects. As of today, Divi powers more than 4,000,299 websites, which obviously speaks in favor of the software popularity.
As opposed to Showit, Divi requires domain and hosting choice. Keep that in mind when deciding on the system use.
Showit vs Divi: Which One Is Easier to Use?
Showit makes website creation easy and accessible to everyone, irrespective of proficiency level. The built-in drag-and-drop editor lets users freely arrange content and build layouts that fit their projects best. Due to the ability to customize background colors, fonts, styles, and other parameters as well as to adjust block positions, users can independently complete their projects.
Developed with beginners in mind, Showit offers tips, manuals and web design tools to help users create stunning portfolio projects. Getting started is easy here – just sign up for the system and follow the default steps.
When deciding on Showit application, mind that the platform is compatible with the latest Chrome browser version. Other browsers won’t work at all. This is one of the system demerits.
Whatever problems or issues you encounter, the Showit support team is always at hand. Reach the Help Center for useful and informative tutorials, manuals, guidelines and videos. Live Chat and social media accounts provide extra support as well. If you look for more visual materials, the Showit YouTube channel is the top destination to browse. It is regularly updated with educational and informative videos to easily guide you through the process of website creation and customization.
Divi Theme and Builder is a browser-based software, which ensures ease-of-use, irrespective of the task you work on. Being a coding pro is not a must – you just have to follow the software guidelines to design a DIY project. This is achieved due to the intuitive drag-and-drop interface that gives users absolute control over the process of website set up.
One of Divi’s standout features is its inline editing process, which lets users observe all edits and modifications in real-time mode. These edits, by the way, are automatically saved in the system.
To get started with Divi, users must initially create an account, but a free demo version is available here to explore the major features of the platform. Free trial is unavailable here.
As for the interface, it is conveniently organized into three main sections: page settings, where you can configure overall web page settings, the visual builder that offers drag-and-drop modules or convenient web page layout and design creation and the wireframe view that shows the page layout in a simpler version that lets users understand the web page structure.
Showit vs Divi: Design and Flexibility
When it comes to integrated functionality, it makes sense to consider the initial implication of Showit and Divi platforms. As a portfolio website builder, Showit mainly offers niche tools and features, while Divi guarantees a more universal approach. Anyway, it is recommended to compare the major parameters of both systems to decide on the solution that works best for your project.
eCommerce
Showit doesn’t have a built-in eCommerce platform. As a result, it is impossible to set up a full-featured web store with it unless you use specialized niche plugins for WordPress. To connect a web store to your portfolio and to start selling online, you have to select and integrate an eCommerce add-on. This obviously requires more time, skills and budget.
Divi stands out from the crowd due to its extensive module choice. There are plugins to fit any occasion and goal here. eCommerce applications are not an exception. To run a web store with Divi, go ahead to integrate an eCommerce module. What’s more, the software integrates with WooCommerce. This unveils more sales possibilities for its subscribers.
Blogging
Showit doesn’t let you set up a blog from scratch just because it doesn’t have a built-in blogging platform. To get one, you have to integrate one of WordPress blog plugins. In this case, you will be able to access and customize a suitable blog template, choosing a suitable editing option. The software allows customizing the selected design either in WordPress or directly in its dashboard. This won’t affect the result. By the way, Showit makes it possible to transfer a ready-made blog (if you already have one) from another platform with no extra pricing.
Divi blogging options are unavailable by default yet there is an opportunity to integrate a Divi Blog Module with a few clicks here. Thus, you will be able to publish and display posts, media, web pages, projects etc. in a full-width layout with multiple design options at hand. Before adding a blog, you have to install the Divi theme on your WordPress website. The system provides corresponding directions. As soon as it is activated, you are welcome to add a new page and reach the visual Builder settings to set up a blog from scratch.
Third-Party Integrations and Special Features
Showit doesn’t provide access to the app market and, thus, you won’t be able to integrate multiple extensions here. The fact that the software is WordPress-based, though, implies the opportunity of plugin integration. This means that you can select any integrations you need with regard to your portfolio project requirements.
Apart from plugin integration, Showit offers an extensive collection of custom images. This is an advantage, taking into consideration the fact that this is a solely portfolio-focused builder.
If needed, you can create your own image library by adding folders and uploading photos, media files and other elements there. Any of them can be further added to your portfolio website anytime.
Divi makes it possible to integrate over 200 modules to any project based on its type and parameters. Portfolio modules are available here as well. Thus, you can choose from the following extensions: images, CTA, sliders, texts, blog, testimonials, videos, online forms and many more. If needed, you can adjust the parameters (color, size, spacing) of each module chosen and apply them to all website pages.
The builder comes with an integrated split testing feature, which allows testing your project versions to identify its strong and weak points for further performance improvement.
Apart from quality design customization and powerful functionality, the system also pays special attention to website promotion. It allows choosing from multiple marketing tools, building marketing lists, promoting projects on social media to increase conversion rates and ensure sufficient traffic growth.
