I got into WordPress back in 2011, when things were a lot different. Themes ruled everything, and if you wanted something custom, you either hacked a theme file or installed yet another plugin.
When the first wave of page builders like WP Bakery, Divi, and later Elementor hit the scene, I was blown away with what I could do. But even early on, I had the sense that I was doing something wrong.
For years, I relied heavily on ThemeForest themes and plugins. Any time I wanted custom functionality or a specific design outcome, my solution was almost always the same: install a plugin or look for a new theme.
That decision has cost me more than once. I’ve had to rebuild large sections of sites after removing plugins that became unmaintained, incompatible, or simply unnecessary in hindsight.
Divi was the worst offender. Removing it left my site littered with shortcodes everywhere. I don’t want to think how many hours I spent fixing things. While the overall page builder ecosystem has improved since then, there’s much room for improvement, especially for the most popular page builders.
In late 2023, I decided to start over and relearn web design properly. That meant going back to fundamentals: HTML, CSS, layout, structure. I came across Kevin Geary’s Page Building 101 course (this is the old one, here’s the updated one with Etch), and it was a wake-up call.
I couldn’t believe how much I had skipped or hand-waved over the years. Basic concepts like divs, containers, and CSS—I had no idea how to use these, simply because WordPress themes and builders made it easy to ignore them.
That learning path naturally led me to BricksBuilder. Most of the instructional material I was consuming was built with Bricks, so I committed to it fully.
Over the past two years, I’ve used Bricks extensively for real client work. I know it well. The good and the bad. And that’s exactly why Etch caught my attention.
The Core Problem With Visual Builders (Including Bricks)
Visual builders promise speed and accessibility, but they come with a hidden cost: abstraction stacked on abstraction.
Bricks is easily the best visual builder I’ve used, especially for WordPress designers. But fundamentally, it still suffers from the same issue as other visual tools. Styles can live in far too many places.
If you’ve ever worked with wireframe libraries like Frames or Brixies, you’ve probably run into this exact problem:
Where is this style coming from?
- Is it in the visual style panel?
- Is it custom CSS on the element?
- Is it in the global stylesheet?
- Is it attached to an ID or an auto-generated selector?
Debugging becomes an investigative exercise. You’re not thinking about HTML and CSS anymore. You’re digging through UI panels.
This is where many of us unknowingly picked up bad habits. Visual builders encourage styling at the ID or element level because it’s convenient.
I remember myself hunting for elements in other pages and just copying them over to other templates, all styled at the ID level. Over time, this practice wasted so much of my time, and I had to learn the hard way.
What EtchWP Is (And What It Intentionally Is Not)
Etch is not trying to compete with Bricks, Oxygen, or other page builders. It’s playing a completely different game.
Etch is a code-first page builder designed for people who want to understand how the web actually works, without abandoning WordPress.
What Etch Is
- A builder that prioritizes clean, predictable HTML
- A tool that gives you full ownership of your CSS
- Minimal abstraction layered over real web fundamentals
- A learning accelerator disguised as a page builder
- A builder that is lightning fast and scaleable
The HTML output is exactly what you tell it to be. There are no phantom divs, no rogue IDs cluttering the source. Aside from a few necessary data attributes, the markup feels almost raw, in the best possible way.
What Etch Is Not
- Etch is not for business owners building their own sites with no web experience
- Etch is not beginner-friendly if you’re unwilling to learn HTML and CSS
- Etch is not a visual comfort blanket
- Etch is not for Elementor users (unless you actually want to learn proper web design)
If you ever find yourself on a client site that doesn’t use WordPress, if you have learned Etch and the core fundamentals of web design, you won’t have any issue with helping. You’ll be able to go in, make changes, and have a happy paying client. That won’t be the case if you’re a typical page-builder user.
