Website loading speed is a dominant UX, conversion, and SEO factor in 2021. That`s why we have checked more than 2000 products to choose the fastest WordPress themes on the web. All of them are created by an international community of authors from all over the globe. We update this article monthly and welcome new authors, who develop fast-loading templates. If you want to suggest your product - fill out the form below and let`s rock it!
First of all, the WordPress theme's loading speed affects the behavioral factors: the depth of view and the number of people leaving. Fast sites have a higher conversion rate. Also, the success of search promotion indirectly depends on the speed: all other things being equal, Google considers the page load time.
Some interesting facts about web page loading speed:
- Google engineers have found that the user notices even a trifling loading delay - 0.4 seconds;
- The user is likely to leave the page if it takes 3+ seconds to load;
- Mobile users are ready to wait a little longer - 6-10 seconds;
- 79% of online store users would not make a second purchase if it took a long time to load for the first time.
What do you get with the fastest WordPress themes?
Availability
Let's start with the fact that to interact with the site, it, in principle, must respond, that is, work. Imagine that you are the owner of the company and the loading of your web pages is slow. This has happened to almost everyone. Poorly designed sites are often unavailable during peak periods (for example, Black Friday sales). An accelerated page has a greater margin of safety in case of increased traffic. It would seem, what is so special about it? And the fact that your competitors have already prepared for peak loads. You must be better and take care of speed as well.
Conversion, sales
Did you know that speeding up page load times by even a tenth of a second generates millions of dollars in additional revenue? Amazon and Walmart proved this fact. Let's dig a little deeper. Do not reassure yourself that you cannot speed up your site by 3 times, which means you should not start. Even an acceleration of 10-20% gives a tangible effect. Put an acceleration project in your marketing plan as soon as possible.
User trust
Let's remember. Has it ever happened that you have chosen the items in an online store, and the moment of payment has come? But you meet issues with loading and waiting too long to complete the purchase. Your actions? Will you buy from this store? Not sure. The same can happen with your customers. That is why it's important to boost web pages loading speed.
Brand image
The psychology of people works so that, on a subconscious level, a fast site is perceived better. Have you noticed how infuriating the "inhibitory" site is? Which desire arises first? Right. Leave and not return.
How to increase website loading speed?
- Reduce the number of downloaded pages
Use gzip compression; this will shorten the time it takes to transfer files to the browser. The volume of transmitted data will decrease by 4-5 times, and the download speed will increase.
- Reduce the amount of graphics
Delete unnecessary images. If it's possible, use text instead of heavier graphics.
JPG is best for photographs. PNG is preferable for other elements of the site - icons, illustrations, etc., provided that the images are correctly compressed. Please note that the customers use different devices and different browsers to view the site.
- Reduce the number of browser requests
This point echoes the previous one. One of the ways to reduce the number of browser requests is to remove some elements from the page.
Use CSS sprites - graphic files containing several images at once. This is the best way if your site has a lot of small images and icons.
- Enable data caching
Configure the server so that the client's browser caches the data. In this case, some page elements (images, CSS, and JS files) can be saved automatically on the first visit to the site. Next time the browser won't waste time downloading them.
However, this method helps to increase the loading speed only on repeat visits to the site.
- Reduce the size of your CSS and JavaScript code
Special services to simplify (and minify) JavaScript and CSS remove "extra" characters from the code and reduce the load time. They can be more efficient than standard gzip compression for speed gain. Google recommends inserting small CSS files directly into an HTML document.
The Fastest WordPress Themes
What do you keep in mind choosing the fastest WordPress themes for your website? It’s highly important to make a balanced decision based not only on the visual appearance of a theme but on its technical characteristics and quality. To be exact, I’m talking about speed. The faster your website works - the more chances a visitor stays longer on it. That is the reason why I’ve picked these WordPress templates for you. Not only fast they are, but beautifully designed, as well.
