
Pros
- Intuitive drag-and-drop page builder interface
- Impressive inline text editing capabilities
- High-quality selection of editable page templates
- Works with any WordPress theme
Cons
- Template organization could be improved
- Maybe too much focus on sales pages and conversion focused templates
Price:
- Single site license: $67
- 5 site license pack: $97 (Save $335)
- 15 site license pack: $147 (Save $1005)
Summary:
Whether you want to create a custom homepage layout, a conversion focused sales page, or interesting blog post and page designs, Thrive Architect is an easy to use yet powerful plugin.If you can’t find the perfect WordPress theme for your website or you want to create unique layouts for your content, a drag-and-drop page builder plugin can help you take control of your site’s design.
But with so many page builder plugins available, which one should you choose?
Thrive Architect is one popular option and it’s also one of the newest page builder plugins for WordPress. However, despite its recent release, it’s not a tool that was built from scratch and is, in fact, an update to the popular Thrive Content Builder plugin. Due to this, if you choose Thrive Architect, you’ll get access to a solid set of tried and tested features, all wrapped up in a modern user interface with some new capabilities added to the mix.
So if the idea of using a WYSIWYG drag-and-drop interface to create a custom WordPress website or to give your posts and page a unique look, read our hands-on Thrive Architect review to find out if this is the best page builder plugin for you.
Thrive Architect Review: The Key Features
Whether you’re new to Thrive Architect or wondering how it’s different from the old Thrive Content Builder plugin, here are the key features and improvements that have been made to this tool:
- Works with all WordPress themes – regardless of which WordPress theme you want to use or are already using, Thrive Architect should integrate seamlessly into your website.
- More full page templates and sections – with even more high-quality templates, you can easily add almost any type of page to your WordPress website or create your designs own using the pre-built sections.
- Better selection of elements – upgrading your content is easier thanks to these modules.
- Improved user interface for easier content editing – anyone should be able to pick up and start using the drag-and-drop Thrive Architect content editor, regardless of their WordPress or web design experience.
Of course, there’s a lot more to this WordPress content editor plugin than the above. By the end of our Thrive Architect review, you’ll know whether this is the right tool to help you create custom content for your website.
Thrive Architect User Interface
The biggest difference between the new Thrive Architect and old Thrive Content Builder plugin is the user interface. Ideal for creating a custom homepage for your website, upgrading your blog posts with interesting designs, or adding high-converting sales and landing pages to your site, the new Thrive Architect content editor is a flexible upgrade to the WordPress user interface.
As you can see, Thrive Architect, features a full-screen front-end user interface that takes over the WordPress dashboard while you’re working. Thanks to this, you can see exactly how your page is progressing, without having to share your workspace with the rest of the WordPress user interface. If you want even more space to work, the side panel can be easily collapsed.
As Thrive Architect is a modern WordPress page builder plugin, elements can be dragged and dropped onto the page from the sidebar or picked up and put in a new position in your layout. If you want to resize any elements, including the row and column layouts, you can simply click and drag the boundaries as required. Perhaps one of the best features of the Thrive Architect interface – and one not found in every page builder plugin – is the inline text editing.
Instead of having to type into the sidebar or a pop-up panel, with Thrive Architect you can just click on a text area and start typing. This really speeds up the workflow and makes it easier to preview your work as you go. As this feature isn’t included in many other page builder plugins – even some of those considered to be the best – it’s definitely a highlight of Thrive Architect.
Another highlight of the Thrive Architect user interface is the ease with which you can preview your designs through mobile and tablet sized viewports. The header bar that quickly identifies which page component is selected in the layout hierarchy as well as the (optional) reminder to save your work that pops up at regular intervals are great features too.
Thrive Architect also has a revision manager that makes it easy to roll back any changes you’ve made to your page. You can also use the undo and redo keyboard shortcuts to quickly revise your page design.
Overall, the Thrive Architect interface is one of the best, delivering a user experience comparable to the best modern WordPress page builder plugins available today.
Thrive Architect Options and Settings
Another aspect of Thrive Architect that can really help you save time is the context-sensitive menus. As soon as you click on a page element the corresponding options and settings are displayed in the side panel. Searching around for the right controls is a thing of the past with Thrive Architect.
When the side panel displays the options for the module you’ve selected, you’ll quickly see how much control Thrive Architect gives you over the design of your website and its content.
As well as the basic settings, you can expand the advanced section to reveal even more controls. Although the settings vary depending on which type of page element you’re working on, they can include animation effects, margin and padding properties, mobile-responsive controls, and much more.
Adding eye-catching animation effects to the elements on your pages is very straightforward. Simply select the element, then choose the animation type from the drop-down list before customizing how that animation effect is applied.
