Enfold vs X Theme vs Avada
Choosing a theme to design websites in WordPress usually goes one of two ways. Developers choose a theme geared toward a specific niche or they find a theme that can build a variety of different types of websites. Niche specific themes are great, but if you plan on building a website with room to grow, you may find that an all-purpose or multi-purpose theme may be more convenient and cost effective. You will have more options when it comes to future growth of your website. As it develops, you will easily be able to add more functionality and features.
You may find that many themes labeled as all-purpose/multi-purpose can be clunky, have compatibility problems or just aren’t that versatile. The number of WordPress themes that are designed for multi-purpose use is ever increasing. But there really are only a few themes that really pass the test when it comes to successfully building a wide variety of websites with WordPress.
3 of the Top Multi-Purpose Themes
This article will compare and contrast three themes that actually live up to the claim of multi-purpose use. Today we are looking at Avada, Enfold and X Theme – three of the biggest and best themes on the market for WordPress. The great thing about the massive Themeforest marketplace, is that it provides theme authors lots of opportunities for feedback from users. The authors can take feedback and make adjustments accordingly. These juggernauts have been put to the test by hundreds of thousands of WordPress users and it seems as though they’ve succeeded. I have some experience using each of these themes to build different types of sites.
Each one of these expansive themes have their own relative advantages and disadvantages. We’ll discuss some of the strong points and best applications for all three of these themes. When it comes down to it, all three can produce a wide variety of websites. It really depends on your preference, how your brain works and what type of site you are building. If you have any other favorite multi-purpose themes feel free to let us know in the comment section below.
Avada
Avada is the oldest of the three themes we are looking at in this article and at the time I am writing this article. It has the most sales with hundreds of thousands of installs! Avada can really do everything it claims and makes it easy too.
With unlimited design options and a bunch of great features it has developed into a powerful tool for WordPress web developers. You can use Avada to build any site imaginable from simple one page sites to large directories. Use it for eCommerce, portfolio sites, corporate, creative, online shops etc.
FAST AND POWERFUL
If you know your way around the WordPress dashboard then you will be able to get the hang of Avada quickly. With 28 demos for various different niches you have a full range of sites you can build. Customize anything on the site without coding at all. Build your own custom templates from scratch, or modify the demo content and save your changes. I instantly got along great with the fusion page builder, Avada’s page building interface. After a couple hours of exploration I was confident I could make any type of page I wanted.
Once you get used to how everything is laid out in the admin panel, you will find that it’s a very convenient tool. You build pages with any sort of column layout you choose. For me, I found that Avada works best for creating business sites. I really like the flip boxes and modal pop-up elements to showcase selling points for professional services.
When it comes to building sites for anything, I think Avada is the most beginner friendly. It’s has more elements and convenient more theme options than Enfold. You can produce some awesome sites for photography, business or any other site. Like Enfold and X, Avada can be used for anything you can dream up. The Fusion page builder is very versatile, probably more so than the other two. It integrates well with Visual Composer as well if you prefer using it to build pages.
Key Features:
- Very solid support and documentation
- All-time best seller
- Well thought out theme options
- Plenty of header options, logo above, below
- Fusion page builder is super easy to use
- Easy mega menus
- Versatile
- 6 Blog layout options
- WooCommerce ready
- One click demo install
- Advanced theme options for layout and design
X Theme
This theme is the youngest on this list, but only by 6 months. The creators of X tout it as, “the last theme you will ever have to buy.” Technically that’s true. You could use this theme for creating any type of website you could think of. X Theme also churns out the most modern looking website designs out of all three. It’s good for showcasing lots of high quality images and videos as long as your server is up to par.
X Theme stands out from the other two with the unique design structures. The backend is laid out a little differently than Avada and Enfold. The developers opted to go with a more contemporary approach. I really appreciate all the easy to access tutorial videos. This is helpgul for beginners.
Users have been captivated by the stunning websites created with X. With the option to use dozens of FREE extensions, developers will enjoy the versatility of this theme. The page builder, Cornerstone has undergone some major improvements since it’s release and is also a stanalone plugin. After I got acquainted with the idea of using stacks and the customizer, building was easy smoothly.
Trendy Design
The design itself is modeled after “stacks.” Which are multiple designs used for different applications. With their innovative design “stacks,” you can create all sorts of custom templates. It’s fast when it comes to page loading. Currently there are 4 stacks – Icon, Review, Integrity and Ethos. When you purchase this theme there are child themes for each stack included.
The great thing about X is that it has been evolving quickly and it offers a really trendy look. X comes with a page builder called Cornerstone which is nice but not quite as intuitive as Enfold or Avada’s visual page builders. With 30+ custom extensions to add more power to this theme; you can squeeze even more mileage out of X. Developers that are good at using shortcodes and editing PHP files, X is very efficient and fast. On the other hand, beginners may have trouble customizing X than they will the other two themes on the list.
