Kadence Theme Review: Does it live up to the hype?

While new themes are getting released every day, finding a WordPress theme that is simple, effective, and lightweight is quite hard. One of the newest kids on the block right now is the Kadence theme. It boasts high-quality features that make it quite easy for you to design a stylish website.

But is it up to par? Can it match up to the likes of GeneratePress, Astra, and OceanWP?

Well, there’s only one way to find out.

In this post, we are going to do a full review of Kadence. We are going to take you through the different features that Kadence offers you. Keep reading to find out more.

Kadence Theme Quick Intro

Developed in Montana, USA, Kadence is a modern theme available in two different versions—a free version and a premium version.

What’s more?

The team behind this theme also developed a page builder that makes it easier for you to customize the Kadence theme. Just like the theme, the Kadence Blocks page builder has a free and a pro version.

What Does The Free Version of Kadence Theme Offer You?

Now, let’s get to the juicy part.

Starter Templates

The free version of Kadence comes with six different starter templates that can be easily imported to your site. Planning on creating a business-oriented site? There’s a template for that. How about a blog? Still, there’s a template for that.

The best part is: most of these templates have a modern, sleek, and stylish design. You can also modify such templates to suit your style.

Unique Customization Options

Kadence customization options can be easily accessed from the ‘customize’ section on your WordPress admin dashboard. Not to mention, changes can be previewed in real-time mode, making it easier for you to edit your site from the frontend.

With such options, you can customize headers, footers, menus, blog posts, homepage settings; you name it.

It gets better.

This theme has tons of modification options that are not quite common in other free themes. Here are some of the unique customization options that Kadence offers you:

• A header builder with a transparent header- Kadence theme features a header builder that allows you to add certain elements to your header. You can easily add a primary navigation button, a search bar, a logo, and multiple social media buttons. While many themes don’t include a transparent header on the free version, Kadence offers you a transparent theme on its free version.
• Global color pallet– This option helps you set one uniform color in sections or elements of the same kind. Instead of changing one element’s color at a time, you can use the pallet to change all the elements simultaneously.
• Page by page settings– If you have a unique page in your site that you want to customize fully, you can use this setting. It can be accessed from your WordPress admin dashboard.
• Blogpost features– Blog post settings make it easier for you to define your blog posts’ appearance. For instance, you can determine how you are going to display your blog titles. You can also show or hide comments, post categories, and metadata. Not to mention, you can change the layout of your blog post.

Kadence Blocks

Kadence Blocks takes the whole customization experience to another level. It comes with tons of different blocks that can help you design a page from scratch, for starters. It offers you advanced buttons, spacer dividers, table of contents, testimonials, content boxes, and accordions.

Each block has a set of additional settings that make it easier for you to customize various fields. For instance, the row layout block has settings that allow you to change the background, text color, padding, vertical alignment, and overlays.

As if that’s enough, this page builder makes it possible for you to add various media files to your site’s pages. You can easily add images, videos, and audio files. It also gives you an option to embed content from third-party apps such as Instagram, Spotify, Youtube, Twitter, and Vimeo.

If you don’t have enough time to design a page from scratch, you can use the pre-built sections that this page builder packs to speed up the design process.

Cleary, the free version of Kadence Block, is flexible, easy-to-use, and efficient in building unique pages.

What Does The Pro Version of Kadence Theme Offer You?

If you want to unlock all the features that Kadence theme offers, you have to upgrade it to the premium version. The pro version extends the functionality of this theme. Let’s dig deeper and take a look at the different features that the pro version packs.

Additional Header Items

The Kadence Pro header builder has lots of premium items that can be easily dragged and dropped into header grids to improve headers’ functionality. Some of the additional items that this version packs include:

• A member account element- This is used to add an account button on your headers. It also comes with different settings that help you define the functionality of the account button. It can either redirect visitors to a login page or display a drop-down menu that gives visitors more information about their account. This might be a suitable option for membership websites.
• Contact information- If you want to add some contact information to your headers, this option can help you achieve that. It allows you to display your phone number, email, and physical address on your headers.
• Search bar- Ever seen Amazon’s search bar? Kadence pro version features a search bar that is almost similar to that. It also offers you various styling options, making it easier for you to change the bar’s colors and width.
• Toggle widget area- With this option, you can add an overlay that displays a menu or certain information. This option also has multiple toggle menu icons that give you different options while displaying a menu.

Ultimate Menus

Kadence Pro has various settings that let you customize different menus on your site. To access such options, navigate to your WordPress admin menu, and select the menus options. Click one of your menu items and choose the menu items settings.

Kadence Pro will display an interface that will help you add icons to your menus. You can also insert a highlighted label next to a menu icon.

While different themes have a feature that allows you to add mega menus on your site, only a few of them have menu icons. So, this feature makes Kadence Pro unique.

And you know what?

Kadence Pro has an option that allows you to enable or disable dropdown mega menus on your WordPress site. It also packs tons of configuration options, making it easier for you to create mega menus. You can determine the number of columns in your mega menus. Not to mention, different layout options allow you to choose a suitable layout.

As if that’s enough. Kadence Pro has different styling options that help you edit mega menus. You can change the background color, link color, and the link background. You can also add dividers to your mega menus.

