Kadence Theme Review – My 4 Year Journey with Them (Free + Paid)

I searched for the Kadence theme review and there was not a single review article. All of them listed out the Kadence features and called it a review. Why would you title your article as a review when you are not actually reviewing it? Just so you can add your affiliate link to it? At least share your experience.

There were only a few articles in which the author actually poured their opinions into their review. No wonder, people turned to Reddit in order to gain honest insights.

Well, I have been a Kadence theme user and customer since May 2021. I started with the Free version and then moved to a paid plan and in this article, I will be sharing my experience with the Kadence WordPress theme from a Beauty Blogger’s perspective. This means I don’t have any products to sell or WooCommerce installed so it’s an experience from a content-only website.

My Kadence Theme Journey Timeline

My Experience with Kadence WordPress Theme + Blocks (Free)

Before I started with this theme, I was only using the themes that were listed on the WordPress theme library and I liked changing my theme every year to give a fresh look to my website but somewhere in my mind, I was never settled with what I had.

I picked Kadence over Astra

I remember that every time someone asked in FB groups “What is the best WP them?”, everyone used to respond with Kadence and Astra.

Well, Kadence WP has more votes than Astra and people also mentioned that Astra makes their website load slow while Kadence is fast. Back then, I had no idea about either of them but I did figure out that Kadence is a more preferred choice than the other.

Every time someone mentioned Kadence, they used to term them as “fully customizable” and I was like what does this even mean? We do customize our themes after installing!

Little did I know, that by fully customizable, they mean we can literally do anything and create a website of our choice rather than being limited to what pre-made theme offers.

I got to know what Fully Customisable means

Then, I went ahead and installed Kadence on my WordPress.

At first, I still couldn’t figure out why people even recommend this, it has nothing to display. Slowly and gradually I realized I had to build my website and customize the layout and elements as per my need.

I spent hours going through each and every option in the customizer and bit by bit, there it was, the website of my dreams!!

You might be wondering why didn’t I start with starter templates? I did have a look at them and even imported them onto my website but customizing and editing each and every element of a pre-made template is more time-consuming for me rather than starting from a clean slate.

At that moment, I realized why everyone was after Kadence. I literally had the option to customize each and every element of my website.

I created a website of my dreams ☺️

For starters, there were 3 rows in the Header area. I can place my logo and menu wherever I want along with other elements. That feeling, I felt like I found a jackpot as I always wanted to have a center logo with the menu on both sides.

The same goes for the footer, sidebar, and even a single post layout. I had the option to display the featured image below or above the title, decide the size, or not display the image at all and I could modify these settings for an individual page and post too.

The look that I always had in my mind in terms of placements, dividers, landing page, header, footer, colors, and a lot more, I achieved it with this fully customizable theme.

I fell in love with Kadence’s Theme. 💕

Can’t without Kadence Blocks

Plugin link: Kadence Blocks

Kadence Blocks, on the other hand, came in handy when I had to customize on-page content.

I used Kadence blocks to display images with a shadow box, a list with icon bullets, text with a border and an icon, or a row box with media and text side by side. Even this little piece of text is a part of Kadence Blocks because I have added a little icon at the start. 💁🏻‍♀️

Basically, it is a more advanced mode of Gutenberg blocks which you can use to design your page. Same way, I designed my website homepage. Although, I used pre-made patterns that are available in the design library built on Kadence blocks. I got access to the design library when I installed Kadence.

Kadence theme offered a structure to my website and Kadence blocks provided more functionality and aesthetics to my website.

I have tested out several block plugins and Kadence blocks are the only ones I like followed by Otter blocks. [Plugin Link]

Most of the pre-made themes being sold are a child theme of these fully customizable themes

All those beautiful themes that are being sold as a template are actually created on these Kadence, Astra, Blocky, and similar themes only. Those are the child themes that are customized and curated as per the customer’s need.

This is why developers and agencies buy the full package and provide themes built on child themes to their clients/customers.

