Astra Vs GeneratePress Vs Kadence – Which Is The Fastest WordPress Theme?

How fast are Astra, GeneratePress, and Kadence WordPress themes? I performed the speed tests for these three trending themes and want to share the results. My speed comparison output will help you pick the best theme for your WordPress business site. 

As you know, the speed of the website matters a lot! It is also a search engine ranking factor. Moreover, your audience doesn’t like the slow-loading pages and might abandon your site. So, getting a shift theme for quick site loading is essential.  

You might need clarification about the various theme choices available in the digital market and which one to install. Look at my test results! I use Cloudways hosting for my server optimization and installed these themes to check their speed level. 

Speed Features Of The Themes

Before getting into the speed scores of each theme in the Free and Premium versions, let me describe the speed features of each theme. 

Astra 

• Lightweight template that weighs less than 50 KB
• Contains minified & organized CSS for improved load time and quicker rendering
• Preloading feature reduces the load time
• Fully compatible with AMP to get a faster mobile experience
• Optimized for Gutenberg to ensure the Blocks are rendered without performance lags
• Uses Vanilla JavaScript instead of JQuery to avoid render-blocking problems

GeneratePress 

• Weighs around 30 KB with optimized code
• Minified and Modular CSS to reduce the file size
• Allows extensive customization without any unnecessary bloat
• Optimizes font loading to reduce the time to first paint
• Responsive design with AMP compatibility
• Includes 60 Hooks & Filters for functionality extension

Kadence 

• Weighs less than 50 KB and has smaller footprints for faster loading times
• Control over Typography and sel-host Google fonts to reduce external HTTP requests
• Supports lazy image loading to make initial page load quick
• Contains optimized Blocks to load only the essential CSS and JS
• Provides a Global color Palette system for site colors without affecting the speed
• Has minified CSS, modular design, Preloading, AMP & Cache compatibility.

From the listed speed qualities, it is clear that all three themes contain almost similar features. Now, let’s look at the testing results.

Free WordPress Themes Speed Comparison (With Cloudways Hosting)

As a first step, I installed the free theme versions of Astra, GeneratePress, and Kadence. Look at their GTMertix speed scores. 

Astra Speed Score

Generatepress Speed Score

Kadence Speed Score

From the above Table and Images, it is clear that the GeneratePress theme has the best LCP value. If you want the fastest free WordPress theme, choose GeneratePress rather than Astra & Kadence. 

Premium WordPress Themes Speed Comparison (With Cloudways Hosting)

After checking the free version speed output, I installed the premium copies of Astra, GeneratePress and Kadence. Have a glance at the speed score that I got in GTMetrix. 

Astra Premium Theme Speed Result

Generatepress Premium Theme Speed Result

Kadence Paid Theme Speed Result

So, it is clear that the GeneratePress theme wins the speed tests. It has impressive LCP and performance values, which are necessary to load your site lightning fast. 

How To Make Your WordPress Fast With Any Theme?

You can significantly improve the site speed regardless of the theme you install by following the below steps!

1. Use reliable hosting with a stable TTFB and CDN
2. Install a cache plugin
3. Optimize your database and fonts
4. Minimize and combine CSS and JS

You can further optimize your site for WordPress speed by following my detailed guide!

Astra Vs GeneratePress Vs Kadence – Speed Comparison

WordPress speed is an essential factor to consider for user experience and search engine ranking results. No matter how much effort you make for content quality! If your blog pages load slowly, all your endeavors will fail. 

I have taken the trending WordPress themes to test the speed quality and showcased the results to help you choose the rapid template. Go with the direct winner – GeneratePress theme and achieve your business goals.