WordPress is my favorite website and blogging platform of all time. And do you know what’s even better? Google feels the same way.
Google loves WordPress themes, and the WordPress platform tends to rank better than any other platform due to the variety of different SEO plugin options.
The best part of the self-hosted WordPress platform is choosing your theme. Designing your custom site is the best part of the entire process for me.
At the same time, it can get overwhelming because when you type the word “business” in the WordPress Premium search bar, you get hundreds of options.
For me, it all comes down to functionality when choosing a WordPress theme. I don’t want to spend hours and hours trying to figure out how to create certain headers or menu and footer options.
With that said, today I’d like to spend some time comparing the Tesla and the Elegant WordPress themes. I think they are both great, but there are several differences in their styles and what they offer.
So let’s dive right into this review!
Tesla Themes
Tesla Themes, now metamorphosed as WPRealEstate, came onto the scene in 2013 as a premium theme shop for WordPress users. Currently, they offer around 15 different sleek and cleanly-built theme designs that you can use.
As a result, there’s little work to do with Tesla Themes (now known as WPRealEstate). You don’t have to spend hours building your WordPress website. You can simply import a comprehensive demo theme with a few clicks.
WPRealEstate is built on a framework (parent theme) with custom child themes built on top of the frameworks to create unique designs and customization. Because of this, the only interaction you will have with the template is through the control panel, which makes it lovely and easy.
Furthermore, the theme demos are easily customizable. You can even customize your preferred theme from scratch using the native WordPress customization tool. The themes integrate seamlessly with the WordPress’classic and block editor, so you won’t need to depend on any third-party WordPress page builder.
You can edit and customize theme headers, menus, body, sidebars, footers, widgets, and more from the customization tool.
WPRealEstate is a premium WordPress theme and there’s no free option available, although there are different plans at varying rates you can choose. You’ll find out more about WPRealEstate pricing later.
Themes
There are a variety of different theme demos for the WPRealEstate theme.
All of their theme demos are mobile optimized and are always updated and compatible with the latest devices. WPRealEstate is constantly cranking out new theme designs all the time, so be sure to keep up with their progress.
They break the WPRealEstate theme down into 14 different beautiful designs for a variety of different real estate website use cases. You can see all of them in the picture below.
WPRealEstate incorporates several SEO functions which make your website optimized for search engines.
When it comes to business websites, they have a few theme demos for real estate agencies to choose from. So if you are a real estate agency owner or consultant, you will surely be able to find something that you like.
Plugin
WPRealEstate features an exclusive plugin for WordPress real estate websites. The plugin lets you create and manage real estate listings.
These listings can be searched, mapped, or filtered with ease. As a result, the plugin makes it easy for your website visitors to find the perfect property.
Aside from listings, you can also display and manage agents with the exclusive plugin. You can display agents individually, on different pages, or collectively, on a team’s page.
Customer Support
WPRealEstate features multiple customer support options. These include an FAQ and documentation.
They contain information on using WPRealEstate and WordPress CMS in general. In addition to the documentation and FAQ, WPRealEstate features a blog.
If you want to reach the WPRealEstate customer support team directly, your only option is to submit a contact form. You can submit one from Monday to Friday, and expect a reply from 2 am-6 pm EST.
Pricing Model
With WPRealEstate, there are three different pricing packages similar to Elegant Themes. Thankfully, all its pricing comes with lifetime rights.
Here are its three pricing plans:
- Personal (plugin only) – $79 (1 site)
- Pro (theme + plugin) – $99 (3 sites)
- Unlimited (theme + plugin) – $199 (Unlimited sites)
Elegant Themes
Elegant Themes has grown to be one of the most widely used WordPress companies in the marketplace. With their stunning theme templates and robust features and plugins, it’s tough to beat the value you get when using their product.
Additionally, Elegant Themes houses the popular Divi theme and page builder plugin. It’s their flagship product and also the most installed premium WordPress theme. It’s a mammoth feat considering the thousands of premium WordPress themes available.
When you use Elegant Themes and Divi, you get more than just a WordPress theme. You get a web-building framework, which you can use to create about any website.
It’s a WYSIWYG framework, so you won’t need to learn how to code on Udemy or other online learning platforms. You can build hundreds of websites without writing a single line of code. Every part of every website you build is customizable with Divi, and anyone can use the theme.
Among Divi theme templates, you’ll find options for online stores, non-profits, businesses, restaurants, educators, and service providers, to name a few.
History
Elegant Themes came into existence in 2008 by Nick Roach, a college student at the time. Today Elegant Themes is one of the most popular WordPress themes available.
They started getting more recognition when they released their Divi Theme in late 2013. The entire company now focuses on producing top-quality products for every niche.
Today, Elegant Themes has approximately 800,000 customers. I found a great example list of Divi WordPress themes that exhibits their powerful theme layouts and customization capabilities.
Themes
As mentioned before, the primary theme you get from Elegant Themes is Divi. Divi allows drag and drop building with true visual editing and custom CSS control.
In numbers, Divi boasts over 200 elements and over 2,000 layouts. The themes are suitable for any type of website, most especially for building eCommerce and marketing websites.
Unlike other Divi alternatives, Divi is an ultra-responsive theme, and websites and pages you create are responsive by default. They’ll display to fit, irrespective of the devices your website visitors use.
Furthermore, Divi supports inline text editing with many design options, global elements, and styles. In addition, you can save and manage your designs.