My Experience with Kadence WP Essential (Pro Theme + Pro Blocks)

The reason I felt like upgrading to pro is because well, I had an amazing experience with the Kadence theme and I wanted to explore the premium features.

I got an introductory discount and on the second renewal, I used someone’s affiliate code or link, I don’t exactly remember. 🙈

There were patterns in the design library that were available to premium users and I thought I could use them to build my pages.

Additional Sitewide options

There were additional elements in headers and footers such as more navigational menus for the mobile device, additional buttons, and widgets in footer areas. Hooked elements, dark mode, page-level scripts, and some other sitewide features.

And, I also wanted to experiment with the Animation on the blocks. So I went with the Essential plan which is basically a combo of the theme’s pro features and the block’s pro features.

Additional blocks, dynamic data, and so much more

I started adding premium elements to my articles and pages such as split content, animated text every time the user scrolled, or stuff like that. Nothing was of my need, but I liked having a complete package of functionality.

Or a modal pop-up where I can display additional information when a reader clicks on it.

And more importantly, those pre-made patterns in the design library were only accessible to premium features. I put each and every pro element to use.

Although, the majority of the premium features are not of my requirements

A year passed by and I renewed my plan without giving it a second thought. After a few months, I started to realize I was hardly using any of the pro features! I used them initially because I had them but my website doesn’t really require them.

I used the majority of the features out of curiosity and not as the website’s requirement.

For blocks, I rarely used the pro features except for the ones in the design library. I hardly used the animation and premium blocks.

And the additional theme features, well I only used them because I had access to them such as infinite scroll for archive pages or dark color mode which to be honest, the dark palette did not work out for me due to some color combinations so I ended up not using the feature either.

Kadence Hooked Elements is my top favorite THEME PRO feature for me

My favorite feature in the pro version was Kadence Hooked Elements. Meaning, that I can place any text/image or any element at any part of my website.

• I used Hooked elements to display a banner on top of my website
• I used them to show a message in selected articles after a particular paragraph
• I used the hooks to place LinkedIn newsletter or Facebook Group information right after my content ends

And I could do all of this without actually editing my articles.

Favorite Feature in BLOCKS PRO: Dynamic Featured Image

I wanted to show the featured image after the first few paragraphs which I was able to achieve with the dynamic data option in Kadence Adv. Image block.

Raised a support ticket asking how I can achieve this and they responded with a detailed video on how I can do it and within seconds, I was able to display the featured image after the first paragraph.

I am considering switching to the free version

I need a very limited and specific set of features and 80% of the premium features are not my requirement which made me wonder if I should continue with the renewal.

There is priority support, some of the premium features that are beneficial for my website but they are like 10% of the whole premium package and $149 is a lot considering the features I am using.

Most of the pro features be it a theme or an SEO plugin generally offer enhancements for websites selling products or have WooCommerce installed. I have nothing to do with selling products which is why I decided to go back to the free version.

Kadence Pro offers a large set of features but they will be useful to the one who actually needs them for their website making their investment worth it. For me, it ain’t a smart spending as I used like two premium features with theme and blocks combined.

If let’s say, Kadence had a plan that offered enhancements for personal websites at a decent pricing without WooCommerce add ons, I think that would be a lot better for me.

Kadence WP – Ease of Use, Speed, Features, and Support – In My Opinion

👩🏻‍💻 Kadence Theme: Ease of Use (5/5)

As far as the ease of using the Kadence theme goes, it’s brilliant. I have tested out Generate Press, Neve, Astra, and Ocean WP on my staging site but nothing beats Kadence WP.

Generate Press is ideal if you have knowledge of codes so that you easily customize it but for me, a simple click to customize in the Kadence settings is ideal.

🚀 Kadence Theme: Speed and Ranking (5/5)

For the speed, I never faced any issues. My articles rank and are accessible to audiences globally so it’s a complete package for me.

The page size does increase when I add a bunch of sections or elements and fancy them with borders and shadows but they don’t really slow down the page speed.

Occasional Functionality Issues in Blocks

I do face issues once in a while in Kadence block which I report to them and they work on it as quickly as they can.

