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Would you consider downloading free versions of the most popular WordPress themes to find which ones are the fastest WordPress themes? I know, I won’t.
The ordinary WordPress user is just like that. No one in the world has the time to check demos of hosting speeds and theme performance results while continuously checking the size of CSS and JavaScript on every part of their website.
That is why we have shared five of the fastest themes for your WordPress website.
5 Fastest WordPress Themes + Test Data
We consider the following multipurpose themes lightweight and fast, offering many customization features without affecting WordPress site performance.
- Blocksy
- Kadence WP
- Neve
- GeneratePress
- Astra
Note: The page size and HTTP requests shown below are calculated after importing one of the starter sites provided by the WordPress theme vendor and then performing speed tests. They are not calculated after a fresh theme install.
Blocksy
Blocksy is a lightning-fast multi-purpose theme that requires fewer HTTP requests and avoids many bloats.
- Total Page Size: 118 KB
- HTTP Requests: 25
It follows a freemium approach. This means there is a free and premium version of the Blocksy theme.
The free version offers limited features compared to Blocksy Pro.
Its clean code policy has not only resulted in thoughtfully written lines of code but also complemented lightning-fast speeds and SEO optimization.
These are Blocksy’s performance results, as shown on the homepage of their official website.
The creators of Blocksy used the latest web technologies, such as React, Webpack, Babel, and PHP 8.
This results in a fast-performing theme with many customization features, such as Header Builder, Footer Builder, Mega Menu, conditional sidebars, and advanced layouts for posts, pages, and product pages.
In case you are wondering about website performance on a live site. Below are the screenshots of a web page from one of our sites.
Google Pagespeed insights; metrics for mobile performance test results
Google Pagespeed insights; metrics for desktop performance test results
The results are excellent.
Remember that this test was done on a live site on shared hosting, with a minimum of 2 to 3 required WordPress plugins and widgets, and no caching plugin or CDN was involved.
Blocksy also comes with high-quality starter sites that are easy to install and customize later.
Kadence WP
Like our previous theme, Blocksy, Kadence WP is another fast WordPress theme with quick load times. These themes have a lot in common, and apart from code, style, and design, there are minor differences between them.
You can compare Kadence and Blocksy and reach a better conclusion before purchasing either.
Kadence WP theme is a feature-rich, multi-purpose WordPress theme. It comes in free and paid versions as well.
However, Kadence’s free version offers some beautifully created starter sites with advanced global font and color control.
Starter sites, Kadence Blocks, and header & footer builders are some of the few strengths of this wonderfully created super fast-performing WordPress theme.
- Total Page Size: 111 KB
- HTTP Requests: 23
The screenshots of Google’s page speed insights for both mobile and desktop.
Google Pagespeed insights; mobile performance test results
Google Pagespeed insights; desktop performance test results
As you can see, there is little difference between Blocksy and Kadence themes when comparing their speeds.
The only difference the Kadence theme showed was there were fewer HTTP requests, the page size was smaller, and the mobile speed test score was 93.
The company Kadence WP is also top-rated for providing Bundles.
Bundles that offer you a premium theme, Kadence theme, and a premium blocks-based plugin, Kadence Blocks Pro.
Neve WordPress Theme
Neve is a super fast, mobile-first approach, multi-purpose WordPress theme.
It also follows a freemium model, with a free version to test and Neve Pro for advanced customizations.
Created by Themeisle, the Neve theme’s strengths include its Header & Footer Builder, integration with almost all popular WordPress plugins and drag-and-drop page builders, and a vast collection of starter sites.
- Total Page Size: 98 KB
- HTTP Requests: 24
Google Pagespeed insights; mobile performance test results
Google Pagespeed insights; desktop performance test results
Due to added features built into the theme customizer and fluid designs of most of Neve’s starter templates, the theme is heavier on page size than Kadence, GeneratePress, and Astra and requires a few more HTTP requests to load a page.
But you need to install an optimizing plugin.
The company follows a mobile-first approach, coding the theme with AMP support that keeps your LCP and TBT score low so your website can easily pass Google’s Core Web Vitals.
