TemplateMonster review

TemplateMonster Review

OVERVIEW

In 2002, TemplateMonster offered templates created in-house. Since then, they’ve expanded and now offer a wide range of external designers’ themes and templates on their platform.

What Is TemplateMonster?

TemplateMonster is a third-party provider of templates, available for many well-known eCommerce platforms, website builders, and CMSs. To name just a few: WordPress, Shopify, BigCommerce, and PrestaShop are among them. TemplateMonster’s product range also covers Manto as well as Woo Commerce.

TemplateMonster Features

Web Templates and Themes Options 

When you enter the TemplateMonster marketplace, it feels like an Amazon of sorts. There is almost every kind of website templates and theme imaginable- from e-commerce site templates to CMS-based templates as well as standard HTML templates for complete sites!

They don’t just come as plain templates. Apart from the principal source files, each template and theme offers a host of solid functionalities

Now, to give you a rough estimate of the diversity we’re discussing here, there are:

  • BigCommerce– More than 5. 
  • X-Cart- More than 15. 
  • VirtueMart- More than 200. 
  • ZenCart- More than 200. 
  • Drupal- More than 300. 
  • Magento- More than 400. 
  • Shopify- More than 500.  
  • WooCommerce- More than 500. 
  • OpenCart- More than 600. 
  • PrestaShop- More than 600. 
  • Moto CMS 3- More than 700. 
  • Joomla- More than 1,000. 
  • WordPress- More than 2,000. 

Template Monster is aimed at both CMS users and e-commerce merchants. It has even gone ahead and categorized its templates to save you time as you explore the design options.

How Does TemplateMonster Work?

The Template Monster site isn’t the prettiest website you’ll ever visit, but it has a straightforward layout that should be easy to figure out. Just like on their homepage, they display templates and platforms so you can start shopping right away!           

 When you click on WordPress, for instance, it immediately launches a host of recently submitted template options. You could scan the entire page for your well-designed site or use the categories section to shop.            

 Apart from that, Template Monster also allows you to sort through the listings based on template aspects such as colors, submission date range, styles, popularity and compatibility.

Compare the various filters and templates on offer to find your solid options in no time. When you need to compare two specific templates, open up their listings and review their corresponding customer support features, user reviews, software requirements plus features.

Web Design And Customization Capabilities

The whole point of getting yourself pre-website designed  templates is to simplify your web design process. You would probably presume that Template Monster doesn’t require any coding, since many of its template listings mention supplementary visual editors.

Although some of these templates do indeed come with a visual editor by default, the editing process could still be less than friendly if you are not a coder.

Instead, you can customize the templates to suit your needs with specific features that are built into them. For many templates, tweaking them is not too difficult without any coding experience; but for some of these files, more experienced coders would be recommended.

TemplateMonster WordPress Themes

The Template Monster marketplace features stuff for a lot of platforms, but the site is particularly popular in the WordPress community. The truth is that by now you can probably guess why.

Template Monster has a particular focus on WordPress themes. With over 2,000 themes to choose from, it feels like you’ve landed on an fully loaded website.

The best thing about that is you are almost certain to find templates for your website in any category, including e-commerce. The WordPress themes on Template Monster are not only diverse but also varied in style and design.

Their features are meant to assist you in setting up a secure, robust, and versatile WordPress site.Each template comes with modern layout design templates, as well as extra setup documentation in case of any installation issues.

Given that, here are some of the primary features you should expect on your Template Monster WordPress themes:
  • Installation documentation 
  • 24/7 customer tech support for premium themes 
  • SEO friendly structure 
  • Compatible with all types of browsers 
  • Mobile responsive design
  • you can add custom widgets and shortcodes to your site for embedding things like site elements. 
  • Custom post formats and content types 
  • Numerous customization settings 
  • Page builder like Power Builder, Visual Composer, and Elementor allow you to build your pages faster.
  • Cherry Framework architecture offers added WordPress functionalities.

Comparing Template Monster Theme Features

One thing you will surely find on Template Monster is an overwhelming amount of features in each template. This can sometimes make the selection process hard, but it’s a great thing altogether! Comparing features here isn’t easy, especially for non-coders. 

Now, you will probably first assess the overall design impression of each template. But that won’t be enough to make an informed decision. You have to look at all of the small details that make a difference too!

How do you go about figuring out Template Monster Template features?

If you do not have the technical skills of a professional web designer, I recommend that you find someone to help guide and teach you through all of the complex terminology. Alternatively, Template Monster also offers online support for their templates from their marketplace tech team.

The first step to finding a template is filtering your search results through the side menu of your specific platform page. The filtered listings will match all of the features you wanted.

When you click into the individual templates, you can analyze their features. It is worth noting that vendors use different systems to highlight their template’s features – some on the feature tabs of their templates while others prefer showcasing them purely through live demos.

