14 Fastest WordPress Themes in 2025: Paid or Free

It is highly important to look at how quickly other sites load their pages, how many server requests they make, and their file sizes. Choosing themes with clean code, no extra bulk, and features will help your site run smoothly.

Slow loading speeds can lead to higher bounce rates and decreased user engagement on your website. This will help you meet Google’s standards for good website performance.

The importance of fast WordPress themes for SEO and user experience

Quick WordPress themes help your site do better in two main ways. First, they help search engines find and rank your site higher.

Second, they make visitors happier when using your site. When your site loads fast and works well on phones, more people stay on your pages and click around. A proper theme should include structured data markup to give search engines even more context about your content. Google likes to show fast sites in search results, especially ones that work well on mobile devices. This means speed plays a big role in how well your site performs online.

What Makes a WordPress Theme Fast?

Fast WordPress themes come down to a few key features. Clean code and smart handling of resources help your site run quickly.

Good themes use caching to store data, load images only when needed, and keep web requests low. When you pick a theme with these speed features, your site will load faster and keep more visitors on your pages. This is crucial since a one second delay in loading can result in 7% fewer conversions.

Explanation of key factors affecting theme speed

Your WordPress theme’s speed depends on a few key factors. Heavy pages and too many HTTP requests slow down loading times. A well-set-up server helps your site run smoothly.

A 1-second delay in page loading can reduce your conversions by 7%. Sites that work well on phones and use smaller images load faster. Simple themes with fewer outside connections will always run better than heavy themes with too many extras.

Importance of speed for SEO and user engagement

Fast loading times are key to making your WordPress site successful. Quick sites get better search rankings from Google and keep visitors happy.

When pages load fast, people stay longer and buy more. Slow sites lose visitors and sales to faster competitors. To succeed online, your site must be as fast as possible. Web crawlers will be able to explore more content when your site loads quickly.

Detailed Review of Each Theme

Hello Theme by Elementor

Hello Theme by Elementor is an incredibly lightweight and fast WordPress theme designed specifically to work seamlessly with the Elementor page builder. It’s known for its minimalist approach, focusing on speed and performance as its primary strengths.

Features and Benefits

• Ultra-Lightweight: Hello Elementor is incredibly small, often under 6KB in size, leading to exceptionally fast loading times.
• Seamless Elementor Integration: Designed to work perfectly with Elementor, allowing for easy customization and design.
• Clean Code: The theme’s clean and minimal code contributes to its speed and performance.
• Unstyled Canvas: Hello Elementor provides a blank canvas, giving you complete control over your website’s design using Elementor.
• Free: Hello Elementor is a free theme that makes it accessible to everyone.

Performance metrics

Hello Theme by Elementor consistently scores high in performance tests. While specific numbers can vary based on hosting, content, and other factors, it generally achieves:

• High PageSpeed Insights Scores: Often scores in the 90s on Google PageSpeed Insights, both for mobile and desktop.
• Fast Load Times: Loads very quickly, often in under a second, especially with optimized content and hosting.
• Low HTTP Requests: Due to its minimal nature, it makes very few HTTP requests.

Why it’s a top choice

Hello theme by Elementor is a top choice for users who prioritize speed and flexibility. Its lightweight nature and seamless Elementor integration make it ideal for building fast, custom websites. It’s a great starting point for any Elementor project, providing a solid foundation for performance. While it requires the use of Elementor for styling, this allows for ultimate design freedom without sacrificing speed.

Hello Biz by Elementor

Hello Biz by Elementor is a light theme that only uses 6kb of memory, helping your pages load faster. The theme scores well on mobile speed tests, with 95/100 on PageSpeed. The theme achieves an impressive 0.25 second load time on GTMetrix performance tests.

You’ll need to use Elementor page builder to make the most of this theme and change how it looks. It already comes with Elementor and Hello+ plugins pre-installed in the Hello Biz theme and they work so well together and stays light on resources. It’s perfect for building quick, custom websites from the ground up thanks to it’s simple workflow features.

Features and benefits (e.g., lightweight, Elementor integration)

Hello Elementor’s theme is light and fast. It uses just 6kb of memory and works perfectly with the Elementor page builder. The theme keeps things simple to help your website run better with Elementor’s tools. The theme’s streamlined design allows for extensive customization options without compromising its lightweight performance.

