Free edition: exactly what is included
Free works without buying or activating a license. The Freemius connection screen can be skipped. These are the allowances for a new configuration, not deletion rules for a downgraded site.
| Allowance | How it is counted |
|---|---|
| 1 active custom View | The required Full administration fallback does not use this slot. Archived custom Views are excluded from the active allowance but remain subject to the 200-total schema ceiling. |
| 3 widgets | Unique entries in the site-wide widget library, including drafts and archived entries. Repeated placement of one widget uses no additional slot. |
| 1 information page | PanelKind information-page library entry, including draft/archived entries; ordinary WordPress Pages do not count. |
| 1 custom role | PanelKind-managed role; the legacy Client Manager counts when PanelKind created it. Existing WordPress and other plugins' roles do not count. |
| 3 sections per View | Main plus two direct children. Saved sections count even when section navigation is disabled. |
| 1 section level below Main | A Free child section cannot contain a further child section. |
A fresh installation supplies one client View, Welcome, Quick actions and Help and support widgets, and one Website Guide. Everyone keeps their existing native experience until assignments and configuration are published. Because the initial widget/page library already uses the Free allowance, edit or replace an existing entry to use another widget type or guide. Archiving a widget/page does not free a slot; delete an unused entry after removing its placements.
All seven widget types are included. So are role-based access policies, mandatory restrictions, menus and icons, logo/name, all twelve themes, all thirteen colour controls, layout and interface cleanup, drafts, publication, role/user preview, revisions, delegated management, recovery and signed same-site backups. There is no plan-imposed limit on ordinary WordPress users, posts, Pages, products, traffic, saves or publications. Configuration lists still have technical limits.
Free's Full administration View is read-only. To style the owner's standard WordPress screens, edit the custom client View and choose Main WordPress admin — all users as the styling scope. This shares styling without changing the owner's navigation or permissions.
What requires Pro
- Additional active custom Views, widgets, pages and PanelKind roles beyond the allowance.
- More than three sections, or deeper section nesting.
- New or changed individual View assignments, individual access exceptions and individual-user audience targeting.
- Saving, editing or applying reusable View templates.
- Portable cross-site configuration export/import, including older portable exports.
- Custom card/button/menu corners, card/sidebar shadows, custom footer text and removing the PanelKind credit.
- The paid update channel while the build has no WordPress directory update channel.
Previously published paid capacity and settings are retained after downgrade. This does not permit recreating removed paid items or publishing new paid draft settings. See downgrade rules.