Spectra Review - Should you go with this website page builder tool?

Building a website may sound very technical and complex to a lot of people, as they think that it is the process that uses extensive programming knowledge. But, for more than two decades, WordPress has made the process of creating a website easy for everyone with its website page building plugins.

These plugins let you build website pages with drag-and-drop functionalities where you do not have to write a single line of code. Although there are countless plugins available on WordPress for website page building, Spectra seems to be a revolutionary contributor.

However, is it the ultimate website page builder you need or should you look for some more alternatives? Here is a comprehensive Spectra page builder review.

A Brief about Spectra

For the last 13+ years, Spectra has been one of the widely used website builder plugins for WordPress. It consists of more than 50+ page builder products, called addons, that users can choose from to build a great website product.

Some of their addons are Astra theme, which has more than 1 million active users, and some well-known starter templates with again more than 1 million active installs. The team of Spectra is big too, with 100+ members, which gives them an edge of reliability over the competition.

Analyzing the key features and functionalities of Spectra

A good website page builder is defined by the key features it offers. Spectra's key features can be seen in 5 categories, each one offering multiple feature sets for website page building.

It offers an extensive suite of blocks, which is more than 35 in number, divided into 5 categories: essentials, content, marketing, form styler, and creative. You also get over 100 website templates and some pre-designed patterns and wireframes. It has flexbox-powered containers, sticky containers, and customizable forms.

Then it has visual page builder options offering sub-features like container layout, dynamic content, animations, popup builder, responsive conditions, display conditions, and the loop builder. The loop builder facilitates dynamic content displays, whereas the responsive design features make sure that you get optimized website viewing across various devices.

Spectra also taps the SEO segment, claiming to be the only performance-focused page builder with some interesting statistics like achieving a page speed score of 2.74s, a ping of 291ms and a Google page speed of 0.5s.

You can smoothly integrate Spectra with other plugins like Custom Fields, ACF, and Toolset. With that, there is a popup build, which enables the creation of customized pop-ups to make the user engagement better.

Some of my favorite Spectra features are below:

Extensive Block Library: 35+ blocks for diverse design needs

Rich Template Selection: Over 100 templates, patterns, and wireframes to choose from.

Dynamic Content: Loop builder for creating content displays

Responsive Design: Ensures websites look great across devices.

Popup Builder: Creates custom popups for engagement.

Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Allows for easy website construction.

SEO and Performance Tools: Built-in features for optimization

Affordable Pricing: Premium features are accessible through budget-friendly subscriptions.

The pricing and value

Spectra Pro has flexible annual and lifetime subscription options with different website limits. The bundled toolkits, like the essential toolkit (which includes the Astra Pro theme, premium starter templates, and good support) and the Business Toolkit (which includes Sure feedback, Sure Writer, and access to SkillJet Academy), have different prices.

You can go up to 1000 websites and the best part is that the cost does not increase too much. For example, for 1 website, when billed manually, the Spectra Pro is $49, the Essential toolkit is $79, and the Business toolkit is $149. And, when you go lifetime, you save up to 40% on costs.

Spectra Annual Pricing

Spectra offers annual pricing plans with minimum cost. It is packed with great features and also includes a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Spectra Pro	Essential Toolkit	Business Toolkit
$49.00/year	$79.00/year	$149.00/year
Powerful Features Extensions Custom Blocks	Premium Starter Templates Astra Pro Priority Support	SureFeedback – Standard (Annual) SureWriter – Pro (Annual) Priority Support
Get Started

Spectra Lifetime Pricing

Spectra offers the best and cheapest lifetime pricing plans with valuable features. All pricing is in USD and comes with great support, a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and more.

Spectra Pro	Essential Toolkit	Business Toolkit
$199.00/one time payment	$399.00/one time payment	$599.00/one time payment
Powerful Features Extensions Custom Blocks	Premium Starter Templates Astra Pro Priority Support	SureFeedback – Standard (Lifetime) SureWriter – Pro (Lifetime) Priority Support
Get Started

How is the installation and setup of Spectra?

Installing Spectra Pro follows a two-step process where first is the free version from WordPress.org and then you get the premium module. This approach gives users an opportunity to explore basic functionalities before making any shift to their pro version.

The dashboard is clean and easy to handle, divided into 7 subpages for customization, keeping everything user-friendly.

User Interface and Design Process

The user interface and design process of Spectra Pro is very interactive, featuring a drag-and-drop system for easy content placement and rearrangement. The interface is divided into seven main sections for efficient design. Also, users get real-time editing where they can view changes to their pages right instantly.

What about the knowledge base or resources?

Another good trait of a good website builder is that it should have necessary resources or blogs to guide the beginners about its usage. Spectra has a separate section highlighted on their website containing blogs, documentation, and more.

They have a separate What's New section that gives the latest updates and features. The blog section has some really helpful guides and the knowledge base section contains some of the most asked questions and answers to them. In the documentation section, you get categories of blocks, developers, installation and updates, and more, making the learning process smooth. Users can also follow step-by-step video tutorials if they are not readers, which further strengthens the Spectra.

Key Strengths of Spectra Pro

The template library gives you access to a selection of page templates, patterns, and wireframes, which is one of the main strengths of Spectra Pro. These templates are single-page templates that can be used for different purposes, like the nonprofit organization.

Of course, you get some free patterns and wireframes, which give easy website design and customization. The responsive design feature makes sure that the website looks great on different devices and flexbox containers allow flexible layout creation.

Spectra Pro also uses features like Loop Builder for displaying content dynamically and pop-up builders for better engagement and conversion. It does contribute to its strength and is something appreciated by the users.

Comparison with Competitors

Spectra Pro is a well-known tool to build websites and a good alternative to tools like Elementor and Beaver Builder.

While Elementor offers more widgets, Spectra Pro provides a strong block-based editing system closely aligned with the WordPress block editor. Spectra Pro also stands out with schema-compatible blocks and a Lottie animation block.

Spectra Pro is great with:

Block-Based Focus: Strong alignment with the WordPress block editor.
Speed and Performance: Minimal impact on website speed.
Unique Features: Schema-compatible blocks and Lottie animation.
Spectra Pro and Spectra One
Spectra One, a block-based theme, complements Spectra Pro, working seamlessly together. This combination enhances the flexibility and functionality of WordPress websites.
Integrated Ecosystem: Spectra One theme complements Spectra Pro.

Few Limitations

Despite its strengths, Spectra Pro has some limitations. A few of them are:

Copy/Paste Limitation: Cannot copy elements across blocks.
Popup Limitation: No scroll-triggered popup option.
Theme Dependency: Some templates need the Astra theme.

Final Verdict

The Spectra Pro for sure offers a complete solution for WordPress website page building, with its user-friendly interface, wide range of features, and affordable pricing. Its block-based approach, speed, and compatibility with other tools make it a compelling option in the WordPress visual page builder market.

While it has a few limitations, its advantages make it a worthy contender for website creation. It’s a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective choice for building professional-looking websites. You can consider it as a major “GO.”