Kadence vs Generatepress is a side-by-side comparison if you intend to use any one of the themes. Both are well-reputed and used by WordPress professionals but have similarities and dissimilarities. We are bringing a close-up of both the themes so that users can decide which one they will need.
GeneratePress is older than Kadence and has more fame, obviously. But, Kadence, on the other hand, is well-established because of its features and bundles for website designers. However, the features and functions of both the themes are advanced for building fast-loading websites.
Before we go for the comparison part, let’s have an overview of the themes, shall we?
Kadence Theme Overview
Kadence is a block-based WordPress theme designed neutrally to create websites in different niches. It is lightweight & fast-loading and quite handy for users who want to build websites in style.
Kadence Theme Key Features
- Lightweight and impressive fast theme
- Advanced menu customizer
- Global color palettes along with 3 preset
- Design import & export facility
- Good compatibility with any page builder
- Highly responsive
- Full control with the Header & Footer builder
- Sticky header
- Custom CSS space for Header & Footer
- LMS plugin support for LearnDash, LifterLMS, and Tutor
- Woocommerce integration
- Kadence Block Addon
- Cloud stores for storing blocks, layouts, etc
Generatepress Theme Overview
GeneratePress is a feature-based theme that primarily focuses on website speed. It is lightweight, developer-focused, and created & managed by a single person to keep the signature quality intact. The theme has less flexibility compared to Kadence in UI & UX, but you can customize its core features and add new features through Custom CSS.
GeneratePress Theme Key Features
- Fast and lightweight and with no jQuery dependency.
- Highly responsive to desktops, tabs, and mobiles
- In-built schema
- WPML, Easy Digital Downloads, BuddyPress, and bbPress support
- WooCommerce integration
- Filters and Hooks
- Code is optimized, stable, and tidy
- Perfectly compatible with Elementor and Beaver Builder
Kadence vs GeneratePress: Comparison
A side-by-side comparison will be better for GeneratePress and Kadence. Both the themes are feature enriched but different in various parts. So, let’s have a look at Kadence vs GeneratePress at a glance;
| Topic | Kadence | GeneratePress |
| Theme weight and speed | Lightweight and fast | Lightweight and fast (No jQuery dependency) |
| Ease of use | More user-friendly | More developer-friendly |
| AMP Support | Yes | Plugin required |
| Global color palette | Yes + 3 presets | Yes |
| Layout Customization | User-friendly | Developer-friendly |
| Header & Footer Builder | Yes | No. But, customization is available |
| Number of Websites | Unlimited | 500 sites |
| Modules/Blocks/Features | 28 Blocks | 15 Feature elements |
| Cloud Stores | To store page/blog templates and section designs | No Cloud store |
| LMS plugin support | Yes | Yes (Need a bit of customization) |
| Starter Templates | 60+ | 85+ |
| Integrations | WooCommerce, LearnDash, LifterLMS, etc. | WooCommerce |
| Advanced Hook System | Yes | Yes |
| Addons | Kadence Blocks, Header Addons, Ultimate Menu, etc. | Generate Blocks |
As we have a quick difference above, let’s go for a little more on specific features!
Header Builder
Customizability is the master key of a theme’s header builder for great versatility. You will find huge differences between Kadence and GeneratePress.
Kadence
Kadence has a drag & drop header builder that facilitates complete customization. A large number of header elements are with the pro version, which gives design flexibility. The elements are;
- Logo
- Primary & Secondary Navigation
- Search Bar & Icon
- Multiple Buttons
- Social Icons
- HTML
- Account
- Tertiary & Quaternary Navigation
- Multiple Divider
- Widget Area
- Contact
- Toggle Widget Area
- Transparent Header
- Sticky Header
GeneratePress
GeneratePress does not have a drag & drop header building feature. In fact, you can do customization of the default header only. But, you can use Generate Blocks to create a custom header. Also, you can use premade headers to create the header fast.
Footer Builder
As for the Footer Builder, the difference between Kadence and GeneratePress is remarkable.
Kadence
The Footer Builder is present in Kadence along with every customization, design, and integration without any coding requirements. The building capability, along with customization, is similar to the header builder and quite amazing.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress does not have any footer builder but has customizing flexibility to optimize. Yet, you can use the Generate Blocks to create custom ones. Also, you have premade templates for the footer.
Blocks/Features
Kadence has Blocks whereas the GeneratePress brings a number of features that work the same as blocks. The blocks and features are limited and so they bring their own addon to break the barrier. They both have addons to enhance design possibilities; Kadence Blocks and Generate Blocks.
Kadence
The Kadence theme contains 6 blocks by default. Furthermore, the Kadence Blocks addon brings some more blocks for design convenience. The free version of Kadence Blocks brings 16 blocks and the pro has 6 more.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress, on the other hand, carries a good number of features. Over and above that, Generate Blocks addon provides 16 blocks in free and 6 additional blocks in pro. All are quite a handful for design convenience and flexibility.
