You can build a working, styled navigation menu in Elementor without buying Pro. Elementor’s own menu widget is Pro-only, but the free Master Addons Nav Menu widget pulls any WordPress menu into the editor, styles it from the panel, and collapses to a hamburger toggle on small screens.
Below: why core Elementor leaves the gap, the three ways to fill it, the build itself, and where free stops. That last part matters more than usual, because one popular mobile mode is not free and most guides say otherwise.
Why Elementor free has no menu widget
Elementor’s free plugin ships dozens of layout and content widgets and no way to place a WordPress navigation menu in a page or template. The widget that does it, originally called Nav Menu and now the WordPress Menu widget, is Pro only. Elementor’s own documentation confirms it.
You can still build the menu itself under Appearance > Menus. WordPress registers it fine. The gap is on the design side: core Elementor has nothing to drop that menu into, so you are stuck with wherever your theme decides to print it.
On a simple site with a menu-ready theme, that may be enough. The moment you want a custom header, a sticky bar, a hamburger toggle you control, or a mega menu, free Elementor alone cannot get there.
The naming has shifted over the years, which adds confusion. Old tutorials say Nav Menu, newer ones say WordPress Menu. The licence never changed. It has always needed Pro.
Three ways to add a nav menu without Pro
Three real options, each trading off differently on styling and mobile behaviour.
| Method | Cost | Editor styling | Mobile | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme menu location | Free | None, the theme controls it | Depends on the theme | Simple sites on a menu-ready theme |
| Master Addons Nav Menu widget | Free | Full, from the panel | Hamburger toggle at your breakpoint | A custom header without Pro |
| Master Addons Mega Menu | Free | Full | Collapses to a toggle | Multi-column panels, large navigation |
| Elementor Pro Menu widget | Paid licence | Full | Includes off-canvas | Sites already on Elementor Pro |
Theme menu location. Every theme registers at least one menu area. Assign your menu and it works with zero plugins. You get no control over its look from Elementor, and mobile behaviour is whatever the theme author built. If your theme’s menu already looks right and collapses cleanly, there is genuinely no reason to add a widget on top.
Master Addons Nav Menu widget. The Elementor-native option without a Pro licence. Drop the Nav Menu widget into any template, point it at a menu from Appearance > Menus, and style colours, spacing, submenus and the mobile toggle from the panel.
Master Addons Mega Menu. For sites with a lot of categories, the Mega Menu extension builds multi-column panels and is also free. It is a separate tool with its own walkthrough: how to build a mega menu in Elementor without Pro.
Elementor Pro. If you already own it, its Menu widget and Theme Builder do this natively and you should use them. Running two plugins for one job only adds weight.
Build the menu, start to finish
The whole build happens in wp-admin and the Elementor editor. No code snippet, no child theme edit. Before you start, check your theme is not already printing its own header, because two stacked headers is the most common mess people make here.
Step 1: Register the menu
Go to Appearance > Menus, create a menu, add your pages and links, and give it a name you will recognise in six months. This is plain WordPress, nothing plugin-specific, and WordPress has a guide to the Menus screen if you have not built one before.
Step 2: Create a Header template
Open the free Master Addons Theme Builder and add a new template with the type set to Header. This is the container your menu lives in, and it is what lets you replace the theme’s header rather than fight it.
Step 3: Add the Nav Menu widget and pick your menu
Search the Elementor panel for “Nav Menu” and drag it into the header. In the widget settings, choose the menu you built in step one from the Select Menu dropdown, then set the Layout. Horizontal suits a standard header; Vertical suits a sidebar and gives you Normal, Toggle, Accordion and Side sub-types.
Set the Breakpoint in the same panel. That is where the desktop menu collapses to the hamburger toggle, and Tablet is the default.
Step 4: Style it
Font, colour, spacing, hover states and submenu behaviour are all in the Style tab. No custom CSS required. This is the part core Elementor cannot do at all, which is the whole reason for adding a widget rather than using a theme menu location.
Step 5: Publish and assign it
Save the template and assign it to Entire Site. On the free tier that is the only display condition available, which is fine when you want one header everywhere.
Step 6: Check it on the front end
Load the site and confirm one header is rendering, not two. If you see the theme’s menu as well, disable it in the theme’s own customiser settings rather than hiding it with CSS.