PathSoft
PathSoft is a professional multipurpose theme suitable for various corporate websites. It is 100% responsive and highly customizable. Adjust the colors for text, background, buttons, and so on. Moreover, PashSoft will help you establish better communication with the client thanks to a straightforward navigation and a user-friendly interface. The great features the theme is packed with bring a positive visitor experience to your loyal or potential customers. Download it today and see great results tomorrow.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 83%
Structure: 99%
Fully Loaded Time: 2.3s
Total Page Size: 651KB
Total Page Requests: 34
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 96%
| First Contentful Paint | 1.1 s | Time to Interactive | 3.4 s |
| Speed Index | 2.1 s | Total Blocking Time | 70 s |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 3.5 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0 |
Test Results
The results show great first contentful paint and fast time to interactive. Total blocking time and speed index show good results too. However, largest contentful paint can be better.
EightyDays
Without any doubt, EightyDays is at the top of this listing. It is a clean and attractive WordPress template. EightyDays is the best choice if you want to create travel blogs and magazines. You can add information about the recommended countries to visit, nice places, news about traveling, and more. EightyDays can also work for your needs if you are a traveler who creates personal blogs. You may share your experience and photos with others to inspire them.
The main features are responsive design, 1-click demo import, easy customization, high performance, tiled gallery, and related posts.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 99%
Structure: 99%
Fully Loaded Time: 2.5s
Total Page Size: 515KB
Total Page Requests: 26
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 96%
| First Contentful Paint | 1.2 s | Time to Interactive | 7.2 s |
| Speed Index | 2.1 s | Total Blocking Time | 120 s |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 1.9 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0 |
Test Results
The results show that the theme is fast, with a PageSpeed Score of 99%. It means that it works without any delays and your customers will be satisfied with the work of your website. The requests are low; images occupy 42,3%. Loaded time also looks good to keep clients on the web pages.
SRK
SRK is a one-page theme and one of the fastest WordPress themes in our collection. SRK is a perfect choice for any line of business, starting from a marketing agency and ending a law company. Moreover, you get Visual Composer, which helps you set up your pages easily. It works like drag and drop and doesn’t require any additional skills. SRK has a responsive design that means every customer can go to your website using their favorite device: mobile phone, computer, or laptop. Among top features, it would be good to mention home parallax, cross-browser compatibility, SEO friendly, clean code, and pricing table.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 91%
Structure: 81%
Fully Loaded Time: 1.5s
Total Page Size: 3.06MB
Total Page Requests: 57
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 82%
| First Contentful Paint | 2.8 s | Time to Interactive | 4.7 s |
| Speed Index | 6.4 s | Total Blocking Time | 90 s |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 2.9 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0 |
Test Results
GTMetrix Test shows that PageSpeed Score is 92% which is also good for speeding. The full loading time is 1.3 seconds so that the user won’t see a loading delay. PageSpeed Insights does not have a very good speed index which is 6,4 s. It shows how long the content of the page is displayed.
Lily
Lily is a clean and elegant WordPress theme for blogs. The product's peculiarity is that it has 10 home page layouts, archive pages, author pages, search results pages, tags, and categories. You can combine and change them to style your blog. The theme of the blog can be different. You might share your ideas about fashion, details from your last trips, or create a good blog. The design is user-friendly and very easy to use. The main features are featured slider & promo boxes, sticky navigation, translation-ready, responsive design, and one-click demo install.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 43%
Structure: 67%
Fully Loaded Time: 4.9s
Total Page Size: 10.5MB
Total Page Requests: 85
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 60%
| First Contentful Paint | 2.8 s | Time to Interactive | 5.1 s |
| Speed Index | 2.,2 s | Total Blocking Time | 70 s |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 4.7 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.257 |
Test Results
PageSpeed Score is less than expected, but it’s not a big problem. The result is 43%. Fully loaded time is not critical, which is equal to 4.9 seconds. The first content visualization that shows when text or an image appears is 2.8 seconds. It’s a good result for a quick view.
Daisy
Daisy is a fresh theme for any type of blog. You get the ability to create a fashionable blog about your lifestyle, traveling, hobbies, and more with this fastest WordPress theme. The design is elegant and nice; for sure different layouts will match your preferences. Video and audio page formats are included. It has good functionality with responsive design, SEO friendly, Cross Browser Compatibility, easy to customize, and more.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 66%
Structure: 81%
Fully Loaded Time: 2.4s
Total Page Size: 3.18MB
Total Page Requests: 74
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 63%
| First Contentful Paint | 3.5 s | Time to Interactive | 6.6 s |
| Speed Index | 20.6 s | Total Blocking Time | 80 s |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 4.1 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.133 |
Test Results
Lighthouse Scoring shows 63%, and this result can satisfy user’s needs. 2.4 seconds is a time to load the page fully. In general, the website will be fast and accelerated, but you will improve its speed in the future.
