GenerateBlocks vs Kadence Blocks: GenerateBlocks is a minimalist, developer-focused block plugin built for lightweight code and full flexibility, from $99/year. Kadence Blocks is a feature-rich suite with 30+ ready-made blocks and a design library, better suited to beginners, bundled into Kadence’s $99-$499/year tiers.
Quick Verdict
| GenerateBlocks | Kadence Blocks | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Developers wanting a minimalist, lightweight block set and full flexibility | Beginners and marketing-heavy sites wanting a feature-rich suite of ready-made blocks |
| Pricing | Free core; Pro from $99/year (unlimited sites) | Free core; Pro bundled into Kadence’s Essentials ($99/year), Pro ($299/year) and Elite ($499/year) tiers |
| PluginFind Listing | View GenerateBlocks on PluginFind | View Kadence Blocks on PluginFind |
GenerateBlocks and Kadence Blocks both add extra blocks to the native Gutenberg editor, but they take opposite approaches. GenerateBlocks gives you a small set of basic blocks and leaves you to build the layout yourself. Kadence Blocks gives you a large library of ready-made components. Here’s what that difference means for the site you’re building.
Table of Contents
Methodology
PluginFind’s comparisons are built from verifiable data. Both GenerateBlocks and Kadence Blocks are genuine, actively maintained WordPress.org repository plugins, so PF Score, active install count and vulnerability status for both come directly from our own database.
As of today, GenerateBlocks holds a PF Score of 92.4 (Platinum tier) across 200,000+ active installs, with 9 vulnerabilities recorded historically, all patched and none currently active (a 100% resolved rate). Kadence Blocks holds a PF Score of 96.3 (Platinum tier) across 600,000+ active installs, with 38 vulnerabilities recorded historically, also all patched and none currently active (also a 100% resolved rate).
Feature and pricing detail beyond this is drawn from each vendor’s own published documentation and pricing pages, and from third-party reviews and community consensus where PluginFind’s own data doesn’t cover a topic.
All scores and stats are constantly changing. For up-to-date data, visit each plugin’s page in PluginFind.
GenerateBlocks
At a Glance
Best For: Developers and performance-conscious site owners who want a small set of basic blocks rather than a large ready-made library
Pricing: Free core plugin; Pro from $99/year for unlimited sites, or bundled into the GeneratePress One plan at $149/year alongside the GeneratePress Premium theme
Pros:
- Free version is genuinely usable on its own, built around six core blocks (Container, Grid, Text, Button, Image, Shape)
- Minimal CSS generation and a streamlined HTML structure, built specifically to avoid loading unused framework code
- Pro’s unlimited-site licence keeps costs predictable regardless of how many sites you build
- Made by the team behind the GeneratePress theme, with a long track record in performance-focused WordPress products
Cons:
- No ready-made components. Every layout is built from the same small set of blocks, which takes more setup time than dropping in a pre-styled block
- Dynamic content, display rules, animations and additional block types (Accordion, Tabs, Carousel) all sit behind the paid Pro add-on
- Steeper starting point for anyone used to a larger, pattern-driven block library
Pricing and Licensing
GenerateBlocks’ core plugin is free and listed on WordPress.org, built around six foundational blocks. GenerateBlocks Pro is a separate paid add-on, priced at $99/year and covering unlimited sites on a single licence rather than charging per site. It’s also available bundled into GeneratePress One at $149/year, which adds the GeneratePress Premium theme and the wider GeneratePress plugin suite for anyone already using or considering that theme.
Features and Functionality
The free version’s six blocks (Container, Grid, Text, Button, Image, Shape) are deliberately generic rather than purpose-built for specific layouts.
Most competitor block plugins offer a dedicated block for each pattern: e.g. a Hero block, a Pricing Table block etc. Instead, GenerateBlocks expects you to combine its core set of blocks into whatever the page needs. That approach keeps CSS output minimal, since the plugin only generates the styling a page actually uses rather than loading a shared framework everywhere.
Pro adds Dynamic Data, Display Rules, Animations, Local Fonts and additional interactive blocks (Accordion, Tabs, Carousel), extending the same build-it-yourself approach rather than adding a second, heavier system.
Who It’s Built For
GenerateBlocks suits developers and agencies who want a small, consistent set of building blocks they can reuse across every project, rather than learning a large library of specialised blocks.
It’s the better starting point for anyone prioritising the lightest possible page weight and willing to spend more setup time to get there. It’s a less natural fit for a site owner who wants to drop in a finished testimonial slider or pricing table without building it from scratch first.