The First 48 Hours Using Etch
It took me about a day to feel productive in Etch. That’s largely because I already have a decent background in HTML and CSS. If you’re coming in completely new to web design, I can see Etch being overwhelming, and potentially discouraging early on.
Someone brand new might be better served starting with a more visual builder just to build momentum. Etch demands engagement with the fundamentals right away. If you’re not interested in learning how CSS actually works, Etch will frustrate you.
But if you are willing to learn, the payoff comes quickly. Start with Page Building 101 with the free development copy of Etch.
Why Etch Feels So Good to Build With
Once things start to click, Etch feels incredible. Some highlights that impressed me:
- Automatic media query handling that actually makes sense
- Built-in CSS recipes (for example, generating grid-auto layouts in two keystrokes)
- The CMD + Enter magic bar for adding classes, IDs, and attributes instantly
- Total control over structure without fighting a visual UI
But not only that, the ability to disable the visual styling UI panel is something I didn’t realize I needed. It forces me to actually think about what CSS I need to write rather than clicking buttons.
And if I can’t think of a specific CSS property, the mini GUI above the CSS panel is right there. Clicking these icons actually puts code in the panel, so it’s not abstract to what you just clicked. You can physically see the code you added. The icons are also dynamic to the properties you add.
I spent two days working exclusively in Etch, then had to jump back into client work using Bricks. I immediately missed almost everything from Etch. That contrast alone told me a lot.
Etch vs Bricks vs Elementor (A Reality Check)
Elementor is a massive ship. It makes people money. It has an enormous ecosystem and a huge audience. (That was the way one YouTuber put it in a video I was watching last night.)
The issue though? He is teaching people how to build websites the wrong way. And certainly, there are many ways to crack an egg, but I can’t get behind someone teaching a thing, who has actually no idea how to do said thing.
In my opinion, Elementor is at the bottom. Bricks is a giant step up. And at the top of the pyramid sits Etch.
Admittedly, I haven’t used Elementor all that much recently; only on a few client sites who needed tweaks, so it’s possible their product is better now. Still, I think fundamentals are at the bottom of the list for users of these types of builders. And that’s something I really wish I knew sooner.
Bricks is the best visual builder for developers who still want a visual workflow with a bit of logical CSS functionality. It’s powerful, flexible, and capable of producing excellent results.
Etch optimizes for proper web development inside of WordPress, something that is a big mountain to climb given the platform itself. It assumes you want to learn real web design, not just adjust sliders inside a UI.
That makes it a smaller ship for now, but also a far more exciting one for the right audience.
Auto Block Authoring
One of the biggest features touted by Etch is the Auto Block Authoring feature. This essentially makes the experience between the builder and the block editor seamless.
I haven’t played around with this too much, since I’m still in the design phase and learning the builder, but I can see this being big feature for clients who want to make changes to their sites without needing to ever enter the Etch builder. (Big plus for developers too who frequently have clients who break their sites when thinking they can make a change to something themselves).
Early Bugs and Rough Edges
Etch is still early-stage software, and it shows in places. I’ve run into a few bugs, particularly around undo and redo functionality.
That said, updates are coming quickly, and there was an update released just today that I’m looking forward to testing.
The rapid pace of development is encouraging. These feel like solvable problems, not structural flaws.
Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use EtchWP
Etch Is For
- Developers migrating off visual builders
- People tired of scattered styling and abstraction
- Anyone who wants to genuinely advance their web design skills
- WordPress users who care about clean markup and CSS ownership
Etch Is Not For
- Business owners who want to make their own websites with no experience
- Beginners unwilling to learn basic HTML and CSS
- People who buy themes from ThemeForest
- Anyone who just wants things to “look right” without understanding why
Final Thoughts
I’m not switching everything to Etch yet. Bricks still powers my client sites, and that’s not changing overnight.
But Etch has already changed how I think about building websites.
When Etch reaches 1.0, and when my own skills continue to grow, I don’t see myself going back. Support us and use our link if you’re considering using Etch.