11 Fastest WordPress Themes in 2021 (Based on Thorough Testing)

Finding the fastest WordPress theme feels like a fool’s errand. Are you to test every theme you’re interested in and compare the differences in millisecond load times? How do you account for changes in hosting speeds from the developers and their online demos? What if the testing tools produce conflicting results?

It’s unrealistic to think the average WordPress user will consistently test desired themes for performance. It’s tough to remove outside factors, and there are too many WordPress themes to consider.

That’s why we did the work for you.

Using four different speed tests, a new installation for each theme, and the same server for each theme’s speed testing, we were able to narrow down the fastest WordPress themes to a shortlist.

In addition, we compared the best of the best to show which of them perform well in different situations and which of them have the highest performance scores and fastest speeds.

Make sure to check out our guide on how to run speed tests if you’d like to run some tests on your own as well.

How We Tested the Fastest WordPress Theme Candidates

Our search began with themes we’ve encountered in the past, along with the best WordPress themes based on popularity, with high numbers of downloads and quality reviews.

We added to our list of candidates by going through the WordPress Repository to identify hidden gems, newer themes, and highly-rated options that we may have missed from the previous collection. If you come across a fast WordPress site, you can find out what theme it uses with our theme detector tool. If the theme is not in our list below, be sure to let us know about it in the comments!

The speed testing process went like this:

1. Install and activate the theme on a blank WordPress sandbox installation. This allows for standardization in WordPress hosting and no complications with other plugins or site files.
2. Leave the theme as-is, with no >media, menus, pages, or posts added. We also want to leave out any demo content and not assign a homepage for a level starting point.
3. Run the website with the theme through the GTMetrix Speed Test.
4. Run the theme through the Pingdom Speed Test.
5. Run the theme through the PageSpeed Insights Test to evaluate mobile speed.
6. Run the theme through the Byte Check TTFB (time to first byte) Test.

Each testing tool has its own benefits. To better understand the evaluation, we’ve outlined what our metrics mean and why they’re important.

As for why we used four tools, each of them has varying standards and results, so we want to ensure one tool isn’t giving better or worse results than another. In addition, a few of the tools focus on specifics like mobile speed, page size, or the speed at which the first website element appears.

Here’s a short summary of the testing tools we used.

GTMetrix

GTMetrix takes a website and breaks down its speed and optimization. It’s a nice tool for checking on performance issues and if a theme is way too cluttered with unnecessary files.

GTMetrix presents hundreds of metrics, but these are the ones we’re using for our test:

 GTMetrix

• PageSpeed Score: The score is a percentage out of 100%, as a cumulative from dozens of tests for things like minifying JavaScript, CSS, redirects, image optimization, and more.
• YSlow Score: Scored as a percentage out of 100%, using several factors to determine the score, such as cookie sizes, JavaScript, CSS, DNS lookups, errors, and more.
• Fully Loaded Time: How long it takes for GTMetrix to load your entire site. The lower the better. GTMetrix states the average as 7.2 seconds, but that’s far too high for our analysis. We’re shooting for below 2 seconds.
• Total Page Size: The file size of the entire site with the installed theme. Larger theme files usually slow down your website.
• Requests: The number of requests sent to the server to deliver the theme site files. Again, the lower the better.

Pingdom

Pingdom is rather similar to GTMetrix, but we like to run both side-by-side since they offer slightly different metrics and can serve as a “check-and-balances” situation if any major discrepancies happen between the two.

 Pingdom

• Performance Grade: This is a cumulative grade out of 100. The goal is to get as high of a score as possible. Some elements that contribute to the score include content size, errors, redirects, requests, and more.
• Load Time: The amount of time it takes Pingdom to load the entire website with a theme installed. Lower is better.
• Page Size: The size of your total site files. The theme affects this drastically. Lower is better.
• Requests: The number of server requests to deliver your theme and site content to the user. Fewer is ideal.

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

Google PageSpeed Insights excels with displaying how user experience is the most important part of having a fast WordPress theme. It focuses on how quickly content is shown to the user, while also revealing the parts of the theme that make for slow delivery times.

For our testing purposes, we only use the mobile analysis, since the desktop speeds are mainly covered with the GTMetrix and Pingdom tests.

Here are the primary data points to know about:

 PageSpeed insights

• Overall Score: This score is out of 100. The performance scoring is detailed here, with factors like a speed index, time to deliver content, and idle timing.
• First Image or Text: The amount of time taken for your theme and website to show the very first content item. Lower is best.
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): How much time elapses for every single content item to appear to the user. Again, lower is ideal.
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: Interactivity is different than visibility. Essentially, it means that a button might be visible, but the user may not be able to click it yet. So, this timing should be longer than the Speed Index, but we still want a lower number.