Feature	Benefit	Performance Impact
6kb Size	Fast Loading	High
Clean Code	Better SEO	Medium
Builder Ready	Easy Customization	Medium
No Bloat	Resource Efficient	High

Performance metrics (e.g., page load time, GTmetrix scores)

Hello Elementor stands out for its fast loading speeds in three key ways. The theme uses just 6kb of space, scores 93 out of 100 on PageSpeed mobile tests, and runs on very few resources.

When tested against other themes, it loads faster and runs better. The theme achieves a 1.1 second FCP according to Google metrics. Users who want a quick website will find its clean code perfect for their needs.

Why it’s the top choice

Hello Biz stands out for working smoothly with Elementor’s drag-and-drop tools, making it perfect for any business that wants a fast, custom website. The simple controls and helpful user community make building a website easy for anyone. The theme includes customizable header templates that let you create professional navigation without needing Elementor Pro.

Feature	Benefit
Setup Wizard	Quick site launch
Template Kits	Ready-made designs
RTL Support	Global accessibility

With eight ready-to-use designs and clear guides, you’ll have all the tools to build your business website quickly.

Astra Theme

Astra ranks among the top WordPress themes, used on more than 1.5 million sites and scoring 93/100 for mobile speed. The theme loads quickly at 2.1 seconds total, with content showing up in just 0.9 seconds.

Thanks to its light design, Astra works well with most page builders and offers many ready-made templates. Users can choose from three premium plans including the Astra Pro at $59 yearly. This makes it easy to build fast, professional websites with all the features you need.

Features and Benefits

Astra offers more than most WordPress themes with its easy-to-use tools. You get over 250 ready-made templates and many ways to change how your site looks.

The theme works well with search engines, page builders, and online stores. Whether you’re new to websites or a pro, Astra makes building your site simple and fast. The theme’s 4.8 out of 5 star rating from users shows its exceptional quality and reliability.

Performance metrics

Tests show Astra is one of the fastest WordPress themes you can use. It scores 93 out of 100 on mobile speed tests and loads in just 2.1 seconds. Users love how quickly the first content appears – in less than a second. The page stays stable while loading, with very little jumping around.

These speed results make Astra faster than most other themes. With an impressively small default page size of 48kb, Astra consistently delivers exceptional loading speeds.

GeneratePress

GeneratePress is a fast WordPress theme that adds very little to your page size – less than 10kb. It scores well on mobile devices, with a PageSpeed score of 87/100. You can pick and choose which features you want to use, making it easy to keep your site lean. The theme has received over 1,000 5-star ratings in the WordPress repository, demonstrating its widespread user satisfaction.

It works great with popular page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder, and comes with built-in schema markup. The theme loads in 2.9 seconds, shows its first content in 1.4 seconds, and keeps page elements stable with a layout shift of just 0.2.

Features and Benefits

GeneratePress is a fast and flexible WordPress theme. It gives you many ways to change how your site looks through simple controls. You can turn features on or off as needed, keeping your site quick and light.

The theme follows web standards for better search rankings and makes your site easy for everyone to use. It creates clean code and helps your site run smoothly. The built-in local font library helps optimize website performance by reducing font file sizes up to 50%.

Performance metrics

GeneratePress stands out as one of the fastest WordPress themes thanks to three key speed tests. The theme loads pages at just 7.5 KB in size and takes only 1.3 seconds to load. It also makes just 17 page requests.

These quick speeds stay strong even when you turn on extra features. While the theme works well on phones, you’ll get the best speed when you use good hosting. The theme consistently achieves a 100% page speed score in performance testing.

OceanWP

OceanWP runs fast and light, scoring 87/100 on PageSpeed for mobile devices. It lets you change how your site looks with many built-in tools.

You get seven ways to style your header, three choices for your website layout, and five options for your pages. The theme works well with popular tools like WooCommerce, Elementor, and Adobe Fonts. This means you can add lots of features while keeping your site quick and smooth. With over 1 million websites using OceanWP, it’s proven to be a reliable choice for website owners.

Features and benefits

OceanWP works great for WordPress users who want a fast website. You can easily change how your site looks through its custom panel and WordPress tools.

The theme works well with common add-ons like WooCommerce, Elementor, and MailChimp. It’s light and quick, but still comes with useful features like SEO tools, SVG support, and Adobe Fonts. Its pre-designed templates make it easy to set up and launch your website quickly.

Performance metrics

Tests show OceanWP performs well in key speed areas. The theme scores high marks for speed and user experience:

• GTmetrix score reaches 99% with a 95% structure rating
• Google PageSpeed shows 97 for desktop and 88 for mobile
• Pages load in just 750ms on Pingdom tests
• Zero CLS score for both mobile and desktop views

The theme’s exceptional Largest Contentful Paint contributes significantly to its impressive performance metrics.

