WordPress has always been a powerhouse for its customization capabilities. In addition to providing over 5000 theme options, the CMS allows users to edit them with the built-in tools.
In other words, there are already enough functionalities to personalize your site to your taste, right from the very start.
However, WordPress has another trick up its sleeve for you, hardcore designers. You can spice up your theme even further with the help of customization plugins.
There are a lot of alternatives to help you with the task, but in this article, I will show some of the best tools to make your website as perfect as it can be!
Why You Should Use a WordPress Theme in the First Place
A critical part of building a site is choosing a theme that will define the appearance of your webpage. In this regard, you basically have two alternatives — getting a WordPress theme or building a custom one.
It may seem attractive to buy a custom theme, but this is not always the best option for the majority of users. You can take a look at WordPress’ own themes instead, which are better for many reasons.
First of all, they are affordable ($50-$100 on average) since the market is quite competitive. There are even free options for people who just got started. In contrast, a custom theme could reach up to thousands of dollars.
What’s more, by choosing one of the available themes, you’re able to see a preview of what your site is going to look like. That makes it easier to decide what kind of design will best fit your needs.
Thankfully, WordPress is known for its extensive collections of themes, including plenty of options in terms of appearance, widgets, fonts, etc. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about a limited number of choices.
After you find the right theme, you just need to install it and you’ll be able to use it immediately. You might need a few modifications based on your preferences, but all of that can be done without having previous technical knowledge.
In addition, common themes usually include SEO and speed optimization that will help you with the performance of your site. Easier content management and regular updates are useful features to have.
You won’t be able to enjoy such convenience with custom themes though. They take more time to make, and their maintenance is usually not that simple. You will need to have strong coding skills or pay someone to adjust the look of your page.
Custom themes allow for more freedom when editing your website. However, by making use of the appropriate tools, you can achieve the same level of WordPress customization.
So, without further ado, let’s see the eight best plugins for WordPress customizations!
Top 8 WordPress Theme Customizer Plugins Worth Using
In this comparison, I will show each plugin’s strong and weak points, as well as what kind of users they can serve best.
1. Customizr
If you want to create fluid designs on all types of devices, then Customizr is the right plugin for you. It ensures no compatibility issue exists when editing your theme for either desktop, mobile, or tablet screens.
It includes some unique and useful functionalities, such as infinite scroll, that allows visitors to scroll through your posts without moving to the next page.
This Facebook-like timeline doesn’t only speed up your site, but can also lead to higher view-times and better engagement.
There is also a customizable carousel creator that will help you showcase your featured posts or products.
The developer claims that over 100 thousand websites have used Customizr and has become one of the best-reviewed plugins right now.
However, you still need to keep in mind that Customizr is not meant to be standalone. It needs another tool called Nimble Builder, which acts as its content creation companion.
Fortunately, you can get both for free with an option to upgrade to Customizr Pro. It provides premium customer support, and unlimited website installs, that will set you back $59 (yearly subscription) or $99 (lifetime).
The Good
- Exclusive features. Offers comprehensive and unique features that other plugins usually don’t have, like a customizable carousel creator.
- Responsive. Ensures design compatibility across devices and browsers.
- SEO-friendly. Provides additional SEO and speed optimization.
The Bad
- Further expenses. Some features require additional paid addons.
- Mandatory requirements. Won’t work really well without Nimble Builder.
The Verdict
Customizr is suitable for small websites that need to optimize their mobile compatibility.
2. Visual CSS Style Editor
It won’t take a long time for you to master Visual CSS Style Editor. The user-friendly interface is really pleasant and easy to work with. All you need to do is click on the chosen part, and you can directly customize it the way you want.
It allows you to change any element of your website from color, shape, typography, to shadows, and animation.
The plugin also offers you a live CSS editor and lets you find a specific element by its class, ID, or HTML tag. Furthermore, the existing style sheet file can be exported so you can use it for other sites.
What’s great, you won’t miss anything major even if you opt for the free version, which should cover all the basic configurations.
However, you can choose to buy the premium version for a lifetime period starting from $26 to get the animation generator, access to Unsplash stock photos, 800+ font families, and much more.
The Good
- Inexpensive. An affordable alternative for WordPress customization.
- User-friendly. Super easy to use and navigate.
The Bad
- Incompatible for mobile usage. No mobile device compatibility inspector.
The Verdict
Those who are looking for an easy and free way to start customizing their website should pick Visual CSS Style Editor.
3. Customify
By using Customify, you are presented with all the basic necessary tools to customize your theme.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Most of the time, colors, fonts, text fields, and a CSS editor is what users really need. The most important thing is, this free plugin gets the job done as intended.
Regardless, there is one more thing to like about Customify and that’s its presets. This functionality allows you to save all configurations and use them when you’re about to edit another page.
The Good
- Easy to use. A simple interface with a few advanced features, making it very beginner-friendly.
- Totally free. Feel free to download Customify without any additional cost.
The Bad
- Limited features. The options can be limiting for some advanced users.
The Verdict
Customify is suitable for beginners who don’t want to be overwhelmed with lots of options. It allows tinkering with WordPress customizations for free.