Global Color Pallets
Global colors and customization are available in both themes. As for the color pallets, there is a difference between them.
Kadence
The options to use Global color pallets are more advanced in Kadence. You can customize accent colors, contrast colors, base colors, etc., for the same elements present on every page. Also, you will have 3 premade color sets to change the entire website appearance using them. The color sets are customizable as well.
GeneratePress
The global color palette is available in GeneratePress as well. You can change colors for accent, contrast, base, etc., for each element globally, and no need to do it for each page separately. You will not have any premade color set with this theme.
Speed Performance
Kadence vs GeneratePress comparison may require a speed evaluation to know about performance. We are using both themes with a basic website built. If you do the tests using your built websites, the results may be different but will be similar in ratio.
Google Page Insight test results are as below;
| Theme | Performance in Desktop | Performance in Mobile | Time to Interactive | Speed Index | Total Blocking Time |
| Kadence | 100 | 100 | 0.4 s | 1.1 s | 0 ms |
| GeneratePress | 99 | 100 | 0.3 s | 1.2 s | 0 ms |
Pingdom speed tests comes up with the results as below;
| Theme | Performance Grade | Page Size | Load Time | Requests |
| Kadence | 89 | 51.2 KB | 1.24 s | 9 |
| GeneratePress | 89 | 51.2 KB | 2.56 s | 9 |
Easy User Interface
User Interfaces for both themes are easy and friendly. Customizer settings are easy to access directly from the dashboard. Differences between them are also visible.
Kadence
Kadence theme is developed focusing on non-developers, so the ease of user interface is more convenient. You do not need to have coding knowledge such as HTML, CSS, or PHP.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress theme is developer-focused, and if you need extra customization and enhanced features, you should have coding knowledge. Users may find this difficult, but custom coding keeps the website lightweight.
Page Builder Compatibility
Both Kadence and GeneratePress are compatible with renowned page builders such as Gutenberg, Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, Brizy, etc. Well, both the themes recommend Elementor and Beaver Builder the most.
Starter Template
A big difference is seen concerning starter templates on Kadence vs GeneratePress. Kadence has pre-made templates in both free and pro versions. But, GeneratePress does not offer templates with the free version.
Kadence
Kadence provides 44 premade templates with the free version. And, if you get the pro version, you will have 19 templates more in your WordPress dashboard. All of them are isolated into some categories such as Events, Political, Travel, eCommerce, Learning, Blogs, etc.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress does not offer any templates with the free version. But, you can have 89 templates if you have the premium version. The templates are divided into some categories: Business, E-commerce, Blog, and others.
Custom Layout
Custom Layout is an open option to express your web pages with unique design concepts. It brings some remarkable features to create a custom header and footer for a specific page. You can create custom 404 page and hook layouts to integrate several third-party software like Google Analytics, Tag Manager, and Microsoft clarity. Even more, with the hook option, you can show a particular page section or design anywhere on any page.
Both Kadence and GeneratePress come with the convenience of Custom Layout to optimize and call specific sections or pages.
Design Flexibility
Kadence and GeneratePress have some differences concerning design flexibility. But, designing and customization for a single page, blog posts, and archive pages are almost the same in both themes.
Kadence
Choosing a layout, content styling, and meta titles designing for each page type come at ease with Kadence. Furthermore, color customization, typography, breadcrumbs, featured image, category, etc., are available. In addition, you can design search pages and 404 pages with this theme.
GeneratePress
You can have design flexibility with content for pages, blogs, typography, breadcrumbs, etc. Also, you can use advanced hook elements and create custom layouts. But, you can not create custom sidebars by default. Content-Aware Sidebars integration can solve this if you need to create one.
WooCommerce Support
Both themes support WooCommerce features to create pages such as product listing, catalog, add to cart, checkout, etc. The customizer settings are the same as well.
Integration
Third-party plugin integrations for Kadence and GeneratePress have a huge difference for the themes. Kadence is far ahead of GeneratePress in this.
Kadence Integration
- WooCommerce
- LearnDash
- Tutor LMS
- GiveWP
- The Events Calendar
- LifterLMS
- Restrict Content Pro
GeneratePress Integration
- WooCommerce
SEO Feature
Concerning SEO features, there is not much to compare to Kadence vs Generatepress as both have the same support. Rank Math, Yoast, and All in One SEO are integrated with both themes. But, Kadence recommends Rank Math as the best for their theme.