Byte Check

A TTFB test, or time to first byte test, measures how long the browser takes to complete an HTTP request and end up with one byte of data being sent to the user from the server.

Essentially, it’s saying how long it takes for the tiniest bit of information to be delivered. Hosting plays a large role in delivering the first byte, so choosing the >fastest WordPress hosting solution is important, but a clunky theme causes problems too.

Here’s what we look at during our testing using bytecheck.com:

 Byte check

• Time To First Byte: The TTFB is ideally a very short period of time (in milliseconds). It’s a reflection of how long it takes the first byte of data to go from the server to the user.
• Total Time: The total time could incorporate other factors, but in our testing, we found that it’s always the same. We figure hosting changes would modify this number.
• Request Size: Ideally low, the request size is the size of data sent through the HTTP request. Our testing revealed the same request size across all themes.
• Total Header Size: This is important because the header file sizes often end up weighing down a theme. Measured in bytes, it’s the total file size of your theme/website header. The lower the better.

11 Fast WordPress Themes Put to Test

Now that metrics and tools have been presented, it’s time to have a look at our results and find the fastest WordPress theme (backed by data).

Hello Elementor

If you’re familiar with the Elementor Page Builder, you know how fast and easy it can be to build a WordPress site without using any code. Elementor is a top pick in the world of drag and drop builders, so its no surprise that the same developers have produced a theme that’s fast and versatile, called Hello Elementor.

 Hello Elementor

The theme is marketed as plain white and lightweight. As you may assume, it combines nicely with Elementor, along with many other plugins like WooCommerce, Advanced Custom Fields, Yoast, and more.

The mobile design performs well in testing as well and it provides a smooth interface so your visitors aren’t confused with a glitchy menu or text. The theme starts you off with a fairly blank slate, but the power of Elementor comes into play for designing what you need for any industry.

Pricing

The Hello Elementor theme is available as a free download.

The Elementor Page Builder is free as well, with paid plans (starting at $49 per year) for additional templates, widgets, and element builders.

Notable Features

• The Hello Elementor theme integrates with Elementor, one of the easiest page builders out there.
• The base design and theme files are minimalistic and simple, allowing for incredibly fast speeds and an overall clean interface.
• With the Elementor integration, you can make any type of website with the theme and page builder.
• Some of the page builder elements that come with Hello Elementor include modules for video, headings, spacers, Google Maps, portfolios, posts, and many more.
• Hello Elementor has built-in tools for rapidly designing landing pages.
• The theme integrates with several popular plugins like WooCommerce, Yoast, and WPML.
• You receive a beautiful responsive design for all devices/u>.
• Create multilingual and translated sites with help from RTL support.
• Hello Elementor has a strong following and solid support resources, making it easy for you to reach out for help and find articles online.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Hello Elementor is the best of the best when it comes to page speeds and lightweight files. The scores definitely reflect that.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 99%
• YSlow Score: 96%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.2s
• Total Page Size: 24.5KB
• Requests: 8

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 97
• Load Time: 385ms
• Page Size: 27.9KB
• Requests: 8

PageSpeed Insights Test (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 100
• First Image or Text: 1.4s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.0s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.4s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 526ms
• Total Time: 526ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

Elementor has a way of making everyone smile, from the free drag-and-drop page builder to its theme that crushes the speed tests over and over. Pair this with the page builder and you’ll be building content and serving up your website in record time.

The Pagespeed and YSlow scores are phenomenal, along with the Pingdom score. It’s the first theme on this list to register a score of 100 from Google’s PageSpeed Insights, and the lightning-fast loading times are to thank for that. It even looks like the TTFB test shaves off a few milliseconds compared to other competitors.

Finally, we’re only seeing 8 requests from Pingdom and GTMetrix. Although that’ll change when you add content to a site, it’s a great place to start. We love seeing less communication between the server and the user.

Neve

The ThemeIsle company is known for its creation of speedy and flexible themes and plugins, many of which are free with premium upgrades. During our tests, the Neve theme stood out as the fastest from ThemeIsle, with its multipurpose design and easily customizable layout.

We also like Neve since it’s made to work well with WooCommerce, the most popular online store plugin for WordPress. It’s reassuring to see a few ecommerce-focused themes with lightweight files and top-notch performance scores.

 Neve WordPress theme

Neve works with Elementor and many other top page builders. It’s a mobile-first theme with fast and lightweight elements. The reliable updates and support are mainstays from the ThemeIsle brand.

