AffStackDev Theme Manager / Compare
How Theme Manager compares
We found no plugin on WordPress.org that does Theme Manager’s job: telling you which tool owns a piece of your site and opening it, and editing a theme’s settings with drafts and conflict checks. The real alternatives are the tools WordPress itself brings, so the tables compare Theme Manager with those. They need no plugin at all; which of them you have depends on your theme (the Customizer for classic themes, the Site Editor for block themes).
How to read the tables
| Word | Means |
|---|---|
| Yes | Included. For a plugin with a free and a paid version: in the free version. For one sold in plans: in the plan whose price is shown. |
| Partly | Some of it; the note under the table says what. |
| No | Not offered. For another plugin we write No only where its maker’s page says so. |
| Not listed | We did not find it on the maker’s pages. The plugin may still do it. |
Price
| Theme Manager | Customizer | Site Editor | Command Palette | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | Yes, no license needed | Part of WordPress | Part of WordPress | Part of WordPress |
| Paid | No paid version | No plugin needed | No plugin needed | No plugin needed |
Finding
| Theme Manager | Customizer | Site Editor | Command Palette | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search pages, posts and products and open their editor | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Partly (1) |
| Show which tool owns each part of a page | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Find a plugin’s or the theme’s settings screen | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Partly (2) |
| Search templates, template parts and patterns | Yes (3) | Not listed | Yes | Yes |
| Works with any theme | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |
- Command Palette: searches posts and pages; products are not named.
- Command Palette: goes to any part of the dashboard.
- Theme Manager: finds them and opens the Site Editor or the pattern editor.
Editing the theme
| Theme Manager | Customizer | Site Editor | Command Palette | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edit the theme’s settings with a live preview | Yes (1) | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
| Keep changes as a draft without publishing | Yes (2) | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Schedule changes for a later time | Yes (3) | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Save one part and leave the rest as drafts | Yes | Not listed | Yes (4) | Not listed |
| Protection when two people edit at once | Yes (5) | Yes (6) | Not listed | Not listed |
| Go back to an earlier saved state | Yes (7) | Not listed | Yes (8) | Yes (9) |
| Menus, logo, site title, home page and extra CSS in the same place | Yes (10) | Yes | Not listed | Partly (11) |
| Edit the text of pages, posts and products in the same workspace | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Design templates and page layouts | No (12) | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
- Theme Manager: a private preview of your drafts on the real pages.
- Theme Manager: drafts end after two hours without activity.
- Theme Manager: a section at a time; held for review if its fields changed meanwhile.
- Site Editor: the save list lets you choose what to save.
- Theme Manager: field by field, with a choice where both changed the same field.
- Customizer: a design lock while one person edits.
- Theme Manager: checkpoints with any theme; style revisions with a block theme.
- Site Editor: style revisions.
- Command Palette: style revisions.
- Theme Manager: with every theme, unless a theme’s own Theme Manager support names its own list.
- Command Palette: custom CSS.
- Theme Manager: Theme Manager finds templates and opens the Site Editor, which stays the design editor.
The plugins in this comparison
The three WordPress tools that do part of the same work, described by WordPress’s own documentation.
- the Customizer (Appearance → Customize), by WordPress. WordPress’s editor for the settings of classic themes; drafts, scheduling and locking came with WordPress 4.9. Sources: Customizer documentation, WordPress 4.9 release notes.
- the Site Editor (Appearance → Editor), by WordPress. WordPress’s editor for block themes: templates, styles, patterns and navigation. Sources: Site Editor documentation, Command Palette documentation.
- the Command Palette (Ctrl+K or Cmd+K), by WordPress. WordPress’s search box for actions, content and screens; since WordPress 7.1 also in the admin bar. Sources: Command Palette documentation.
Something here out of date? Write to support@affstackdev.com and we will check it again.
Facts about other plugins as of October 2026, from their makers’ own pages and their WordPress.org pages. Their plugins change; their makers’ pages are the current word. Prices are regular yearly prices for one site, before tax, as shown then.