6 Fastest Loading WordPress Themes (Free & Paid)

Your theme plays a big role in the performance of your website. Check out six of the fastest WordPress themes you can use!

One of the biggest factors in your WordPress site's speed is the theme you use. An optimized theme can make your site load faster, while a poorly coded one can slow it down.

But with literally hundreds of thousands of themes available, separating the good from the bad isn't the easiest task. 😵

Well, we've put tons of themes to the test so you don't have to.

And today, we're sharing six of the fastest WordPress themes on the market to help you make the best choice for your website without breaking a sweat.

Whether you're building an eCommerce store, blog, or small business site, there's a theme on this list for you!

Ready to ramp up your site's performance? Let's go! 🚀

The importance of using WordPress' fastest themes

A speedy theme can help your site load in a flash, and possibly even bump up your search engine rankings since search engines like Google favor fast pages.

What's more, a quick-loading site means a better experience for your visitors. Because let's face it – no one enjoys waiting for a sluggish site to creep along. 😫

To keep your audience engaged, choose a theme that's built for speed. Sure, optimizing a site with lots of content and lengthy pages takes effort, but a swift WordPress theme can be your secret weapon for quick loading times.

So, what should you look for in a lightning-fast WordPress theme?

At the very least, find a theme with clean code that keeps things running smoothly and a live demo with content so you can try it out and see just how fast it really is.

Remember, when it comes to themes, size matters! Smaller themes tend to be quicker off the mark. Also, consider how many bells and whistles the theme has; a leaner theme with just the essentials is likely to outpace a feature-stacked one.

Now that we know what we're looking for, let's see some themes that'll help your WordPress site soar!

6 Fastest WordPress themes

So, you're probably wondering how we figured out which WordPress themes are the fastest. 🤔

Basically, we rounded up a lot of the top-rated themes and ran a performance test, using a staging site with the same dummy content and plugins installed.

And in case you're curious, we used three tools for the speed tests: Google PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom, and GTmetrix.

But enough boring stuff. Let's look at our winners!

Making a survey site? Here are the best survey themes for WordPress.

1. GeneratePress ⭐ Fastest lightweight WordPress theme

GeneratePress is a flexible and lightweight theme that was built with speed and usability in mind. It integrates seamlessly with major page builders and has been translated into over 25 languages.

Additionally, it offers over 60 color controls, 5 navigation options, 5 sidebar layouts, and 9 widget areas.

PageSpeed Insights:

• Performance: 99
• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): 0.8 seconds(s)
• Speed: 0.7 s

Pingdom:

• Performance: 85
• Load time: 3.32 s

GTmetrix:

• Performance: 100
• LCP: 0.8 s
• Load time: 850 milliseconds (ms)

Pricing: GeneratePress is free to download. A premium version is available for $59.

2. Neve ⭐ Fastest eCommerce WordPress theme

Neve is a multi-purpose theme that is highly customizable. It’s ideal for businesses, startups, and blogs. It's also regarded as one of the fastest WordPress eCommerce themes out there.

The theme loads quickly and has a minimalist design. Plus its code is optimized and fully compatible with page builders.

PageSpeed Insights:

• Performance: 100
• LCP: 1.1 s
• Speed: 0.9 s

Pingdom:

• Performance: 85
• Load time: 478 ms

GTmetrix:

• Performance: 99
• LCP: 822 ms
• Load time: 823 ms

Pricing: Neve is a free theme. A premium version is available for $69 per year.

3. Hestia ⭐ Fastest SEO theme

Hestia is one of the fastest WordPress themes available. It's modern, stylish, and feature-rich, as well as very SEO-friendly. The multi-purpose, one-page design is perfect for a wide variety of businesses.

It comes with a blog and news layouts and integrates with popular plugins like Elementor.

PageSpeed Insights:

• Performance: 99
• LCP: 0.8 s
• Speed: 0.7 s

Pingdom:

• Performance: 85
• Load time: 376 ms

GTmetrix:

• Performance: 100
• LCP: 611 ms
• Load time: 1.1 s

Pricing: Hestia is completely free to use.

4. Sydney ⭐ Fastest AMP WordPress theme

Sydney is a robust and professional theme that offers optimal performance. It is compatible with Elementor and offers a ton of design and customization options, including Google Fonts, layout control, and sticky navigation.

This great theme also comes with a library of construction blocks for easy building.

PageSpeed Insights:

• Performance: 99
• LCP: 0.8 s
• Speed: 0.7 s

Pingdom:

• Performance: 85
• Load time: 491 ms

GTmetrix:

• Performance: 100
• LCP: 610 ms
• Load time: 850 ms

Pricing: Sydney offers a free theme and a premium version starting at $69 per year.

5. Astra ⭐ Fastest blog theme

You can’t discuss the fastest WordPress themes without mentioning Astra.

This stunning theme is excellent for personal, business, and eCommerce sites. It’s lightweight and easy to use.

And while the free version is fantastic, the Pro version offers a variety of premium add-ons that can really take your site to the next level.

PageSpeed Insights:

• Performance: 98
• LCP: 1.0 s
• Speed: 0.8 s

Pingdom:

• Performance: 94
• Load time: 609 ms

GTmetrix:

• Performance: 100
• LCP: 619 ms
• Load time: 1.1 s

Pricing: Astra is a free WordPress theme. Astra Pro paid plans starting at $59 per year.

6. OceanWP ⭐ Fastest free WordPress theme

OceanWP is an incredibly popular and highly-rated WordPress theme. It’s fast, lightweight, and flexible. It boasts a beautiful design and adheres to SEO best practices.

Along with being quick to load, OceanWP is also one of the best WooCommerce themes, full of features to help you attract and convert customers.

PageSpeed Insights:

• Performance: 98
• LCP: 1.0 s
• Speed: 0.6 s

Pingdom:

• Performance: 85
• Load time: 417 ms

GTmetrix:

• Performance: 100
• LCP: 565 ms
• Load time: 806 ms

Pricing: OceanWP is free. A paid plan is available, starting at $35 per year.

Ready to turbocharge your site?

Using an optimized theme is one of the best things you can do for your site. Not only can it speed up your WordPress site, but it can also give you an SEO boost and seriously improve user experience too.

In this post, we shared the six fastest-loading WordPress themes so you won't have to waste time on trial and error. But the best part about our list? All of these fine-tuned themes are free! 💸

Do you know of a wicked-fast WordPress theme we missed? Leave a comment below and let us know! 👇

Once you've picked your theme, be sure to get these top plugins to supercharge your site.

---

For more WordPress tips, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Read more from the Formidable blog

• The Best WooCommerce Themes for WordPress (Free & Paid)
  Read More

  The Best WordPress Quiz Templates & Themes for Your Website
  Read More

  The Best WordPress Themes (Paid & Free)
  Read More