You’ll also find reliable coding and a flexible structure to ensure that you can build any site you want. It’s also nice to see that ThemeIsle lists sites that are currently running the Neve theme, allowing you to understand the possibilities of the theme and get inspiration for your own website.

Pricing

The Neve theme is available as a free download, with premium versions starting at $49.

The paid theme provides extra features like a header and blog boost, custom layouts, and unlimited support and updates for the sites with the theme.

Notable Features

• The Neve theme focuses on mobile interfaces for faster loading and stronger experiences on phones and tablets.
• Integrate with popular page builders.
• The theme is compatible with AMP for generating a user-first interface.
• Testing and file size shows that the theme is lightweight and fast.
• Custom designing is provided in the header and footer areas.
• You can adjust your site layout with settings for full-width and contained versions.
• Neve has a library of custom-made demos to launch a beautiful website within minutes. The categories include ecommerce, minimal, blog, entertainment, travel, and more.
• Some of the demos are made just for certain page builders.
• The WooCommerce Booster tool implements additional ecommerce elements like advanced galleries, checkout modules, and billing details.
• The Blog Booster feature expands your blogging options with elements for thumbnails, layouts, and metadata.
• The Header Booster is great for adding items like social buttons, contact information, and breadcrumbs.
• You can generate custom layouts and incorporate white labeling if you’re running an agency.
• The premium version of the theme provides Elementor Page Builder upgrades, blog boosters, and “scroll to top” features, among many other upgrades.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Neve is another golden theme to keep your eye on if you’re trying to improve your mobile speeds. The requests are low and its file sizes look desirable as well.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 99%
• YSlow Score: 96%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.1s
• Total Page Size: 36.7KB
• Requests: 8

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 97
• Load Time: 482ms
• Page Size: 40.6KB
• Requests: 8

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 100
• First Image or Text: 1.5s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.2s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.5s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 630ms
• Total Time: 630ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

Neve is another reputable WordPress theme that delivers a 100 score in the PageSpeed Insights test. It also produces high-90s results for all other evaluations. The requests are low, the page sizes look good, and the loading time gets to a point where it’s faster than even the fastest themes we’ve looked at.

Neve is not only popular and well-designed, but it’s a versatile theme that has the huge bonus of running at blazing fast speeds.

Astra

The Astra theme is not only growing in popularity at a rapid rate, but the theme moves quickly when activated and run during our tests. The whole point of Astra is to have a premade site all ready to go once you install it on WordPress.

That’s done with demos for multiple industries and you can customize most elements of the theme without having to touch the code.

 Astra

Page builders integrate with the theme and you can link the theme with third-party plugins like WooCommerce, LearnDash, and Yoast. Along with hooks and filters, translation settings, and demos, the Astra theme is a must-try if you’re interested in a speedy setup.

Pricing

There’s a free theme and a premium version. Astra Pro is listed at $59. The Agency Bundle is $523 per year, but we often see discounts from the company.

Notable Features

• There are beautiful prebuilt demos for designs in outdoor adventure, pet care, organic stores, custom printing companies, and more.
• The theme integrates with high-end page builders like Gutenberg, Brizy, Elementor, and Beaver Builder. In fact, some of the demos are made just for those builders.
• The layout settings include options to adjust your headers, add sidebars, and adjust single-page layouts.
• Control the entire design of your blog through the customizer.
• The theme has special settings for WooCommerce that you wouldn’t find from regular themes.
• The hooks and filters are ideal for extending functionality.
• You can translate the theme into various languages.
• The theme has a mega menu and mobile header features.
• The premium site layouts include options for padded, full width, and boxed pages.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Can a multipurpose theme with many demos provide top-notch speeds? You bet it can.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 99%
• YSlow Score: 95%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.5s
• Total Page Size: 48KB
• Requests: 10

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 96
• Load Time: 412ms
• Page Size: 52.5KB
• Requests: 10

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 99
• First Image or Text: 1.7s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.6s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.7s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 628ms
• Total Time: 628ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

In terms of scores from all four tests, Astra is a high-performer. The scores are 99, 95, 96, and 99, close to perfect in every area!

The requests are at 10 and the page size is rather low, meaning there’s no junk weighing the theme down right out of the box. Overall, Astra performs well even when you begin implementing the larger demo items, which is great since it all looks beautiful.

GeneratePress

From all four tests, GeneratePress ended up as one of the fastest WordPress theme options. It’s a versatile theme in a sleek little package, boasting integrations with multiple page builders, WooCommerce support, and various sidebar and widget locations.

