Prior to Etch, all page builders in WordPress were designed according to one fundamental belief: people who want to use page builders for web development lack foundational web design knowledge and skill.
Thus, all popular page builders are designed for laypeople. They dumb things down, use cute names for things, and introduce proprietary workflows that attempt to make things easy for people who don’t know what they’re doing.
Even page building interfaces like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify have gone this route. They all push the same lie that “anyone can build a website” and we’ve all suffered for it.
While these tools succeed at their primary goal – making things [initially] easier for laypeople – they fail in all the important ways.
Sites built with these tools are notorious for severe code bloat, accessibility issues, poor performance, and other deal-breaking technical limitations.
Not only that, but the sites aren’t scalable or maintainable in any way, shape, or form because these page builders actively encourage bad practices. ID styling, raw values, magic numbers, an overuse of breakpoints, nonexistent looping, and inappropriate layout models are all common place.
These aren’t minor issues by any stretch. For anyone who cares about doing professional work, they’re deal-breakers.
In fact, people who know the language of web design find it almost impossible to use these builders in the first place. When a tool ignores and actively discourages fundamentals, it creates an intensely frustrating experience for competent users.
Thankfully, this era of page building is over and the “anyone off the street can build a website if you just make it simple enough” theory has been put to rest.
This is why true professionals are flocking to the next era of page builders, which is being ushered in by Etch.
But is Etch only for professionals and people with lots of experience? Would a beginner be able to use it?
That’s an easy question, actually.
Etch is designed for anyone…
…who knows, or wants to know, the language of web design.
Where page builders of the previous era tried to appeal to anyone and everyone, Etch appeals to anyone and everyone who is interested in doing actual web design work, in alignment with fundamentals and best practices.
See the difference?
Rather than molesting every process and workflow in order to tailor it to people who don’t know what they’re doing, we’re inviting beginners to learn and grow real skills with Etch.
This is true empowerment, by the way. You can spend five years in a beginner-oriented page builder and never become a professional in web design. All you’ll be, after all that time and frustration, is an advanced user of a proprietary tool.
On the other hand, learning in a tool like Etch is truly empowering. It’s way easier than writing code in an IDE, but it doesn’t abandon fundamentals and best practices. And the code it writes for you is as clean and professional as if an experienced developer wrote it by hand.
Beginners that seek to become professionals should learn and grow within a tool like Etch, without question.
What about intermediate and pro users?
The decision to use Etch is a no-brainer for intermediate and pro users!
If you speak the language of web design, you’ll feel right at home in Etch. That’s the beauty of it. Other than familiarizing yourself with the interface, the learning curve will be nonexistent because you speak the language that the tool speaks.
It’s like flying from the UK to the US. The accents are different, but there’s no learning curve with the actual language.
And since Etch is built for professionals, it has all the features and workflows that professionals expect and need. Even “advanced” builders like Bricks and Oxygen still try to live in some “beginner-friendly” middle-ground which puts a relatively low ceiling on innovation.
These tools are still “Era 3” tools that are going to get left behind in short order. Anyone who has witnessed the way Etch is already innovating the web design space should understand this.
Does Etch force you to write code?
No. You can do everything with Etch’s UI.
Or, you can write code.
Or, you can do a little of both.
That’s a huge difference between Etch and page builders of the past. Etch assists you by writing [clean] code for you, but it never stops you from digging into the code if that’s what you prefer.
So who is Etch not for, then?
People who just want a one-off website with no regard for working within the industry of web design in the future will find Etch “difficult” and “frustrating.”
Why? Because Etch demands an understanding of fundamentals, which come with a learning curve for users that don’t already possess the requisite knowledge. And since this type of user doesn’t care to acquire said knowledge, they won’t have any patience for Etch.
By the way, what I’ve just described is the typical Wix or Squarespace customer. These platforms are a better fit for people who “just need a website” and don’t care to hire someone, don’t care all that much about the end result, and aren’t really building anything of consequence.
Wrap-up
Are you a professional or aspiring professional? Etch is for you.
Are you a beginner who wants to learn the right way and build with a respectable tool that will never limit you? Etch is for you.
Are you a serious hobbyist who is inspired by actual craftsmanship and standards in the work that you do? Etch is for you.
Are you interested only in the end result of having a website with as little friction and mental-stimulation as possible? Etch is not for you.
Simple as that.