PanelKind — Free vs Pro
Verified against PanelKind 1.7.2 source · 5 November 2026
Free provides a complete workspace for a very small site. Every paid license includes the same Pro features; paid plans differ by their licensed site allowance in Freemius. An account or license is not required to use Free.
Feature comparison
| Function | Free | Pro — all paid tiers |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Views | 1 active custom client View | Multiple custom Views; 200 total Views including fallback and archived Views |
| Full administration | Native fallback remains available; its configuration is read-only | Can customise the fallback View; protected owners still retain native administration |
| View assignments to roles | Assign the same View to multiple existing roles | Assign different Views to different roles |
| WordPress users | No user-count limit imposed by the plan | No user-count limit imposed by the plan |
| Dashboard widgets | 3 widgets in the site-wide library | Up to 200 library entries |
| Widget types | All 7: Welcome, Information, Quick actions, Recent content, Content overview, Checklist, Help and support | All 7 |
| Widget placement | Reuse the same widgets across permitted dashboards and sections without consuming additional widget slots | Reuse across any configured Views and sections |
| Information pages | 1 PanelKind private information page | Up to 200 library entries |
| Section sidebars | Main plus 2 child sections per View; children open directly from Main | Up to 50 sections per View, including Main, and 8 nested levels |
| Menu editing | Rename, hide, reorder, change icons, add links and separators within the client View | Same controls across multiple Views and nested sections |
| Custom roles created by PanelKind | 1 custom role | Up to 100 linked custom-role definitions |
| Existing WordPress or third-party roles | Available; do not consume the custom-role allowance | Available |
| Role-based access rules | Included | Included |
| Mandatory restrictions and native WordPress permission checks | Included | Included |
| Individual View assignments | Cannot add or change; existing published assignments remain effective and can be removed | Included |
| Individual access overrides | Cannot add or change; existing published rules remain effective and can be removed | Included |
| Widget and page audiences | All signed-in users, selected roles, or agency owners; existing individual selections can be retained or removed | Also target individual users |
| Workspace name and logo | Name, logo image, logo width and sidebar placement for the client View | Included across Views |
| Admin themes | All 12 built-in palettes, previews and Undo; enable or disable the theme | Included |
| Individual admin colours | All colours editable: backgrounds, surfaces, text, borders, sidebar and toolbar | Included |
| Corners and shadows | Standard corners and no shadows; existing published custom values can be retained or reset | Custom card and button/menu corners; card and sidebar shadow presets |
| Style scope | Use the client View as the style source for the main WordPress admin, or style only its assigned users | Select from multiple Views, including Full administration |
| Layout, icons and interface cleanup | Density, sidebar width, menu icons, welcome panel, Help, Screen Options and toolbar visibility | Included across Views |
| PanelKind credit | Small “Powered by PanelKind” credit in the client admin footer | Can hide the credit in the View’s branding settings |
| Custom admin footer text | Cannot add or change; existing published text is retained | Included |
| Reusable View templates | Cannot create, edit or apply; existing templates remain stored and can be deleted | Save, edit and apply templates |
| Same-site configuration backup | Download and restore a signed backup for this site | Included |
| Portable configuration export/import | Requires Pro, including older portable exports | Transfer configuration between sites |
| Drafts, review and publication | Included; no monthly save or publish quota | Included |
| Role/user preview and access inspection | Included | Included |
| Revision history and restore | Included, subject to the current plan’s limits when restoring | Included |
| Recovery and safe mode | Included | Included |
| Delegated management | Included, subject to existing permissions and license limits | Included |
| Automatic plugin updates before the WordPress directory release | Unavailable; install newer ZIPs manually | Available while the license has update entitlement |
| Updates after the WordPress directory release | Planned through WordPress, including automatic installation when enabled by the site owner | Paid update channel remains subject to license entitlement |
| Frontend pages, posts, products and traffic | No limits imposed by the plan | No limits imposed by the plan |
Admin Styling: exact controls
Free includes all twelve built-in colour themes and every individual colour control, as well as Apply admin theme, workspace name, logo URL/media selection, logo width, sidebar logo placement, dashboard spacing, sidebar width, menu/shortcut/section icons and interface cleanup. These can be previewed, saved and published without a license. Users with settings permission can choose the client View as the style source for the main WordPress admin; navigation and access assignments remain separate.
Themes offers Classic, Ocean, Forest, Lagoon, Violet, Rose, Crimson, Ember, Honey, Sand, Olive and Graphite. Applying a palette copies its thirteen colour settings into the current draft and enables the theme. Branding, icons and layout are preserved. Published surfaces and intentional resets are preserved; stale unpublished Pro surface changes that would block a Free save are restored to their published values. When an unassigned View has no main-admin style source, applying a theme can select main-admin scope for an editor with settings permission, unless View-only scope was explicitly chosen. Undo restores the previous palette, theme switch, any repaired surfaces and any automatically changed scope. Users can freely tweak any colour; a modified palette is labelled Custom colours. Changes become live only on publication.