 GeneratePress

The ratings and reviews show that GeneratePress has an incredible following. You can download a free version or opt to upgrade your features to the premium version.

The premium theme comes with extra modules for typography, demos, colors, and more. We particularly like how small the original theme file size is, along with the demo files. This indicates that it’s not going to weigh down your site or cause problems on a server.

Pricing

There’s a free version to download. The premium theme sells for $49.95. Upgrades are yearly if you want continued support and updates.

Notable Features

• The theme has fast speeds and small file sizes according to our testing.
• It’s compatible with a wide range of third-party plugins like WooCommerce, page builders, and bbPress.
• It has a wide range of theme colors and typography options for customization.
• Hooks and filters are available for extending the functionality of your site.
• The theme is translation-ready for over 20 languages.
• Make an advanced site menu with the help of mobile headers, sticky navigation, and more.
• Blogging features are more advanced than other themes, as it uses infinite scrolling, column controls, and image adjustment settings.
• You can add backgrounds to several parts of your theme.
• Import and export all theme options with the click of a button.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

During testing, GeneratePress performed well across the board. It’s particularly impressive how fast the pages load.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 99%
• YSlow Score: 95%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.5s
• Total Page Size: 35.4KB
• Requests: 10

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 96
• Load Time: 890ms
• Page Size: 39.9KB
• Requests: 10

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 99
• First Image or Text: 1.5s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.5s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.5s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 664ms
• Total Time: 664ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 423b

Test Conclusions

The remarkably small file size shows its strength in the testing for GeneratePress. The theme has close to perfect GTMetrix and Pingdom scores, with total page sizing at a bare minimum. The requests are pretty low as well.

This success in the world of speed carries over to the PageSpeed Insights test, as we can see another almost perfect score and rapid loading times/u>. Although it’s still fast, the TTFB test is the only area that doesn’t perform quite as well as the competition.

Page Builder Framework

When looking for customization prowess and speedy frontend delivery, the Page Builder Framework provides a healthy combination of both. The theme’s page speed is cause for praise and the page builder integrations come in handy for developing a multitude of website designs without needing to mess with coding.

We also like that the theme is SEO-friendly, has WooCommerce elements, and offers a nice interface on mobile devices.

 Page Builder Framework

Along with building modules from page builders, the Page Builder Framework offers unique design tools to expand your possibilities. The developers even have a list of links to see other websites that have been made with the Page Builder Framework.

A premium addon is available as well, with settings for transparent headers, different menus, and sticky navigation.

Pricing

You can download the core theme for free.

The premium version is actually an addon with over a dozen new features. It sells for $68. The Agency Bundle includes a few other extensions and features and allows for use on unlimited sites. That sells for $224.

We’ve noticed that the developers often offer discounts for both plans.

Notable Features

• The minimalist design is great as a starting point, but it’s very flexible to make any type of website.
• The theme integrates with top page builders like BeaverBuilder, Elementor, and Brizy. It even works with Divi.
• The WooCommerce integration ensures that setting up an online store doesn’t take too long.
• It’s a GDPR compliant theme for improved performance with Google Fonts.
• The responsive design snaps into action on new devices and it looks really good on smartphones and tablets.
• Hooks are available for extending the theme. It’s a developer-friendly theme with integrations through BrowserSync and Gulp.
• The theme plays well with Gutenberg.
• The one addon is affordable and offers advanced solutions for sticky navigation, advanced typography, hover effects, white labeling, advanced WooCommerce tools, and much more.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

It’s interesting to see how fast some of these themes are, even though they’re given away for free. And the Page Builder Framework is no exception.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 98%
• YSlow Score: 93%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.2s
• Total Page Size: 71.3KB
• Requests: 11

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 95
• Load Time: 486ms
• Page Size: 76.6KB
• Requests: 11

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 98
• First Image or Text: 2.0s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.6s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 2.1s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 767ms
• Total Time: 767ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

We enjoy the Page Builder Framework for its usefulness in many industries and that comes into play when small businesses are trying to boost SEO rankings. Luckily, the PageSpeed, Pingdom, and YSlow scores show that those small business owners don’t have to worry about the theme causing any speed or SEO problems.

The requests are consistently low and the loading time nears the 1-second mark. The TTFB test rendered slightly slower results, but it’s still respectable. The other reports show us that the user won’t wait long to see this theme load.

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OceanWP

The OceanWP theme has a professional look for small businesses and agencies by default. It also includes creative demos for companies and industries like fitness clubs, shoe stores, and chocolate companies. You can browse through the dozens of themes on the website to see which ones are best for you before opting for this theme.