Neve

Neve loads incredibly fast, giving you top speed scores for mobile users at 92/100. The theme only takes up 28KB when you install it with WordPress.

It loads in just 2.2 seconds, shows your first content in 1 second, and keeps page elements from jumping around while loading. The theme received an A grade on GTmetrix with perfect performance scores. You can use Neve with all major page builders, and it’s easy to customize through WordPress.

Best of all, you won’t lose any speed when making the site look exactly how you want it.

Features and Benefits

Neve makes website building easy and fast. You can customize it without slowing down your site. It works well for new users and experts alike.

Build headers and footers by simply dragging items where you want them. Works smoothly with WooCommerce online stores. The theme provides multiple demo sites to choose from for quick setup. Loads fast on phones and tablets with Google AMP. Agencies can rebrand it as their own tool.

Performance metrics

Neve’s speed shines through four key metrics: a 92/100 PageSpeed score on mobile, 593 KB page size, 2.2s load time, and top Core Web scores.

Tests show great user experience with a First Paint of 1.0s, Largest Paint of 1.3s, and tiny layout shifts at 0.1 – beating Google’s targets.

The theme’s AMP compatibility helps deliver exceptional mobile performance while maintaining full functionality.

Kadence WP

Kadence WP loads fast and scores high on mobile with 88/100 on PageSpeed. The theme takes just 2.6 seconds to load fully, shows its first content in 1.3 seconds, and displays the main content in 1.7 seconds.

You can easily build headers and footers by dragging and dropping elements where you want them. The theme lets you pick from ready-made color sets and use Google fonts that load from your own site.

Thanks to clean code and built-in speed tools, your site stays quick and smooth. The theme consistently achieves 90+ performance scores on various testing platforms.

Features and benefits

Kadence makes building WordPress sites simple and fast. This theme lets you customize your site exactly how you want it. It works smoothly with online stores and learning platforms, while saving you time and effort. The theme’s modular design structure helps deliver consistently fast performance for your website.

• Drag and drop tools to build headers and footers
• Works with WooCommerce and learning platforms
• AI tools to build sites quickly
• Tools to test and improve your site’s performance

Performance metrics

Looking at the numbers, this WordPress theme performs very well. It loads fast with a small 51 KB size and needs only 11 server requests. Pages load in just 0.45 seconds, with the main content showing up in 0.405 seconds.

The theme works well with online stores and other add-ons. When tested on mobile phones, it scores a solid 88 out of 100 for speed. The theme offers excellent customization options that make it perfect for content-focused websites.

Schema

Since no data about Schema was provided, we can’t make specific claims about this theme. Themes that minimize use of jQuery tend to deliver better performance and faster page loads.

Features and benefits

Schema makes WordPress websites better with simple yet powerful tools. You can easily change how your site looks and works without slowing it down. The theme helps both site owners and visitors get more done. Thanks to its leaner design approach, Schema maintains excellent performance without unnecessary bloat.

• Easy drag-and-drop tools to build layouts
• Fast-loading pages with built-in speed tools
• Works well on phones, tablets, and computers
• Simple controls for fonts and colors

Performance metrics

Schema ranks in the middle compared to other WordPress themes when looking at speed. Its PageSpeed scores on mobile are good, reaching 85-88 out of 100.

Pages load in about 2.7 seconds on average. The first content shows up in 1.3 seconds, while the main content appears in 1.7 seconds. The layout stays fairly stable, with a shift score of 0.2. The theme includes lean, mean code like other top performers in the WordPress space.

Sydney

Sydney loads quickly at just 42 KB and takes less than half a second to show up on your screen. It works great with Elementor and WooCommerce and comes with over 25 ready-made site designs you can use right away.

The theme runs smoothly thanks to basic JavaScript code and needs only 9 server requests. This means your site loads fast – the main content appears in under 0.4 seconds, helping keep visitors on your page.

The theme’s fully loaded time is 0.420 seconds, making it one of the fastest WordPress themes available.

Features and Benefits

Sydney WordPress theme makes building business websites easy with its powerful features. You can customize everything to get the exact look you want. The theme includes full-screen slider options to create stunning homepage displays. It works smoothly with popular tools like WooCommerce and Elementor to help you create a great website.

Sites look perfect on phones, tablets, and computers.

Choose from 1000+ Google Fonts to match your style.

