10 Fastest WordPress Themes in 2024 (Load Times Optimized)

10 Min | June 25, 2023

According to tech insights aggregator W3Techs, WordPress is the Content Management System behind 43.1% of all websites on the internet. WordPress is the CMS of choice. It strengthened its position due to its open-source development journey supported by a vast community and endless customization options in the form of plugins and themes.

If you are a WordPress user, you know that thousands of free and paid themes are available. However, you might be confused about choosing the fastest WordPress themes for your WordPress or WooCommerce websites.

In this article, you will learn about the fastest WordPress theme for your projects. However, before looking at the list of recommended WordPress themes, let’s discuss the factors on which you can pick your WordPress theme.

What to Look for in the Fastest WooCommerce Theme?

According to Google research, if your website takes 1 to 3 seconds to load, 32% of your visitors will leave. Let’s see what things you should check before choosing any WordPress theme.

Speed

Speed is essential for any website, whether running a blog, affiliate website, dropshipping store, eCommerce store, or other business like real estate. If your website does load in under 2 seconds, you can potentially lose your visitor, directly affecting your leads (or conversions).

Each additional second of page loading increases the bounce rate by 40 to 50%.

No one likes to wait. So, if your website’s speed is slow, it will affect user experience, increase bounce rate, sales, and so on. You may never gain key positions on Google or other search engines.

When choosing a theme, you need to check the speed and reviews related to speed.

Flexible Customization Features

You must check the features of a theme while making a decision. You don’t have to go with those themes that do not provide good features like drag and drop builder, one-click customization, etc.

Customizing a theme to your desire can cost you time and effort.

Always use a reliable and user-friendly theme to help you customize easily according to your requirements and save time.

Page Builder Compatibility

If you are non-technical and do not have coding skills, page builders will help you. A page builder allows you to customize your WordPress website as it enables drag-and-drop functionality. Moreover, it will save a lot of time for you.

Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Page Builder Framework are popular page-building plugins. So, ensure your desired page builder plugin is compatible with the theme.

Plugin Compatibility

Before choosing any theme, you must ensure that the plugins you want to install are compatible with your theme. Choosing plugins that are not compatible with your theme will break your site.

Most of the themes recommended top WordPress plugins to make your work easy.

Support

You do not get a live chat or call support if you use a free theme. However, you can ask your query in the community and get your answer. On the other hand, if you are going with the premium theme, you need to ensure that support is reliable and quick.

Nowadays, almost all the services offer 24/7 support; however, the response time may not be as quick as you might want. So I would suggest choosing those themes which provide excellent support with quick response time.

How was this list of fastest WordPress themes compiled?

We have compiled an excellent list of recommended themes. We tested them and saw their reviews on their official page and other communities such as WordPress.org, Facebook, Reddit, Quora, etc. After researching, we have listed all the themes that are easy to use, have solid reviews, are lightweight, have good page speed, and are compatible with top plugins.

What Are the Fastest WordPress Themes in 2024?

Although there are many themes that you can find on the internet, we have listed the fast-loading WordPress themes that you should use in this article.

Theme 1: Astra

fastest wordpress themes

Astra is one of the best themes because it is a lightweight, easy-to-use, flexible, and customizable WordPress. While using this theme, you can make it look exactly what you want.

There are two qualities of Astra that website owners love. First, it is speedy. On Google Dev page tests, it scores an exception score of 95%. Then, it’s highly adaptability and works excellently with Elementor, WooCommerce, Yoast, etc.

It has 1+ million active installations and 5,500+ reviews with a perfect 5.0-star rating on Trustpilot.

Features:

  • Nearly 2.4 million websites use Astra
  • Offer a robust design and starter template.
  • Multiple headers and footer design options are available
  • Multiple fonts available, including responsive fonts, etc
  • A variety of backgrounds are available
  • 24/7 Support

Pricing:

  • Free Version: Available
  • ASTRA PRO: $59
  • Essential BUNDLE:  $169
  • Growth BUNDLE: $249
  • Lifetime Plans: Available

Theme 2: OceanWP

fastest wordpress themes

OceanWP positions itself as “the only truly free WordPress theme with pro features.” While using this theme, you can select individual modules to include on your site, so you only have to edit the elements you need. This theme is fully compatible with page builders and works excellently with all popular WordPress plugins. Plus, earlier this year, they provided compatibility for Adobe Fonts.

It has 700,000+ active installations and 5,500+ reviews with a nearly-ideal score of 4.9 average star rating.

Features:

  • Compatible with well-known page builders such as Elementor, Brizy, Visual Composer, Divi, and many more
  • Deep WooCommerce integration
  • A Huge Number Of Hooks + Conditionals
  • Multiple extensions available
  • 24/7 Support

Pricing:

  • Personal (for 3 websites): $54 every year
  • Business (for 6 websites): $89 every year
  • Agency (for 50 websites): $159 every year
  • Lifetime Plans: Available

Theme 3: GeneratePress

fastest wordpress themes

GeneratePress is a lightweight WordPress theme built on speed and usability. It is an easy-to-use and user-friendly WordPress theme. Built with speed in mind, GeneratePress is free for any WordPress website. However, the Premium package unlocks a new level of customization and controls.

It has more than 0.5 million active installations and nearly 1,500 reviews with an average rating of 5 stars.

Features:

  • Take control of your site colors using over 60 color options.
  • Dynamic page heros, an advanced hook system, and custom theme layouts.
  • Importable demo sites to give you a headstart on your next project.
  • Over 70 typography options give you complete control over your site text.
  • Add more color, typography, and layout options to your WooCommerce store.