Kadence vs GeneratePress: Free Version Comparison
The free version comparison of GeneratePress vs Kadence is quite a daunting task as they are focused differently. However, the differences are mentionable because one theme has some free features that the other theme has in the premium version. Let’s sort them out in side-by-side comparison;
| Features | Kadence | GeneratePress |
| Blocks or Features | 6 Blocks | 8+ Features |
| Addon | Kadence Blocks (6 blocks with free) | Generate Blocks (16 blocks with free) |
| Starter Templates | 44 | None |
| Global Color Palette | Yes, including 3 color sets | Yes |
| Header & Footer Builder | Yes | Not available |
| WooCommerce Support | Organized in one place | Split in two places |
| Starter template plugin | Yes | Not available |
| Disabling elements | Individually on any page | Not available |
| Sticky Header | Yes | Not available with free version |
So, Kadence is a step ahead in comparison to GeneratePress when it comes to free version features and flexibilities.
Support
Kadence and GeneratePress both have support for free and premium versions. You can have any of the themes and get that. Premium support will be faster than the free.
Documentation
Both the themes have huge documentation for both freemium & premium users. The arrangement of it is different for Kadence and GeneratePress. Also, both the documentation brings forth some videos to make understanding more precise.
Kadence
The documentation of Kadence is mentioned as a Help Center. You will have complete documentation for the theme, blocks, conversion, shop kit, etc., and more. Also, you will have some more help on WordPress basics if you are new to this niche.
GeneratePress
On the other hand, GeneratePress documentation is different and organized by categories. It has an additional category for developers or anyone who is interested in custom coding.
Forum & Community
Both Kadence and GeneratePress have community and forum support. But, Kadence has facebook community support that GeneratePress hasn’t.
Kadence
Kadence has community and forum support except for the official support division. Moreover, they have Facebook community support for anyone who needs it.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress also has community and forum support besides official support. But, they do not have any Facebook community support.
Pricing
Both the themes come with a variety of pricing plans. You can pick a yearly pack or a lifetime pack. Well, the pricing plans are logically reasonable. And, there is a little difference with the plans. Let’s have a look.
Kadence
Kadence has three pricing plans: Essential Bundle, Full Bundle, and Lifetime Full Bundle. The Essential Bundle is limited in both time and features. The Full Bundle has access to all the features and future products for 1 year. And the Lifetime Full Bundle has all the features, future products, and lifetime support.
However, if you need to purchase any Kadence product without a bundled package, you can pay for that only. Well, some products are only available in bundles. Also, some products you need to purchase separately, excluding bundles such as Classic Plugins and Classic Themes.
| Term | Essential Bundle | Full Bundle | Lifetime Full Bundle |
| Price | $129 | $199 | $649 |
| Website building limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Support & Updates | One year | One year | Lifetime |
| Return Policy | 30 days money-back Guarantee | 30 days money-back Guarantee | 30 days money-back Guarantee |
| Kadence Blocks Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kadence Theme Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pro Starter Templates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kadence Custom Fonts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kadence Cloud | No | Yes | Yes |
| Kadence Conversions | No | Yes | Yes |
| Kadence WooCommerce Shop Kit | No | Yes | Yes |
| Child Theme Builder | No | Yes | Yes |
| Kadence Recaptcha | No | Yes | Yes |
| Access to all plugins | No | Yes | Yes |
| Exclusive access to all future products | No | Yes | Yes |
| Renewal | Yearly | Yearly | One-time payment |
GeneratePress
On the other hand, GeneratePress has two pricing plans: Yearly and Lifetime. There are differences in price, updates, support, etc., between them.
| Term | Yearly Plan | Lifetime Plan |
| Price | $59 | $249 |
| Site Library access | Yes | Yes |
| Updates | 1 year | Lifetime |
| Premium Support | 1 year | Lifetime |
| Website building limit | 500 | 500 |
| Return Policy | 30 days money-back Guarantee | 30 days money-back Guarantee |
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What do We Love and hate about Kadence?
Pros
- Drag & drop header/footer builder
- Global color palette with 3 sets
- Premade templates in both free and pro versions
- LearnDash, LifterLMS, and Tutor learning plugin support
Cons
- Fewer starter templates
- Lifetime pricing plan is costly
What do We Love and hate about GeneratePress?
Pros
- Lightweight & fast website building
- Better for developers
- Enough documentation
- Support for both free and premium versions
Cons
- No premade layout in the free version
- Third-party integration is poor
Final Verdict
The topic Kadence vs GeneratePress shows quite a variation in features, accessibility, resources, and design flexibility. Literally, the themes are focused differently from each other. Kadence has sufficient resources and focuses on user convenience. On the other hand, GeneratePress keeps some limitations for lightweight website building focusing on developers.
As for the free versions, Kadence is far ahead of GeneratePress because of features and design possibilities. However, the GeneratePress free version may not compete with Kadence, but the pro version comes with great functionalities.
Hope this article helps you to understand both the themes theoretically. You should try free versions of both the themes to see the differences by yourself. Leave us your precious comment on which one you will go with.