Drupal offers two powerful tools for building custom page layouts: Layout Builder and Paragraphs. Both are popular and widely used, but choosing the right one depends on your website’s needs, content structure, and editing workflow. In 2025, Drupal has improved both systems, making the decision even more important.
This article explains the differences, strengths, weaknesses, and when you should use each.
What Is Drupal Paragraphs?
Paragraphs is a module that allows you to create reusable, structured content components.
Instead of using only the body field, you can create "paragraph types" such as:
Image with text
Hero banner
FAQ element
Two-column section
Sliders
Call-to-action blocks
These components give editors a flexible, controlled way of adding content.
Benefits of Paragraphs
✔ Highly structured and consistent
✔ Easy to reuse components
✔ Works great for long-form content
✔ Stable, widely adopted module
✔ Strong control over design using fields
Limitations of Paragraphs
✖ Can become too nested and complex
✖ Harder to create visually rich layouts
✖ Requires more editorial training
✖ Not ideal for drag-and-drop page building
What Is Drupal Layout Builder?
Layout Builder is a core Drupal feature that allows editors to visually build pages using a drag-and-drop interface.
You can create:
Multi-column layouts
Custom sections
Landing pages
Visual marketing pages
Dynamic blocks
It lets editors design pages without code while maintaining site-wide style guidelines.
Benefits of Layout Builder
✔ Drag-and-drop visual editing
✔ Perfect for landing pages
✔ Core-supported (no external module risk)
✔ Quickly build unique or one-off pages
✔ Works well with blocks and custom components
Limitations of Layout Builder
✖ Harder to maintain strict content structure
✖ Can lead to inconsistent layouts if not controlled
✖ Requires a strong design system for best results
✖ Not ideal for very content-heavy pages
Layout Builder vs Paragraphs: Feature Comparison (2025)
| Feature | Layout Builder | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Drag & Drop | ✔ Yes | ✖ No |
| Structured Content | Moderate | Very Strong |
| Best For | Landing pages, marketing | Articles, product details |
| Reusability | Medium | Very High |
| Design Flexibility | Very High | Medium |
| Requires Training | Low | Medium to High |
| Core Support | ✔ Yes (Drupal Core) | ✖ Contrib Module |
When Should You Use Paragraphs?
Use Paragraphs if your site prioritizes:
Consistent content structure
Editorial workflows
Reusable components
Strict design guidelines
Long-form structured content (blogs, services, product pages)
Examples:
🟢 News sites
🟢 Government websites
🟢 University portals
🟢 Product catalogs
When Should You Use Layout Builder?
Use Layout Builder if you need:
Visual page building
Custom landing pages
Flexible layouts for marketing
Block-based content
Unique pages without developer help
Examples:
🟢 Digital marketing sites
🟢 Corporate landing pages
🟢 Campaign pages
🟢 Event pages
Should You Combine Both in 2025?
Yes — many sites use both Layout Builder + Paragraphs.
Example combo:
Use Paragraphs for structured content sections.
Use Layout Builder for layout-level control (columns, section placement).
This gives editors the best of both worlds.
Conclusion
In 2025, both Paragraphs and Layout Builder are powerful and stable options.
Choose Paragraphs for structured, repeatable content.
Choose Layout Builder for flexible, visual page design.
Your decision should be based on your content workflow, design system, and how much control you want editors to have.