Better search rankings with built-in SEO tools.

Pro users get help and updates when needed.

Performance metrics

Sydney’s mobile PageSpeed score reaches 89 out of 100, making it one of the faster WordPress themes. Testing shows these key speed results:

Metric	Desktop	Mobile
Total Load Time	2.4s	2.8s
First Paint	1.1s	1.3s
Largest Paint	1.4s	1.7s
Layout Shift	0.1	0.2

The theme’s quick loading times and strong speed scores put it at the top level of WordPress themes for speed.

Zakra

Zakra is a fast and easy-to-use WordPress theme packed with useful features. It works smoothly with popular page builders like Elementor and Brizy, and you can use it to run online stores with WooCommerce.

More than 40,000 websites already use Zakra. You can easily change how your headers, footers, text, and layouts look to match your brand. The theme loads quickly and helps your website rank well in search engines. Zakra offers 65+ demo sites to help you quickly launch a professional website for any niche.

Features and benefits

Zakra is a flexible WordPress theme that makes building websites easy. Over 60,000 websites use it, with 100 new sites added each day. The theme offers seven widget areas to help customize your site’s layout and functionality.

You can quickly translate it to other languages and use it with all major website tools.

• Choose from 65+ ready-made website designs
• Works smoothly with Elementor and Brizy page builders
• Built to rank well in search engines
• Sets up online stores easily with WooCommerce

Performance metrics

Speed tests show Zakra performs very well. Tests on different platforms reveal these strong results:

Metric	Mobile	Desktop
PageSpeed Score	99/100	100/100
First Contentful Paint	1.5s	0.5s
Largest Contentful Paint	1.6s	0.5s
Total Blocking Time	0ms	0ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0	0

Zakra loads fast thanks to its small page size of 162.7 KB and only 14 HTTP requests. With 97.3 speed scores across all performance tests, Zakra consistently proves itself as one of the fastest WooCommerce themes available.

Hestia

Hestia loads fast on mobile devices, scoring 90/100 on PageSpeed tests and showing content in just 1.2 seconds. The theme comes with ready-to-use designs for buttons, customer reviews, and pricing charts. It works well with tools like Elementor and Brizy to help you build pages. The theme is perfect for creating one-page theme sites.

At only 687 KB in size and loading in 2.5 seconds, Hestia helps create quick-loading websites without extra bloat.

Features and benefits

Hestia’s modern design makes it a top choice among WordPress themes. It works great for business sites and creative portfolios. You can easily change how your site looks using WordPress Customizer and see the changes right away. The theme’s one-page layout delivers an impressive presentation for businesses wanting to showcase all their content on a single, scrollable page.

• Built-in tools to help your site rank better in searches
• Ready to set up an online store with WooCommerce
• Works smoothly with page builders like Elementor
• Support for many languages to reach more customers

Performance metrics

Hestia delivers fast WordPress websites, scoring 90/100 on PageSpeed mobile tests and loading in 2.5 seconds. Hestia offers page builder compatibility that maintains speedy performance without compromising functionality. Real tests show impressive results:

Metric	Performance
GTmetrix Score	100%
Page Size	797 KB
First Paint	1.2s
Full Load	990ms
Total Requests	53

The numbers show that Hestia builds quick websites while keeping all features working well.

Phlox

Phlox is a fast WordPress theme packed with tools to make your website look great. It comes with 19 demo sites and 30 widgets you can use right away.

The theme loads images quickly and works well with tools like Elementor and Visual Composer. It also handles different languages and follows GDPR rules to keep your site legal and secure. With its custom style options, including colors, logos, and menus, you can fully personalize your website’s appearance.

Features and benefits

Phlox makes building websites easy with its many options to change how your site looks. You can pick from over 40 ready-made designs for different types of businesses. The theme works fast and lets you create exactly what you need. Its innovative one-click demo import system makes setup incredibly simple.

Ready to work with WooCommerce for online stores

Special layouts to show off creative work

Quick setup with 19 pre-made websites

Works worldwide with WPML and follows GDPR rules

Performance metrics

When it comes to speed, Phlox shines brightly. Tests show it loads fast, with key metrics like Speed Index at 1.6 seconds and LCP at 1.7 seconds.

The theme scores well on GTmetrix with 88%, while its FCP stays quick at 1.4 seconds. Clear guides and helpful support keep the theme running smoothly.

OnePress

OnePress makes website design simple with its many options. You can add moving backgrounds, custom blocks, and change designs quickly in the theme editor. The #1 FREE theme for WordPress in 2025 delivers exceptional value and features. The theme works well on all devices and you can translate it to any language you need.

