35 Fastest Wordpress Themes [2024] 💥

Updated: April 8, 2024 | by: Martijn Assie, creating websites & shops since 20 years, also Linux-, Wordpress-,
Photoshop- and SEO expert. | NL DE

The surge in WordPress users in recent years is remarkable. WordPress has become a preferred platform not just for bloggers and freelancers but also for established businesses, leveraging its extensive features. A common requirement among these diverse users is the need for fast-loading WordPress themes for their websites. We present a comparison of the fastest WordPress themes for [2024], known for their lightning-speed load times.

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About half of these themes are available for free on Wordpress.org, with most offering a pro-version as well. The remaining themes in this list are exclusively available in pro-versions. Each theme listed here is renowned for its exceptional speed and quality, evidenced by their popularity and thousands of installations. For those interested, the most popular WordPress themes can be found here.

At the end of each short description on this page, there are two buttons. One directs you to my detailed review of the theme, and the other takes you to the theme's official site for further exploration.

The fastest WP-themes selection

1. Divi

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 100

Divi has consistently been a quick-loading theme, but following their latest speed upgrade, it now boasts incredibly fast loading times. Divi has been at the forefront of theme innovation for years, often introducing new features that other themes later adopt. It's not just one of the fastest themes out there; it also integrates the best page builder. Divi is available for a lifetime price of $249, often with additional discounts. Check here for current discounts. Divi licenses allow for unlimited website installations.

2. Astra

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 100

The Astra theme, with its minimal base code of just 50kb, was also designed for fast website loading. Astra is marginally slower than Generatepress, but the difference is negligible. Ranking high on my list for the best WordPress themes, Astra is versatile, suitable for shops, sites, blogs, presentations, one-page layouts, and more. Its webshop capabilities are slightly more advanced than Generatepress, and it offers a wider selection of one-click installable demos.

Astra is an excellent option for beginners seeking a super fast website without a hefty price tag. It's competitively priced with attractive long-term offers. Astra also performs exceptionally well with the top page builders, a necessity for a theme in such high-ranking lists. Standard features include Schema Markup—a favorite of search engines—along with other excellent SEO tools. Astra truly is a top-tier theme. For more information, read my detailed Astra review accessible via the button below.

3. Blocksy

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 100

Blocksy is an impressive free WordPress theme, ideal for creating e-commerce websites. Built with the latest techniques, Blocksy stands out with its 5-star rating. As a top-tier theme, it loads faster than most other WordPress themes.

Designed for compatibility with Gutenberg editors, Blocksy offers extensive customization and extensibility options. It works seamlessly with all elite web builders, enabling the creation of diverse websites including portfolios, blogs, shops, corporate, and personal sites.

4. Botiga

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 100

Botiga is another excellent theme for showcasing your store. While it's lightning-fast, it's in a list where all themes are remarkably quick, so it might not seem as fast in comparison. Gutenberg-ready, Botiga features a clean and modern design that aligns well with any brand. Despite being a newer theme, it has quickly gained popularity and is specifically geared towards building WooCommerce websites.

Botiga's foundation is its clean code, ensuring a solid base for website development. It's a mobile-responsive theme loaded with customization options, ensuring a great look on any device. Botiga is an ideal choice for an online store. For more details about Botiga, including its features and capabilities, click the buttons provided below.

5. Royal Elementor

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 100

Royal Elementor stands out with features like 75+ widgets, 45+ Elementor WooCommerce Creator, Elementor mega-menu builder, Elementor popup builders, Elementor template kits, Theme Builder, and Elementor WooCommerce Maker. These widgets are designed to help you build an intuitive and creative WordPress website. The Pro Version offers additional functionality, coming equipped with all these widgets.

This theme allows you to enjoy the full range of Elementor pro features without the associated costs. The Royal Elementor theme is ideal for building e-commerce websites. It's a new theme that has quickly gained success and is growing in popularity daily.

6. Generatepress

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 99

Generatepress boasts the smallest code footprint and is considered by many as the fastest loading theme, independent of the hosting environment. Built with a focus on speed, its performance is immediately noticeable. However, speed is not its only strength; it's also packed with great features. This is why it ranks high in my lists for best WordPress themes and best WooCommerce themes. Whether it's shops, websites, or blogs, everything runs smoothly with Generatepress.

The theme offers excellent options for e-commerce and is fully compatible with the best page builders. It's also very competitively priced, with significant discounts for renewals in subsequent years. If you're on a budget and managing just one website, Generatepress is an ideal choice. However, I recommend reading our review on Generatepress before making your purchase.