Aside from Divi, Elegant Themes also features the Extra Magazine WordPress theme. The Extra Magazine theme is similar to the Divi theme, especially when it comes to responsiveness and customizability.
However, as the name suggests, it’s exclusive for building WordPress magazine websites. Among its unique features are the ratings & reviews, category builder, and extra design.
Plugins
Elegant Themes has a variety of different plugins to help you with the customization of your WordPress theme. Let’s look at a few of their most popular Divi plugins.
Monarch Social Media Sharing Plugin
The Monarch Social Media Sharing Plugin is one of the most highly-regarded and trusted plugins for WordPress.
This plugin even has a live demo that you can check out! It boasts over 20 different social platforms like Twitter to choose from to display on your site.
There are also five different locations to place the social media sharing buttons on, including a floating sidebar, above and below content, images and videos, automatic pop-ups, and automatic fly-ins.
Divi Builder Plugin
The Divi Builder Plugin is related to the Divi theme but doesn’t necessarily have to be used exclusively with the Divi Theme.
This is one of the Elegant Themes’ most popular products, and it’s the one that thrust them into the spotlight.
The Divi Builder Plugin has over 46 content modules to choose from. They have several demos you can look at to help learn about its capabilities.
Divi offers an excellent drag and drop builder, along with true visual editing, custom CSS control, responsive editing, global elements, styles & more. Explore Divi today to experience the best of WordPress page building.
This is an extremely powerful plugin that pairs well with the Divi Theme option. Hence, be prepared to have lots of fun designing and customizing your website.
Bloom Email Opt-in Plugin
Bloom Email Opt-In and Lead Generation Plugin is a perfect addition to anyone focusing on creating a list of email subscribers.
There are a variety of beautifully designed themes and options for the actual email subscriber box.
You can place your opt-in boxes in six different display types including automatic opt-in pop-ups, automatic opt-in fly-ins, in-line opt-in forms, below content opt-in forms, widget areas, and a “required” opt-in to get the content box.
As I mentioned earlier, there are several other plugins that Elegant Themes have. You can use these plugins on any other websites that you have as well.
Customer Support
You can get in touch with the Elegant Themes customer support team by submitting a contact form. However, for a faster reply, you should use the Live Chat option on the website.
Furthermore, you can drop your inquiries and questions in the Elegant Themes community and get support from other users. Similarly, you can join the Elegant Themes Facebook group.
Aside from direct support, you can also explore the resources. Primarily, you can consult the in-depth documentation, which contains info on everything about using Elegant Themes. In addition, you can browse the blog.
Elegant Themes offer technical support to members. You can only access this technical support if you’re logged in and have a valid subscription.
Pricing Model
Elegant Themes is a simple subscription-based model where you can subscribe for $89/year and get access to all of their WordPress Themes.
This is a great deal considering I just paid $39 for one theme from another company I won’t mention. I wanted to put into perspective how great this pricing model is from Elegant Themes.
You can also pay a one-time fee of $249 and get lifetime access.
You can buy a single theme if you want, but they are trying to encourage you to buy the entire package to get access to all of the themes.
Elegant Themes vs WPRealEstate (fka Tesla Themes): Pros And Cons
WPRealEstate Pros
- Easy to use
- Premade templates
- Supports WordPress native customization
- Relatively more affordable
- Parent and child theme framework
WPRealEstate Cons
- Poor customer support
- Few plugins
Elegant Themes Pros
- Easy to install
- Highly customizable
- Responsive templates
- Many templates
- Supports different website types
Elegant Themes Cons
- Expensive pricing
WPRealEstate Themes vs Elegant Themes: Similarities And Differences
Similarities
- Both WPRealEstate and Elegant Themes support WordPress
- With either Elegant Themes or WPRealEstate (formerly known as Tesla Themes), you get premade templates
- Themes created by both services are highly customizable
- They both feature plugins
- Both Elegant Themes and WPRealEstate are premium WordPress theme providers
Differences
- Elegant Themes feature Divi and Elegant Magazine themes, while WPRealEstate features one theme with different demos.
- WPRealEstate features fewer theme designs than Elegant Themes
- Elegant Themes feature more plugins than WPRealEstate
- WPRealEstate has affordable pricing plans than Elegant Themes
- While themes by Elegant Themes are geared towards several niches, the WPRealEstate theme is built only for the real estate industry.
- Tesla Themes uses WordPress’s native customizer, while Elegant Themes supports different page builders.
Conclusion
Having the ability to gain access to so many different themes for such a minimal amount of money seems like a no-brainer to me. Both Elegant Themes and WPReal Estate (fka Tesla Themes) have similar pricing setups.
Elegant Theme trumps WPRealEstate in the fact that they have gone the extra mile and included their widely popular plugins, such as Monarch, Divi, and Bloom Email.
It will also depend on what exactly you are looking to do with your business. If you look at WPRealEstate, for example, they only have WordPress themes that are related to real estate. So if you are not a landlord or real estate agency owner, you might want to look elsewhere.
In the end, it’s going to be your preference and what you feel most comfortable using. Now that you know the different themes and some of the features that come along with each company, it will hopefully make you feel a little more comfortable with making a decision.
Tom loves to write on technology, e-commerce & internet marketing. I started my first e-commerce company in college, designing and selling t-shirts for my campus bar crawl using print-on-demand. Having successfully established multiple 6 & 7-figure e-commerce businesses (in women’s fashion and hiking gear), I think I can share a tip or 2 to help you succeed.