Selecting a fast WordPress theme is the first thing to do after setting up your WP website. Page load time not only decides your ranking but also affect the website UX. You can, of course, speed up the overall website, however, your WordPress theme is what responsible for most of the lag in page load. It is due to embedded features like responsive design, graphical design, elegant palettes, and excessive customization options. So, you need to look for a theme ideally optimized to load faster.
One of the best ways to make your theme faster is removing the unnecessary customization and optimizing the pre-built images specifically. You can find some great web developers and designers on job boards like Workamajobs or WPHired to fix your speed issues. Alternatively, you can also use our personalized web design services managed by some of the best WordPress experts.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for more niche-specific options, take a look at our custom list below.
THEGEM – High performing / Fast / Multi-purpose WordPress Theme (1.14 sec)
You can choose from 400+ creative pre-designed templates:
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
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Another high performing WordPress theme! TheGem is a real deal. It’s been one of the best sellers on Themeforest for a long time. It comes with everything you can possibly need and imagine on your WordPress website.
It’s loaded with 200+ pre-designed templates which can be imported with 1-click and used for various types of websites. You can build over 70+ different FULL websites from TheGem. For example, you can cover niches, such as creative agency, business website, various online shops and e-commerce websites, portfolio pages & websites, blogs, landing pages, product pages, construction or real estate, gyms, restaurants, hotels, clinics, charities, etc. The list is neverending and all of them can be achieved by importing your demo and working on your website few hours. Hard to imagine, right? Well, you should for sure start with previewing demos and testing.
The author offers outstanding support, regular updates, and very detailed and guided documentation. You can count on them! Also you can be sure that it’s packed with the best plugins and features that you might possibly need for your website, such as, full SEO optimization, WooComerce compatibility (eshop plugin), showcase portfolio options, multilingual options, 7 premium sliders, visual composer (page builder), mobile-friendly, etc. Check out full page, for a complete list of features.
Publisher – Magazine / Fastest WordPress Theme / (loading time 1.14 sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Publisher is our favorite WordPress theme and as you might have noticed it’s also our WebCreate.Me theme. We are super happy with the speed and performance. It’s loads in less than a second and it’s one of the fastest WordPress themes on all Themeforest.
You can build stunning blogs or magazines with Publisher. It has plenty of demos and endless functions that you will love (as we do). You can easily install your demo with 1 click and start getting your layout done in few minutes. Make sure you visit those demos and preview them. Admin of the template is super easy and intuitive and one of the easiest we ever worked with. It’s full of amazing functions, such as advertising options, AMP support, super SEO optimized, financial news optimized, push notifications, smart thumbnails cropping, etc.
If you want to build a professional magazine or blog with TOP features this is your best choice. The author did not forget a single detail and coded an amazing fast loading template which won’t disappoint you. Their customer support is outstanding, updates are regular and automated and everything is very well documented. No need to hesitate here, give Publisher a go!
H/Code – Fast WordPress Theme (698ms)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
When you start using H/Code, the programmers have provided you with a number of options that you can demo. You can include your information on a demo page to see how it looks, and you may begin entering your information into Woocommerce to set up your online store. H/Code is very popular because it is very easy to test and edit. If you do not like the demo of a page, you can change it without going through several clicks to get back to the editing phase.
H/Code also allows you to work in a world of shadows and dark open spaces. This theme is the reverse of others that will use open white space to bring the customers closer. When you begin to set up your pages, you can change the color of the text, add images, and add videos to make your site feel a bit more like a microblog. You are appealing to a younger crowd, and you can use new demo pages every time the H/Code updates.
Avada – Multipurpose theme (1.28sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Avada is the #1 best selling WordPress-themes on theme forest and also the fastest multi-purpose WP theme in the entire marketplace. Avada has dozens of elegant demos that are designed to offer you fast loading pages. You can import the demos in a few clicks making the site setup easier.
It’s a flexible WordPress theme that could be customized using fusion builder. There are global shortcode elements to fasten this process. And while Avada creators optimized the theme to load fast, they didn’t remove any of those useful features, i.e. cross-browser compatibility, eye-catchy design or any other advanced feature.
If you want to have full control over the appearance of your website, then Avada is your best choice.
Electro – WooCommerce theme (1.55sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
This Ecommerce WordPress theme is designed specifically for creating a WooCommerce store. Do you know a WooCommerce-theme has a lot of integrations in order to provide the right customization for online stores? Embedding these features do make these store themes a bit slow. Thankfully, we have Electro that actually loads in just two seconds. Nevertheless, they didn’t cut down any of those exquisite options like pre-built templates or WPML compatibility (for making your site multilingual).
SEOWP – Digital Agency Theme (1.7sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
SEOWP is the ultimate SEO-based them for WordPress. The theme itself it not filled with extra color and styling that slows everything down. You get all the background parts that you need to make your site a success. You are compatible with Gutenberg, and you can use Woocommerce if you are selling to the people that you bring to your site.
You get the social share buttons that make it easier for customers to share what they have found, and there are several plugins that allows you to just your content on each page. You can get the blocked style that is very popular today, and the white pace on the space helps make the site that much faster. Once again, this theme will help you build your site and use SEO, tagging, and social sharing to attract followers.
