Website templates vs ready-made website kits: what's included?

A template is a design: the layout, colors and type for a site, with places for your words and photos. A ready-made kit, as we use the term, is a design with the pages and their wording already written for one kind of business, delivered as plain files. You replace the fields with your own details and put the files on any host.

People use "template" for three different things, and what comes with each differs: a template inside a website builder, a theme for WordPress, and a template you buy from a marketplace.

• Wix. Wix lists more than 2,000 templates, a drag-and-drop editor and hosting with every plan.¹ A Wix help page says it is not possible to switch to a different template for a site you already created. You can start a new site on another template and reuse pages and media from the old one.⁷

• Squarespace. Squarespace lists templates and its tools on every plan, along with fully managed cloud hosting and 24/7 support.²

• WordPress.com. WordPress.com lists all premium themes on its Personal plan and above, and says free sites display WordPress.com ads to visitors.⁸

In each case the design comes with a plan that you keep paying for. We price them in website kit or Wix and Squarespace alternatives with no monthly fee.

WordPress.org lists 8,722 themes in what it calls the official theme repository.⁹ The page we read does not say what a theme costs or what hosting it needs.

ThemeForest sells templates one at a time. Its license page says a Regular License allows one end product that is free to the end user, and does not allow use in an end product that is sold or in stock items and templates.³ Its Item Support Policy says a supported item includes item support for 6 months from the purchase date. Support covers questions about how to use the item and its features, help with defects, and updates for compatibility and security. It does not cover modifying or extending the item, installing it on your server or on a CMS, or problems with your web hosting.⁴ Buyers can extend support up to a maximum of 12 months from the purchase date.⁴

So a bought template is a design and six months of help with that design. The hosting, the installation and your own words are yours to supply.

A Classic kit page lists three looks to choose from, the pages in each look, a setup page called START HERE that asks plain questions and builds the site with you, fonts included with nothing to install, and a license for one business and one website. It says you pay once, download the kit and put it online with the steps included.⁵

We also counted the files. Every one of our 206 Classic kits has three looks, and each look has six or seven pages. In the first look the pages hold 801 to 1,642 words, with a median of 1,076, written for the trade, with fields such as [Business Name] and [Phone] to replace.⁶ Every kit folder also holds a README, a fill-in sheet, a go-live guide, copy-and-paste AI prompts and a license file.⁶

• A builder template leaves you the words and the photos, and the plan fee every year.^{1, 2}

• A WordPress theme or a bought template leaves you the hosting, the installation, the words and the photos. ThemeForest's support does not cover installation, modification or hosting.⁴

• A kit leaves you replacing the fields, adding your photos and putting the files online. It has no editor and no store. Our Classic and Motion kits use tap-to-call links and have no form.⁶

• Choice. Wix lists more than 2,000 templates and WordPress.org lists 8,722 themes.^{1, 9} A kit has three looks.⁵

• An editor. Wix lists a drag-and-drop editor.¹ A kit is files that you change by hand or with an AI helper.

• Support that comes with the plan. Wix lists 24/7 customer care and Squarespace lists 24/7 support. ThemeForest includes six months of item support.^{1, 2, 4}

• Selling and booking. Builder plans list payments, scheduling and stores.^{1, 2} A kit has none.

• The wording is already there. A template gives you a design with places for words. A kit's pages are written for the trade, so you edit instead of writing from nothing.⁶

• One price and no plan. A Classic kit is $39.99 once.⁵ There is nothing to renew except your web address. For hosting and the web address, see can I get a website with no monthly fee.

• Plain files. Any host that serves web pages can serve a kit, and the files are in the folder you download.

On Wix, not for a site you already created. A Wix help page says it is not possible to switch to a different template, and suggests starting a new site on another one.⁷ A kit comes with three looks.⁵ All three are in the folder you download, so you can try another.⁶

For where kits fit among the other ways to get a site, see kit, builder or web designer: which to choose and kit, freelancer or local web designer. A few kits to look at: Plumber, Electrician, Hair salon and Cleaning service. The whole list is at website kits.

1. Read the license. ThemeForest's Regular License covers one end product, and a kit's license covers one business and one website.^{3, 5}

2. Find out how long help lasts. ThemeForest includes six months of item support and can extend it to 12.⁴ A kit page lists a guide, and we answer kit questions by email.⁵

3. Ask whether the words come with it. A template is a design with places for words, and our kit pages are written for the trade.⁶

4. Ask who hosts it and who installs it. A builder hosts the site, and ThemeForest's support does not cover installing a template or hosting.^{1, 4}

5. Ask whether you can change the design later. Wix says you cannot switch the template of a site you already created.⁷

The template and price facts come from each company's own pages, read on October 21, 2026, and each source shows its own date. The kit facts come from our store page and from a scan of our own kit files the same day. We sell website kits, so we have a stake in this question. We name the builders and marketplaces only to say what their own pages say.