As well as being able to easily see how your page design will look on a smartphone or tablet device, you can also choose whether individual elements are displayed on small screen devices or not. If you’re committed to delivering a highly efficient user experience to your mobile visitors, then being able to hide any page items that might get in their way is a valuable feature of Thrive Architect.
Thrive Architect Page Elements
To help you create feature-rich content with Thrive Architect, this plugin includes a good selection of elements that can be added to your posts and pages. Furthermore, as this plugin has been created to help you generate more leads from your website, these building blocks have a strong focus on conversions.
As you’d expect from a powerful WordPress page builder plugin, these elements can all be highly customized to ensure they work well for your particular goals.
Some impressive elements from the Thrive Architect library include:
- Buttons
- Call to Actions
- Content Boxes
- Click to Tweet
- Content Reveal
- Countdown Timers
- Facebook Comments
- Plus a selection of Lead Generation elements
Also, like some other page builders for WordPress, you can add widgets from other plugins that are active on your site to your Thrive Architect page designs. This could include pricing tables, sign up forms, and social media feeds, depending on which other plugins you’re using.
Thrive Architect Content Templates
There are over 236 page templates in the Thrive Architect library, giving you plenty of options when it comes to adding new content to your site. As mentioned earlier in this Thrive Architect review, as this plugin has been created to help you generate more leads and sales from your WordPress website, many of these templates have a strong focus on driving conversions.
That’s not to say that Thrive Architect doesn’t have any traditional content templates. In the library of you’ll find corporate homepage designs, coming soon and under construction templates, portfolio layouts, and more.
However, the majority of the templates are highly focused on getting your visitors to complete a specific action, whether that’s signing up for something, joining your email list, or moving along your sales funnel in some other way. If you’re looking for a way to make your website more effective when it comes to generating leads and closing sales, Thrive Architect is sure to help.
As these templates can all be fully customized through the Thrive Architect interface, as well as mixed and matched to help you create the perfect design for your site, this page builder is ideal for both users who have their own ideas for their content layouts as well as those who’d like some inspiration.
While there’s no argument that Thrive Architect gives you complete creative control over the content you create, it would be nice if there was a more varied selection of pre-built templates to help kick-start your designs. Compared to a plugin like Divi Builder, which has new website templates added on a regular basis through the Elegant Themes blog, Thrive Architect is slightly lacking in this area.
Another criticism of this aspect of Thrive Architect is that unlike the page builder interface, the template manager isn’t very user-friendly. Due to this, it can be hard to see exactly what designs are available and what they will look like before you import them into your page. A better organized display with a preview option would make finding the right template easier and faster.
Thrive Architect Pricing Information
The Thrive Architect WordPress plugin is available directly from the Thrive Themes website at a number of price points:
- Single site license: $67
- 5 site license pack: $97
- 15 site license pack: $147
All options include unlimited lifetime plugin updates and one year of access to the Thrive Themes support team. When you purchase Thrive Architect, you’re covered by a 30-day money back guarantee should you decide this isn’t the best WordPress page builder for you.
Thrive Themes also offer a membership package that includes access to all of their products, including some other great plugins, a selection of WordPress themes, and exclusive member content and templates. With prices starting from $19 per month, signing up with Thrive Themes could be an affordable way to upgrade your WordPress website in one go.
Thrive Architect Review Conclusion
Hopefully, this Thrive Architect review has answered your questions about this plugin and given you a good overview of what this tool can do.
After testing out the plugin for this Thrive Architect review, it’s clear that this page builder is up there with the best options from this category including Beaver Builder, Divi, Elementor, and Visual Composer. So whichever one you choose, you’ll have a high-quality tool for creating custom content for your website.
However, if you’re working on a marketing website with a strong focus on lead generation, then the conversion-focused templates and features of Thrive Architect mean you should definitely check out this plugin. Being able to quickly add landing pages, optin forms, and sales content to your website can only help grow your business.
The best WordPress page builder plugins all now offer a similarly powerful and user-friendly content editing experience. So the best approach to finding the tool that’s right for you is to look for the one with the selection of pre-built templates and content modules that best meets the needs of your project. If Thrive Architect happens to be that plugin, then you can choose this page builder with confidence knowing it’s a high-quality product.
Pros
- Intuitive drag-and-drop page builder interface
- Impressive inline text editing capabilities
- High-quality selection of editable page templates
- Works with any WordPress theme
Cons
- Template organization could be improved
- Maybe too much focus on sales pages and conversion focused templates
Price:
- Single site license: $67
- 5 site license pack: $97 (Save $335)
- 15 site license pack: $147 (Save $1005)
Summary:
Whether you want to create a custom homepage layout, a conversion focused sales page, or interesting blog post and page designs, Thrive Architect is an easy to use yet powerful plugin.