What is Gutenberg in WordPress?

Gutenberg, or the Block Editor, replaced the Classic Editor as the default WordPress editor in WordPress 5.0, released December 6, 2018. Instead of the Classic Editor’s single WYSIWYG editing area, the Block Editor uses a “block” system: blocks are pre-built elements you can move around a page and customize using pre-set options.

If you’ve used website builder software before, the Block Editor will feel familiar. WordPress 5.0 shipped with blocks for paragraphs, headings, quotes, images, galleries, covers, columns, buttons, and embeds, and you can add more with plugins. The same block system also powers the Full-Site Editor, which extends blocks to headers, footers, and templates.

The Gutenberg release timeline

Gutenberg came out on December 6, 2018, when WordPress 5.0 made the block editor the default WordPress editor. Every WordPress version after 5.0 has included stable features from the Gutenberg plugin, so the editor keeps improving with each core release: full-site editing, for example, shipped with WordPress 5.9 in early 2022. If your site runs WordPress 5.0 or newer, you already have Gutenberg.

Gutenberg vs. the Classic Editor

The 2 editors handle layout differently:

• Classic Editor: one rich-text field. Anything beyond formatted text, like columns or buttons, meant shortcodes, custom HTML, or theme templates.
• Block Editor: every paragraph, image, and button is its own movable, individually styled block, with no shortcode workarounds.

Staying classic is mostly a plugin-compatibility decision now. WordPress’s developer documentation says the block editor supports most existing meta boxes (the custom panels plugins add to the edit screen), but plugins that extend the old Edit Post screen or otherwise depend on the previous editor still need the Classic Editor. If that might be you, test before committing: activate the Classic Editor plugin, allow users to switch editors, and open your most complex post in both to confirm every plugin panel appears and saves.

Is Gutenberg a plugin or part of WordPress?

Both. The block editor has shipped inside WordPress core since 5.0, so there’s nothing to install. The separate Gutenberg plugin is a beta channel where new features are tested before they merge into a core release. Skip it unless you like experimental software; stable features reach you through normal WordPress updates. Both are free and open source.

The four phases of the Gutenberg project

The block editor was only the first step. The WordPress roadmap describes Gutenberg as a long-term reimagining of how content is created and managed on the web, in 4 phases:

1. Easier editing: the block editor, the WordPress default since version 5.0.
2. Customization: block themes and full-site editing, which shipped with WordPress 5.9 in early 2022 and culminated in the WordPress 6.3 Site Editor.
3. Collaboration: real-time co-authoring and smoother publishing workflows. This phase is underway now, with WordPress 7.0 advancing it in 2026.
4. Multilingual: built-in support for multilingual sites, still ahead.

For a deeper look at where block editing is headed, see our post on the future of WordPress.

How to disable Gutenberg

Install the Classic Editor plugin, an official plugin maintained by the WordPress team. It restores the previous editor and the old Edit Post screen, lets administrators pick the default editor for every user, and is still actively updated: version 1.7.0 added a compatibility fix for WordPress 7.0. One hard limit: it doesn’t work with block themes, because block themes are built from blocks.

Gutenberg vs. page builders

Use Gutenberg by default: it ships with WordPress core, so there’s no extra plugin to maintain, and it generally creates less lock-in than a page-builder plugin. It isn’t lock-in-free, though. Switching themes can change how your blocks are presented, and removing a plugin that supplied custom blocks can leave unsupported block markup or missing features behind. Consider a third-party page builder when you need design control beyond what blocks and block patterns offer, and you’re willing to maintain the extra plugin. Still weighing platforms? Compare other website builders before you commit.