Key Features:
- Stacks – unique designs within the same theme
- Lots of custom extensions
- Cornerstone page builder
- Innovative template builder
- Lots of tutorial videos
- Megamenus
- Exclusive addon modules function like plugins
- Demo content comes with layered PSD files
- Preview changes before publishing
Enfold
Enfold is a very popular choice among WordPress newbies, probably it is powerful and support is responsive. The backend is very easy to get used to. Creating layouts, adding content and editing is super easy with Enfold’s Avia Layout builder. I don’t think the theme options are quite as extensive as Avada’s or X’s, but using Avia to create and edit pages is simple. Spend a few hours with it and you will be able to create column layouts, sections and add elements with ease.
While it may not be as versatile as Avada, you have everything you need to build websites for anything from corporate websites to creative blogs. Enfolds theme options panel is straightforward. There is a convenient custom CSS box for specific element within the options panel to change things like menu hove effects instantly.
Enfold was the first multi-purpose I bought and it is still one of my go to themes. It’s very solid and allows you to get a site up fast and make changes quickly. The developer support is also very helpful, any threads I opened with a questions were answered within 24 hours and were very helpful.
DEMO CONTENT
The demo content lets even the newest WordPress users get to work right away. The drag & drop page builder is the most intuitive of the three themes on today’s docket. Like Avada many developers opt to add content making small changes to the pre-built demos.
As far as features there are more than you could ever need. You could probably use this theme exclusively to build hundreds of different sites and nobody would know. You can customize anything with the custom drag & drop template builder to create completely unique layouts. I had some trouble getting Visual Composer to work with Enfolds page builder, but it if you really don’t need VC with this theme. Enfold has a great native page builder and is great for minimal, clean websites.
One drawback of Enfold demo content is that it can be kind of vanilla when it comes to eye catching designs that set your sites apart. With enough creativity you can easily add design flair to the demo content. But if you are looking for a site that already has interesting color schemes and stunning visual effects, you might want to go with X Theme.
Key Features:
- Avia visual page builder
- Straightforward use cases for demo conten
- Fast and helfpul developer support
- WPML ready
- No knowledge of PHP/HTML/CSS required
- Contact Form Builder
- Advanced header options
- Extensive documentation with video tutorials
Which one is for you?
*The table represents our top pics for each category based on a 5 star rating system with 5 being the best.
| Avada | X Theme | Enfold | |
| Speed | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Ease of Use | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Modern Design | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ |
| Flexibility | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Trendy | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ |
| Configuration | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Customization | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Layout Options | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Plugin Compatibility | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Cross Platform Compatibility | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Beginner Friendly | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Responsive | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Theme Options | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
Each of these multi-purpose themes for WordPress are like your own personal Swiss army knife. As far as versatility I think I’d go with Avada. It’s compatible with all sorts of plugins and gives you easy options to showcase your content right off the bat.
Don’t count X out though. Considering creative flair and trendy design features, it’s definitely the most current looking of the three. For seasoned developers who want an impressive, trendy look I, X Theme is the way to go. X is innovative in the way that the dashboard is configured. X Theme is perfect for building really eye grabbing sites with responsive functions that trump both Avada and Enfold in terms of artistic merit.
Avada is probably the most user friendly, giving you the power to control and make custom changes within the intuitive admin panel. It outputs minimal, clean websites and there are very convenient options for things like headers, logos and page building. If you like the less is more approach, Enfold give you a great platform to do that with. While I mentioned a few times it’s not quite as easy or versatile as Avada, it’s a very close margin.
Wrapping Up
All three of these themes all responsive, cross platform compatible and optimized to work on all devices. With powerful theme options you can customize anything imaginable. It really depends on your workflow and preferences. Remember, by using a multi-purpose theme, you will have access to a large pool of design resources. This can come at a price.
One drawback of big multi-purpose themes is that they may have too many options for beginners to wrap their heads around. Also, with all the jquery plugins, CSS files and heavy code, it can slow down your site’s performance. Performance concerns like page loading times is going to be an issue with any megatheme, and the differences between all 3 are negligible. This is more of a server issue.
If you know your way around WordPress any one of these themes are a great investment and you may find situations where you would want all of them at different points. For newbies, I’d say use Avada. For those who have some WordPress experience both X and Enfold are worth checking out.
The truth is all the themes featured here today have limitless layout and design options to keep you happy. Let us know if you have any favorite features or use cases for these three best-selling themes. There you go, now get started and have fun!
Great comparison article! You’re really experting things 🙂
Awesome topic! Would be even greater if you could grade each theme by features in your comparison table. And for example compare performance with charts. Just an idea. Thanks!
In the paragraph about Enfold you tell us “Enfold offers some great advantages when it comes to SPEED and clean code over the other two themes.” and in the comparison you tell the opposite, that Avada is the fastest!? What is it then? 🙂
Thanks for bringing this up, I think I’ll do a speed test article and compare all three with Google’s PageSpeed Tools so we get a difinitive answer. Honestly they are pretty close in terms of performance and page loading time. I’ll need to fix that part of the article. What I found out AFTER I wrote this is that speed is mainly determined by your hosting setup.
