Essential Addons for Elementor vs Stratum: Comparing Top Add-ons
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Are you looking for a reliable Elementor add-on to improve the default functionality of a leading WordPress builder? Currently, there are dozens of addons available so choosing one that fits your needs may seem a complex task. To help you choose what’s best for your website, we’ve prepared a comparison of two useful plugins – Essential Addons for Elementor & Stratum. From their features and similarities to differences and pricing options, in this post, we’ll take a look at different aspects of both plugins.
What is Essential Addons for Elementor?
To find out the similarities and differences between both addons, we first need to learn more about each of them.
Essential Addons for Elementor plugin is one of the most extensive widget libraries for a leading WordPress page builder. With over 85 ready-made widgets and thousands of Elementor blocks and templates, this plugin provides an extensive choice of design & customization options for your website. The widgets come in 9 diverse categories allowing you to choose what’s best for your website. As for the pricing of a premium plugin version, there are 3 plans provided alongside the free option. They are based on the terms of support & updates and the number of sites the plugin can be used on.
| Free | 1 Website | Unlimited | Lifetime Unlimited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55+ widgets 7 extensions | 1 site activation license 1 year of support and updates 85+ widgets 15 extensions 1 month of free access to Templately Pro | Unlimited site activation licenses 1 year of support and updates 85+ widgets 15 extensions 3 months of free access to Templately Pro | Unlimited site activation licenses Unlimited support and updates 85+ widgets 15 extensions 6 months of free access to Templately Pro |
| Free | $49/year | $99/year | $249/once |
Stratum: Features & Pricing Options
Stratum is a great alternative to many versatile addons especially if you are not looking for an extensive collection of widgets. For those Elementor users who need an essential & reliable solution that enhances their site customization, this addon designed by MotoPress may be a perfect pick. Offering over 20 free widgets, Stratum allows you to create a content-rich and well-designed website without considerable investments. Moreover, you can choose the premium version of the plugin to:
- create your Elementor templates with Stratum;
- access extended customization settings;
- activate extra visual effects;
- improve your Elementor website further.
While the plugin doesn’t come with pre-designed templates, it is perfectly optimized for other Elementor-based solutions built by the MotoPress team. From online course templates to property rental & spa themes, you can choose various themes to power up your website. Stratum is included in these themes to provide improved customization potential and help you establish a flexible Elementor website. For those websites that need improved navigation, there’s also a separate mega menu addon available.
| Stratum Free | Stratum Pro |
|---|---|
| 20+ Elementor widgets Community support | 20+ Premium Elementor widgets Extended customization settings Priority support |
| Free | $29/year |
Top 5 Widget Categories for Elementor Addons
As you see in our Essential Addons for Elementor review, this plugin and Stratum are quite different in terms of widget variety and provided features. However, both plugins can be useful in their own way. To find out the differences and similarities of these solutions, we’ve decided to compare them based on several widget categories. From blog post widgets to UI elements, each plugin has a lot to offer to new & experienced Elementor users. Here are the main widget types we’ll be looking at:
- Content & UI widgets;
- Blog widgets;
- Creative widgets;
- Marketing widgets;
- Social widgets.
While these are some of the common widget categories, each addon offers more than what we’ve just listed. As a result, you get a versatile collection of customization tools aimed at simplifying the page editing process for your WordPress website. For an extensive list of provided features & widgets you may benefit from, see the table below.
| Features | Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|---|
| A wide selection of widgets | Yes | Yes |
| Free & premium widgets | Yes | Yes |
| Flexible widget settings | Yes | Yes |
| Optimized for performance | Yes | Yes |
| WooCommerce support | Yes | No |
| API integrations | Yes | Yes |
| WPML compatibility | Yes | No |
| Control over content & customization | Yes | Yes |
1. Content & UI Widgets
Widgets used for content layouts and UI customization are often listed among the most popular ones. Essential Addons for Elementor plugin provides 22 such widgets that range from testimonials and flip boxes to toggles and event calendars. With diverse settings, each widget can be configured to fit any page. Whether you need to add new functionality with Elementor widgets or make your website more user-friendly and intuitive, content widgets can help.