MediaTel
Midiatel is an attractive media magazine WordPress theme for video content. There is a lightweight and robust engine optimized for high load. You may use it for media resources, online video magazines, Youtube and Video video aggregators, and video bloggers. Lots of customizer options and news-oriented widgets make it easy to run, install and update the website. It’s responsive, which means your users use their mobile phones, laptops, or computers to check the web resource. Unyson framework, Bootstrap framework, one-click demo install, Great documentation, Effective support, Visual page builder are the top features.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 83%
Structure: 76%
Fully Loaded Time: 2.3s
Total Page Size: 6.33MB
Total Page Requests: 84
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 62%
| First Contentful Paint | 3.2 s | Time to Interactive | 5.9 s |
| Speed Index | 8.4 s | Total Blocking Time | 330 ms |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 4.2 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0,006 |
Test Conclusions
GTMetrix shows a good performance which is equal to 83%. It means that the theme loads fast and without noticeable delays. It loads fully in 2.3 seconds, and it meets the client's waiting time. The time to full load is the period after which the page becomes fully interactive is 5.9 seconds.
Oriana
Oriana is a clean WordPress template to create photography projects. It's a perfect choice if one wants to introduce their portfolio and show their works. With Oriana, you'll receive a possibility to represent yourself in the best way. Elegant themes attract more clients and can generate more sales in the future. If you are looking for a creative solution for your business Oriana is here for you. You will get one-click demo install, responsive design, retina-ready, translation-ready, SEO optimized, unlimited color presets, a modern mobile menu, and documentation.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 72%
Structure: 89%
Fully Loaded Time: 6.3s
Total Page Size: 1.18MB
Total Page Requests: 53
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 56%
| First Contentful Paint | 3.3 s | Time to Interactive | 6.2 s |
| Speed Index | 17.8 s | Total Blocking Time | 110 ms |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 3.6 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.684 |
Test Results
72% of Performance is an acceptable result. To improve First Contentful Paint, you need to remove resources that block display. Please submit important JavaScript snippets or CSS tables first, and discard any non-critical items. Speed Index should be better than 17.8 seconds, so you will need to reduce server response time.
Cleanhit
Cleanhit is one of the fastest WordPress themes and an amazing template for different cleaning services. You may show what you do, successful projects, what clients say, and make your blog. There are three Home layouts to suit any taste. Home One and Home Two have Layer Slider 6 for free, which gives you impressive slider effects to wow your customers. Moreover, the Gutenberg editor is also included. It works like drag and drop and allows editing on the page.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 50%
Structure: 67%
Fully Loaded Time: 4.5s
Total Page Size: 3.32MB
Total Page Requests: 102
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 48%
| First Contentful Paint | 3.7 s | Time to Interactive | 5.0 s |
| Speed Index | 6.2 s | Total Blocking Time | 370 ms |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 11.5 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.145 |
Test Results
Speed Scoring is acceptable but not the best. The structure is 68%, and it represents how well your page is built for optimal performance. Good advice will be to show images in new formats. JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, and WebP image formats are often compressed better than PNG or JPEG. Therefore, they load faster and use less data.
Adit
Adit is a simple and creative WordPress template with different home layouts. Depending on the user's preferences, Adit offers its customers the option to select their website's layout. There is also custom typography that allows choosing varying typography headers, and the body empowers the users to have their custom design. The Adit template supports the following blog formats: gallery, quote, standard, image, audio, and video. It's a blogging template to represent your experience, useful information, cool images, and so on.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 74%
Structure: 70%
Fully Loaded Time: 2.7s
Total Page Size: 4.50MB
Total Page Requests: 79
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 38%
| First Contentful Paint | 5.5 s | Time to Interactive | 8.2 s |
| Speed Index | 18.2 s | Total Blocking Time | 500 ms |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 8.6 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.039 |
Test Conclusions
74% means a fast loading that should satisfy your users. To boost your website, display images of the correct size to save mobile traffic and improve download time. Speed Index should be better; that is why you should enable text compression. Text resources should be compressed (Gzip, Deflate, or Brotli) to minimize overall network traffic.
