If you’re shopping for a premium WordPress theme that promises designer-grade pages without hiring a developer, you’ve probably bumped into WordPress Theme Salient. In this review I’ll walk through everything a new user cares about what Salient is, how it looks, how it performs, which page builder it uses, pricing and support, real-world pros and cons, and sensible use-cases — all in plain English so you can decide quickly.
What is WordPress Theme Salient?
Salient is a long-standing premium WordPress theme sold on ThemeForest and maintained by ThemeNectar. It’s a multipurpose, design-forward theme that includes a large library of professionally designed demos and a modified page builder so users can create complex layouts visually.
Who is it for?
- Designers or agencies who want pixel-perfect presentation without building everything from scratch.
- Bloggers, photographers, or portfolio owners who prioritize visuals and animation.
- Small stores that want a stylish WooCommerce-powered storefront.
If your priority is the absolute lightest-weight, bare-bones blog, a simpler theme might be easier — but if you want creative freedom and polished templates, Salient is targeted at you. (Coverage of demos and shop support below.)
Salient Theme – Design & Templates
Salient’s strongest claim is its aesthetic: hundreds of high-quality demo sections and prebuilt templates that you can import and adapt. The official theme pages and ThemeForest listing highlight an extensive template library — hundreds of templates/sections that cover agencies, portfolios, shops and landing pages. These let you assemble a professional site quickly without designing every section yourself.
Practical note: the demos are visually rich (heavy on images, effects and animations). That’s beautiful — but on weaker hosting you’ll want caching and image optimization to maintain load speed.
Salient Theme – Page Builder & Customization
Salient ships with a tailored version of WPBakery (the theme’s editor is a heavily customized/modernized take on WPBakery) and a visual front-end/back-end editing experience. You get granular control (responsive settings per screen size, reusable global sections, tree-list views) that suits complex layouts. If you prefer Elementor or other builders, expect potential friction — Salient’s tooling is designed around its integrated builder.
Salient Theme – Performance & SEO
Salient’s developers emphasize performance—there are tools and options built into the theme to help with Lighthouse/GTmetrix scoring. That said, feature-rich themes with many animations and media need careful setup (fast hosting, image compression, caching plugins, and selective feature use) to hit high speed scores. Independent testing and roundups list Salient among popular themes that can be tuned for solid performance, but the out-of-the-box experience depends on content and hosting.
Salient Theme – WooCommerce & Compatibility
Salient supports WooCommerce and other common WordPress plugins (WPML, bbPress, Easy Digital Downloads and more according to compatibility listings). That makes it usable for shops and membership sites — again, the look and customization options are a major plus for storefront presentation.
Price & Licensing
Salient is sold on ThemeForest. Historically it’s available with a single-site license (regular license) around the typical ThemeForest price point (commonly listed at $60), which includes future updates and a limited period of support (with paid extension for longer support). Always check the ThemeForest item page at purchase time for the exact current price and licensing terms.
Support & Documentation
ThemeNectar provides a help center, documentation, and ticketed support. Buyers usually get several months of support included; extended support is available for an extra fee. The theme’s documentation and active support forums have been a recurring part of the product offering.
WordPress Theme Salient – Pros & Cons
Pros
- Gorgeous, professional demo designs and section templates.
- Powerful visual editor and granular responsive controls.
- WooCommerce and many plugin compatibilities.
Cons
- Heavy feature set can slow a site if not optimized.
- Relies on WPBakery custom tooling — potential friction if you prefer Elementor.
- ThemeForest licensing means one-site-per-license (for most users) and support windows unless extended.
Real-world tips before you buy
- Preview demos on both desktop and mobile — the theme leans on visuals and animations, so check how a demo behaves on phones.
- Choose hosting with good PHP resources and use an image CDN and caching (Salient benefits from that).
- If you love Elementor or another builder, verify compatibility for the features you need; you may need to stick with the theme’s custom builder for some layout elements.
Final Verdict
Pick Salient if you want a premium, design-first theme with a huge library of templates and pixel-perfect controls and you’re willing to optimize for performance. Skip it if you need an ultra-light, minimalist theme or if you’re committed to a different page builder and don’t want to work around integration quirks.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is Salient compatible with Elementor?
Salient is primarily built around a tailored version of WPBakery and its own editing features. While some users try mixing builders, some theme elements may depend on Salient’s integrated editor — expect limited or partial compatibility and potential rework if switching to Elementor.
2. How many demo templates does Salient include?
Salient advertises hundreds of templates/sections (the product pages and ThemeForest listing reference 400+ templates and many demo options).
3. Is Salient fast/SEO-friendly?
The theme includes performance options and aims to be optimized for Lighthouse/GTmetrix, but because of rich visuals and animations, you’ll likely need caching, image optimization and good hosting to reach top speed numbers. Independent roundups include Salient among themes that can be tuned for good performance.
4. Does Salient support WooCommerce?
Yes — Salient is compatible with WooCommerce and is commonly used for shops. ThemeForest and the theme’s documentation list WooCommerce among supported integrations.
5. How much does Salient cost?
On ThemeForest the regular single-site license has traditionally been in the typical ThemeForest range (around $60), which includes updates and a limited initial support period; prices and details should be confirmed on the ThemeForest item page at purchase.
6. Is Salient beginner friendly?
Yes and no. The visual demos and importable templates make setting up a nice-looking site straightforward for beginners. But because it uses a customized, feature-rich editor (based on WPBakery), there’s a small learning curve compared with very lightweight themes or those that use the block editor/Elementor exclusively.
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