GeneratePress
Another lightweight and blazingly fast WordPress theme is GeneratePress.
Due to its performance, this theme is popular in the WordPress eco-space and for e-commerce stores.
This theme’s versatility, functionality, stable code, flexibility, and modular approach have made it a go-to theme for bloggers, hobbyists, and freelancers.
- Total Page Size: 90 KB
- HTTP Requests: 15
Google Pagespeed insights; mobile performance test results
Google Pagepeed insights; desktop performance test resuls
GeneratePress can give your website a high metrics score of 100/100.
However, the GeneratePress free version has minimal options, and you depend highly on coding.
However, GeneratePress Premium, or GP Premium, has many options for color, typography, primary and secondary navigation, multiple sidebars on a single page/post, and more.
The theme is mobile-friendly, SEO-ready, and supports RTL and translation.
Plus, premium users can import all of their professionally created starter sites.
GeneratePress integrates well with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Divi and offers basic online store controls after installing WooCommerce on your site.
Apart from all the features mentioned above, GeneratePress’s main strengths are its performance, documentation, tutorials, and support.
GeneratePress community forums are the best place to get an answer to any query related to the theme.
Astra
Finally, we come to our last fastest WordPress theme, Astra. In the WordPress theme industry, Astra is also known as WP Astra.
Astra is a lightweight WordPress theme that is super popular among beginners, business website owners, web shops, bloggers, affiliate marketers, freelancers, and even agencies.
This is one of the most installed WordPress themes, touching 1 million plus active installations.
- Total Page Size: 98 KB
- HTTP Requests: 18
Google page speed insights; mobile performance
Google page speed insights; desktop performance
Astra is heavier than GeneratePress due to the features it offers.
Astra has a header builder with 27 header elements, a separate mobile header builder, a footer builder with 15 footer elements, an additional sidebar manager for custom sidebars, multiple layouts, related posts, an author bio, and more.
GeneratePress, on the other hand, comes with only so many built-in features. However, one can easily create them using Elements.
Another strength of WP Astra is its HUGE collection of starter sites. Astra-free users can choose from 200 starter templates, and Astra premium users can download from 250 pro starter sites.
Most of their pro-starter sites use Elementor page builder or Beaver Builder.
It is lightweight and follows a modular approach. You can turn modules on or off as required, improving website performance.
What Factors To Consider While Choosing The Fastest WordPress Theme?
We have understood that a well-optimized WordPress theme contributes to responsiveness, SEO, and performance.
Here are the five essential things to consider when choosing a fast WordPress theme for your type of website.
- Lightweight and bloat-free
- Fewer HTTP Requests
- Responsive & further customization options
- Smaller page size (CSS & JavaScript)
- SEO ready
The above points hold good until the speed and performance of a WordPress theme are considered.
Note: There are other factors to consider when choosing a WordPress theme based on design, customization, and features.
Lightweight and Bloat-free
When discussing the fastest WordPress themes, always remember to go for a fast-loading, lightweight, and bloat-free theme.
You can check its page load by importing one of the theme’s starter sites and testing its blog posts or other web pages.
Plus, the theme should be free of unnecessary add-ons.
Fewer HTTP Requests
While checking the theme’s page size, consider the HTTP requests required to load a fully-fledged web page containing an image with average text content.
Only go for a theme that needs at most 50 HTTP requests to load a single webpage.
Responsive and Further Customization Options
The code of the WordPress theme should be mobile-friendly. Nowadays, themes with a mobile-first approach get higher priority than those that increase your site’s LCP score.
The theme customizer should have enough features to allow you to make specific spacing changes and other parameters necessary to improve the user experience on mobile devices.
Smaller Page Size
Remember that the more you customize using CSS and JavaScript, the longer your website will load.
Try keeping CSS and JavaScript after the fold; that will reduce your site’s LCP score and improve website speed.
SEO Ready
Always choose an SEO-friendly theme for search engines that already supports schema within the code.
Generally, a well-coded WordPress theme will always be stable, lightweight, have fewer HTTP requests, and be responsive for all devices.