While Stratum offers fewer widgets than Essential Addons for Elementor Pro, each of the provided content customization options allows you to positively transform your website without any coding. Providing 14 diverse content widgets, Stratum supplies each of them with different layouts. This way you can choose the best option for your website without having to develop anything for your website on a global scale. Thanks to extensive style customization & presets for many widgets, you can add & change the look of any of them in a few steps.
| Widgets | Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced search | Yes | No |
| Flip box | Yes | Yes |
| Creative buttons | Yes | No |
| Carousel | Yes | Yes |
| Team member | Yes | Yes |
| Testimonials | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced tabs | Yes | Yes |
| Banner | No | Yes |
| Countdown | Yes | Yes |
| Counter | Yes | Yes |
| Timeline | Yes | Yes |
| Progress bar | Yes | Yes |
| Toggle | Yes | Yes |
| Info box | Yes | No |
| Table | Yes | Yes |
2. Widgets for Blog Pages
Well-designed websites also need to have properly built blog pages. One of the ways to achieve this is to use blog post widgets. WordPress Essential Addons for Elementor provides a diverse selection of tools to help you display any type of content in your blog posts. Supplied with a variety of unique styles, designs, and animations, the provided widgets can be used to design a news page or your personal blog. You can even display corporate updates using a specific block or page layout, grid, or timeline.
Similar to the previously mentioned addons, Stratum also provides a selection of Elementor widgets for blogs. From Grid blog layout to Masonry widget and various pagination options, this plugin has a lot to offer to those who need a flexible way of customizing blog posts. Whether you are planning to use a free or premium version, both of them can help you get started with showcasing the latest updates of your business and other types of content without any extra effort.
| Widgets | Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|---|
| Post grid | Yes | Yes |
| Post list | Yes | Yes |
| Post timeline | Yes | No |
| Post masonry | No | Yes |
| Post carousel | Yes | Yes |
| Post pagination | No | Yes |
3. Creative Widgets
Creative widgets are often regarded as an integral part of any modern Elementor addons. This is also true for the whole category of such widgets supplied with Essential Addons for Elementor. They allow website owners to design pages that are fresh and visually attractive. If you aim to build an image-rich website that showcases your creative skills, choosing any of the 18 creative widgets this plugin provides is recommended. You can choose anything ranging from filterable gallery to interactive promo and image accordion to fit your idea of website design.
Stratum also isn’t devoid of creative elements and widgets. While it offers fewer elements for your image content, each of the 4 widgets allows you to improve the looks and functionality of your website. Whether you need to add an impressive gallery section or enrich your site with Lottie animations, this plugin can help you with anything. Furthermore, thanks to the simple yet detailed options, setting these widgets up will be easy for Elementor users of any experience level.
| Widgets | Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced slider | No | Yes |
| Interactive cards | Yes | No |
| Image accordion | Yes | Yes |
| Filterable gallery | Yes | No |
| Image hotspot | Yes | Yes |
| Image comparison | Yes | No |
| Lottie animations | No | Yes |
| Image scroller | Yes | No |
| Masonry gallery | No | Yes |
| Flip carousel | Yes | No |
| Fancy chart | Yes | No |
4. Marketing Widgets
For many WordPress users, marketing their services and products is nearly as important as delivering appropriately designed content. That’s where marketing widgets can help. In the case of Essential Addons for Elementor Pro, these include pricing tables, calls to action, and 12 diverse eCommerce-ready widgets. All of them can be used in different ways thanks to multiple design options supplied with each widget. Moreover, if you want to advertise products on your website by combining the power of elementor and WooCommerce, going for Essential Addons is highly recommended.
