Gutenberg vs Classic Editor: Which Should You Use
Build new sites on Gutenberg. It is the default editor, it is where every new theme and plugin feature is going, and block-based content is what modern themes are designed to display. If you are starting from scratch, this is not really a choice any more.
Keep the Classic Editor if it suits how you already work. Nothing is forcing you off it. The Classic Editor plugin is an official WordPress plugin, it sits at version 1.7.0 with 8+ million active installations, it is tested against WordPress 7.0.4, and no end-of-support date has been announced. If your workflow is a text editor and a publish button, that workflow still works.
The rest of this page is the detail behind those two sentences: what the support commitment actually says, what Gutenberg does better, where page builders still beat it, and how to stay on the classic editor if that is your decision.
Is the Classic Editor going away?
No date has been set. The plugin’s own description in the WordPress.org plugin directory puts it like this:
Classic Editor is an official WordPress plugin, and will be fully supported and maintained until 2024, or as long as is necessary.
Read that sentence carefully, because its two halves do different work. The named year has already passed. The clause that governs now is the second one: or as long as is necessary. It is a commitment without a fixed end, and the plugin’s current state is consistent with it still being in force.
Here is what that state looks like:
| Version | Active installations | Tested up to | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.7.0 | 8+ million | WordPress 7.0.4 | WordPress 4.9 or higher |
Eight million installations and a recent release are not the profile of a plugin being wound down. What they are is a plugin whose future depends on continued demand rather than on a published schedule, and that distinction is worth holding on to. There is no countdown, but there is also no guarantee, so treat a move to blocks as something you schedule when it suits you rather than something a deadline does to you.
If a date is ever set, the WordPress project will announce it. That is the only place worth confirming it.
Which one should you use?
• New site, no legacy content: Gutenberg. Every modern theme, especially block themes, assumes it.
• You write long-form text and nothing else: either works. The classic editor is faster to type in if that is genuinely all you do.
• Thousands of existing posts built with classic shortcodes and custom fields: stay put for now. Converting content in bulk is where migrations go wrong, and there is no deadline forcing your hand.
• You want visual layout control over full pages: neither, on its own. A page builder is still the better tool, and the section below explains why.
• Your theme or plugins are built around blocks: Gutenberg, and the sooner the better. Fighting a block theme with the classic editor produces the worst of both.
Also read: what the Gutenberg editor does, block by block and our comparison of the best Gutenberg WordPress themes.
What Gutenberg genuinely does better
Complex content without code
The classic editor is a text box. Anything beyond text, a link and an image meant shortcodes, HTML or a plugin. Gutenberg replaces that with blocks you insert from a menu: headings, lists, tables, columns, buttons, galleries, embeds, quotes. Building a two-column section with a call to action in it takes about fifteen seconds and no markup.
Reusable and synced blocks
Assemble a block once, save it as a synced pattern, and reuse it across the site. Change it in one place and every instance updates. For a featured product panel, an author bio or a promotional box that appears on forty posts, this is the single biggest time saving in the block editor, and the classic editor has no equivalent.
Media and layout in the flow
Images, audio and video drop straight into the post where they belong, with alignment and sizing controls attached to the block rather than buried in a modal. Spacing and margins are block settings. It is a more direct way to work once the initial unfamiliarity wears off, and it means building a page with a custom layout no longer starts with editing HTML.
Fewer plugins for basic things
Tables, buttons, columns, accordions in some themes, and embeds all ship in core now. Every one of those used to be a plugin. Fewer plugins means less to update, less to break and less to audit.
Where page builders still win
Gutenberg is a content editor that has grown layout features. Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder are layout tools first. That difference still shows.
A page builder gives you finer control over typography, backgrounds, animations, shadows and spacing, lets you place elements at arbitrary positions, and shows you the result live as you work rather than after a preview. Gutenberg is closing the gap and block themes have narrowed it considerably, but for a landing page that has to convert, the builder is still the faster route to the layout in your head. Our comparison of the main WordPress page builders weighs them against each other properly.
If you want the most widely used of them, Elementor’s free version covers most layout work and the pro version adds theme building, popups and a form builder. Try Elementor (Affiliate link)
Two cautions worth carrying into that decision. First, lock-in: builder content is stored in the builder’s own format, so leaving one later means rebuilding pages. Divi 5 rebuilt its builder without shortcodes and changed how existing layouts are stored, which is why deciding whether to update a live site to Divi 5 is now a one-way migration rather than a routine update. Second, weight: a builder adds CSS and JavaScript to every page it touches, and Gutenberg does not.
How to keep the Classic Editor
Install the Classic Editor plugin from the WordPress plugin directory and it takes over immediately. In Settings, Writing you can choose the default editor for all users and decide whether individual users may switch between the two, which is the setting most people actually want: block editor for new pages, classic for the writers who prefer it.
There are other routes to the same result, including disabling the block editor for specific post types only. Our guide to disabling Gutenberg and keeping the classic editor covers each of them.
If you started with the classic editor because Gutenberg felt unfamiliar rather than unsuitable, it is worth a second look. Most of the complaints from the 5.0 launch, when the switch from the TinyMCE editor landed on people with no warning, have been addressed. The editor is far steadier than the one that caused the original outcry, and building pages in it is genuinely quicker once the block model clicks.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress dropping Classic Editor support?
No end-of-support date has been announced. The plugin’s listing in the WordPress.org plugin directory sets no deadline, and the WordPress news blog carries no announcement of one. If an end date is ever set, the WordPress project will publish it, and that is the only place worth confirming it.
What does the Classic Editor plugin page say about support?
It says, word for word: “Classic Editor is an official WordPress plugin, and will be fully supported and maintained until 2024, or as long as is necessary.” The year named in that sentence has already passed, so the clause that governs now is the open-ended one at the end. It is a commitment to keep maintaining the plugin for as long as it is needed, not a countdown to a switch-off.
Is the Classic Editor plugin still maintained?
Yes. Its listing shows version 1.7.0, 8+ million active installations, tested up to WordPress 7.0.4, and requiring WordPress 4.9 or higher. A plugin released that recently and tested against a current release is being looked after.
Should I still use the Classic Editor?
If it suits how you work and your site does not depend on block-based features, there is no deadline forcing you off it. The practical caution is a different one: newer themes and plugins are increasingly built around the block editor, so some features will assume it. Keep WordPress on supported releases and treat any move to blocks as a migration you schedule rather than one you are pushed into.
Can I use Gutenberg and the Classic Editor on the same site?
Yes. With the Classic Editor plugin installed, Settings, Writing lets you set a default editor and allow users to switch between the two per post. That is the usual arrangement on a site with several writers: blocks for new layouts, classic for the people who just want to type.
Do I need a page builder as well as Gutenberg?
Only if you need layout control Gutenberg does not give you, which in practice means landing pages and marketing pages with precise design requirements. For posts, articles and standard pages, the block editor plus a well-built theme is enough, and it is lighter than any builder.
The short answer, again
Gutenberg for anything new. The Classic Editor for as long as it suits you, with no deadline hanging over the decision and no reason to rush a migration you have not planned. And a page builder only when the layout genuinely demands one.
