A Statement from Lauren Regarding the Kadence / Liquid Web Transition

If you’ve been following along in our community lately, you already know something is going on with Kadence. I want to talk about it directly, clearly, and honestly, because that’s what you deserve from me and frankly, what has been missing from the other side of this situation.

This is going to be a longer one. Grab your coffee.

Some Background

For those newer to the Restored 316 world, Kadence is the WordPress theme framework that powers our themes, funnel bundles, conversion callouts, and similar products. I have been a vocal advocate for Kadence for years because I genuinely believe it is the best product in its category. That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is who owns it.

Kadence was acquired by Liquid Web in 2021. Acquisitions happen in this industry. I’ve lived through them before, the Genesis acquisition, its slow decline, and everything in between. In almost two decades of serving over 30,000 customers in this space, I have navigated more than a few of these transitions.

What Happened

Here is a straightforward account of what unfolded on 05/12/2026, because I think it’s important to document it clearly:

1. The website redirect. The kadencewp.com website was suddenly forwarded to a landing page on the Liquid Web website with zero warning. No email. No community post. Nothing. You went to the site you’ve always known and ended up somewhere else entirely.

2. Login and purchase access disappeared. Most customers who ever bought any package from Kadence could not log in to the new website. Those who managed to get in found their past purchases, license keys, and downloads were no longer visible – myself included. As of this writing they say they are working on it and hope to have it resolved.

3. The new landing page. In my opinion, the new Kadence landing page on the Liquid Web site appears to have been built quickly and without much care. The graphics don’t even show the actual Kadence interface. The copy is confusing. For a company that sells a product specifically designed to help people build beautiful, professional websites, this landing page is not a great advertisement for that promise and I’m quite embarrassed to send anyone to it.

4. New pricing and the lifetime license. With the redirect came new pricing, and the longtime “lifetime license” option was removed. I want to be clear: I am not personally offended by pricing changes. Businesses evolve and pricing has to evolve with them. My issue is not the change itself. My issue is that it happened with zero communication.

5. Zero communication. All of the above happened with no Facebook post, no email, no heads up of any kind. It was only after the community erupted that members of the Kadence team began responding in the Kadence Facebook group. As of this writing, I still have not received an email from Kadence or Liquid Web about any of this.

6. This has been building for a while. Before the changes on 5/12/26, I did make a post on March 11th in the Kadence community asking about the changes at their company.As of today, we have not received a transparent, adequate response.

What We Can Learn From This

I have 18+ years in the online business WordPress space and in my opinion I think we can learn three things…

Put your customers first. Not as a tagline. Not as a value written on a whiteboard in a conference room. Actually, operationally, in every decision you make, put the people who pay you at the center of the conversation. When customers feel like an afterthought, they become former customers.

Communicate openly and often. The silence in this situation has done more damage than any pricing change or website redirect ever could have. People can handle hard news. People can handle change. What they cannot handle is being left in the dark while our businesses sit on tools we suddenly can’t access or understand. The absence of communication is its own message, and it’s a loud one.

Acknowledge the people who make you successful. The Kadence community built enormous goodwill for that product over many years. Every developer who recommended it, every customer who built their business on it, every tutorial written and question answered, that is the real asset. That trust and loyalty is what was purchased in this acquisition. Treating it carelessly is not just a PR problem. It’s throwing away the most valuable thing you bought.

I want you to notice something: the reason I’m writing this right now, the reason you’re reading it, is because I believe these things. This statement is me trying to do the very things I just listed. You are my customers. You deserve to know what’s happening. And I will always show up and communicate with you, even when the news is messy and incomplete.

Where Do We Go From Here

I know the big question on everyone’s mind is whether I’m staying with Kadence or looking elsewhere. Here’s my honest answer.

I have been actively working through this with a group of developers who all use Kadence heavily. Over the last several months we have tested other options, and every single time we come back to Kadence. The ease of use, the flexibility, the complete tech stack it provides – there is simply nothing else out there right now that checks all of those boxes in the same way.

Kadence, the product, is still great. The company that now owns it has had a rough start, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But I am holding steady for now and keeping my eyes and ears wide open.

With how fast AI is moving, any platform shift I make would need to be a move toward something that makes complete sense alongside that direction – not just a lateral swap for the sake of it. I would also caution anyone from jumping ship right now simply because something else looks appealing in this moment. I genuinely believe there are going to be some interesting new options on the horizon and patience will serve us well here.

What I can promise you is this: my number one goal, today and always, is making sure that whatever I’m using and recommending is truly what I believe is best for you. When that changes, you will hear it from me first.

Your websites are not in danger. The tools you have built your business on are still working. I am watching this closely, I am asking questions on your behalf, and I am not going anywhere.

I’ve got you.

xo, Lauren

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