No. But that answer deserves a proper explanation, because the question itself reveals a common misunderstanding about what "flexibility" actually means for the people using your website day-to-day.
The real question isn't whether a tool can do more things. It's whether the people who need to use it every day can do the right things, quickly and confidently.
The page builder landscape in 2025
The WordPress page builder market is more crowded than ever. Elementor powers millions of sites. Divi, WPBakery, and Oxygen still have loyal followings. And WordPress's own block editor, Gutenberg, has matured significantly since its rocky launch with full site editing, block patterns, and a growing ecosystem of block plugins.
Page builder advocates will tell you these tools are more flexible, cheaper, and faster. And on the surface, they're right. An experienced developer using Elementor can spin up a full website quickly. Gutenberg's block patterns let you assemble pages from pre-built layouts.
But here's the question nobody asks: flexible for whom?
The problem with unlimited flexibility
Unlimited flexibility sounds like a feature. In practice, it's a burden.
When every page is a blank canvas, your marketing team becomes responsible for design decisions they shouldn't have to make. Font sizes, spacing, column widths, colour choices, mobile layouts. Every single page becomes a design project.
The result? Inconsistent pages. Brand guidelines that drift over time. Hours spent fiddling with layouts instead of writing content. And inevitably, the dreaded "can you just fix this page? It looks wrong on mobile."
Page builders give you the power to do anything. That's exactly the problem. Your marketing team doesn't need the power to do anything. They need the power to do the right thing, quickly and consistently.
Even Gutenberg requires designers
WordPress's native block editor has come a long way. But even with Gutenberg's improvements, every page still presents your editors with design decisions.
Block spacing. Typography options. Layout choices. Width settings. Colour palettes. Gutenberg gives editors enough rope to create something that doesn't match the rest of the site, and no guardrails to prevent it.
For a developer or designer, this is fine. For a marketing manager who needs to publish a campaign page before Friday? It's a slow, frustrating experience that pulls them away from what they're actually good at: writing compelling content and driving results.
My approach: ACF blocks
I build custom WordPress themes using Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) with a block-based approach. But unlike page builders, these aren't generic drag-and-drop components with unlimited options.
Each block is purpose-built. Professionally designed. Tested across devices. And locked down to the decisions that matter: the content.
Think of it like Lego for your website. Each piece is designed to fit together perfectly. Your team picks the blocks they need, fills in the content, and the page looks exactly right. Every time.
Here's what your content editors actually see when they use my ACF blocks:
Simple form fields: Text inputs, image uploaders, and dropdown selects. No visual canvas, no nested containers.
No design decisions: Colours, fonts, spacing, and layout are all handled by the block. The editor focuses entirely on content.
A live preview: Editors see exactly what the page will look like as they work, without needing to understand how it's built.
Clear labels and guidance: Every field has a purpose. There's no guesswork about what goes where or what each option does.
Compare that to a page builder where your editor faces a visual canvas with dozens of styling options, responsive breakpoints, and layout decisions on every single section.
What this means for your team
When I build a WordPress site with ACF blocks, your marketing team gets:
Speed: New pages built in minutes, not hours. Pick your blocks, enter your content, publish.
Consistency: Every page looks professionally designed because the design is baked into the blocks. No accidental brand drift.
Confidence: Editors know they can't break anything. There are no wrong combinations or layout mistakes to make.
Independence: Your team doesn't need a developer or designer to create new pages. The blocks handle the complexity.
Scalability: As your marketing evolves, new block types can be added. I build them once and your entire team can use them across the site.
The admin experience is what you're paying for
Anyone can install Elementor. Anyone can activate a pre-built theme. The barrier to entry for page builders is essentially zero.
So when you hire a WordPress developer, what are you actually paying for?
You're paying for someone who thinks about the editing experience. Someone who designs the admin side of your website with the same care as the front end. Someone who understands that a website isn't just what your customers see. It's a tool your team uses every single day.
The difference between a site built with a page builder and a site built with custom ACF blocks isn't always visible to your visitors. It's felt by your team. It's the difference between dreading content updates and actually enjoying them.
When to choose custom blocks over a page builder
Custom ACF blocks are the right choice when:
Your marketing team needs to create and update pages without developer support
Brand consistency across every page is non-negotiable
You want to scale content production without scaling your design team
Page performance matters (custom blocks mean no page builder bloat)
You're tired of pages that look different depending on who built them
You value a clean, simple editing experience over unlimited visual options
Page builders still have their place, for personal projects, prototypes, or situations where a developer is the only person who'll ever edit the site. But for businesses with marketing teams who need to move fast and stay on-brand, custom blocks are the professional choice.
About Fraser Clark
I've been a professional developer for over 15 years, consulting and developing websites & software for small businesses, multi-nationals & governments.
I'm an expert in WordPress, Drupal, Laravel & a whole host of other platforms.