If you want more features, OnePress Plus lets you move sections around easily and add extras like maps, price lists, and customer reviews.

Features and benefits

OnePress makes building business websites simple with these key features:

• Works with WooCommerce to run online stores
• Simple design tools to change how your site looks
• Quick setup with one-click demo install
• Fast and stable with Bootstrap 4
• Easy to adjust for many business types

The theme connects with popular tools and lets you make changes fast to match your needs. With its large community of over 70,000 active users, OnePress offers proven reliability for business websites.

Performance metrics

Performance metrics tell us more than features when rating WordPress themes. Fast themes like Astra and Neve score over 90/100 on mobile tests. Their lean design and well-tuned plugins help pages load quickly. Content-driven selection helps ensure optimal performance by choosing themes that match your specific website needs. Astra loads in just 2.1 seconds, showing its first content in 0.9 seconds.

Avada

Avada is the top-selling theme on ThemeForest thanks to its strong set of tools. Its Fusion Builder and many ready-made designs help you create web pages quickly. You can access premium slider plugins included with your purchase for creating animated slideshows.

The theme scores 86/100 for mobile speed, loads in 2.8 seconds, and shows its first content in 1.4 seconds. While other themes may load faster, you can speed up Avada by making images smaller and using fewer plugins.

Features and benefits

Avada makes it easy to build custom websites without knowing how to code. It’s a WordPress theme packed with tools that let you design your site exactly how you want it.

Use Fusion Builder to drag and drop over 120 design pieces onto your pages. Choose from seven header styles that you can easily change. Works smoothly with top plugins like ACF PRO and Convert Plus. Get free updates and help desk support for life when you buy. With an impressive 4.77 rating from over 22,000 users, Avada has proven itself as a reliable choice for website creation.

Performance metrics

Avada’s speed tests show room for improvement. While it offers many features, the theme scores 86/100 on mobile PageSpeed and takes 2.8 seconds to load. Adding custom features can slow down key speed scores – the First Paint takes 1.4 seconds, the Largest Paint needs 1.8 seconds, and the layout shift is 0.2.

Simple themes like Astra or GeneratePress load faster.

Tips for Optimizing Theme Speed

Want a faster WordPress site? Start with a quick theme, then make it even better.

Your theme will run faster when you:

• Clean up old posts and spam from your database
• Shrink your images to smaller file sizes
• Keep only the plugins you really need
• Make images and videos load only when visitors scroll to them

These simple steps cut down loading time and make your site work better for visitors.

Best practices for optimizing WordPress themes

Want to make your WordPress theme run faster? Start with these key steps:

First, shrink your CSS and JavaScript files to make them smaller. Move any scripts you don’t need right away to load later. Turn on caching to help pages load quicker.

Keep your theme simple – only add features you really need. Using themes with excessive features and plugins will significantly slow down your site. Update your theme often to stay safe from threats. Use a CDN to send your content faster, and clean up your database to help your server work better.

Recommended plugins for optimization

To get the best speed from your Hello Elementor theme, use it with Elementor’s hosting service. This combo gives you faster websites because the servers are set up just for Elementor sites.

You’ll get better speed scores and loading times without adding extra plugins. The hosting comes with built-in features like caching and CDN that make your site run smoothly. For even better performance, consider adding WP Rocket to implement lazy loading of images and optimize your site further.

Use Elementor hosting for top-speed

Want the fastest WordPress site with Elementor? Go for Elementor hosting to boost your speed. This simple choice helps your site load quickly and run smoothly.

Conclusion

Looking at speed tests, Hello, Hello Biz, Astra, Neve, and Hello are the top fast WordPress themes in 2025. They load quickly on phones, scoring over 90 out of 100 in speed tests.

Fast loading times help your website achieve better conversion rates, as studies show bounce rates increase significantly when pages take longer to load. Pick themes that are light, load fast, and keep pages small – under 600KB. Your website visitors will load pages faster and enjoy using your site more.

Recap of the importance of choosing a fast WordPress theme

Picking a fast WordPress theme plays a key role in your website’s success. A quick theme helps your site run better and keeps visitors happy.

Research shows that users abandon websites that take more than 3 seconds to load.

Your site will:

• Rank higher in search results
• Keep more visitors on your pages
• Work smoothly on phones and tablets
• Make users happy and help grow your business

The speed of your theme matters most in today’s online world, where every second counts.