So many times I raised an issue with a particular block in Kadence and they immediately raised a request to fix in the next update.

Despite encountering a few errors or glitches once in a while, I would still prefer Kadence Blocks as I have literally tested all of them out and this looks the cleanest of them all.

⚙️ Kadence Theme: Features (4/5)

Even though the theme is feature-packed and offers a lot in its free version I still feel the theme is a bit behind when it comes to staying up to date with the most requested or most demanded features both in free and paid especially from a blogger or a writer’s point of view.

🤝 Kadence Theme: Support System (5/5)

This raises the question of the Support system and I am impressed. I never for once felt like they weren’t helpful.

They legit send videos explaining tiny little things about what is causing an error and how it can be fixed. They don’t work on weekends which I guess can be somehow improved because you never know when you might need help on an urgent basis.

Now this was via the ticketing system. For free users, they do help via the WP support forum.

For a person like me who focuses on content and is not that kind of tech-savvy, a theme or hosting with good support is a must. In fact, exceptional support is a must which Kadence theme provided.

Same reason I am with Lyrical Host. Those guys are a gem and I can not think of my website hosted somewhere else.

An Incident with their Facebook Group

I was a part of their Facebook Group and I asked for an opinion on SEO plugins because I wanted to move away from Rank Math. Now I am with Yoast. But, I remember they straight away blocked me after asking the question.

For months I tried to ignore that but recently I decided to ask them in an official ticket what was the reason and they said I was selling them! I was like, what?! 🫠 I told them there was a major confusion. They apologized and unblocked me but that was such a negative reaction.

I mean these little things matter. My question was far away from selling and other people asked about SEO plugins too. I never included any link why would they assume I am selling those. 😹

Anyway, I tried to be a bigger person and not let this incident and my feelings come my way.

What about the Blocksy Theme?

I did test out Blocksy on my staging site and to be honest, I am genuinely impressed. The clean aesthetics, added features, and more options for customizing definitely give Blocksy an advantage.

I also noticed that my page’s DOM size was reduced and the speed was slightly better as well when on Blocksy.

Probably because I have to add margins to Kadence blocks otherwise the paragraph block just sticks to the Kadence block. Blocksy has no such issues and all the Kadence Blocks are displayed neatly without adding the margins to individual blocks.

Blocksy felt more aesthetically clean and fast.

Will I switch to Blocksy?

Who knows! 😉 I do feel like trying out new things (and that is why I am a beauty blogger 😹) but I think it will be a little sooner for me. Maybe after they release their own blocks? I loved Blocksy but I think I would wait a little more.

I also loved the fact that their premium plan even the lifetime plan is a lot more reasonable if compared to Kadence. Their personal site plan is ideal for bloggers who don’t need major WooCommerce features.

I also compared the pro features that I need for my website and I feel Blocksy offers them in a more carefully curated package at a decent price.

A big thumbs up for their pricing structure.

A little warning when using Blocks (any block plugin)

Talking about blocks, let me mention that when you start using blocks in your articles and you use them for months or years, you can not simply uninstall them because you have a piece of content attached to those blocks.

Same reason, Kadence blocks will be a part of my website no matter which theme I use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Kadence Theme Review: Final Thoughts

As a blogger, the Kadence WordPress theme is perfect for me. Neither it is way too minimal in terms of customizing nor bloated with random features. A simple click, a simple button does all the job. Clean code, easily customizable, easy to find those customizing options, their own block plugin – Kadence blocks, speed, support, everything is perfect and I like it for my blog. Pricing is on the costlier side though.

Pros

• Easy to operate and customize
• Fast speed
• Great Support
• Comes with a pre-made design library
• Clean aesthetic look
• Beginner friendly

Cons

• Occasional Error in Kadence Blocks
• Spacing limitations in a few blocks

This was it for today. I hope you have found my review of the Kadence WP theme helpful. Do share your experience in the comments below.

Have a Good Day!

This post contains affiliate links. Images are sourced from Kadence’s official Brand Assets.