Elettra is an international multidisciplinary research center, specialized in synchrotron and free-electron laser radiation and their application in material science. The center is located in Basovizza in the outskirts of Trieste, Italy. Two advanced light sources are in operation: Elettra, the electron storage ring operating since 1993, updated to top-mode in 2010 after the successful completion and set in operation of a full energy booster in 2008, and FERMI, the new seeded FEL operating since 2010 and now open to the users' community. Key factors for the success of the two machines are the continuous effort to optimize the performance to the latest requirements and the close relationship with the users' communities. This paper provides an overview of the two facilities and discusses their development perspectives.