 OceanWP

OceanWP holds up well in our speed tests, as we’ll outline below. Not only that, but the performance of the theme remains solid when you implement the demos.

Quite a few extensions are available for OceanWP, adding to its extendability. For instance, you can add a sticky header and an Instagram feed. The Woo Popup is a nice touch and the white labeling is offered as a premium extension as well.

Pricing

OceanWP has a free version for everyone to download.

The premium version is mainly a bundle of extensions, with support for additional sites and ongoing support. That starts at $39 per year and goes up to $129 per year for agencies.

Notable Features

• You get to pick from a long list of unique and beautiful demos to design your site. Some of them include studio, outfit, and event demos.
• It’s a fully responsive theme that actually looks good on smaller devices and performs well. Many themes claim this but don’t deliver.
• Translation tools are built into the theme.
• The OceanWP theme has support for WooCommerce, turning your site into an online store.
• A few WooCommerce features that come with OceanWP include a native cart popup, a floating cart bar, and a quick view.
• The theme plays nice with popular page builders like King Composer, Elementor, and Beaver Builder.
• You can choose from a wide range of extensions like the popup notice, Instagram integration, and full-screen scrolling tool.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Starting out, it appears that OceanWP is a tad slower than some of the others, but that still doesn’t mean you should overlook it. The main area to be concerned about is mobile speed. But again, the speeds are actually really good, but when compared to the best, it looks a little slower.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 98%
• YSlow Score: 92%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.4s
• Total Page Size: 251KB
• Requests: 20

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 91
• Load Time: 564ms
• Page Size: 264.3KB
• Requests: 20

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 86
• First Image or Text: 3.1s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 3.8s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 3.3s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 632ms
• Total Time: 632ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 423b

Test Conclusions

OceanWP came out with a wonderful PageSpeed score, but the YSlow and Pingdom scores are a little lower than the competition in this article. However, scores of 92 and 91 are still better than the vast majority of themes on the market, making it one of the fastest WordPress theme options.

The TTFB test is respectable, but we’ll see further down that other themes are cutting this time in half. The score holding back OceanWP from being a top contender is the PageSpeed Insights Test.

So, you may see slightly slower loading times on a mobile device. Hopefully, that improves in the future to make it a top-notch theme for speed on all devices.

Zakra

The Zakra theme is from the folks at ThemeGrill and provides a multipurpose solution with endless possibilities and a speedy interface. The theme is known as a fast and secure option with over 40 demos to create a unique look for your website.

Our tests confirmed that the speed claim is in fact true, as it produced speeds in line with the top performers in the business.

 Zakra

Zakra comes as a free theme with strong features, but the true customization prowess is available in the premium version, with advanced headers, WooCommerce tools, and blogging options.

One of the things we like the most about Zakra is how well-documented and supported the theme is compared to many free themes online. There are tutorials to answer key questions and a customer support rep is available if you can’t find something.

Pricing

The free version is, of course, free.

The premium theme sells for $49 per year, with higher pricing to support installation on more sites. You can also opt for a monthly plan.

Notable Features

• The core theme offers a fast and reliable build to generate sleek sites for small businesses.
• Choose from a library of demos ranging in focus from dentists to wedding themes.
• The theme is compatible with Gutenberg and a few other page builders.
• It’s SEO-friendly and great-looking on mobile devices.
• The header module is versatile and creative because of the multiple top header bars, transparent header options, and several buttons.
• You can edit the entire menu without having to stick with the standard WordPress menu settings. This includes tools for mobile menus, dropdown menus, and primary menu customizations.
• Adjust the style of your blog with help from masonry layouts and grid designs.
• Make multiple footer layouts with more columns and options for full-width footers or buttons to scroll to the top of the page.
• The theme is packaged with hundreds of typography options.
• Sidebars are highly flexible.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

We like the design and speed coming from Zakra. Especially when it comes to the mobile speeds and the lowers request counts.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 99%
• YSlow Score: 93%
• Fully Loaded Time: 2.1s
• Total Page Size: 45.3KB
• Requests: 13

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 94
• Load Time: 417ms
• Page Size: 50.9KB
• Requests: 13

PageSpeed Insights (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 98
• First Image or Text: 1.9s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.6s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.9s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 599ms
• Total Time: 599ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

The Zakra testing revealed solid scores across the board, with the PageSpeed Insights test being a notable success. That means it takes less than 2 seconds for the first theme item to show up to the user and become interactive. A score of 98 is suitable for these speeds.

