Spectra is now two separate plugins, and which one you should install depends entirely on whether you are starting fresh or already running it. The plugin most people know, with a million active installs, was renamed Spectra Legacy and is still maintained. Alongside it sits a brand new Spectra Blocks, rebuilt from scratch on WordPress core block APIs with AI page generation built in.
Every Spectra review you will find in search was written before that split, which means they are all reviewing Legacy without saying so. This page covers both: what changed, which one to choose, and a block by block walkthrough of the full Legacy library, since that is what a million sites are still running. Checked against the WordPress.org plugin API and Spectra's own pricing page on 22 September 2026.
Spectra Split Into Two Plugins, Here Is What Happened
| Spectra Blocks | Spectra Legacy | |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress.org slug | spectra-blocks | ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg |
| Status | New, released 8 July 2026 | The original, renamed, still maintained |
| Version | 1.0.9 | 2.20.3 |
| Active installs | 40,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Rating | 92 out of 100 from 39 ratings | 94 out of 100 from 1,870 ratings |
| On WordPress.org since | July 2026 | June 2018 |
| Requires PHP | 8.1 | 7.4 |
| Requires WordPress | 6.6 | Older versions supported |
| Approach | A small set of flexible blocks plus Extensions | 30+ single purpose blocks |
| AI | Built in, via the Zip AI companion | Through the wider Spectra platform |
Brainstorm Force are explicit about why. Their own listing says Spectra Legacy “was one of the first block plugins ever built, before many of today's WordPress APIs existed, so it had to build a lot of that groundwork itself”. Spectra Blocks is built directly on the modern core block APIs instead.
They are also clear that nothing is being forced. Legacy keeps working and keeps getting maintenance updates, and they say you move “whenever it makes sense, not because you have to”.
Which One Should You Actually Install?
| Your situation | Install | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Already running Spectra on a live site | Stay on Legacy | It is maintained, it has a million installs behind it, and nothing is being deprecated. Migrating a working site buys you nothing today. |
| Starting a brand new site | Spectra Blocks | Built on current WordPress APIs, so it will age better. You also get AI page generation from day one. |
| You want AI to draft pages for you | Spectra Blocks | Zip AI generates full pages or individual sections in native blocks. |
| You need a specific block from the list below | Legacy | The new plugin deliberately ships fewer, more flexible blocks. Some Legacy blocks have no direct equivalent yet. |
| You are on PHP 8.0 or older | Legacy | Spectra Blocks requires PHP 8.1. |
| You run client sites and cannot risk surprises | Legacy for now | Version 1.0.9 with 39 ratings is not enough of a track record to bet a client site on. |
Spectra Blocks, the New Plugin
The pitch is straightforward: the speed of an AI site builder without giving up the editor WordPress already gives you. You describe a page, Zip AI drafts it in native Spectra blocks inside the block editor, and then you edit it the normal way. No separate builder interface, no proprietary layout format.
- AI page generation. Describe a page, get a full first draft in native blocks rather than a locked template.
- AI section generation. Generate just a hero, a pricing table, an FAQ or a testimonial block instead of a whole page.
- AI copy rewriting on content that already exists.
- HTML to blocks conversion, which turns an existing HTML page into native Spectra blocks.
- Extensions rather than more blocks. Advanced spacing, border, shadow and responsive controls layered onto a smaller core set.
- Design Library, Global Styles, a Popup Builder and animations, all built from the same native blocks.
The Honest Caveat on the New Plugin
It is version 1.0.9 with 39 ratings. That is not a criticism of the code, it is simply how much road it has been down. Spectra Legacy has 1,870 ratings and eight years of bug reports behind it, and that gap represents a lot of edge cases somebody else already hit for you.
It is also being worked on hard. While I was writing this the plugin page showed a release pushed minutes earlier. Rapid development is good, but on a client site it also means change. Use it on your own projects first.
The Full Spectra Block Library, One by One
This is the Legacy library, the one running on a million sites, and it is the reason most people install Spectra in the first place. Every block below is in the free version unless noted. Screenshots are from the block editor.
1. Spectra Container Block
The layout primitive everything else sits inside. Flex and grid direction, alignment, gaps and responsive behaviour, plus background images, gradients and overlays. If you learn one Spectra block properly, make it this one.