One of the notable Divi issues is that the builder requires domain name/hosting choice and connection as it does not include this option by default. The best solution here is to opt for HostGator. The company offers an extensive set of features for quality website hosting. The cost of the cheapest plan constitutes $2.75/mo. This is the best bet you may currently encounter on the web.
Template Selection and Customization
Showit boasts quite an extensive collection of templates for photography/portfolio website creation. You can select and customize each theme as you need or design a brand new one from scratch. No coding is required to do that, which makes the software a worthy solution for all user categories.
Not all Showit designs are free. There are actually only several templates available at no cost here. Premium themes are more versatile. Their cost ranges between $137 and $927, which depends on special parameters, degree of customization required and integrated functionality.
A nice feature is that templates are mobile-ready to be compatible with all types of devices. Developed by third-party pros, they are divided into several categories. This division depends on specific portfolio focus.
If you are not sure about the template choice, the system allows using its preview feature to see the details and the way it is displayed on different screen types. At the same time, you won’t find too many design customization tools here except for color palette choice, style/font selection and some other baseline parameters.
Divi offers more creative freedom, when it comes to template choice and customization. There is an opportunity to choose from over 2000 pre-designed themes and over 200 ready-made website packs here. You can apply various effects, adjust brightness/capacity/contrast options, set background filters and images etc.
Along with portfolio themes, Divi has other categories as this is a multifaceted platform. It grants access to lots of various effects that can notably contribute to your project performance. They mainly tackle motion, sticky, hover, parallax effects as well as text formatting options, element positioning, masks and patterns. As you see, design customization options are quite extensive and impressive here.
As far as Divi targets all user categories, it grants access to custom CSS controls. If you expect to add flexibility and advanced functionality to your project, it is possible to create and add your own CSS styles and attributes here. Just get ready to invest more effort and time in your website creation and customization.
Website Editor
Showit features a convenient and intuitive drag-and-drop editor that ensures a simple website creation/customization process. Some users (especially first-timers) frequently find the editor and the dashboard a bit confusing because of the layout display specifications.
The thing is that the software offers desktop and mobile screens at a time, but it’s up to you to select the dimensions you would like to edit. The changes, however, are automatically applied to all screen versions at a time. This eliminates the need to switch between them, although, the desktop mode has a smaller screen. As a result, it is more complicated to make edits here.
To reach editor tools, you need to access the left sidebar. This is where you will find the list of website pages and elements to be edited for free. You can pick a block from the list or scroll the page to find it there. Afterwards, you may start customizing the selected blocks.
Divi also follows the drag-and-drop approach, when it comes to the website editing process. To form your web page layout, you can select, add, modify, rearrange and delete elements on the front end. No programming skills and complicated backend options are required here.
The editor makes it possible to design website pages in real time and view the result in process. The websites can be viewed on all types of devices due to their responsive layouts and intuitive visual control options.
Due to inline text editing, a user can control the process of template customization on all the stages.
Both website builders ensure intuitive drag-and-drop project editing. This is convenient for all user categories. It takes some time, though, to master the Showit editor, while Divi offers a more smooth and hassle-free approach.
Showit vs Divi: General Pricing Comparison
Showit has a free trial that extends for 14 days, letting the system subscribers test and explore the software functionality. Upon the end of the trial period, users are allowed to upgrade to one of premium plans. Here they go:
- Showit ($19/mo) – regular design backups (every 10 minutes stored for 7 days), no blogging option, secure certificate, web hosting with 20GB of media storage space, Showit website builder;
- Showit + Basic Blog ($24/mo) – opportunity to design your own WP theme in the editor, up to 10K blog visits/mo, possibility to start a new blog or transfer up to 50 posts from the blog hosted with WordPress or Squarespace, daily blog backups (stored for 30 days), pre-installed plugins, WP hosting powered by WP Engine included;
- Showit + Advanced Blog ($34/mo) – custom WP plugins installation, SEO support from Showit experts, FTP and database access, opportunity to migrate a blog with over 50 posts, up to 25K blog visits/mo, free advanced blog migration.
For users planning to set up full-featured blogs with a powerful integrated toolset, there are two extra subscriptions here – Showit+Advanced blog 50K and Showit+Advanced blog 100K. Their cost is $64 per month (50k + users) and $124 per month (100k + users) relatively.
Divi pricing policy differs from that offered by Showit. There are 2 types of plans here only, offering yearly and lifetime access, namely:
- Yearly Access ($89 per year) – availability of Divi, Extra, Bloom & Monarch, product updates, premium support, risk-free guarantee, hundreds of ready-made website packs, unlimited website usage etc.;
- Lifetime Access ($249) – the same features, but there is a one-time payment here that allows getting all unlimited options for good.
Additionally, Divi requires hosting and domain connection. Hostgator is the best solution in this respect. The cost of plans starts at $2.75 per month here.