EduPro
EduPro is a simple item for universities, schools, teachers, courses, and training. EduPro has a series of options, styles, layouts, and widgets that make your website a natural at blogging. There are dedicated features, tons of custom post types, incredibly visual and experiential customization capacities, and more. There are also WordPress Builders such as Elementor and WPBakery Page Builder. They will make your work with customization easier and faster. Features List is 4 layout styles, One Click Demo Import, 100% Responsive design, Post Formats, Standard, Video, Gallery, and Music Posts.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 98%
Structure: 83%
Fully Loaded Time: 2.2s
Total Page Size: 1.61MB
Total Page Requests: 69
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 52%
| First Contentful Paint | 3.0 s | Time to Interactive | 10.8 s |
| Speed Index | 7.4 s | Total Blocking Time | 160 ms |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 10.2 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.111 |
Test Conclusions
EduPro shows amazing results in speeding, which is equal to 98%. Total Blocking Time is 160 ms. It displays the whole duration of all periods in milliseconds between the first content rendering and the time to load fully. To reduce the time to fully load, use behind-the-scenes and hidden images when all-important resources are loaded.
Kokit
Kokit is one of the fastest WordPress themes. It`s a professional product for Sass Software and a digital agency. In addition to a clean design, you will get a powerful and easy-to-use Elementor page builder. It allows you to customize your content and create various widgets, backgrounds, various effects, and other elements. Furthermore, the WooCommerce plugin is included. You receive an opportunity to sell your products or services online and earn money. The features list is responsive and retina-ready layout, 3 home pages, shop paged, Contact Form 7, and Redux Framework.
Speed Analysis
GTMetrix Speed Test
PageSpeed Score: 65%
Structure: 81%
Fully Loaded Time: 4.6s
Total Page Size: 1.49MB
Total Page Requests: 104
PageSpeed Insights
LightHouse Scoring: 50%
| First Contentful Paint | 5.1 s | Time to Interactive | 9.7 s |
| Speed Index | 12.4 s | Total Blocking Time | 210 ms |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 5.1 s | Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.119 |
Test Results
PageSpeed Insights displays 50% of scoring that is acceptable. 12.4 seconds of Speed Index is not as good as expected. Make sure the text remains visible when you download the web font. Use the CSS font-display feature to make text visible when downloading web fonts.
Fastest WordPress Themes - What Determines Website Loading Speed
Please, check the main factors that slow down or speed up the loading of your site:
- The amount and weight of content on the page (how many images and embedded elements you use, in what resolution). Pictures, photos, and design elements can greatly slow down the loading of the site. If they are heavy, they need to be compressed. Even if good quality and large photos are important for viewing, there are ways to compress images without visual loss.
- Engine type and capabilities (content management systems, CMS).
- The technical complexity of the site, HTML layout. It occurs when there is a large JavaScript code, CSS, and unnecessary elements - spaces, comments.
- User factors. You cannot influence them, but they also determine the site load speed. These are the device type from which the page is viewed, the connection, and Internet speed. High-speed home or office Wi-Fi win over 3G networks.
- The type of hosting you use, the technical capabilities of the server, and the physical distance from the user to the data center. If the site is hosted on inappropriate hosting for its needs, this will affect the page loading speed.
- A large number of plugins. Many plugins access databases when they work. The more often this happens, the more resources it requests. The more plugins with access to the server, the more powerful hosting is needed.
Hope that this article was useful to improve your business performance!
Fastest WordPress Themes FAQ
There are many different ways to create a website. Buying a theme and applying it to your site is just one of the options.
With a theme applied to your website, you’ll be able to fill the template with your content and avoid solving hard issues with the design, since you already have it done. You also save your time, because all you need to do is choosing a theme that you like, which is a very easy task with the demos.
Speed is a crucial criterion to determine a good quality website. Its traffic directly depends on its speed. Nobody wants to spend their life waiting for a web page to load.
The theme choice depends on your needs. Think yourself: if the product is made professionally, has great quality, and has decent design, will it be handing out for free? Sometimes it will. But in most cases, premium themes are performed in better quality, provide you with more options, and look more professional than free ones.
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