The Thrive Theme Builder (aka Shapeshift theme) is a brand new product by Thrive Themes. Unlike their other popular products, this is a theme, not a plugin. They have released a theme after a very long time. This Shapeshift theme is supposed to replace all of their older themes such as Rise, Pressive, Performag etc. Now they strongly recommend their Thrive Theme members to use their new Thrive Theme Builder instead of any of their older themes.
Difference between Thrive Theme Builder (Shapeshift theme) and older Thrive Themes (Pressive, Rise etc. )
I have been using Thrive Architect and Thrive Themes such as Rise, Pressive to build websites for my clients. The massive issues with their older theme is the lack of flexibility. You will have to be content with the design, layout and structure provided by that specific. You couldn’t change the blog layout, the single blog post layout, header, footer etc. These issues bothered me and my clients very much, because some of them wanted social icons in the header, some them wanted 4 columns in their footer, some clients weren’t happy with the blog layout and so on. I always ended up using lots of CSS codes to make changes to the design, but that took a lot of time and effort.
But all of these issues are now taken care of with the release of their new Shapeshift theme. It comes with the Thrive Theme Builder. The Thrive Theme Builder is a visual front end editor with which you can edit and make custom header, footer, blog archive and single blog post layout and designs. I have made several websites with the new Thrive Theme Builder, it is extremely easy and fun to use. My clients were happy to have completely custom designed websites from top to bottom.
Difference between Thrive Theme Builder and Thrive Architect
Thrive Architect is a content editor, using that you can design pages, blog posts etc. but it is unable to make theme header, footer, blog layout and single blog post layout and design. Most newbies get confused with this.
On the other hand, Thrive Theme Builder does what Thrive Architect is unable to do, such as designing the theme elements such as custom header, footer, blog layout etc.
So the first thing which comes to your mind is that the Thrive Theme Builder is useless without Thrive Architect? It obviously needs the Thrive Architect plugin to edit the contents? That’s what exactly I thought when they released the Thrive Theme Builder.
But as always, Thrive Themes wanted to sell Thrive Theme Builder as a separate product. In order to do that, not only the Thrive Theme Builder should be able to make layout and structure of the website, but it also should be able to edit the contents of the pages and posts. If they don’t, clients might use other plugins such as Elementor to edit the contents, and they might want to switch to Elementor Pro in the future. So in order to prevent that, Thrive Themes included a Light version of Thrive Architect in the Thrive Theme Builder. So clients can build and design their full website using only Thrive Theme Builder itself.
They did not include all the features and functionalities of Thrive Architect in Thrive Theme Builder. Because if they did, no one would buy Thrive Architect anymore. Thrive Architect is a very popular page builder plugin and a lot of people buy it to build landing pages, funnels, websites etc.
By selling Thrive Theme Builder as a separate plugin, they will have some extra cash in their pocket.
Missing features and elements in Thrive Architect light in Thrive Theme Builder (Shapeshift theme)
There are about 13 elements and features in Thrive Architect light which is included in the Thrive Theme Builder. They are:
- Landing page templates
- Click to tweet
- Content Reveal
- Countdown timer
- Evergreen countdown timer
- Credit card
- Fill Counter
- Google Map
- Progress bar
- Table
- Call to action
- Guarantee box
- Pricing table
To read more about the missing elements and features in detail. Please read this blog “13 Elements Missing in Thrive Architect Light in Thrive Theme Builder“
Should you buy Thrive Theme Builder (Shapeshift theme) or Thrive Architect?
Thrive Architect and Thrive Theme Builder, each of them costs $65. The best thing about Thrive products is that you will get lifetime updates and new features, you will not need to renew the licence like other popular front end page builders like Elementor Pro, Beaver Builder etc.
But if you are on a tight budget, you can either buy Thrive Architect or Thrive Theme Builder, then which one should you buy? Well it depends, if you are a service provider like plumber, electrician etc. you will need a custom header with call now button, social icons. In that case buy the Thrive Theme Builder. You can also buy Thrive Theme Builder if you write blogs and need to have a custom designed blog page, single blog post page.
If you are an affiliate marketer or sell your own products, run facebook ads, PPC campaign to drive traffic to landing pages, then you should buy Thrive Architect. Because in Thrive Architect they have the conversion focused elements such as countdown timer, CTA (Call to action), landing page templates and other conversion focused elements which helps to increase sale.
Professional Thrive Themes, Thrive Architect & Thrive Theme Builder (Shapeshift) Services
- Making a full website using Thrive Theme Builder. Custom designed header, footer, blog archive, single blog post template.
- Desiging Websites & Landing pages with Thrive Themes & Thrive Architect
- Making custom header, footer, blog page and blog post template using Thrive Theme builder
- Customizing Thrive themes such as Ignition, Pressive, Rise etc.
- Making & setting up popups with Thrive Leads
- Making existing Thrive Architect landing pages mobile responsive