7. Ashe

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 99

While Ashe is primarily designed for writing blogs, it can also be adapted to create a blog that sells products, thanks to its compatibility with the WooCommerce plugin. This beautiful theme has a distinct style and, being relatively new, boasts 60k active installations. Ashe is fast-loading, supports most plugins, and is ready for translation and RTL (Right-to-Left) languages.

Ashe is developed using best SEO practices, enhancing its appeal for content creators. It offers support for both text and image logos, a fullscreen slider, and header images. The theme is also compatible with all major drag-and-drop page builders like Divi Builder, Beaver Builder, WP-Bakery, and SiteOrigin.

8. Zakra

Google Speed: 100, GtMetrix Performance: 97

The Zakra Theme is available in both free and Pro versions. The free version is quite popular, but the Pro version offers significantly more features, making it an even better choice. Zakra is marketed as a super-fast, lightweight theme with about 60 high-quality demo websites that can be installed with just one click, though some are exclusive to Pro users. These demos maintain the site's speed and quality. You can preview the Zakra demos live on their website.

9. Neve

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 99

While Neve may not be at the very top of the list, it's important not to underestimate its capabilities. Neve is lightning-fast, thanks to its special coding that sets it apart from other themes. It uses Vanilla Javascript instead of the standard jQuery, which significantly enhances its speed. In this ranking of themes, the differences in speed are minor, so if Neve appeals to you, it's an excellent choice for your website. This super-fast loading theme offers much more, including several "Boosters" in its PRO version. It comes standard with the second-best page builder for WordPress: Elementor. While this isn't the full version of Elementor, Neve adds 9 extra functional widgets.

Neve also deserves recognition as one of the top WordPress themes in general, not just in terms of speed. Priced at $59, it can be used on unlimited sites, a trait common to most of the themes mentioned above. A standout aspect of Neve is its smooth operation, from installation to integrating designs and adjusting site elements using the excellent page builder. Web designers particularly benefit from this theme's efficiency, enabling quicker and stress-free work. This makes it suitable for everyone, not just professionals.

10. Kadence

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 99

Kadence is highly regarded in both its free and premium versions. Known for its fast loading times, Kadence primarily utilizes the default Gutenberg page builder. However, it's also compatible with Beaver Builder and Elementor Pro, both excellent choices. While Elementor is available for free, the premium version is recommended. For more information about Kadence, click the buttons below.

11. Extra Theme

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 99

The Extra Theme is a popular choice for creating blogs and news websites, featuring the Divi Builder, one of the best page builders available. This page builder is also included in the Divi Theme. These themes are not sold separately but are available as part of the Elegant Themes Membership, which includes 86 premium themes. The Extra Theme comes with several great features, such as comment and rating systems.

Divi Builder allows for easy customization of the theme's columns, rows, and elements. The membership is priced lower than the average single theme and includes the Divi Theme and many premium plugins. The Extra Theme offers various magazine and blog layouts to choose from, plus access to over 800 layout sections in Divi Builder to design your blog or website shop.

12. Sydney

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 99

Sydney, a multipurpose theme developed by aThemes, is known for its super-fast loading times in both its free and premium versions. It's one of the highest-rated themes, as detailed in my review of Sydney. Good news for Elementor enthusiasts: Sydney is recommended by Elementor itself, ensuring excellent compatibility between the two. The theme also works perfectly with its own Building Blocks, without the need for an additional page builder. For a complete review or to visit their site, click the buttons below.

13. OceanWP

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 98

The OceanWP Theme has been crafted with a focus on two key aspects: exceptional e-commerce capabilities (particularly in its pro version) and rapid loading times. This theme is a standout for creating professional websites, especially designed to maximize leads and conversions, which is why it ranks high in my list of the best WooCommerce themes. Despite being the slowest among the top 10 themes listed here, OceanWP is still incredibly fast, loading a homepage in under a second—remarkable given it's one of hundreds of thousands of themes.

With nearly a million installations, OceanWP's immense popularity is a testament to its quality. User satisfaction is almost flawless, reflecting the theme's effectiveness and appeal. The ease of integrating beautiful e-commerce designs with a one-click installation is unmatched, making it an excellent choice for webshops. For more details, read my review by clicking the button below or visit their site for comprehensive information.