Customify

The Customify theme is another of the fastest WordPress theme options to consider, mainly because our speed tests rendered excellent results, but also since the theme has settings for changing every part of your website.

The fast performance is credited to the optimization and lightweight nature of the theme files, while the customization aspects are completed with header and footer builders, demo imports, and integrations with page builders.

 Customify

The PressMaximum developers provide a website for a free theme download, complemented by a collection of website demos for importing. The categories include options for portfolios, ecommerce, small business, and nonprofit sites.

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You’ll also find demos made primarily for Beaver Builder and Elementor, two of the most popular page builders on the market. Customer support and documentation are of high quality on the PressMaximum website and you’re able to upgrade to the theme’s Pro Version to gain access to a myriad of advanced features.

Some of the Pro features include transparent headers, different blogging layouts, and custom fonts.

Pricing

The core version is available for free.

The Pro Upgrade starts at $59 per year for a full year of updates and support. The Business Bundle is for three sites at $89 per year, and the Agency Bundle supports unlimited sites for $129 per year.

What’s more, is that renewal discounts are typically provided every year.

Notable Features

• The Customify theme is a multipurpose theme with the flexibility to design just about any type of website.
• It integrates with top page builders like Beaver Builder and Elementor, minimizing the need to mess with code.
• The theme integrates with many must-have plugins like OrbitFox, Yoast, BuddyPress, and bbPress.
• The WooCommerce integration is smooth, with additional elements that enhance any ecommerce store.
• You receive footer and header builders without many limitations.
• The speed and lightweight nature of the theme improve its SEO right out of the box.
• You receive custom menus, flexible headers, and multiple columns to adjust.
• You’re able to import demos within the dashboard. These demos cover all sorts of industries, from online apparel stores to lawyer websites.
• A unique header is provided for mobile devices.
• You can make edits to the mobile version of the site, without adjusting items on the desktop version.
• The theme has unlimited typography settings and unique layouts for pages and posts.
• A sticky header feature is offered in the Pro Version.
• There are multiple addon features for having multiple headers, mega menus, and advanced styling.
• The infinity scroll and “scroll to top” functionality adds to its ease of use.
• This is a developer-friendly theme, allowing for advanced hooks and code customizations.
• A few advanced builders and “boosters” come with the Pro Version, including a WooCommerce Booster, a WC Product Gallery, Slider addons, and a canvas filter for ecommerce stores.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Customify is tough to beat as well. You’ll see that the sub-2-second loading times are rather consistent for this theme.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 99%
• YSlow Score: 95%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.6s
• Total Page Size: 134KB
• Requests: 10

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 96
• Load Time: 543ms
• Page Size: 140.4KB
• Requests: 10

PageSpeed Insights Test (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 98
• First Image or Text: 1.9s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.7s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.9s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 570ms
• Total Time: 570ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

Here’s another powerhouse theme with high-90s scores. It’s nice to see the requests in line with the other fast WordPress theme options and the page sizing isn’t that much of a worry.

Twenty Twenty

Twenty Twenty is the default WordPress theme that comes installed with every WordPress build. This theme gets a new release every year, technically making them different since you can still install Twenty Nineteen and other past versions of the theme.

The most current WordPress default is made from an existing theme from the WordPress community and it focuses on integrating well with the Gutenberg builder. The default WordPress theme (regardless of the year) is consistently one of the fastest WordPress theme options, because of its slim file structure, solid code, and the fact that it’s expected to be the best of the best.

 Twenty Twenty

As was expected, the Twenty Twenty WordPress theme came out strong in speed testing. The theme is known for its flexibility with page builders and the endless number of layouts, especially for blogging.

It’s a popular option for those trying to build personal or professional blogs, with increasingly more advanced typography options, formatting settings, and background colors. Pair that with a page builder like Gutenberg or Elementor to expand on its customization and know for a fact that your theme isn’t causing any problems when it comes to speed.

Pricing

All past, current, and future default WordPress themes, including Twenty Twenty, are completely free to use.