Kadence Blocks
At a Glance
Best For: Site owners and agencies who want a larger library of ready-made blocks and a built-in design library to build from
Pricing: Free core plugin; Pro no longer sold as a standalone product, bundled into Kadence’s Essentials ($99/year), Pro ($299/year) and Elite ($499/year) annual tiers
Pros:
- Free version is genuinely capable on its own, with 600,000+ active installs behind it
- Design Library ships with hundreds of pre-built patterns that can be restyled to match a site’s branding
- 30+ blocks covering testimonials, pricing tables, countdowns, forms and galleries, ready to drop into a page
- Row Layout block supports up to twelve columns with responsive collapse for mobile, useful for magazine-style archives or product grids
Cons:
- Following Kadence’s move into Liquid Web’s StellarWP family in May 2026, Pro features are no longer available as a standalone purchase. They’re only accessible through Kadence’s bundled annual tiers, which also include the Kadence theme, security, backups and other products a reader may not need
- The old unlimited-site licence and one-time lifetime option were discontinued for new buyers as part of the same restructuring. Existing lifetime customers are grandfathered, but new purchasers are on annual-only, site-capped plans
- Some third-party reviews report occasional editing-screen conflicts with other plugins active
Pricing and Licensing
Kadence Blocks’ free core plugin is listed on WordPress.org and installs the same way as any other free plugin.
Following Kadence’s May 2026 consolidation into Liquid Web’s StellarWP family, standalone product pricing was discontinued for new buyers, along with the old unlimited-site licence and lifetime deal.
Pro features are now reached through one of three annual bundles:
- Essentials at $99/year (the Kadence theme, Blocks Pro and 200+ starter templates, capped at 3 sites)
- Pro at $299/year (adds Kadence Security, Backups, Shop Kit for WooCommerce and Memberships, up to 10 sites)
- Elite at $499/year (adds Kadence Central multi-site management and white-label client portals, up to 25 sites)
That’s a different pricing shape to GenerateBlocks Pro, worth flagging for anyone comparing the two on price alone.
Features and Functionality
Kadence Blocks’ free tier covers more ground out of the box than most competing free block plugins, including forms, galleries and popups without watermarks or artificial limits.
Its defining feature is the Design Library: hundreds of pre-built patterns that can be dropped onto a page and restyled to match existing branding, a fundamentally different starting point to GenerateBlocks’ build-it-yourself approach.
The Row Layout block’s twelve-column grid with responsive collapse is a genuine practical strength for content-heavy archive or product-listing pages.
Pro-tier features (Dynamic Content, Hooked Elements, advanced query loops) sit behind the bundled annual plans described above rather than a standalone Pro purchase.
Who It’s Built For
Kadence Blocks suits site owners and agencies who want to reach a finished-looking page quickly using ready-made patterns, rather than composing layouts from scratch.
It also has more than triple GenerateBlocks’ active install base, 600,000+ against 200,000+, which reflects its broader appeal beyond developers.
It’s the stronger choice for anyone who wants a large design library to start from, and a less proportionate one for a reader who only wants Pro-tier blocks without the wider Kadence ecosystem the bundled pricing now brings with it.
GenerateBlocks vs Kadence Blocks: Feature Comparison
| GenerateBlocks | Kadence Blocks | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes, 6 core blocks | Yes, 30+ blocks |
| Design library / pre-built patterns | No, built from a small set of basic blocks | Yes, Design Library with hundreds of patterns |
| Pro pricing model | Standalone, $99/year, unlimited sites | Bundled into Essentials/Pro/Elite tiers ($99-$499/year), site-capped |
| WordPress.org listing | Yes | Yes |
| PF Score | 92.1 (Platinum) | 95.8 (Platinum) |
| Active installs | 200,000+ | 600,000+ |
| Vulnerability history | 8 total, 0 active, 100% resolved | 35 total, 0 active, 100% resolved |
| Requires a companion theme | No, theme-agnostic | No, theme-agnostic, though pairs with the free Kadence Theme |
How to Choose:
- Want the lightest possible code output and don’t mind building layouts from scratch? GenerateBlocks.
- Want a large library of ready-made blocks and patterns to drop straight in? Kadence Blocks.
- Only need Pro features for the blocks plugin itself, without a wider ecosystem? GenerateBlocks Pro’s standalone, unlimited-site pricing is the simpler purchase.
- Already using or considering the Kadence theme, or want built-in security and backups too? Kadence’s bundled tiers cover more ground for one annual fee.
- Managing many sites on a budget? GenerateBlocks Pro’s unlimited-site licence at $99/year has no per-site cap, unlike Kadence’s tiered site limits.
Kadence Blocks vs GenerateBlocks – Final Verdict
This isn’t a case of one plugin being better than the other, it’s a case of two different ways of building a page.
GenerateBlocks keeps things simple: a small set of blocks, a light footprint, and one annual price that doesn’t change no matter how many sites you run.
Kadence Blocks gives you far more to work with straight out of the box, but reaching its paid features now means buying into a wider Kadence bundle rather than paying for the blocks plugin on its own.
If you’d rather build a page from a small toolkit and keep pricing simple, GenerateBlocks is the safer pick. If you want a large library of ready-made blocks and don’t mind the bundled pricing that comes with it, Kadence Blocks is the stronger fit.
Ready to compare data? View GenerateBlocks’ full listing on PluginFind, or view Kadence Blocks on PluginFind. You can also browse every WordPress page builder plugin tracked on PluginFind.