2. Spectra Advanced Heading Block
A heading with a separator, a subheading and independent typography for each part. The highlight control for colouring a few words inside a headline is the reason people reach for it over the core heading.
3. Spectra Image Block
Adds masks, overlays, hover effects, captions positioned over the image and separate desktop and mobile sizing on top of the core image block.
4. Spectra Buttons Block
Multiple buttons in one block with shared or individual styling, icons on either side, and proper responsive stacking.
5. Spectra Info Box Block
Icon or image, heading, body copy and a call to action in one unit. The single most reused block on most Spectra sites, because it builds feature grids fast.
6. Spectra Call to Action Block
A heading, description and button arranged in a banner, with stacked or inline layouts and full background control.
7. Spectra Blockquote Block
Pull quotes with author name, role, avatar and a tweet-this option. Considerably more presentable than the core quote block.
8. Spectra Content Timeline Block
A vertical or alternating timeline with icons and connector lines. Good for process explanations, company history and step by step guides.
9. Spectra Counter and Progress Bar Block
Animated number counters and circular or linear progress bars that trigger on scroll. Useful for statistics and skill bars.
10. Spectra Countdown Block
A live countdown to a date and time, with separate styling for digits and labels. Built for launches and sale deadlines.
11. Spectra FAQ and Accordion Block
Expandable question and answer sets with optional FAQ schema output, so the questions can qualify for rich results. One of the strongest blocks in the set.
12. Spectra Form Block
A native form builder with validation, reCAPTCHA, confirmation messages and email notifications. No third party form plugin needed for a contact page.
13. Spectra Map Block
Embeds a Google map with a custom zoom level, height and styling, without pasting an iframe.
14. Spectra How To Block
Numbered steps with images, time and cost estimates, and HowTo schema output. Purpose built for tutorial content.
15. Spectra Icon List Block
Vertical or horizontal lists with custom icons, individual colours and optional links. The tidy way to build feature lists.
16. Spectra Gallery Block
Grid, masonry, carousel and tiled gallery layouts with lightbox, captions and hover effects.
17. Spectra Simple Notice Block
Dismissible alert and notice boxes with icons and a title, for warnings, tips and announcements inside an article.
18. Spectra Lottie Animation Block
Plays a Lottie JSON animation with loop, autoplay, hover and scroll triggers. Far lighter than an animated GIF.
19. Spectra Marketing Button Block
A button with a prefix line, a title and a description stacked inside it. Built for high intent calls to action rather than plain links.
20. Spectra Modal Trigger Block
Opens any block content in a modal, triggered by a button, an icon or a page load delay. This is Spectra's popup mechanism.
21. Spectra Post Carousel Block
Displays posts in a swipeable carousel, filtered by category, tag or custom taxonomy, with full control over which fields show.
22. Spectra Post Grid Block
The same query power in a responsive grid. Useful for building category landing pages and related content sections.
23. Spectra Post Timeline Block
Posts arranged chronologically on a timeline. A genuinely different way to present an archive.
24. Spectra Price List Block
Item, description, price and image rows, styled like a restaurant or services menu with dot leaders.
25. Spectra Review Block
A product review block with star ratings, pros, cons and Review schema output, so your rating can surface in search results.
26. Spectra Slider Block
A content slider that holds any blocks inside each slide, with arrows, dots, autoplay and transition control.
27. Spectra Social Share Block
Share buttons for the major platforms, with layout, size and colour control, and no third party script.
28. Spectra Table of Contents Block
Generates a table of contents from the page's headings, with smooth scrolling, a sticky option and collapsible behaviour.
29. Spectra Star Rating Block
A standalone star rating with a customisable maximum, useful inside reviews and testimonials.
30. Spectra Tabs Block
Horizontal or vertical tabs holding any blocks inside each panel, with responsive fallbacks.
31. Spectra Taxonomy List Block
Lists categories, tags or custom taxonomies as a grid or list with post counts. Good for browsable archive pages.
32. Spectra Testimonials Block
Testimonial cards in a grid or carousel with avatars, names, roles and company names.
33. Spectra Team Block
Team member cards with photo, name, role, bio and social links, in a responsive grid.
Beyond the blocks themselves, Spectra adds global settings for colours, typography and spacing, plus per block defaults so you are not restyling the same info box thirty times.