Notable Features

• Twenty Twenty boasts consistent speed scores that get close to 100s every year. The file sizes and requests are also on the extremely low side on a regular basis.
• The theme is made for the most current version of WordPress, so it’s often touted as perfectly integrated with WordPress, cutting out speed and conflict issues you may find with third-party themes.
• Twenty Twenty is based on Chaplin, a theme with high flexibility and support for extreme customization.
• You receive unique tools like editor styles, fonts, colors, and infinite scrolling.
• The block editor support is primarily there for Gutenberg, but it’s also possible to integrate with page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder.
• The theme is ready for mobile devices, with stunning attributes and highly user-friendly elements that adapt to every device size.
• You’re able to make landing pages rather quickly with the theme.
• It provides access to a wide range of typography options.
• The blogging interface and customization tools are top-notch, with options for layouts, sidebars, typography adjustments, and more.
• The content editor provides a live look at what changes are made before publication.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Is Twenty Twenty the fastest theme in the world? No, but it’s close. It’s nice to see that the default WordPress theme isn’t just for show.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 98%
• YSlow Score: 95%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.4s
• Total Page Size: 276KB
• Requests: 10

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 96
• Load Time: 368ms
• Page Size: 62.3KB
• Requests: 9

PageSpeed Insights Test (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 99
• First Image or Text: 1.5s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 2.4s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 1.5s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 715ms
• Total Time: 715ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

Although the Twenty Twenty theme isn’t the first choice for many developers, because of its reputation as the “stock WordPress theme,” we still like to see that the Automattic developers are keeping around — and improving upon — this gem for the users who want free themes.

98, 95, 96, and 99 looks like a winning combination of scores, and the loading time is even more impressive. It’s also somewhat of a no-brainer that the page size is small for the Twenty Twenty theme.

The TTFB test appears a bit higher than what we expected, but it’s nothing to stress about.

Responsive

The Responsive theme clocks in with blazing fast speeds. It’s also a worthy theme for building a website for any industry. The blogging functionality stands out and the over 40 demo site files are there for you to install full website features for travel sites, small business showcases, and portfolios.

 Responsive

The demos are made for Gutenberg and Elementor, all of which run well on mobile devices and feature clean code and low-profile files that don’t conflict with plugins.

Pricing

The core Responsive theme is entirely free of charge, even for most of the demos.

There is, however, a Pro Version. They sell the Pro theme for $47 per year to use on one website. The Business Plan is listed at $67 per year, and the Pro version is $97 per year. A few of the extra features include auto-updates, interactive carousels, video tutorials, pricing tables, and portfolio widgets.

Notable Features

• The speed test produces consistently high scores, with SEO elements built into the theme to complement the speeds.
• It’s a responsive theme that looks nice on all devices.
• You can integrate with popular page builders. A few of the demos are made for Elementor and Gutenberg, but they also work with Visual Composer, Brizi, Divi, and more.
• Integrate with top plugins like WooCommerce and WPML.
• Create a community website with sleek integrations with BuddyPress and bbPress.
• The theme is fully customizable with buttons, colors, and layouts to match your brand.
• The theme highlights custom typography opportunities, with styling options, system fonts, and Google Fonts.
• Quite a few WooCommerce options are built into the theme, such as custom layouts, colors, and quick views for product images.
• The Pro Version grants you unlimited color options, header/footer layouts, and extended tools for WooCommerce.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Responsive has surprisingly fast page load times. The mobile results are interesting, considering the name of the theme.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 98%
• YSlow Score: 91%
• Fully Loaded Time: 1.2s
• Total Page Size: 112KB
• Requests: 14

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 93
• Load Time: 472ms
• Page Size: 118.7KB
• Requests: 14

PageSpeed Insights Test (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 95
• First Image or Text: 2.3s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 3.1s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 2.5s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 662ms
• Total Time: 662ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

It’s good to see that a theme called Responsive performs well in the PageSpeed Insights Mobile test. The loading times aren’t bad for the theme on a mobile device and they improve when the theme is brought up on a desktop.

There’s nothing to cringe about for any of these scores, seeing as how the requests are low, the loading time is low, and the page size isn’t bad at all.

Sydney

The Sydney theme, from aThemes, is meant for small businesses and >freelancers who need fast and minimalistic designs. The theme is compatible with Elementor, offers complete layout control, and performed fairly well in our speed tests.

Sydney is a true blessing for small business owners who need to keep website costs low but fear ending up with a junky product. Sydney saves those business owners by offering a simplistic site building process and a wide range of settings to extend upon its already powerful layouts.

 Sydney

Sydney is a responsive theme that actually looks good on smaller devices. It also allows for blog and front page customizations with quick setting changes in the Theme Customizer.

We like the Google Font access, along with the custom Elementor blocks. The list goes on: parallax backgrounds, slider image headers, and social buttons. Sydney is clearly more of a premium theme given away for free. It’s great since you pretty much receive premium features for free, but there’s more to look forward to in the Pro Version.

Pricing

Offered as a free theme download, Sydney also provides a Pro Version for $59.

