Site Origin
SiteOrigin is an independent WordPress studio that builds free, open-source page builder, widget, and CSS plugins (500K+ active installs, 109M+ downloads) and monetizes via a $29/year SiteOrigin Premium subscription with 43 addons, serving small business owners, developers, and agencies building WordPress sites.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Site Origin does
SiteOrigin is an independent WordPress tools studio that builds free and open-source plugins, themes, and visual editing utilities for the WordPress content management system. The company's product suite centers on Page Builder, a drag-and-drop layout editor with 500K+ active installs; Widgets Bundle, a collection of 28+ modular widgets including sliders, forms, and price tables; SiteOrigin CSS, a visual CSS editor with real-time preview; and a family of responsive WordPress themes (Vantage, Corp, Unwind). All products are built on standard WordPress technologies (PHP, JavaScript, MySQL) and distributed under GPL licensing, with the company explicitly positioning against feature bloat and vendor lock-in. The free products have been continuously developed with monthly releases since the company's founding in 2012 and have accumulated 109M+ cumulative downloads.
The company operates a freemium, product-led growth model: the core plugins and themes are distributed free forever via the official WordPress.org plugin directory and siteorigin.com, driving top-of-funnel adoption through a self-serve marketplace with 4.8/5 average rating. An optional SiteOrigin Premium subscription ($29/year for the Personal tier covering 1 site, with Business and Developer tiers for 5 and unlimited sites respectively) unlocks 43 premium addons including parallax sliders, video backgrounds, lightbox builders, WooCommerce templates, and priority email support. Customer acquisition is exclusively organic through WordPress.org discovery, community support forums (29K+ resolved threads, 98% satisfaction), and word-of-mouth among WordPress professionals — with no reseller, VAR, or enterprise sales motion.
SiteOrigin is a privately held, bootstrapped company that has remained independent throughout its 14+ year history, with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or acquisition activity. The company is governed under Delaware law (United States) and operates from Cape Town, South Africa. Its customer base is a long tail of small business owners, individual developers, designers, and WordPress agencies building client sites, with no disclosed enterprise customers or anchor accounts. Leadership is lean and publicly disclosed only through a single named staff support contact (Andrew Misplon) and a named founder (Greg Priday).
Site Origin firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Site Origin
- Legal name
- SiteOrigin
- Website
- https://siteorigin.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- SiteOrigin is an independent WordPress studio that builds free, open-source page builder, widget, and CSS plugins (500K+ active installs, 109M+ downloads) and monetizes via a $29/year SiteOrigin Premium subscription with 43 addons, serving small business owners, developers, and agencies building WordPress sites.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Site Origin is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cape Town
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices1 record
Markets served
Site Origin business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SiteOrigin Premium Subscription: Annual subscription providing access to 43 premium add-ons, license keys for automatic update notifications, and priority email support. One subscription unlocks all premium addons for use across multiple sites depending on license tier.
- Free Plugins and Themes: Core plugins (Page Builder, Widgets Bundle, CSS Editor, Installer) and themes are distributed free under GPL. These drive adoption and conversion to Premium. Available via WordPress.org and direct website downloads.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Personal: 1 site, all premium addons, email support, updates |
| Subscription | Annual | Business: 5 sites, all premium addons, email support, updates |
| Subscription | Annual | Developer: Unlimited sites, all premium addons, email support, updates |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Plugins and Themes: No cost, core features, GPL licensed |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Site Origin product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SiteOrigin develops and distributes free, open-source WordPress plugins and themes — including a drag-and-drop Page Builder (500K+ active installs), a Widgets Bundle with 28+ widgets, a visual CSS Editor, and an Installer plugin — bundled with a family of responsive WordPress themes. An optional paid subscription called SiteOrigin Premium ($29/year) unlocks 43+ addons, priority email support, and multi-site license tiers.
Product overview
SiteOrigin is a WordPress studio offering a complete website building toolkit consisting of four free plugins (Page Builder, Widgets Bundle, SiteOrigin CSS, and Installer), a family of free responsive WordPress themes, and an optional premium subscription layer called SiteOrigin Premium with 43+ addons. The free products form the core offering, while Premium adds professional features including parallax sliders, video backgrounds, lightbox builders, WooCommerce templates, advanced layout options, and priority email support. All free plugins are GPL-licensed and actively developed since 2012.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SiteOrigin Premium: Premium subscription service offering addons, priority email support, and additional features for Page Builder, Widgets Bundle, and themes. Priced at $29/year with tiers for 1, 5, or unlimited sites.