Integrations

Wondering which integrations this theme packs?

This theme integrates smoothly with WooCommerce and offers you multiple WooCommerce customization options. It features a filter that helps your site’s visitors find different products in your online store. You can either enable the filter or disable it, depending on your preferences.

Kadence pro also has a pop-out cart that offers your visitors different shopping options. With this feature, visitors can be redirected to a checkout page or a different page that displays the products in their cart.

What’s more?

This theme has a product catalog customization section that makes it easier for you to style the layout and containers in your online shop. You can also determine the number of products per row. One of the unique features under this section is the custom content option, which allows you to style your online shop from scratch.

Kadence Pro also integrates with all the page builders in the market. It also integrates smoothly with the default WordPress page builder: Gutenberg.

Hooked Elements

The Kadence Pro theme has hooked elements that allow you to add content to your site’s pages inaccessible areas. To access this option, head over to your WordPress admin menu, select the appearances option, then click the Kadence button. Click the add new option on the elements section to insert some content to the element.

This theme packs different settings that let you determine the placement of hooked elements. For example, you can insert hooked elements under your footers and before comments. You can also replace a whole footer using this feature.

There are also display settings that allow you to select the pages you plan to show your hooked elements.

And another thing.

You can also determine the users that are going to view such elements. You can either display the content to logged-in users or all the users. As if that’s enough, this feature has device settings for determining the type of devices that will have access to the content displayed on hooked elements.

Unlike other themes, Kadence pro has an expiry setting that allows you to determine when certain content will expire. Let’s say you have a flash sale on your site that lasts for 30 days. You can set the expiry date of the flash sale content. If 30 days pass, content related to the flash sale will expire, leaving your site clean and neat.

Kadence Pro Pricing

The premium version of Kadence has two pricing options. You can either choose the yearly access option or the lifetime access option.

The best part is that both options offer you access to all premium plugins and premium page builders developed by the Kadence team.

The yearly access option is $139/year, while the lifetime access is $489.

Both options are available on their official website.

Kadence Performance

So, how does the Kadence theme perform when it comes to speed?

Can it help you create a fast website?

For starters, this theme is 42 KB. This makes it quite lightweight and SEO-friendly. Not to mention, some of the fastest themes out there have a size that is between 40 KB and 50 KB.

While the Kadence theme comes with tons of different features, it has a clean code, and it’s quite fast.

Kadence Blocks Pro

Kadence Blocks Pro has seven additional premium blocks. These are some of the additional blocks that this page builder packs:

• Image overlay- This block makes it easier for you to add an image that has an overlay title.
• Post grid- Are you planning to display your posts stylishly? With this block, you can showcase your posts in a carousel. Post can either be displayed individually or in different categories. Since this block comes with different styling options, you can customize your post grid easily.
• Split content- Kadence Pro Blocks offers you two columns that help you display different types of content. For example, you can insert a media file on one column, then add some text on the second column. Different configuration options are available to help you customize columns.
• Modal- With this block, you can easily create a button that opens up to a modal box.
• Product carousel- This might be a suitable option for you if you have a WooCommerce store. It displays products stylishly on a carousel. You can display the best selling products or display products in a certain category.
• Video popup block- You can easily display a video that has an overlay effect using this block.
• Advanced slider- This slider block helps you display images in a simple yet neat manner. It comes with advanced options, making it easier for you to incorporate buttons and various animation effects in images.

The premium version of Kadence Blocks has an auto-response email that helps you get back to users who have filled your online forms. It also offers you database logs.

Kadence Blocks pro is $59/year. If you plan to use the free version of the Kadnece theme, this might help you build some amazing pages with premium functionalities.

Who Is Kadence For?

Let’s address the million-dollar question. Is this theme suitable for you?

Who might benefit more from this theme?

Well, this might be a suitable theme for you if you have a membership site. One of the most unique features that this theme offers you is the membership account element. It can be easily be inserted into your headers to help users log into their accounts.

The Kadence theme might also be an appropriate option for you if you have an online eCommerce store. It integrates with WooCommerce, making it easier for you to create an online store. There are also tons of customization options that can help you modify your eCommerce store. Not to mention, you can build a whole eCommerce store from scratch, using this theme’s customization options.

This theme might be a suitable option for developers. It makes it easier for you to insert fixed elements using some code. In fact, this is a feature that makes Kadence unique.

If you are looking for a simple and lightweight theme that can be customized easily, Kadence might be a suitable option for you. Needless to say, the free version of this theme has a globally linked pallet, unique header items, and toggle widget areas. What more could one ask for?

Kadence Blocks page builder is also a suitable option for you if you want to take the customization to the next level. It boasts some of the customization options that the Kadence theme offers you by offering you more designing blocks.

Over To You

In a nutshell, Kadence has some amazing features. Both the free version and the premium version have unique customization options that make it easier for you to build superb pages on your site.

This theme is also lightweight and SEO-friendly. You won’t experience some performance issues while using it. It is compatible with all important page builders. Not to mention, the team at Kadence developed an effective header- and footer builder that helps you build unique pages.

What are your thoughts on the Kadence theme? Is it suitable for you? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Go to Kadence Theme