The Pro theme includes extra page templates, your choice of a header, and many other features to expand upon your site-building process. It’s also worth mentioning that the Pro version gets you continued support and theme updates.

Notable Features

• The theme performs well in speed tests, with its small file sizing and SEO and mobile-centric approach.
• The theme is translation-ready for adjusting to different languages. The Live Customizer is great for seeing changes live and previewing them before publication.
• Several social media buttons allow for linking to your social accounts.
• The theme includes a setting for adding a parallax background, which is a simple way to add a visual effect to images without slowing down your site with something clunkier.
• Quite a few custom Elementor blocks come with the Sydney theme.
• The theme options maximize your customization opportunities, with color, fonts, and blog layout settings.
• The aThemes customer support team is highly regarded and the online documentation is top-notch.
• You get extra page templates and Elementor blocks when you upgrade to the Pro Version. For instance, premium Elementor blocks include timelines, pricing tables, and new employee sections.
• Some of the WooCommerce features are unique to the Sydney theme. For instance, the theme provides checkout modules and product preview tools.
• You can add a video to your website header with the click of a button.
• The footer contact form is also unique to Sydney, allowing you to collect information from potential clients or customers.

Fastest WordPress Theme Analysis

Sydney isn’t the top performer on this list, but it still deserves to be mentioned for its high grades, lower request counts, and tiny file sizes.

GTMetrix Speed Test

• PageSpeed Score: 98%
• YSlow Score: 90%
• Fully Loaded Time: 2.0s
• Total Page Size: 365KB
• Requests: 16

Pingdom

• Performance Grade: 92
• Load Time: 481ms
• Page Size: 380.7KB
• Requests: 16

PageSpeed Insights Test (Mobile-only)

• Overall Score: 95
• First Image or Text: 2.3s
• Speed Index (visible population for all content): 3.0s
• Time to Become Fully Interactive: 2.3s

Byte Check TTFB Test

• Time To First Byte: 593ms
• Total Time: 593ms
• Request Size: 201b
• Total Header Size: 397b

Test Conclusions

Sydney has some of the worst speed scores from this analysis, but that still puts it on the leaderboard as one of the fastest WordPress theme options. The PageSpeed score is up there with the top performers, and the YSlow and Pingdom scores are nothing to scoff about.

The total page size is higher when compared to other highspeed themes and the requests aren’t at a rock-bottom number. But again, that’s not saying much when we’re putting the Sydney theme up against the best of the best.

It’s still a solid theme with many uses. It’s simply a bonus that you receive a neatly organized file system inside the theme for fast speeds.

The Fastest WordPress Themes Ranked

You may have noticed that the themes above are listed in no particular order. However, it’s important to see how each of them compares next to each other for the speed and performance tests.

Although it’s impossible to get an absolutely clear-cut view of which theme is fastest (a theme may be #1 in one test but #5 in another test) we can try to rank them based on the information collected.

Fastest WordPress Themes (Compared)

It may help to get a visualization of the speed results. This first chart highlights all of the fastest themes on the X-Axis with comparisons of the final scores from four of the testing tools. Each one runs on a scale of 100.

 Fastest WordPress themes compared

Takeaways

• The GTMetrix PageSpeed scores vary a bit from theme to theme, but not much. All are above 98.
• Sydney has the worst YSlow score.
• Although not bad, Responsive, Sydney, and OceanWP have the lowest Pingdom scores.
• Hello Elementor and Neve are the only scores of 100 from the PageSpeed Insights Mobile test.
• OceanWP has, by far, the lowest PageSpeed Insights Mobile score, with Responsive and Sydney also a bit lower than the top performers.

In this next chart, we compare the load times and speed-based results, all of which produced data in seconds or milliseconds. Remember, lower is better.

 Load time test chart for fastest WordPress theme

Takeaways

• Neve produces the fastest GTMetrix Load Time, with Hello Elementor, Responsive, and Page Builder Framework not far behind.
• The Pingdom Load Times all float around .5 seconds, but the slowest one is GeneratePress, at .89 seconds. It’s still fast, but not as good as the rest.
• OceanWP has the slowest Mobile Speed Index. Hello Elementor and Neve are the fastest on mobile.
• It’s hard to tell with the graph, but Hello Elementor and Customify win the TTFB battle. The slowest TTFB themes are Twenty Twenty and Page Builder Framework.

Now it’s your turn: when it comes to speed, what’s your preferred theme? We’d like to see other recommendations! More: have you ever tested one (or more) themes from our lists? If so, we’d also love to hear more about your experience!

Recommended reading: Divi vs Elementor: WordPress Page Builder Plugins Comparison

 

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