Pricing:

  • Yearly: $59
  • Lifetime: $249

Theme 4: Open Source Genesis Framework

fastest wordpress themes

Created by StudioPress, the Open Source Genesis Framework for WordPress functions more like a website builder than a theme. To get the full potential from Genesis, you will require a free Sample Theme and a paid Pro plugin. The theme is customizable and lightweight, allowing you to create beautiful and modern designs.

Features:

  • Fast and optimized
  • Fully mobile responsive
  • Fast website loading times
  • Extra emphasis on security
  • Access to the search-engine-optimized Genesis Framework codebase.

Pricing:

  • Sample Theme with Genesis Framework: Free
  • Genesis Pro Plugin: $360

Theme 5: Twenty Twenty

fastest wordpress themes

Twenty Twenty was previously a default WordPress theme made available on all new WordPress installations.

Even if it’s three years old, Twenty Twenty is still a favorite due to its sleek and minimalistic look. Created by Automattic, you can expect this theme to be updated for a few more years. Plus, it is compatible with all the Gutenberg blocks, popular page builders, and plugins.

It has 500,000+ active installations and 60 reviews with a glorious 4.5 average star rating.

Features:

  • Consistent Speed
  • Community Supported
  • Highly Flexible
  • Free and customizable

Pricing:

  • Free Version: Available

Theme 6: Hello Elementor

fastest wordpress themes

Elementor is a page builder, but the Hello Elementor theme is just a blank canvas for Elementor. You need to use Elementor design while choosing this theme because this theme does not have any layout or design.

It has 1+ million active installations and 83 reviews with a 4.7 average star rating.

Features:

  • RTL Supported
  • Developer Friendly Code
  • WooCommerce Builder
  • Fast & Lightweight
  • Responsive Design
  • Free and Open Source

Pricing:

  • Essential (for 1 Pro Website): $59 yearly
  • Expert (for 25 Pro Websites): $199 yearly
  • Agency (for 1,000 Websites): $399 yearly

Theme 7: Neve

fastest wordpress themes

Neve is a super-fast and easy-to-integrate WordPress theme that is perfect for small businesses, blogs, startups, agencies, firms, WooCommerce stores, personal portfolios, and more projects. It works with AMP and Gutenberg blocks.

It has 300,000+ active installations and over 1,000 reviews with an average rating of 5 stars.

Features:

  • Available for most popular page builders (Elementor, Brizy, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin, Divi).
  • Flexible and easy to use
  • Fast and lightweight
  • Easy setup and sleek designs
  • Reliable updates
  • Quality code and full support

Pricing:

  • Personal: €99
  • Business: €199
  • Agency: €349
  • Free Version: Available

Theme 8: Sydney

fastest wordpress themes

Sydney is the most fantastic business theme, especially for freelancers or companies who can use it for their clients. Sydney offers plenty of features, including Google fonts, full-color control, multiple layouts, and many more features.

It has 100,000+ active installations and 564 reviews with a 4.9 average star rating.

Features:

  • Multiple header design options are available
  • Multiple page layouts are available
  • Different templates options
  • Video header, extra blocks
  • 24/7 support

Pricing:

  • Free: Yes
  • Pro: 69$

Theme 9: Airi

fastest wordpress themes

Airi is a flexible, customized, lightweight WordPress theme fully compatible with all Elementor add-ons and features. The theme is multipurpose and great for freelancers and companies’ client websites.

It has 20,000+ active installations and 50 reviews with a 4.8 average star rating.

Features:

  • Your Choice of Header
  • Single Post/Page Options
  • Extra Page Templates
  • WooCommerce
  • Extra Blocks
  • Video Header
  • New Options in the Customizer

Pricing:

  • Single Plugin: $59
  • Yearly Access: $99

Theme 10: Schema

fastest wordpress themes

Schema is an ultra-fast SEO-friendly WordPress theme that offers excellent features, including custom options panels, shortcodes, widgets, and a flexible design that includes rich snippets to help search engines understand your site and rank you higher.

It has 300+ active installations and 1 review with a 5-average star rating.

Features:

  • One-Click Installation
  • Secured & Optimized Code, Options Panel
  • Support & Updates for One Year
  • 24×7 Premium Technical Support
  • Narrated Video Tutorials
  • 30-Day Money Back Policy

Pricing:

  • Single Product: $39
  • Membership: $199

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most SEO-friendly WordPress theme?

Although there are many SEO-Friendly WordPress themes, we suggest you to test a few popular ones out (like Astra, Neve, Twenty Twenty, etc.) to find the most suitable for your site experience.

How to find a fast WordPress theme?

We recommend you to create a testing environment with content templates that are important to your website’s functioning. Then, test your desired options one-by-one and measure their load times using Google PageSpeed Insights.

Are free WordPress themes worth it?

Yes! Free WordPress theme is worth it; however, you should go with paid if you need more features.

Does WordPress have free themes?

There are thousands of lightweight WordPress themes that are free and available on the WordPress repository.

What is the difference between free and premium WordPress themes?

There is no big difference; you will get expert support and the most outstanding features on a premium theme.

Are WordPress themes safe?

All prefer themes that are available through WordPress theme repository. Alternatively, you can download themes directly from a developer’s website. Themes from Envato Marketplace are also safe for use.

How do I check my WordPress theme speed?

Check out the tutorial for How to check the speed of my WordPress website.

Conclusion

Themes play an important part in loading times of a WordPress website. However, a themes is one part of the performance equation.

Optimized WordPress themes will only work nicely if your website is hosted on speed-focused hosting solution. If you are looking for a fast WordPress hosting provider, then Devrims might be your answer.

Start your free trial now to experience the fastest cloud hosting platform on the planet.

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