Pro unlocks custom card corners, button/menu corners, card shadows and sidebar shadows. These surface controls display their current values with a Pro label and are disabled on Free. Custom footer text and credit removal continue to require Pro.
Existing published Pro surfaces survive an update or downgrade. Free users can retain them while editing colours and other free settings, or choose Reset Pro styling to defaults. That reset changes only corners and shadows in the draft. Once reset and published, restoring older paid surface settings requires Pro. The Full administration View’s configuration remains read-only on Free; its main admin can use the client View’s theme through the style-scope selector.
Turning the theme off does not bypass license checks for new Pro surface values. Paid drafts are rechecked on publication. No styling license check removes the appearance already shown to site users.
How the limits are counted
- The View allowance counts active custom Views. The required Full administration fallback does not consume that slot. Archived Views cannot be assigned; restoring one must fit the active-View allowance.
- The widget allowance counts unique library entries across the whole site, including draft and archived widgets. Displaying the same widget in more than one location does not use another slot. Delete an unused widget to free a slot.
- The information-page allowance includes draft and archived PanelKind pages. It does not count normal WordPress Pages or Posts. Delete an unused information page to free the slot.
- Section allowances apply per View and include saved sections even when section navigation is disabled. Free allows Main and two direct children. Disabling sections does not free slots.
- The custom-role allowance counts PanelKind-managed roles, including the legacy Client Manager role when PanelKind created it. Existing WordPress roles and roles owned by other plugins do not count. Roles cannot be deleted while they still have users or configuration references.
- All seven widget types are available on Free. New installations start with Welcome, Quick actions and Help and support, one Website Guide and one client View. Users retain their existing WordPress experience until the owner assigns and publishes that View.
Technical safety limits
Pro removes the Free commercial caps, but it does not remove validation and safety limits:
| Item | Technical maximum |
|---|---|
| Views | 200 total, including Full administration and archived Views |
| Widgets | 200 library entries |
| Information pages | 200 library entries |
| Sections | 50 per View, including Main |
| Section depth | 8 levels below Main |
| Items in a section | 100 |
| Linked custom roles | 100 |
| Saved templates | 50 |
| Configuration | 2 MB |
| Published revision retention | Configurable from 5 to 50 |
Existing installations and expired licenses
Installing this release or losing a license does not delete published workspaces, widgets, information pages, roles or access rules. Existing content continues to render and existing permission restrictions continue to be enforced.
On Free, previously published items above the normal allowance remain editable. Adding new items above the allowance requires Pro. Existing individual overrides, templates and white-label settings can remain unchanged or be removed; Pro surface settings can remain unchanged or be reset to defaults; changing or adding those requires Pro. Themes and all colour controls are free. Full administration is read-only on Free.
A draft saved while Pro was active is checked again when published. If it introduces paid capacity after the license has fallen back to Free, publishing is blocked without changing the live configuration. Remove the new paid settings or reactivate Pro.
Restoring an old revision or importing a backup also follows current limits. An old paid backup does not permanently entitle the site to recreate paid capacity that has since been removed. Settings already present in the published configuration remain protected.
Freemius controls expiration behavior:
- A valid paid license enables Pro features; a valid update entitlement enables software updates.
- An expired license configured for continued feature use retains Pro features but loses updates.
- An expired blocking license, canceled license or deactivated/missing license falls back to Free.
- Temporary connectivity problems use the SDK’s cached state until a successful synchronization.
Updates and distribution
Before the directory release, Free receives no PanelKind update package through WordPress and no automatic installation. Free users download a newer ZIP and install it using WordPress’s plugin replacement flow.
Paid updates use the existing Freemius update channel. Update entitlement does not force background installation: the site owner’s WordPress automatic-update preference is respected. Freemius connectivity/consent and a published downloadable release are still required for delivery.
WordPress directory availability is a future release step. This build has License::DIRECTORY_UPDATES set to false. The directory distribution must be configured and that release setting enabled when the plugin is actually listed. Directory update entitlement applies only to the free SDK build; premium builds still require a paid update entitlement. Directory updates are therefore not advertised as an exclusive paid benefit after listing. Other plugins’ update settings are unaffected.
Backup and transfer details
Free backups are signed for this WordPress installation using its site URL, blog ID and authentication salt. They contain user references and should be stored privately. Changing the site URL or authentication salts can invalidate their signature. Editing a downloaded backup also invalidates it.
Backup restore preserves current owner/delegate and retention settings. Referenced users and native roles must still exist. This is a PanelKind configuration backup, not a full-site database, media or native-role backup.
Pro portable exports omit owner/delegate identities, individual assignments, individual access rules and individual audience IDs. Native custom-role definitions are site-specific and are not exported. Create matching roles and check site-specific URLs and media on the destination site before publishing.
License checks run on the server for saves, publication, imports, restores and native-role creation. Browser prompts explain the limit before users start creating an item that needs Pro. Normal WordPress content and client work do not show upgrade prompts.
Evidence and further detail
The comparison describes this source release, not a live pricing catalogue. See source evidence, exact technical limits and licensing.