14. Hestia

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 98

Hestia Theme also ranks among the fastest loading WordPress themes. It's important to ensure that your website is hosted on a reliable service and equipped with one of the best WordPress cache plugins, a recommendation that applies to all themes mentioned here. Hestia not only boasts a high user rating but also offers demo websites built with Elementor. These can be installed with a single click, allowing you to start customizing your site immediately.

15. Genesis Framework

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 97

The Genesis Theme comes highly recommended by respected figures like Joost de Valk of Yoast SEO, Matt Cutts from Google, and Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress. Such endorsements speak volumes about its quality. Genesis is known for its safety, speedy performance due to excellent coding, and reliability.

Genesis enhances search engine visibility through Schema microdata, offering rich snippets that make sites more discoverable by search engines. This feature also enhances the appearance of your title and description in Google search results. Genesis outperforms frameworks like Wix in SEO tests, and its comprehensive SEO setting options eliminate the need for additional SEO plugins.

16. Woodmart

Google Speed: 99, GtMetrix Performance: 94

Woodmart is a WordPress theme known for its speed, particularly suited for creating e-commerce sites, though it's also effective for corporate websites and blogs. It provides all the necessary tools to create an efficient and visually appealing webshop. Woodmart comes with the Bakery Pagebuilder and has been compatible with Elementor since version 5.0, a notable enhancement. Elementor, especially its pro version, is among the most popular page builders.

Woodmart offers 60 shopping layouts that can be installed with just one click, making it easy to quickly implement attractive designs. These demos cover a variety of niches. The theme enjoys a high rating of 4.95 out of 5 on Themeforest.net, a testament to its excellence and popularity among users.

17. XStore

Google Speed: 98, GtMetrix Performance: 99

Multifunctionality is a defining trait of the X-Store Theme, a premium WooCommerce WordPress theme. Known for its flexibility and customizability, it allows you to craft your e-commerce store exactly as you envision. The X-Store WooCommerce WordPress theme is designed to make your online store stand out.

Fully responsive on all devices, the theme boasts numerous impressive features. With X-Store Theme, launching an online shop is streamlined and efficient. The theme includes over 300 sections that can be utilized to create engaging websites and stores.

18. JNews

Google Speed: 98, GtMetrix Performance: 98

The jNews theme, launched in October 2017, caters to desktop publishers, bloggers, writers, marketers, and agencies. Ideal for news portals, magazines, or websites, jNews includes a range of pre-built designs that can be quickly imported from the Theme Options Panel. Users can select the desired demo based on their preferred page builder.

While jNews supports Gutenberg for post creation and other simple actions, the theme also integrates well with WP Bakery Pagebuilder and Elementor. Recent updates have made the theme cleaner and more responsive, aligning with the standards of great themes. Prioritizing fast loading times, jNews stands out as an excellent theme for modern websites.

19. Essentials

Google Speed: 98, GtMetrix Performance: 96

The Essentials theme, despite being relatively new since its late 2020 release, has much to offer. In the current landscape where every theme is compatible with the Gutenberg editor, Essentials stands out with a significant number of demos created using Elementor and WP-Bakery, both of which are excellent page builders.

While Essentials claims to have the largest template library, my experience suggests they are close but not quite there. These templates are not full site demos but rather design sections, such as individual templates or sections. Moreover, the theme includes a variety of unique gadgets, which, in my opinion, seem inspired by Divi. Nonetheless, they deserve credit for these features.

20. Virtue

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 100

Virtue is another theme that's fully WooCommerce-ready, equipped with all necessary tools to create an attractive online store. It also offers portfolio pages and posts to showcase your work effectively. Suitable for any type of website—be it personal, business, or portfolio—Virtue is easy to customize and comes packed with excellent features. Its responsive and mobile-friendly design ensures it looks great on any device.

21. Jupiter

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 96

In recent years, the number of WordPress users has skyrocketed. WordPress is now widely used not just by bloggers and freelancers, but also by established businesses, significantly contributing to its growth. The platform has generated substantial revenue, evidenced by the success of themes like the Jupiter theme by Artbees, one of the most popular WordPress themes on ThemeForest. With a 4.72-star rating from over 5600 reviews, it's clear that most customers are highly satisfied with their purchase. If you're seeking the fastest-loading WordPress theme among the top contenders, the Jupiter theme is an excellent choice, offering everything you need with remarkable speed.

22. Flatsome Theme

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 95

Flatsome should definitely be considered when looking for fast-loading WordPress themes. What makes Flatsome stand out are its shop features, including sticky headers and live product search, making it an ideal choice for e-commerce sites. Its stunning demos provide a solid foundation for building impressive e-commerce websites.