Showit vs Divi: Which One Is the Best for SEO?
Showit allows creating SEO-optimized websites, letting users choose from two options. The first one implies manual filling out of project SEO settings, while the second one makes it possible to upgrade to the advanced subscription that comes with professional SEO support. Additionally, users can choose and integrate WP plugins for Search Engine Optimization, such as Yoast SEO, SEOPress and more.
Divi offers a broad range of features that make it possible to optimize projects for the search engines. The major of them include an opportunity of title/meta description customization, add header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.), image and website speed optimization as well as schema markup. The latter is the type of code helping search engine bots understand the content of website pages better.
Which One Is the Best for Portfolio Website – Showit or Divi?
Showit has distinguished itself as a specialized portfolio website builder. This obviously speaks for itself. The software grants access to a broad choice of portfolio-related features, tools, templates along with WP support, opportunity of photo downloading and library of custom images. One of the disadvantages is unavailability of built-in eCommerce and blogging engines. However, it is possible to integrate WP plugins to connect these features, if required.
Divi does not focus on portfolio creation only as this is initially a universal builder. The software allows running various types of projects along with photography/portfolio websites. It allows choosing multiple modules and pre-designed layouts to give your project a professional and full-featured look. Customization options differ as well granting creative freedom. Mind that you will have to take care of domain and hosting choice here. So, get ready to encounter specific challenges here.
Key Differences Between Showit and Divi
| Showit | Divi | |
| Ease of Use: | Showit is an easy-to-use portfolio website builder. It is used exclusively for portfolio/photography website development, providing a broad range of features for this purpose. The platform comes with an intuitive interface and simple dashboard with all the tools available in stock. | Divi is a WP-based theme and builder, which comes with intuitive visual editing options. It works well for beginners and web design pros and it does not require any coding skills to get started. |
| Functionality: | The software has a strong photography/portfolio focus. It provides distinctive image editing solutions, enhanced website security, WP engine support and other related advantages. | The system makes it possible to create various types of projects, including portfolios/photography websites. It offers multiple integrable modules, marketing tools, split testing feature and design customization options out-of-the-box. Connection of domain name/hosting is a must here. |
| Design: | Showit has a collection of free and premium themes developed by third-party experts. It does not boast versatile and abundant customization features, but the available tools are enough to set up and run a standard portfolio website. | Divi has over 2000 pre-designed themes and more than 200 ready-made website packs. Design customization tools are versatile here as well. The system also offers custom CSS coding controls for web design pros, layout management and intuitive drag-and-drop website editor. |
| eCommerce: | The website builder doesn’t include an eCommerce engine. Starting a web store from scratch is impossible here. However, you can integrate WP eCommerce plugins to start selling online. | With Divi, you won’t be able to set up an online store from scratch just because it does not include an eCommerce platform by default. The problem may be solved by integrating an eCommerce module available in stock here. |
| Blogging: | Showit doesn’t have an integrated blogging engine yet it makes it possible to use WP plugins for blog development. | Divi lacks a blog creation feature out-of-the-box, but you can choose and connect one of its blog modules to run this project type, if required. |
| Small Business: | Showit lets its subscribers start small business websites for entrepreneurs and creatives, looking for quality portfolio presentation. | The platform can be used for business website creation. Likewise, you can run a portfolio website that has a business focus. This depends on the project type you actually need. |
| Pricing: | The website builder has a 14-day free trial and three premium plans. Their cost starts at $19/mo. There are also 2 advanced subscriptions for high traffic blog creation here. | Divi doesn’t have monthly subscriptions, offering annual and lifetime packages instead. The cost starts at $89 per year. Additional expenses encounter domain name and hosting choice. |
| SEO: | Showit has integrated SEO tools. Additionally, it lets you connect WordPress SEO plugins for more effective project optimization. | Divi is a SEO-friendly builder. It lets users independently fill out parameters for search engine promotion and control the result. |
| Customer Support: | Help Center, tutorials, YouTube channel, Live Chat, video guides, integrated prompts. | Multifaceted customer support, online community, Live Chat, email, Facebook group, tutorials, FAQs, tech support. |
Comparison Conclusion: Which One Is Better?
Showit and Divi both offer a range of features to help users create professional-looking websites without coding awareness. The systems, however, have diverse initial focus yet both of them are powered by WordPress.
Showit – is a specialized portfolio website builder. It has a convenient drag-and-drop editor, user-friendly interface, multiple templates developed by third-party experts and affordable monthly pricing. Blogging and eCommerce options are realized via external plugin integration here.
Divi – is a high end Theme and Builder, which offers hundreds of ready-made themes and pre-designed website packages. The software includes dozens of integrable modules to choose from, depending on your website specialization. Unlike Showit with its monthly pricing, Divi offers fixed pricing packages – yearly and lifetime.
If you are a creative professional looking for a visually stunning website, Showit may be a smart solution for you. However, if you need a website with more advanced features and customization options, Divi may be a better option.