As an alternative to default Elementor tools, Stratum mostly concentrates on content widgets. Still, it has certain elements you may use for marketing your services. These include price lists, menus, and tables built to promote various pricing packages and service combinations your business offers. Stratum can be a fitting choice for many companies and establishments, from restaurants to hosting service providers.
| Widgets | Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing table | Yes | Yes |
| Call to action | Yes | No |
| Price menu | Yes | Yes |
| Price list | No | Yes |
| Product gallery | Yes | No |
| Product collections | Yes | No |
5. Social Widgets
Social widgets are some of the highly useful tools modern plugins can offer. This is also true for WordPress Essential Addons for Elementor. Thanks to these widgets, you don’t have to integrate social account feeds manually into your website. Just configure the widget after plugin activation, specify your account details for Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook alongside the required API keys, and you’re all set! After initial configuration, these widgets will display your recent posts and updates from socials automatically.
Social widgets are also implemented in the Stratum Elementor add-on. Currently, the plugin supports Instagram and allows you to connect with this social network in several easy steps. As a result, you get a well-designed gallery with your Instagram posts that is fully responsive and can be added to any Elementor page. Unlike many premium solutions, Stratum provides this functionality for free, requiring you only to provide an API key to ensure the stable work of the integration.
| Widgets | Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|---|
| Twitter feed | Yes | No |
| Instagram feed | Yes | Yes |
| Facebook feed | Yes | No |
| Twitter feed carousel | Yes | No |
Essential Addons for Elementor Pro vs Stratum: What to Choose?
It is obvious that both Essential Addons for Elementor plugin & Stratum are worthy of your time and can be beneficial to your website. But which one is a better option for you? First of all, depending on your budget and goals, one option may be more fitting than another. If you are looking for widgets that are WooCommerce-friendly and support dynamic content, WordPress Essential Addons for Elementor may be a great option for your website. Additionally, they provide more widgets than Stratum especially if you can afford their annual premium subscription.
But if you are just getting started with Elementor and aren’t ready to invest in something premium right away, Stratum is the option that won’t limit your website editing experience. Besides, it provides the necessary widgets without decreasing your website’s security & worsening its performance. Those Elementor users who are ready to invest in Stratum Pro can expect priority support and more customization options as a bonus to what’s provided for free.
| Essential Addons for Elementor | Stratum |
|---|---|
| 85+ widgets | Access to all 20+ widgets in both free & premium versions |
| 15+ extensions | Compatible with Elementor addons and WordPress plugins |
| 9 widget categories | 3 widget demo groups |
| Free & premium widgets | Free widget access |
| Lightweight | Optimized for performance |
| Dynamic content support | Customizable content blocks |
| Multiple social network integrations | Instagram API integration |
Conclusion
We hope this overview of Essential Addons for Elementor Pro vs Stratum helped you choose a proper solution to improve your instance of Elementor and make the customization process smoother. Whether you need a small batch of widgets or a versatile collection of features to add to your website, choosing these plugins can provide you with the necessary tools for creating new pages. Most importantly, with either of these solutions, you’ll be all set to design layouts for your site’s content thanks to the following benefits:
- Enhanced functionality: Modern addons for Elementor provide new features and improve the existing ones to bring you the best elementor experience. Ranging from new animations to galleries, blocks, and post types, most addons provide an extensive set of advantages for you to choose from.
- Easier page design process: Many users go for Elementor addons to not only add new elements to their pages. Addons also help to simplify the customization while also making the process faster and more reliable. By using ready-made widgets, you can create complex sections without having to build them custom from scratch thanks to a variety of pre-designed layouts and elements supplied with addons.
- Improved performance: Elementor addons are also well-optimized to provide better performance and avoid overloading your website. With properly chosen widgets, you can create not just a feature-rich website but also improve its performance and make it accessible.
- Better customization options: Finally, addons improve existing customization options provided with elementor by default. From responsive design to enhanced content blocks, plugins such as Stratum & Essential Addons can provide more flexibility in what you may be already accustomed to as an Elementor user.