Specializing in shop functionality, Flatsome excels in this area. The theme includes the UX Builder for page construction and a drag-and-drop header builder. These tools enable you to design your header precisely as you want it, without needing any programming knowledge, further enhancing the theme's appeal and usability.

23. Avada

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 97

Avada is a well-recognized name in the domain of WordPress themes. Despite its widespread recognition, with over 858,338+ purchases, it may come as a surprise to see it featured in a list focused on WooCommerce capabilities. Nonetheless, Avada is a highly versatile theme, excellently suited for building online shops.

Avada is often compared to Divi, another multipurpose theme with high sales numbers. For an in-depth comparison, you can view my analysis of Avada versus Divi. Avada's page-builder, Fusion Builder, is renowned for its ability to create beautiful layouts for shops or sites. The theme is well-crafted and backed by a talented support team.

24. Salient

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 97

Salient, which uses WP-Bakery’s page builder, offers over 65 elements and more than 1000 settings, allowing for extensive customization without needing technical expertise. Its fast loading times are a significant advantage in the current digital landscape. With over 350+ section templates, Salient is versatile enough to fit into any website design, making it ideal for portfolios, blogs, corporate websites, or nature-themed sites.

Salient stands out for its array of header layout options and its proficiency in creating webshops. It includes unique e-commerce features like quick view and ajax shopping cart. Additionally, Salient is SEO-optimized and responsive, enhancing its visibility on search engines. This theme is truly remarkable in its offerings and design.

25. Inspiro

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 93

The Inspiro theme is minimalist and, as a result, boasts fast loading times. A lean setup of the theme, with minimal plugins and a well-configured cache plugin, can achieve very speedy page loads. Unique to Inspiro is its capability to automatically play self-hosted, YouTube, and Vimeo videos on all devices, including tablets and mobiles. While Inspiro is available for individual purchase, opting for a complete WP-Zoom membership, which offers only a slight price increase, is more advantageous. WP-Zoom offers a comprehensive selection of themes suitable for various tasks and niches.

26. TheGem

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 96

This theme is versatile enough for use in WordPress to create any type of website. It boasts over 400 high-quality demo websites, meticulously crafted to meet diverse needs. TheGem stands out for its impressive array of demo websites, earning high ratings for its versatility and design quality.

The creators of TheGem have balanced a strong focus on design and pre-built content with the necessity of performance. TheGem ensures fast loading and mobile-friendly website experiences. Popular among users, it is fully compatible with most top third-party plugins like Yoast SEO, Contact Form 7, WooCommerce, and includes several premium third-party plugins at no additional cost.

27. Qwery

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 96

The Qwery theme is a significant choice when selecting the right WordPress theme. Modern and trendy, Qwery was released in 2021, making it a fresh addition to the market. It comes equipped with all the necessary features and tools for a quick website launch. The Qwery WordPress theme is compatible with all major page builders and offers the same benefits as the WordPress Customizer.

Although still new, Qwery has already made its mark, ranking high in various listings. It's fair to say it has reached the sub-top tier. With its promising features, Qwery is poised for continued success. It boasts an impressive collection of over 100+ pre-built demo websites, a notable achievement for its relatively recent inception.

28. Porto

Google Speed: 97, GtMetrix Performance: 95

The Porto Theme is a versatile option, primarily tailored for business and WooCommerce websites. Porto is loaded with powerful features and customizable elements, allowing for a personalized website experience. As a multipurpose WordPress theme, Porto includes over 130 niche demos, making it a long-standing favorite. It is regularly updated to align with the latest design trends and best practices.

Porto's rapid loading speed makes it an excellent theme for business websites. Additionally, Porto offers a highly popular HTML version, making it the most utilized HTML5 theme on Themeforest. While Porto excels in building webshops, there are other themes more suited for different types of websites. Porto also features among the most popular Shopify Themes, demonstrating its versatility.

29. Uncode

Google Speed: 96, GtMetrix Performance: 97

Uncode is one of the most downloaded themes on ThemeForest, boasting over 100,000+ sales. It offers more than 70 professionally designed demo layouts that are ready to import and customize. Additionally, with the Uncode Wireframes plugin, you can import over 550+ section templates. These templates can be combined to create complete websites or used for individual landing pages.