Be sure to check both the template’s features page and its live demo. While you’re at it, feel free to check out the “Details” tab of each template. It’s in the “Properties” section, and typically provides a lot of extra information about what that template has to offer.

Here are some of the main factors you should pay attention to as you compare template features on Template Monster:
  • Web Forms- They come in handy when you need to create a mailing list, register users, etc.
  • Media Integration- Provides information on the types of media you can embed into a template.
  • Predesigned Pages/Sections/Widgets- A collection of the items offered by default on your site. This includes displays, maps, schedules, comments systems and testimonials. It also includes full internal pages such as menus or other content that’s not a primary feature of your site but is nonetheless relevant to visitors.
  • Animation- In addition to the foreground of your template, there are also backgrounds that move in.
  • Currency and Language Support- If you plan on dealing with international buyers, then you’ll want to consider the types of currency and languages that are supported by the templates.
  • Plugin Package- Some of the templates have extra plugins already installed.
  • Theme Editor- The template will provide you with a specific customization editor. For example, if you’re looking for an e-commerce theme, the template Section Editor might be included in it.

Templatemonster Pricing

The marketplace itself sets the price of digital products sold at Template Monster.It is a free website builder. The prices set by each vendor will vary depending on various factors, including an item’s quality and features. Vendors also have control over their own pricing within a range that is suggested to them based on these factors, with commissions varying according to whether or not the product is exclusive to this marketplace. Template Monster does offer over 100 free sample templates

You can also use the lite versions of some premium versions. Also, the templatemonster free templates come to the website maker with no personalized support but include detailed documentation. 

It makes sense that free options will have limited features and lower-quality designs because they will not spend as much money back for development costs as for the paid themes. It is the best website builder.

Template monster Licensing Fees

The primary cost associated with a template is its licensing fee. Here are the different types of licenses available for purchase:

  • Free Sample: You can download this for free, of course. However, you’ll need to share Template Monster on social media in order to do so.
  • Single Site License: Prices for the product range from a few dollars to around $200, depending on the vendor and associated platform. A developer’s License is cheaper than you might think. Here you can use this at just up to five sites. Exclusive or Buyout Licenses are more expensive by several thousand dollars.

Extra Costs

Here are a few other pricing considerations with TemplateMonster:

Add-On Products & Services For Templates

When you’re browsing and looking for a template or adding one to your shopping cart, a variety of optional add-ons will be advertised. Some of these are offered by the marketplaces themselves, whereas some are provided by vendors who sell templates and other products separately. We’ll cover these more fully in the Integrations & Add-Ons section below, but solutions range from a few dollars to several hundred depending on what’s being sold.

TemplateMonster Service Center

TemplateMonster has a Service Center that provides customization and add-on services. The Template Monster Service Center page has its own listing, but the prices on this page don’t always match up with individual template listings. I would suggest mostly paying attention to costs listed in an individual template instead of those in the service centre’s pricing table based on my conversations with TemplateMonster.

Loyalty Program

TemplateMonster offers a loyalty program where you will be credited with a percentage of your purchase if you buy any product or service that is part of its loyalty program. The cashback system is based on the number and amount of your orders, and as long as you make one purchase in the program, then credits are given to your account automatically.

Pros

  • Free web templates are available
  • Large selection for multiple platforms
  •  Good for a wide variety of industries
  •  Quality-vetting system in place
  •  24/7 marketplace support
  •  Exclusive licensing available
  •  Transparent pricing

Cons

  •  Costly add-ons/customization
  •  Coding skills may be required
  •  An inadequate user review system

Template monster Review: Final Thought

All things considered, TemplateMonster provides a sitebuilder with a great marketplace with plenty of options to get the right template for your project. The only catch is you need to do some research on what you want beforehand because once you set up an account and purchase something there’s not much customer service in terms of tech support during or after installation.

I have a few important tips to consider when using TemplateMonster:
  • When starting a new business site, you will want to take any assertions that say “you won’t need to touch code” with a grain of salt. This can vary widely depending on your circumstances, skills and needs. You should carefully examine the features that are already included in the template, what you might need to change and how these changes are facilitated (e.g., know what theme editing tools come with it and the technical specifications of the files).
  • Secondly, when you buy from these marketplace services, they will come with lots of extras and add-ons that may not be necessary for your project. These extra costs can really rack up fast. It’s like hiring a developer piecemeal rather than signing on one dedicated web designer to design your website. If you are inexperienced with web development at all and have someone who is experienced in the field available yourself, it may end up being best just to go that route instead of relying on this type of service always for your needs.
  • You may not need as much help from TemplateMonster that is offered to you. I suggest trying out templates on your own without having to pay for things like installation, colour changes, or adding a logo. Play around with different free templates from TemplateMonster before buying anything and get an idea of the process and product by installing several of them to both experiences what it’s like using these editing systems and reading reviews about various templates that don’t obsess over TM’s rating system!