- Page Builder
- Widgets Bundle
- SiteOrigin CSS
Products and services
- Page Builder A free, drag-and-drop WordPress page builder that outputs clean, efficient code. Works with any theme, integrates with the Block Editor, and keeps pages loading fast. Features live editing, revision history, and responsive layouts. Used by 500K+ active WordPress sites.
- Widgets Bundle A free collection of 28+ professional widgets including sliders, forms, price tables, maps, carousels, and more. Built on a single framework, every widget works everywhere in Page Builder or any widgetized area.
- SiteOrigin CSS A free visual CSS editor that allows fine-tuning the look of any WordPress theme with real-time preview, code completion, and no coding required.
- Installer A free WordPress plugin that easily installs SiteOrigin's free themes and plugins.
- WordPress Themes A family of clean, well-coded responsive free themes including Vantage, Corp, Unwind, and more, designed to work seamlessly with Page Builder.
- SiteOrigin Premium An annual subscription service providing access to 43+ premium addons including parallax sliders, video backgrounds, lightboxes, WooCommerce templates, and priority email support. Available in Personal (1 site, $29/year), Business (5 sites), and Developer (unlimited sites) tiers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 500K+ active WordPress sites using SiteOrigin Page Builder
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Site Origin
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Site Origin technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Site Origin partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Site Origin competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Elementor: Elementor is the leading drag-and-drop WordPress page builder, offering a freemium model with a large paid Pro tier, a deep template ecosystem, and a global community — directly competing with SiteOrigin Page Builder for the same SMB and freelancer customer base.
- Beaver Builder: Beaver Builder is a premium WordPress page builder targeting developers and agencies, with a similar drag-and-drop model and agency-license tier. It competes head-to-head with SiteOrigin in the professional builder segment.
- Divi (Elegant Themes): Divi by Elegant Themes is a flagship WordPress visual builder bundled with themes, sold via annual/lifetime subscriptions. It targets the same DIY site-builder persona and competes on ease of use and template breadth.
- WPBakery Page Builder (Visual Composer): WPBakery is one of the original WordPress frontend and backend editors, sold as a premium plugin license. It directly overlaps SiteOrigin's drag-and-drop page builder functionality and is explicitly referenced in SiteOrigin user testimonials as a competitor they switched from.
- Thrive Themes: Thrive Themes sells a suite of WordPress themes, plugins, and conversion-focused page-building tools via membership. It competes with SiteOrigin in the SMB theme-and-builder bundle segment.
- GeneratePress: GeneratePress offers a lightweight freemium WordPress theme with a premium module-based addon system. It mirrors SiteOrigin's positioning of clean, performance-focused WordPress tools for developers and site builders.
- OptimizePress: OptimizePress is a WordPress suite for building landing pages, sales pages, and membership sites. It directly overlaps SiteOrigin's Landing Page and WooCommerce Templates addons targeting marketers and SMBs.
Emerging players
- Brizy: Brizy is a newer WordPress page builder with a free tier and cloud-hosted offering, competing with SiteOrigin Page Builder on usability and modern UX. It overlaps SiteOrigin in the SMB DIY segment.
- Oxygen Builder: Oxygen is a developer-focused WordPress builder targeting designers and agencies who want full design control. It overlaps with SiteOrigin Premium's developer/agency value proposition but at a higher price point.
Others
- Starter Templates (Brainstorm Force / Starter Templates by Brainstorm Force / Starter Templates for Astra): Brainstorm Force ships the Astra theme and a starter-template ecosystem that integrates with multiple page builders. It is an adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a direct builder competitor, but competes for the same WordPress professional mind-share and template library.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Site Origin social profiles
Digital presenceSite Origin compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Site Origin financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Site Origin leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Site Origin funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Site Origin M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Site Origin
What does Site Origin do?
SiteOrigin develops and distributes free, open-source WordPress plugins and themes — including a drag-and-drop Page Builder (500K+ active installs), a Widgets Bundle with 28+ widgets, a visual CSS Editor, and an Installer plugin — bundled with a family of responsive WordPress themes. An optional paid subscription called SiteOrigin Premium ($29/year) unlocks 43+ addons, priority email support, and multi-site license tiers.
Is Site Origin a public or private company?
Site Origin is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Site Origin founded?
Site Origin was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Site Origin based?
Site Origin is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Africa region.
How does Site Origin make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. SiteOrigin Premium Subscription is the primary driver. The others are free Plugins and Themes.
Who are Site Origin's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi (Elegant Themes), WPBakery Page Builder (Visual Composer), Thrive Themes, GeneratePress and OptimizePress. Emerging players are Brizy and Oxygen Builder. Starter Templates (Brainstorm Force / Starter Templates by Brainstorm Force / Starter Templates for Astra) is listed as an others.
Does Site Origin have an API?
No public API is recorded for Site Origin.