Astra vs Generatepress comparison for [2024] 💥
| Feature | Astra | GeneratePress |
|---|---|---|
| Customization | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Extensive with Astra Pro) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Flexible with GeneratePress Premium) |
| Performance | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Lightweight and optimized for speed) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Lightweight and fast, optimized for performance) |
| Pre-built Templates | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Large library of starter sites) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Good selection of templates, more with Premium) |
| Price | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Free version available, Pro version for advanced features) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Free version available, Premium version for additional features) |
| Ease of Use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Very user-friendly and easy to set up) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (User-friendly and straightforward to set up) |
| Support | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent customer support) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent customer support) |
| Community | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Large and active community) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Active community of users) |
| Flexibility | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Highly adaptable for various needs) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Flexible with a focus on performance) |
| Updates and Improvements | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Frequent updates with new features) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Regular updates with performance enhancements) |
ASTRA vs GENERATEPRESS
In the thrilling race of Generatepress vs Astra, it's a battle of the speedsters. Which theme will cross the finish line first in the great website loading race? Of course, speed isn't the only thing these themes have up their sleeves — there's more to them than meets the eye. So, let's dive into the depths of their other superpowers.
Both themes boast a fan base bigger than some boy bands, with downloads from Wordpress.org hitting up to 6000 a day — talk about celebrity status! The free versions are like the appetizers: quick to serve but lighter on options. For the full gourmet experience, our Astra vs Generatepress review takes a look at the PRO versions, where the real magic happens.
If you prefer video, watch this article as a Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8s5raSmcYI
ASTRA THEME (Generatepress vs Astra)
Let's dive into this Astra vs Generatepress showdown with the Astra Theme. Just because we're starting with Astra doesn't mean it's taking home the gold medal just yet. Imagine a theme world where only a few are built to zoom through browsers like a sports car — Astra is in that elite club, probably zipping ahead as the speediest of them all.
The Astra code weighs in at a featherlight 50kb, nimble and designed for speed. Not to be outdone, Generatepress struts in with its code slimmed down to a mere 15kb. But don't be fooled by the size; with Astra, you can conjure up anything you fancy, and it's even tailored to tango with Woocommerce, the belle of the ball in Wordpress E-commerce systems.
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Both Astra and Generatepress come out of the box without a page builder, kind of like a pizza without toppings. But fear not! They're prepped and ready for all the top page builders out there. Think of it like a pizza ready for whatever toppings you crave. To whip up your website masterpiece with flexibility and speed, consider hooking up with one of these top-tier page builder plugins: Divi Builder, Elementor, BeaverBuilder, or Thrive Architect. It's like choosing between pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, or extra cheese — each one adds its own flavor to your web-pizza!
ASTRA PRO PREMIUM WP-THEME
The Astra Theme has now been installed on more than 2.369.964+ websites. The price of Astra PRO is $ 59, a very reasonable amount for such a good theme. While installing the theme, we notice how easy this is with the demo installation. We do a few speed tests and see that the theme loads really fast in our browser, even with a large number of modules activated.
The theme easily wins the race for the best rating for Wordpress themes, which of course catches the eye. Everyone is clearly full of praise for this theme and nobody is negative. Check out the image below, 3537 rating and just a few negative ones (that must be haters). Everything else practically 5-stars. It must be said that Generatepress has an almost equal rating as Astra, also very high.
Download here the free version of Astra. The free version can do much less but is just as fast. In case you just want to build a simple site this just might be enough for you and not spend any money.
ASTRA LOADS VERY FAST
The image above loads you to see how the 4 best known speed tests evaluate Astra. The 100% Pingdom score means that no other site was faster. Google scores 95%, Y-Slow scores 91%, where GT-Metrix displays the absolute loading time of 0.4 seconds. Take it from me these are insane scores for a WordPress website.
ASTRA IMPORTING DEMOS
With Astra you don't have to start building your site from scratch. Take a head start by installing a demo. The easiest way to do this is by downloading this plug-in. You can now install the demos via your backend. It is also possible to get the demos directly via the Astra website by going to this page.
There are several demos for all niches and there are hundreds in total. Not that Astra is unique in this, Generatepress and other premium themes also let you have such numbers of demos with a theme like Soledad theme with 5000+ demos as an outlier. It is known that the Elementor page builder goes perfectly with Astra, probably recommended if you are going to integrate a page builder.
ASTRA PRO MODULES AND SETTINGS
We have glued the 2 images below together because of their width. On the left you see the module list found in the PRO version. With Astra you can choose which modules are active, the rest is out so that your pages have a minimum of code.
On the right you see the settings as you find them in the margins of your pages and posts. You can determine exactly how it is styled per page and post.