Uncode is a versatile WordPress theme suitable for a wide range of websites. Whether as a portfolio, shop, or agency site, Uncode delivers exceptional results. It includes an enhanced version of the WPBakery Page Building Tool, offering both the traditional Backend Editor and a new Frontend Editor for live page editing. This flexibility accelerates the site-building process.

30. BeTheme

Google Speed: 96, GtMetrix Performance: 95

The Betheme is another highly popular WordPress theme known for its flexibility and speed. It offers a vast array of demos, making it easy to find the perfect fit for any industry. Its versatility allows for quick and efficient use, an important factor considering the adage that time is money. Betheme consistently ranks in the top 5 WordPress themes on Themeforest, which speaks to its quality.

As a popular choice, I have used BeTheme to build numerous sites. Its lightweight and user-friendly nature make it ideal for web designers who need to quickly create websites for clients. For those aiming to create a top-tier site, a different theme like Divi might be more suitable.

31. The7

Google Speed: 96, GtMetrix Performance: 94

The7 theme recognizes that quick-loading themes are crucial for success, now promoting itself as "lightning fast as a topic." While The7 is an excellent theme, I wouldn't categorize it as the fastest. If speed is a top priority for you, you might want to consider the themes ranked in the top 3 here. Long-standing themes like The7, which haven't undergone significant code improvements, cannot compete with the top-ranked themes in terms of speed. Claimed as Themeforest's most popular theme, The7 is compatible with Elementor and is known for its cost-effectiveness.

The theme includes around 50 layouts, which are complete, functional demo websites. These demos allow users to easily customize their website, even without technical knowledge. The theme offers over 1000 settings for customization, making it a versatile choice, particularly for webshops. It looks professional and doesn’t require any additional plugins, with features like the Revolution Slider, acclaimed as the best WordPress slider.

32. Bridge

Google Speed: 95, GtMetrix Performance: 92

For nearly seven years, the Bridge theme has been a top choice on Themeforest. A multipurpose theme, Bridge is also suitable for creating WooCommerce websites and comes with 610 demo websites, an impressive number, many of which are ideal for webshops. It's compatible with other WooCommerce themes and includes additional features essential for running a shop, like quick view and wishlist.

Bridge offers two page builders: Elementor and WP Bakery Page Builder, both among the best in the market. You can choose the one that suits your needs. Bridge is versatile enough to create a wide range of portfolios and blogs and includes various slider plugins at no extra cost.

33. Enfold

Google Speed: 95, GtMetrix Performance: 90

Enfold is not only highly rated but also boasts over 230,577+ sales, further testament to its excellence. Created by Kriesi, an Austrian team of nine, Enfold is their most successful project. Tailored for WooCommerce, Enfold integrates seamlessly with it, offering a variety of shop layouts to kickstart your online store. It's particularly well-suited for restaurant websites, with the ability to integrate WooCommerce bookings, one of the most effective plugins for managing reservations.

Enfold is known for its easy installation process, allowing you to get your website up and running with just a few clicks. The theme offers a diverse range of demos and designs for every niche. Once installed, you can customize content using the professional page builder, upload logos, edit photos, and add text, simplifying the layout creation process.

34. Soledad

Google Speed: 94, GtMetrix Performance: 95

Soledad, with its staggering 6886+ demos, possibly has the most extensive selection of unique templates and layouts. These demos cater to almost every type of website. They can be used as-is or as a starting point for your own website design, regardless of the project type. For those interested in creating an online portfolio with WordPress, Soledad’s six portfolio styles are an excellent choice. This theme is also compatible with the WooCommerce Store Builder plugin, making it an ideal choice for setting up an online shop.

Soledad offers ample customization options for its page templates and demos, including over 200 blog layout and slider combinations. With the integrated Elementor page builder, modifying your website is straightforward, and you can see live previews of changes without the need to save, refresh, or switch between browser tabs.

35. Phlox

Google Speed: 94, GtMetrix Performance: 90

The Phlox theme is an excellent option for creating websites and is compatible with the Elementor page builder. While Elementor, as a company, may have its shortcomings, particularly in support, its page builder remains second only to the DiviBuilder. The Phlox theme stood out to me because of its demo designs, which provide a significant advantage in the initial stages of website construction.

Phlox is a versatile WordPress theme that offers both free and paid versions, having been around since 2013. It's suitable for a variety of websites, including eCommerce sites, portfolios, small business sites, and even travel websites. Phlox comes with an array of easily installable demo layouts, making it a convenient and flexible choice for different web design needs. For more information about Phlox, click the buttons below.

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