4. TJ Custom CSS
If you’re familiar with CSS files and confident in editing its contents, TJ Custom CSS can be a godsend. It’s lightweight, free, and packs essential capabilities for customizing your theme through the style sheet.
Besides its own settings menu, you can also make use of the WordPress customizer to get a live preview while this plugin is working.
What’s more, TJ Custom CSS supports child themes so you can put as many customizations as you want without breaking your main theme.
The Good
- Built for CSS. Has a capable and straightforward CSS editor.
- Free of charge. Free and open source.
The Bad
- Technical knowledge needed. People who aren’t familiar with CSS might not like the limited choices presented.
- Lack of quality of life features. No drag and drop capabilities.
The Verdict
For what it offers, TJ Custom CSS plugin targets enthusiasts or professionals who know CSS well enough.
5. CSS Hero
CSS Hero has had quite a following from its hardcore fans for its intuitive interface and complete editing tools. You’re allowed to point and click literally anything on your website and start customizing it to your liking.
What’s great, you can get a live preview and inspect your site’s look on a variety of devices ranging from PC to handheld. There are also ReadyMade Snippets that will help change several elements with a particular style.
With CSS Hero, you don’t have to worry about breaking anything because there’s an option to save checkpoints and export your settings in CSS, LESS, or JSON formats.
The plugin will cost you $25/year to install on one site. If you want other plans, you can upgrade it for $49 (five sites), $99 (999 sites) yearly or $249 (lifetime). All packages include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The Good
- Known for its reliability. Offers a complete solution for WordPress customization.
- Easy to use. Has a pleasant interface and user-friendly controls.
The Bad
- Expensive. The price can become quite steep.
- A staggering amount of options. The customization options might be overwhelming for some users.
The Verdict
The industry-leading WordPress customizer plugin fits both beginners and experts alike who need unlimited possibilities in designing their websites.
6. Switcher
Have you ever tried to change just one element of your site and then see the rest of your previous design go back to default? That is one of the main issues that Switcher tries to solve.
It enables you to load and unload stylesheets without removing all of the previous changes in the file itself.
Therefore, you’ll also be able to test different redesigns independently without affecting the rest of your site.
Switcher is available to download for $18 and for that price, you’ll have a problem-free and simple WordPress customization tool for your page.
The Good
- Innovative. Offers a great solution to WordPress’ persistent problem in theme customization.
- Affordable. Cheap and has excellent customer support.
The Bad
- Lacking in additional features. Focusing on one theme problem makes it less feature-packed than it could be.
The Verdict
If you’re constantly struggling with WordPress’ persistent theme changes, Switcher is the best option for you.
7. WP Theme Customizer by phpbaba
WP Theme Customizer is a modest plugin that has become one of the best alternatives for redesigning your website.
Setting it apart from the usual element editors, it has two major features. The first one is module-based styles, which act similarly to theme presets for your site.
The second benefit is that you will have four built-in color schemes that can change between dark and light according to the time of the day.
WP Theme Customizer’s $20 price tag is definitely a steal, considering that it also offers free customer support that you can upgrade to last a lifetime.
The Good
- Fair price. Has several built-in presets and sufficient tools packed in for a relatively low price.
- Unique color schemes. The changing color schemes make your website automatically adjust to any time of the day.
The Bad
- Lack of additional features. Missing some essential features from other paid alternatives.
The Verdict
WP Theme Customizer by phpbaba can bring a unique style to your website with just a few clicks.
8. WPBakery Page Builder
WPBakery Page Builder powers more than 2 million websites, and their customers love the plugin since it offers countless variations to their themes.
Apart from providing important tools, fonts, and backgrounds, similarly to many other element editors, WPBakery Page Builder allows for many extensions to complement it. There are more than 250 exclusive add-ons available, and they’re easily expandable via API.
Moreover, the plugin includes over 100 predefined layouts, so you don’t have to start your design from scratch.
What is more, your site is going to be SEO-optimized no matter how many adjustments you make.
What makes WPBakery stand out is the fact that you can enjoy all its features for a one-time-purchase affordable price plan of $45 for a single site and $245 for a single SaaS application. Additionally, both of these plans include dedicated premium online support.
The Good
- Reasonable price. reasonably low price for lifetime ownership.
- A selection of themes. Has a prepackaged collection of themes to get users started.
The Bad
- Poor CSS support. The CSS editor is not as great as its competitors.
The Verdict
WPBakery appeals to those users who don’t want to start their theme designs from scratch and build them from one of the available layouts.
Let’s Get to Work!
Every WordPress website owner wants their site to stand out from the rest, and having a beautiful theme is a crucial first step towards that goal.
Rather than ordering a custom theme, which can be very complicated and expensive, users can just look for the available ones on the store and edit them with a customizer plugin.
Let’s review the three best plugins on this list based on their quality and features:
- Customizr — the best plugin to make sure your design works on all types of devices.
- Visual CSS Style Editor — it has an excellent stylesheet editor and a very intuitive user interface.
- CSS Hero — a complete solution to WordPress theme customizations that has a great drag-and-drop feature.
Now, let’s pick one up to supercharge your website’s presence!
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