WOOCOMMERCE SHOP IN ASTRA
Creating a webshop is very easy with Astra and it all looks great too. No wonder because Astra was built with this purpose in mind, among other things. We use Woocommerce for our shop because Astra is set up for that. The free version offers you a menu in the standard WP-Customizer for the Woocommerce settings. Documentation here. In the PRO version you will find extra settings in the module panel for optimal styling. Documentation here.
ASTRA THEME REVIEW COMPLETION
Our opinion of the Astra PRO Theme is so far that the price is more than correct and the layout is beautiful. Without a page builder it is not a good idea, it works too slow and there are significantly fewer options. So choose one of the elite page builders to integrate into the theme. Based on our article about the best WP page builder you can quickly determine which is most suitable for you.
GENERATEPRESS THEME (Generatepress vs Astra)
Well, that was Astra, in this Generatepress vs Astra review we now continue with Generatepress Premium. Generatepress is a theme that was specially built to load fast in a browser and it does. Generatepress has practically the same properties as a theme as Astra, the two look are as two drops of water similar. The Generatepress code is compressed only 15kb, so very small.
The Generatepress free version can be downloaded here but is of course incomplete. So we are talking about the premium version even if we do not always say this. This comes in the form of premium plugins and a library full of 1-click demo websites just like Astra.
Generatepress Speedtests
In this Generatepress theme review we run a test at GT-Metrix and Pingdom, 2 renowned speed tests to see if it really is that fast. The results are shown in the images below.
At GT-Metrix (above) the Generatepress demo scores 99% and 98%, which means that only 1% of measured sites were faster. Such a small percentage can be quickly influenced by distance to the server and internet speed. At Pingdom (bottom) it also scores 99% and the absolute loading time was 247 msec. A quarter of a second and the complete site has finished loading! These are, of course, phenomenal results. We can safely say that there are no faster Wordpress themes, at most as fast. In the Generatepress vs Astra comparison, we have to say that Astra is just a bit faster.
Make generation press even faster?
Generatepress itself recommends the free plugin Autoptimize which was downloaded more than a million times. Autoptimize allows you to combine and shrink HTML, CSS and JS. It also makes an external file available to the browser with the new code so that browsers can cache it. If you want to know how to set up this plugin perfectly for Generationpress, check the info for that right here.
Generatepress Webshops
Generatepress Premium gives you total control over the popular shop plugin Woocommerce. Pictures speak 100 words fast, watch the video quickly that only takes 2 minutes about Woocommerce adjustments.
Generatepress review Design
The Generatepress design is simple but very beautiful at the same time. Simplicity is the new fashion, people no longer like too much fuss nowadays. Websites should load quickly, look decent on all devices, and everything should work fine. If you were looking for a theme with such features, Generatepress is definitely for you.
Generatepress review Demo designs
Most non-professional people and also some pros like to start a website through a headstart. This can be done by loading a demo website into your theme. Once loaded, it is your job to use the editor to put in your own logo, adjust the images and texts. This way you can quickly create your own design. The image below quickly shows some of these designs, those for Elementor. Those for "without editor", BeaverBuilder et cetera can be quickly found on their own site under the tab "Site library" in the menu.
Generatepress page builders
As a writer of this Generatepress theme review, I definitely recommend working with one of the top page builders. We are talking about Divibuilder, Elementor, Thrive Architect and BeaverBuilder. Personally, I hate the Gutenberg editor anyway, the former WP editor was much better, which can be seen from the millions of plugin downloads from this classic editor.
Schema Markup
Generatepress has Schema Markup built in. You can use this to add microdata to your HTML or let your theme do this for you automatically. This extra information is liked by Google and therefore Google will present your pages in the search results in a better way. Astra PRO, the biggest competitor of Generatepress, also has a plug-in for it named Schema PRO.
Generatepress review Video
If you want to know how easily and quickly you can adjust your site yourself with Generatepress, watch the short video below as quickly (takes 3 minutes).
Generatepress Premium pricing
For $ 50 you get access to all the plugins and demos that you can install on as many sites as you want. This is the price for a year. Each subsequent year you will get a 40% discount on the price, something few themes offer (Astra gives 20% discount).
Generatepress vs Astra Comparison Final conclusion
First of all, thank you for reading this Generatepress vs Astra comparison till the end. Generatepress and Astra are very well put together, are easy to install, the same goes for their demos. They load really fast and are very clear in terms of control panel and operation. The Premium versions offer ample modules to be able to work well while building your layout. If you prefer a theme that loads a little slower but where you really don't miss out on options and settings, I recommend you the Divi Theme. Generatepress and Astra are practically equivalent and cost about the same. I use both themes and do not prefer either one.
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