Spectra Pricing in 2026
Spectra's free version is the one most people should start on, and it covers every block listed above. The paid tiers are bundles rather than a simple pro upgrade, and the entry tier is thinner than the marketing implies.
| Plan | Price | Sites | What is actually included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectra Pro | $69 a year, or $319 lifetime | 3 | Spectra Pro only. No Astra Pro, no premium patterns, no AI features at all. |
| Essential Toolkit + AI | $199 first year, renews at $299 | 10 | Spectra Pro, Astra Pro, premium patterns and kits, Ultimate Elementor Addons, AI site generation, 5 blueprint and 5 sandbox sites, 2 hosted sites, 1 domain |
| Business Toolkit + AI | $279 first year, renews at $429 | 1,000 | Everything above plus SureForms Agency, the AI Site Planner, 20 blueprint and sandbox sites, VIP support, 5 hosted sites |
Two Things to Check Before You Buy
The $69 tier has no AI. Spectra's pricing page lists the AI features under Spectra Pro with a line through them, which is easy to miss when you are scanning. If AI page generation is why you are buying, the real entry price is $199.
The toolkit tiers are introductory pricing. Their own footnote says all renewals are at full price, so Essential goes $199 to $299 and Business goes $279 to $429 in year two. Budget for the second number.
What Spectra Gets Right
- The free version is genuinely complete. Every block above, forms included, with no artificial caps. Most sites never need to pay.
- Schema output where it matters. The FAQ, How To and Review blocks emit structured data, which is real SEO value you would otherwise add with another plugin.
- It stays in the block editor. Content is stored as standard block markup, so removing Spectra leaves readable pages rather than shortcode wreckage.
- One million installs and 94 out of 100. Mature, well supported and unlikely to disappear.
- The Container block is excellent once it clicks, and it removes most of the reasons people reach for a page builder.
- Astra integration. If you already run Astra, the theme and blocks share settings and the bundle pricing starts to make sense.
Where Spectra Falls Short
- The split is confusing. Two plugins with similar names, one labelled Legacy, and most documentation and tutorials still refer to the old one as just “Spectra”.
- Thirty plus blocks is a lot of surface area. Single purpose blocks like Price List and Taxonomy List are fine, but the library grew faster than it was pruned, which is exactly the problem the new plugin is trying to solve.
- The entry paid tier is misleading at a glance, because the AI features it appears to list are struck through.
- Renewal pricing jumps hard on the toolkit tiers, up to 54% on Business.
- The new plugin is unproven. 39 ratings is not a track record.
- PHP 8.1 minimum on Spectra Blocks will rule out a fair number of older hosting accounts.
The Conclusion, In Full
Spectra is still one of the two or three block plugins worth installing, and the free version remains the most generous in the category. Thirty plus blocks, a working form builder and schema output on the FAQ, How To and Review blocks, at no cost, is a lot of plugin to get for nothing.
The thing to actually take away from this page is the split, because it changes the advice depending on who you are. If Spectra is already running on your site, stay where you are. Legacy is maintained, a million sites are on it, and there is no deprecation deadline to race. Migrating a working site to a version 1.0 plugin is risk with no payoff.
If you are starting something new, install Spectra Blocks instead. It is built on the APIs WordPress is actually moving toward, the composable approach will age better than thirty single purpose blocks, and the AI drafting genuinely removes the blank page problem. Accept that you are early, and keep it off client work until it has more mileage.
On paying: most people should not, at least not yet. Run the free version for a month and see whether you actually hit a wall. If you do, and you already use Astra, the $199 Essential Toolkit is reasonable value for what is bundled. If you only want Spectra itself and you do not need AI, $69 for three sites is fine, just go in knowing that is all it is.
Spectra Blocks, Frequently Asked Questions
My verdict on Spectra Blocks
4.3 out of 5 ★★★★½
Still one of the two or three block plugins worth installing, and the free version remains the most generous in the category. The split into two plugins is the thing to understand before you install either.
What works
- The free version is the most generous in the block plugin category
- Thirty plus blocks plus a working form builder at no cost
- Schema output on the FAQ, How To and Review blocks
What does not
- The plugin split into two, which complicates the install decision
- Legacy has no deprecation deadline but also no clear migration path
- Spectra Pro at 69 dollars has no Astra Pro and no AI features
Is Spectra Blocks free?
