If you have spent any time building websites with WordPress, you have almost certainly crossed paths with Divi. Honestly, it is consistently ranked as one of the most popular WordPress themes in the world. People love it because the drag-and-drop Visual Builder lets you design pages without having to stare at a screen full of code.
You know what? For the past year, there has been a massive buzz in the community about a completely rewritten version.
Well, the wait is over. Divi 5 officially launched on February 26, 2026.
If you are not a hardcore developer, big software updates can feel a little intimidating. Are your pages going to break? Do you need to learn a whole new system? Let me explain exactly what this update means for everyday WordPress users, what actually changed, and how you can handle it without any stress.
What Exactly is Divi 5?
For years, Divi has been adding feature after feature. That is great for building complex sites, but over a decade, all that code piled up. Sometimes, especially on larger pages, the Divi 4 builder could feel a bit sluggish.
Divi 5 is a complete, top-to-bottom rebuild of the foundation. Elegant Themes basically cleared out ten years of technical baggage to create something much leaner.
Here is the thing: the interface will still look familiar to you. You are not losing the tools you rely on. But under the hood, it is an entirely different beast. The biggest change you will actually notice is speed. The new Visual Builder snaps into place instantly, and making edits feels incredibly smooth and responsive. It is a breath of fresh air for anyone who felt the old builder was dragging its feet.
The Best News: You Do Not Have to Upgrade Today
When a massive update drops, the immediate instinct is to click the update button before you fall behind. Please, hold that thought.
You actually do not need to upgrade to Divi 5 right now.
Elegant Themes has confirmed they will continue supporting Divi 4 for at least the next 12 months—and potentially much longer if the community needs it. They are still rolling out security patches and ensuring Divi 4 works with new WordPress versions.
If your website is running perfectly fine today, you are completely safe leaving it exactly as it is while the dust settles. There is no fire drill here.
How to Safely Upgrade to Divi 5 (When You Are Ready)
When you do decide to make the jump, the process is built to be gradual. You do not just hit a button and hope for the best.
If you have a staging site (a private copy of your website used for testing), always try this process there first. At the bare minimum, make sure you have a full backup of your live site.
Once you are backed up, here is the safe path forward:
- Opt-In to the Update: In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Divi > Dashboard. You will find an option to Enable Divi 5 Updates. Turn that on, and the new version will appear in your standard WordPress updates screen.
- Backward Compatibility Mode: Right after updating, your site does not instantly convert. Divi 5 uses a clever feature called Backward Compatibility Mode. This allows your existing Divi 4 modules to keep functioning normally on the front end so your visitors don’t see a broken site.
- Run the Migrator: When you are ready to officially switch your layouts over, go to Divi > Divi 5 Migrator. This tool scans your website and provides a report. Usually, migrating the actual content is a simple one-click process that finishes in less than a minute.
- Check Your Work: Click around your site. If you had custom CSS snippets written specifically for old Divi 4 modules, you might need to tweak them slightly. If things look terribly wrong, the migrator includes a feature to restore your legacy Divi 4 content.
A Quick Warning About Third-Party Plugins
Do you use extra add-on plugins for Divi? I am talking about things like custom slider modules, mega menu creators, or third-party layout packs.
Because Divi 5 is a complete architectural rebuild, some of those third-party tools will temporarily break if their developers haven’t updated them yet. The Divi 5 Migrator will actually warn you if it spots an incompatible plugin.
If your website relies heavily on external Divi add-ons, I highly recommend waiting a few months before migrating. Let those smaller developers catch up first.
Final Takeaway
The launch of Divi 5 is a massive milestone that sets the stage for a much faster, more reliable WordPress experience.
If you are starting a brand new project today, building it fresh on Divi 5 is a no-brainer. However, if you are managing an existing, complex website—especially one with a WooCommerce store or lots of plugins—take your time. Test it on a staging environment first. The safety net of Divi 4 support means you can transition completely on your own schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions About Divi 5
Is the update to Divi 5 free?
Yes. If you have an active Elegant Themes license (either yearly or lifetime), Divi 5 is included at no extra cost. You just need to enable the update from your WordPress dashboard.
Will migrating to Divi 5 break my current website?
It is designed not to. Because of the built-in Backward Compatibility Mode, your old modules will continue to work while you transition. However, any major software update carries a small risk, especially if you use third-party plugins or complex custom code. Always take a full backup before starting the migrator.
What happens to my old Divi 4 layouts?
When you run the Divi 5 Migrator, it automatically translates your old Divi 4 layouts into the new Divi 5 format. It also saves a backup of the old versions in the database, just in case you need to revert a specific page.
Is the Classic Builder still available in Divi 5?
Divi 5 is heavily focused on the modern Visual Builder experience on the front end. The old backend Classic Builder (the wireframe view inside the standard WordPress post editor) is being phased out as the underlying technology moves forward.