Starter Templates vs Visual Portfolio
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Starter Templates v4.7.9 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.9/5 Visit Details | Visual Portfolio v3.9.0 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 1M+ | 60,000+ |
| Last updated | October 20, 2026 | October 24, 2026 |
| Editions | Starter Templates · Essential and Business Toolkits ($) | Visual Portfolio · Visual Portfolio Pro ($) |
| Pros | Large library of free website and section templates; Works with Elementor, Spectra, Beaver Builder and the block editor; Onboarding installs the needed plugins | Grid, masonry, justified, tiles, slider and carousel layouts; Gutenberg blocks and shortcodes for the same layouts; Filtering and sorting in the free version |
| Cons | Premium templates need a toolkit licence key; AI builder and image features call external services | Search, watermarks, social feeds and proofing need the Pro plugin; Large plugin with many blocks and patterns; Pro features are shown as upgrade notes in the free admin |
| Mentioned in our posts | — | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Full website template import, Import of site options from a template, AI website builder, Plugin install and activation during onboarding, Licence check for premium templates ($) | Grid, masonry, justified, tiles, slider and carousel layouts, Tiles layout with row spans, Shortcodes for portfolio, filter and sort output, Filter and sort controls, Search control ($), Image watermarks (Pro upgrade note) ($), Social feed sources such as Instagram and YouTube (Pro upgrade note) ($), Client proofing page (Pro upgrade screen in free code) ($), Gutenberg blocks and saved layouts |
| Integrations | ||
| Plugins | Elementor | WPML, Yoast SEO, Elementor, Divi, Rank Math, Visual Portfolio Pro ($) |
| Other | ZipWP API | — |
| Requires WordPress | 6.6 | — |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | — |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | — |
| Phones home | Only if you agree | No |
| External services | api.zipwp.com, fonts.googleapis.com, ipwho.is, api.ipify.org, credits.startertemplates.com, app.zipwp.com, websitedemos.net | — |
| Blocks | 1 | 24 |
| Shortcodes | — | 3 |