Making it work on mobile
A menu that only works on desktop is not finished. Below your chosen breakpoint the Nav Menu widget collapses into a hamburger toggle, and that toggle is free, including its icon, its active state and its styling.
The toggle is built for keyboard and screen reader use rather than mouse only. Enter and Space open it, Esc closes it. That is worth checking on any menu widget you install, since many are built from divs that a keyboard cannot reach.
Be clear on what the free mobile menu is: the collapsed panel expands in place under the toggle. It suits short and medium menus well. A full off-canvas panel that slides in from the side is a Pro feature, covered in the next section.
Test on a real phone rather than the browser device toolbar. Tap targets, transition speed and whether the panel closes on an outside tap all behave differently on a touchscreen than in a resized desktop window. Check that the icon changes state so it is obvious the menu is open, and that a submenu item is reachable with one thumb.
Where the free version stops
Two limits, and both are worth knowing before you design around them rather than after.
Off-canvas and the Dropdown layout are Pro. The widget’s layout control offers Horizontal and Vertical on free, with Dropdown marked Pro. Inside that Dropdown layout sit three types, Default, Popup and Offcanvas, and all three need Pro. So the sliding side panel that “off-canvas menu” usually means is a paid feature here. The free path to something similar is the Vertical layout’s Side type, which parks the menu down the side of the page, or the standard hamburger toggle for mobile.
Theme Builder targeting is one rule. The free Theme Builder saves exactly one display condition: Entire Site. Fine if you want one header everywhere. Not enough for a different header on a landing page, a different menu for logged-in members, or a header scoped to one post type. Those need Pro. Our display conditions breakdown traces that line through the plugin source, and the free Theme Builder guide covers the rest of that tier.
If you already own Elementor Pro, none of this workaround applies. And if your theme’s menu location is enough, plain Appearance > Menus with no addon at all is the right call. Add a plugin once the theme’s default stops being enough. The widgets and extensions directory lists what else ships free if you are weighing the plugin as a whole.
If the header needs a section you keep rebuilding by hand, the Widget Builder lets you author it once as a real widget. That sits in Pro, and the pricing page lists the tiers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free menu widget for Elementor?
Not from Elementor itself. The core plugin has no menu widget; that one ships only with Pro. Master Addons, a free extension, adds its own Nav Menu widget so you can place and style a real navigation menu without a licence.
Can you create a nav menu in Elementor without Pro?
Yes. Register the menu under Appearance > Menus as normal, then use a free addon to drop a Nav Menu widget into a header template and style it from the panel. Elementor free alone cannot place or style a menu, so you need either a theme menu location or an addon widget.
How do I add a mobile hamburger menu in Elementor for free?
Add the Master Addons Nav Menu widget to your header template, select your menu, then set the breakpoint where the desktop menu should collapse. Tablet is the default and Mobile is the alternative. The hamburger toggle, its icon and its styling are all free. The panel expands in place under the toggle.
Is the off-canvas menu free in Master Addons?
No. Off-canvas is one of three types inside the widget’s Dropdown layout, and that layout and all its types require Master Addons Pro. On free you get Horizontal and Vertical layouts plus the hamburger toggle for mobile. If you want a side-anchored menu without paying, the Vertical layout’s Side type is the closest free equivalent.
How do I create a mega menu in Elementor for free?
Master Addons includes a free Mega Menu extension that builds multi-column panels and collapses on mobile. It is separate from the standard Nav Menu widget and built for larger navigation with categories, columns or promotional content.
Why is my Elementor nav menu not showing?
Usually an unassigned menu. Check a menu is actually selected in the widget settings, not just created under Appearance > Menus. Then confirm the header template is assigned to Entire Site in the Theme Builder, and that no theme header is still active and overlapping it.
Do I need Master Addons Pro, or is the menu free?
The Nav Menu widget is free, including styling, submenus, the breakpoint control and the mobile hamburger toggle. Pro adds the Dropdown layout with its popup and off-canvas types, and Theme Builder conditions beyond a single Entire Site rule.
What to do next
Build the header with a Horizontal layout and the Tablet breakpoint, then load it on your own phone before styling anything else. Most menu problems are mobile problems, and they show up in ten seconds on a real device.
If the menu turns out to need multi-column panels, the mega menu guide picks up from there. The Nav Menu documentation has every control if you want the reference version.