Pillar – WP Theme (931ms)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Pillar is responsive WordPress theme that will work quickly on both desktops and mobile devices. When you are using this theme, you can clearly see all the content on the right and the main tabs/content on the left. This is a block-style theme that will load quickly because it is linking together small blocks of information. You can load the theme with many images that will send your visitors to particular pages on the site, and you can use tabs on the left to send users to your most-popular pages.
The header in this theme is not so large that it will take a long time to load, and there is plenty of open space that will help to speed up the experience for the user.
Plus, this theme is based on Bootstrap which is one of the most popular themes on the market today. The difference between the two is that Pillar comes with over 100 demo pages that you can use to begin filling in content. You can choose put up to 50 more of these demo pages on the site, and those pages give you the virtual assurance that Pillar can load in any situation. Even when your site is full of content, it loads instantly.
Sober With Woocommerce (743ms)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Sober is the most modern and futuristic of the themes that you will see on this list. While you want to use a theme that makes your site fast, you also need a modern look that people can connect with. Sober removes lines and grooves on the page that will help make all the text look clean. The theme itself focuses on uses blank space to help draw in the customer. Plus, it uses the blocked format that allows you to build a site with several different pages that are all represented by the picture.
You can put the name of your site and a few tabs on the left so that your customers can navigate. Your customers can choose the tabs if they know where they want to go, or they can explore the blocks on the right. Because the design is segmented into small blocks, it will load very quickly. There is no need for a header that might load too slowly, and you also get the Woocommerce advantage that helps your customers shop with you securely, quickly, and with a bit of freedom.
Divi – ULTIMATE BEST THEME
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Divi is the most popular WordPress theme in the world. That alone should be a solid selling point for your business. You can use this theme to build your whole site. Plus, you will build the site using visuals. You do not need to do anything special to ensure that the site will look good, and you do not need any coding experience.
When you begin to build the site, you are taken through a number of steps to build the site. You can see the sample of your site when you are done, and you can go back into the building mode when you would like to alter or add pages.
Plus, this platform ensures the fastest performance on mobile and desktop devices. Because the theme is meant to be responsive, all your guests or customers can use it with no problem. If you feel as though you need a little help building your site, Divi can do it for you.
Writing – Personal blog theme (1.24sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Writing is a minimal theme designed for personal bloggers. It has one of the cleanest designs with a loading speed of 1.9 seconds and a great range of features.
This theme has a rating of 4.8/5 on Themeforest and is one of the most price-effective choices. To provide great UX, every template of this theme is designed for easy readability. One of the best benefits of a simplistic theme is its fast loading pages. Coding is SEO friendly along with retina ready pages.
MONSTROID 2 – Faster WordPress Theme 2019 on TemplateMonster (2.63sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
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Monstroid2 is a multipurpose template that will provide you with infinite possibilities. It does not matter how you imagine an online-project of your dreams. This incredible template allows implementing even the most innovative ideas into life. You will be definitely impressed with a super-light package weight. This ready-made solution weights only 250kb. This means that it has a smooth performance and speedy process of pages loading. There are 500+ pre-designed sections and ready-made pages that you can choose from. Each of them is designed for some specific purposes. All you need to do is to press Magic Button and start exploring lots of pre-styled pages. You will also get multiple skins designed for the most popular topics. Among them, you will find variants to showcase such niches as education, dances, cars, restaurant, night club, electronics, environment, real estate, and many others. By the way, demos are constantly updated which means that there is always something to choose from. One of the most widely-used drag-and-drop builder called Elementor will broaden the horizons of the customization process. It has such advantages as real-time editing and code-free customization. Even if you are not experienced in programming, you can work with various website elements and add content to your pages. In addition to this, this amazing template is installed in one single click. It allows completing the installation process in a blink of an eye that makes it possible to save some of your time. You can also pay your attention to a great WooCommerce Package if you want to turn your website into a large online-store.
MADD – Magazine theme (2.9sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Magazine themes take much more time in loading its landing page as compared to another type of themes. This is because, unlike a business site or personal blog, a magazine (or newspaper) theme needs to load multiple widgets on the homepage.
Madd is the fastest theme we found during our tests. You will really love the structured layout of MADD. This theme has a minimal design to save the load time on less useful elements. It is a responsive theme with Google fonts. MADD is also updated to fit the need of advanced WordPress users. It is Gutenberg ready for those who want to use a page builder over WordPress editor. If you are looking for a simple and fast magazine theme, then you should definitely have a look at it.
Zoner– Real estate theme (2.48sec)
SPEED TEST RESULTS from https://tools.pingdom.com
Zoner is a WordPress theme specifically designed for real estate agencies and business websites. This theme has an integrated Google and street map. You will notice a smooth UI in this theme along with loads of functionality features. This WordPress theme gives you a selection range of 14+ homepages. This is a theme you won’t regret buying. You can find it on themeforest, or know more about this theme from their official website.
Final words
So that was our take on some of the fastest Responsive WordPress Themes in most common niches. You can always customize the theme based on your design needs and get the less useful elements removed. Some business websites often use page builders for adding elements on a simplistic theme for improving conversion rate. If that’s your case, you can just get a pre-customized theme. Once you have selected and installed your WordPress theme, start publishing content to keep your audience engaged.