Yes, and the free version is unusually complete. All 30+ blocks listed above are included, with no caps on how many you can use, and that includes the form builder and the FAQ, How To and Review blocks that output structured data. Paid tiers start at $69 a year for Spectra Pro on 3 sites, but most sites never need it.
What is the difference between Spectra Blocks and Spectra Legacy?
Spectra Legacy is the original plugin, formerly called Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg, with 1,000,000 installs and 30+ single purpose blocks. Spectra Blocks is a new plugin released in July 2026, rebuilt on WordPress's modern core block APIs, with a smaller set of flexible blocks plus Extensions and AI page generation through Zip AI. Both are maintained and they are separate plugins.
Should I switch from Spectra Legacy to Spectra Blocks?
Not if your site is working. Brainstorm Force say plainly that Legacy keeps working and keeps getting maintenance updates, and that you move whenever it makes sense rather than because you have to. The new plugin is on version 1.0.9 with 39 ratings, so it has no real track record yet. Use it on new projects, leave existing sites alone.
Is Spectra good for SEO?
It helps in two specific ways. The FAQ, How To and Review blocks output structured data, which can earn rich results without a separate schema plugin. And because content is stored as standard block markup rather than a proprietary format, your pages stay readable and portable. It will not improve rankings on its own, but it removes two common technical problems.
Does Spectra slow down your site?
Less than a full page builder, because it extends the block editor rather than shipping its own rendering framework, and it only loads assets for blocks you actually use. The new Spectra Blocks goes further by using a smaller set of blocks. As always your host, your image sizes and your total plugin count will move your speed far more than this choice.
How much does Spectra Pro cost?
Spectra Pro is $69 a year for 3 websites, or $319 as a one time lifetime purchase. Be aware it includes Spectra Pro only, with no Astra Pro and no AI features. Essential Toolkit plus AI is $199 for the first year on 10 sites and renews at $299. Business Toolkit plus AI is $279 first year on 1,000 sites and renews at $429. There is a 14 day money back guarantee.
Does Spectra work with any theme?
Yes, it works with any WordPress theme. You get tighter integration with Astra, since both come from Brainstorm Force and share colour and typography settings, and the paid bundles include Astra Pro from the Essential tier up. But Spectra runs fine on Kadence, GeneratePress, Blocksy or a default theme.
What is Zip AI?
Zip AI is the AI companion plugin for Spectra Blocks. You install and connect it from the AI area in the Spectra Blocks dashboard, then generate full pages or individual sections from a text prompt directly inside the block editor. It can also rewrite existing copy and convert an HTML page into native Spectra blocks. The output is normal blocks you then edit by hand.
Is Spectra better than Kadence Blocks?
They are close, and the honest answer depends on what you value. Spectra has more blocks, a larger install base at 1,000,000 against 600,000, and schema output on more of them. Kadence Blocks is tighter, has a higher WordPress.org rating at 96 against 94, and bundles with a theme most people rate highly. Both keep your content as standard block markup, which is the thing that matters most.
How many blocks does Spectra have?
Spectra Legacy ships more than 30 blocks, covering layout, content, post queries, forms, maps, galleries, timelines, sliders, tabs and schema blocks for FAQ, How To and Review. The full list with screenshots is above. Spectra Blocks, the new plugin, deliberately ships fewer blocks and adds capability through Extensions instead.
Does Spectra have a popup builder?
Yes, in both. Spectra Legacy handles popups through the Modal Trigger block, which can open any block content in a modal from a button, an icon or a timed page load. Spectra Blocks lists a Popup Builder as a named feature, built from the same native blocks.
Can I use Spectra and Kadence Blocks together?
Yes, they do not conflict, because both simply register blocks with the WordPress editor. In practice running both means two sets of assets and two plugins to maintain for overlapping functionality, so pick one as your primary and only keep the second if you rely on a specific block it alone provides.
More Block Editor Guides on Blogger Tutor
- Kadence Blocks vs Elementor, block plugin against page builder
- Kadence Blocks vs Ultimate Blocks
- Kadence vs Blocksy, choosing the theme underneath
- Why I moved to the block editor from page builders
- How to actually speed up a WordPress site
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links and I earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. The WordPress.org download link is not an affiliate link. Install counts, ratings, version numbers and release dates come from the WordPress.org plugin API, and pricing from wpspectra.com, all checked on 22 September 2026. You can read exactly how I test, verify and update everything on this site.
