Divi 5, When to Move from Divi 4 to 5, My Divi Content Plans & More
- My honest thoughts on Divi 5 (pros and cons)
- Where Divi is in the website builder market
- When to migrate from Divi 4 to Divi 5
- My agency’s D4 → D5 migration SOP
- My future plans for Divi content
- Bonus: My Recommended Divi 5 Resources
Quick note: I’ll be referencing Divi 4 as D4 and Divi 5 as D5. Alright, let’s get on in!
1) My honest thoughts on Divi 5
I’ve been very public about the fact that I started using Divi 5 live on webdesignerpro.com waaaayyy before I would recommend doing so. In fact, I started using D5 in August of 2024…right after it dropped, in alpha phase. I only did so because that site is super low on features, functionality and has only a few additional plugins. So I’ve seen the entire progression and innovations firsthand. Though, to be honest,I haven’t even scratched the surface of all the new features.
- Pros – Divi 5 is not a fresh coat of paint; it’s a complete rebuild of the theme. They went down to the foundation and rebuilt things from the studs and concrete up. It is fast, snappy and sleek. I showed this off practically in my WordPress site speed video and shoot, not to brag, ah who am I kiddng, I was thrilled to see Elegant Themes feature my testimonial snippet as their first review on the official Divi 5 sales page! Can you say SEO WIN?!? And while all that is true, there are some downsides…
- Cons – Divi 5 is a little, ok a lotta overwhelming. Because of the new feature-rich options, variables, presets, flex, clamp, loops, etc…it brings multiple layers of new stuff to learn. Now, I think this is a good thing long-term, because it’s now a modern day builder, with similar and scalable features as other up-and-coming WordPress themes, builders (think Bricks, Etch, etc) and other web platforms (like Webflow, Framer, etc) but there is a steep learning curve and boy howdy there’s something that it’s NOT…
2) Where Divi is in the website builder market
Divi 5 is NOT a DIY builder. It’s a complete shift from where it was in the market when I started using it in 2014. Back then (in my day), Divi was the FIRST designer-friendly website drag and drop builder. Yes, even before Elementor came onto the scene. It was also perceived as “the best DIY tool for WordPress,” though I don’t think that’s what the team at Elegant Themes was going for. But much like other builders and themes in WordPress, it’s now positioned for professionals. My hunch is that most DIY websites are moving very quickly to hosting or platform AI builders (like Circle’s website builder and SiteGround’s builder.) For a DIYer today, I can’t imagine how they’d find out where to get started. They’re certainly not going to WordPress, Webflow, WixStudio or Framer.This is the big shift we’re seeing…the WordPress page builder ecosystem is doubling down on tools for web professionals. That said, you can strip down Divi 5 with their user and team settings and even limit what’s available to certain access points for clients, if you want to hide the theme builder and main theme settings for example. So there are options to “make it more DIY”…but out of the box, it’s now positioned for web pros.
3) When to migrate from Divi 4 to Divi 5
First, the good news: Elegant Themes announced they plan to support Divi 4 “at least through February 2027, likely longer” so there’s no immediate rush to upgrade to Divi 5. Plus, while the foundation of D5 is live, there are still many desired updates to the modules that I feel confident Elegant Themes will innovate on over the coming months. While I use D5 on webdesignerpro.com, I’m still using D4 on joshhall.co because it’s a much more complex site with tons of custom WooCommerce features and additional functionality behind the scenes. I’m in no rush to upgrade to D5 there yet. This was a hot topic post here in Pro recently, about how to plan for the migration to 5, especially for web designers who have clients getting into the Divi builder. So, when should you migrate? And what should the steps be?
4) My agency’s Divi 4 → Divi 5 migration SOP
Well hot dog, you’re in luck. Eric, the CEO of my agency In Transit Studios created a killer D4 to D5 migration SOP that he’s agreed to allow me to give to you, completely free! Download it here
5) My future plans for Divi content
Finally, I’ve been getting tons of questions about my plans for Divi content after the D5 release, especially given that I still have a top ranked YouTube Divi tutorial playlist channel and my page #1-ranked Divi 4 Beginner Course. But here’s the thing…since founding Web Designer Pro and becoming a true web design business coach, I’ve come to the realization that I’m not the “Yoda of Divi” like I was back in 2019. I use Divi, I still love Divi (yes, even D5) but I’m not the “expert” on Divi, all it’s features and CSS like I was. I’m coaching members in Pro – a web builder agnostic community – with a focus much more on the business side of web design now. And I’m helping members navigate six and multi-six figure web business challenges, which is where I’m most needed and want to go. So, here are my future Divi plans… I’m not closing down my Divi 4 Beginner Course, as it’s still 100% valid and if you know D4, you can pick up D5 way faster; but I don’t plan to go deep into Divi resources and content moving forward. As Divi 5 innovates and adds new modules and features, I will create a “Divi 5 Beginner Masterclass” style course that I plan to make free and available to ALL on my YouTube channel. But I won’t have Divi resources be a core part of the curriculum in Pro since it’s an agnostic community. So I’ll still share what I’m doing with Divi 5, how I’m using it, my flavor of building with it, etc but if you want to become a Divi 5 expert, I’m now referring to a couple colleagues who are much better suited to teach the advanced aspects of D5.
Divi 5 Courses I Recommend
- Tim Strifler (Divi Life)’s Divi 5 Expert Course – Tim of Divi Life (who now runs my old Divi Web Designers Facebook group) who just launched his Divi 5 Expert Course! That’s my #1 recommended resource for D5. One-Time Payment (50% Off Discount) 4 Month Payment Plan (50% Off Discount)
- Ania (Divi Lover)’s Divi Stylist Academy – Ania is one of the most talented web designers I know. Her expertise is UX, unique design, CSS, and building sites for scalable design principles, so if that’s your jam, she’s a GREAT person to learn from as well. Her course model is currently open/closed but you can Join the waitlist
Additional Divi resources
- My friends at Divi Chat (will it return?!?) had a great chat for the D5 launch. Well worth digging into!
- The official Divi 5 launch video
- Divi 5 theme features and release articles
So there we go! My thoughts on Divi, where it’s headed and where I’m headed on the education side of it. Again, I’m not completely bailing on Divi resources; I’m just not the expert in it anymore. So my Divi content will be a lesser part of my body of work moving forward but I’ll put the foundation D5 stuff out and make sure fellow Divi users are set up for success with the top folks in the Divi game.
TL;DR
- Divi 5 pros — super fast, snappy & modern interface for scalable building
- Divi 5 cons — steep learning curve, more complex & NOT a designer-first or DIY builder anymore
- Divi 4 will be supported through at least Feb 2027 so no rush to upgrade
- Download In Transit Studios’ Divi 4 → Divi 5 migration SOP
- I’m keeping my Divi 4 beginner course up for a while but NOT planning on releasing an in-depth Divi 5 course. I’m not “the Yoda of Divi” anymore but I will be creating a free Divi 5 beginner masterclass style course on my YouTube Channel (once D5 is a little further along)
- It’s worth watching the recent Divi Chat Divi 5 release episode
- If you’re ready to master Divi 5 now, I recommend Tim Strifler’s Divi 5 Expert Course (affiliate link + 50% OFF discount)
Any Divi 5 folks you’re following/want to shout out? Drop a comment and let me know below!
– Josh