Both themes make heavy use of API calls, so if you have alot of media elements and fx on your page you’ll want to optimize your media and install something like WP rocket. Then you’ll be fast like this song…Speed by Atari Teenage Riot
Aha ok, thx. I bumped into Rocket a few times and was thinkin bout preferring that to W3T caching…
Good article! Avada is good but i think for some little issue Enfold is better also for seo
Thanks for this,
I bought Enfold when it came out, and i’ve nearly exclusively got every single client to buy it ever since.
I even had a whole tonne of referral credit before envato took it all back.. yay.. but i was growing restless and was looking at X and Avada, so should I buy them and try them? or stick with enfold? I mean I must have used enfold over 50 times or more.. I can’t keep track any more.. a couple to a few new launches on average each month… always enfold..
Avada and Enfold are similar enough, I like Avada for business sites. They have useful features like animated flip boxes. I’d at least try out X, it has some nice built-in features for portfolios and photography style websites.
So, to build a custom magazine style layout site for a mid traffic site(~40k/day) which one is better according to you?
I like Enfold’s magazine demos out of the three. If you want a strictly magazine theme Simple Mag is a good one too. For 40k traffic a day you’ll want to get VPS hosting.
Hi! late comment… but I’m still searchin a new Theme. what u think about UNCODE, ARMADA and BLADE ? i’m searching for Tests or Reviews but can’t find. as more as I try to pick up one theme i’ m getting crazy^^
best regards!
Hey Michael! Uncode is pretty awesome and easy to learn. I haven’t tried Armada or Blade yet so I couldn’t tell you.
ok… i think i go blade 😉 uncode has still no related posts… so thats necessary i think. perhaps another time.
thanks!
For me, Enfold ist the best.
– Very good Support
– Good Documentation
– Quick Updates (via FTP)
Hey which one ia great for tourism and trave l website to attract new cusomers
It’s really up to your preference, all three will work great it just depends on your workflow. The easiest choice for me would be Enfold. They already have a pre-built demo for travel websites.
Check it out at this link http://www.kriesi.at/themedemo/?theme=enfold-overview
If you want to see a live travel site built with Enfold checkout the Bhutan Travel Bureau website
Hay,
Just thought i’d let you know that the way you write with font styles, headings and your layout makes your blog very appealing to read. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words 🙂
I have used all 3 and ENFOLD is far the most powerful and easy to use. Their support is truly. You never need to contact a developer for any custom work
That is true. I found that their support consistently goes above and beyond what they are required to help with.
Your site is built with enfold, so i think you really like it 🙂 i tried X before and it has done poorly with smartphones not responsive as it should be. I installed Sahifa and today I purchased and installed Enfold, i must say its really easy… question though how do you allow multi author to log and post in their own page, using enfold ?
It’s super easy. When you are logged in as an admin, go to Users>Add New. Fill in the form fields and choose Editor from the drop down list. For a good source on how to manage users with WordPress, check out The training handbook at make.wordpress.com. Also check out Roles and Capabilities.
If you want to make money from your website by charging membership or subscription fees – such as for an educational or magazine site, then you will needed the extended ThemeForest license to use either Enfold, X-Theme, or Avada. This license costs $3000 per website. The $59 regular license is only for free content websites.
Oh, no! It’s the elephant in the room 🙂 The licensing of products surrounding WordPress, which is GPL licensed is very confusing. It can throw some people for a loop. You can still monetize your site with a regular license. You can have a checkout cart or sell services, advertise etc. Always speak with the theme author if you are unsure if you need an extended license. Check out this discussion on Themeforest about licensing. For the price an extended license may be worth it depending on how much money your project makes.
Thanks for the great comparison — I’m especially interested in multi-language sites and have been working with enfold and qtranslateX but it is not ideal. Several avia modules require legacy code to enable different languages which can become very messy, and in general enfold seems to favor WPML which is really expensive in the long run.
Do you have a recommendation regards multi-lingual sites (without commercial plugins)?
Cheers
I have heard good things about Polylang. I haven’t used it myself though so I couldn’t say how well it works.
Thanks Adam. I came looking for a comparison of Xtheme and Avada for a new site. I’m used to Avada so I think I’ll stick with it. Just one quick question: Do you know which of the two has the least troublesome upgrades to new versions? (on a site with Woocommerce and other quality plugins)
Hi Martin. Both themes adhere to WordPress Theme Standards, so they shouldn’t really differ too much when it comes to upgrades. Just be sure to contact support or check the documentation for the theme to find out if there are any known compatibility or upgrade issues.
Both themes adhere to WordPress Theme Standards, so they shouldn’t really differ too much when it comes to upgrades. Just be sure to contact support or check the documentation for the theme to find out if there are any known compatibility or upgrade issues.
I’ve just bought X tonight as I’ve used the other two, and mostly exclusively use Enfold. I truly believe Enfold is better doing things than X. X seems so over the top in the way the cornerstone editor handles things. It is driving me insane.