7 Fastest Loading WordPress Themes for Blogs

Page Speed and Performance Score for Fastest Loading WordPress Themes

The Performance score is a weighted average of the metric scores. Naturally, more heavily weighted metrics have a bigger effect on your overall Performance score. The metric scores are not visible in the report, but are calculated under the hood. The weightings are chosen to provide a balanced representation of the user's perception of performance. The weightings have changed over time because the Lighthouse team is regularly doing research and gathering feedback to understand what has the biggest impact on user-perceived performance.

• First Contentful Paint (FCP)- 10%
• Speed Index (SI)- 10%
• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)- 25%
• Total Blocking Time (TBT)-  30%
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)- 25%

7 Fastest Loading WordPress Themes for Blogs

When it comes to fast-loading WordPress themes for blogs, here are 10 options known for their performance and speed:

1. GeneratePress

A lightweight and customisable WordPress theme, GeneratePress is known for its speed and flexibility. It is focused on speed, usability and accessibility. The theme prioritizes the essentials you need to achieve optimal performance.

Using Premium, you take it to the next level and accelerate your workflow. It offers various customisation controls, professional designs and block-based theme building. With regular updates and an active support community, GeneratePress offers a reliable and user-friendly theme solution.

Key Features:

• Lightweight and fast-loading with 100% page speed scored
• Extensive customization options for easy personalization
• Fully responsive and mobile-friendly
  
• Regular updates and active support community

We choose the 'marketer' blog theme and select a random blog article page to check the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 92, and for desktop, it is 99, as you can see. It takes less than one second to load fully and makes less than 25 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is 321kb. The performance metrics seem great overall for desktops; however, I believe the LCP can be optimized a bit further for mobile.

• Desktop- LCP: 1.3s, CLS: 0.0, TBT: 0ms
• Mobile- LCP: 2.1s, CLS: 0.0, TBT: 110ms

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Verdict: Generatepress is one of the fastest-loading frameworks, and you can efficiently run your blog using it. However, the amazing performance comes at the cost of a minimal design.

2. WPAstra

Astra is a versatile and highly customizable WordPress theme that offers speed, flexibility, and a wide range of features. With its lightweight and optimized code, Astra ensures fast loading times and optimal performance for your website. It provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy to customize. Astra offers a library of pre-built website templates that cater to various industries and niches, allowing you to quickly set up a professional-looking blog.

The theme is fully responsive and mobile-friendly, ensuring that your blog looks great on all devices. It also offers advanced typography options, layout settings, and color customization to help you create a unique and visually appealing website.

Key Features:

• Lightweight and fast-loading
• Easy customization options without coding knowledge
• Library of pre-built website templates
• Fully responsive and mobile-friendly design
• Advanced typography and layout settings
• Comprehensive documentation and support.
  
• Allows you to control design of your blog posts and archive pages with the options in the customizer.

We choose the 'Tech News' blog theme and select a random blog article page to check the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 78, and for desktop, it is 99, as you can see. It takes less than 1.8 seconds to load fully and makes less than 60 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is 1mb. The performance metrics seem great overall for desktops; however, I believe the LCP and TBF can be optimized a bit further for mobile.

• Desktop- LCP: 1.7s, CLS: 0.001, TBF: 0.0ms
• Mobile- LCP: 2.1s, CLS: 0.0, TBF: 370ms

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Verdict: WPAstra is one of the fastest-loading frameworks and offers a lot of customization when it comes to creating blogs. If you are looking for a combination of blog features and improved page speed, Astra is definitely the choice. 

3. Kadence

Kadence is a powerful and versatile WordPress theme designed for speed, performance, and customization. With its lightweight code and optimized design, Kadence ensures fast loading times and a seamless user experience. It helps you create beautifully effective WordPress blogs with ease. Kadence offers a range of customization options, allowing you to create unique and visually beautiful blogs using easily customizable layouts, typography, colors, and more to match your brand and design preferences.

The theme is fully responsive and mobile-friendly, ensuring that your website looks great on all devices. Additional features of Kadence include a growing library of pre-built starter templates.

Key Features:

• Lightweight and optimized for speed
• Extensive customization options
• Fully responsive and mobile-friendly design
• Growing library of pre-built starter templates
• Built-in performance optimizations

We tried the ‘Affiliate’ blog theme, and here are the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 73, and for desktop, it is 96, as you can see. It takes less than 1.5 seconds to load fully and makes less than 60 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is around 1mb. Although the performance metrics seem to be low for mobile, this is because they are using captcha and some essential third-party scripts along with a lot of images. 

• Desktop- LCP: 1.2s, CLS: 0.001, TBF: 10ms
• Mobile- LCP: 3.6s, CLS: 0.002, TBF: 460ms

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Verdict: Kadence is a highly feature-optimized WordPress theme with unique blog layouts. If you are looking at a combination of robust features optimized with speed, then go for Kadence themes. 

4. Neve

The Neve theme is a lightweight and versatile WordPress theme designed to create fast, mobile-friendly, and visually appealing blogs, as well as personal portfolio sites and projects. Neve offers a fully AMP-optimized and responsive theme that loads in just seconds and adapts well on any device. Despite being lightweight and having a minimalist design, the theme is extendable.

Key Features:

• Blazing-fast loading times for optimal performance
• Responsive design for seamless viewing on all devices
  
• AMP compatibility for lightning-fast mobile experiences
  
• SEO-friendly structure to enhance search engine visibility
• Accessible design for inclusive user experiences
• Translation-ready functionality for reaching a global audience

 We tried the ‘Blogger’ template, and here are the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 92, and for desktop, it is 99, as you can see. It takes less than 500 ms to load fully and makes less than 30 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is 135kb. The performance metrics seem great overall for desktops and mobile.

• Desktop- LCP: 0.7s, CLS: 0.01, TBF: 0.0ms
• Mobile- LCP: 2.7s, CLS: 0.001, TBF: 0.0ms

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Verdict: Neve is one of the fastest-loading frameworks and offers a lot of customization when it comes to creating blogs. However, with more customization, the page speed can be affected. 

5. Zakra

Zakra is a top-rated multi-purpose WordPress theme that comes with more than 80 templates. It helps you create your dream blogs in just a few steps. With its modern and clean design, Zakra offers a wide range of customization options to cater to diverse website needs. Whether you're a freelancer, a small business owner, or a blogger, Zakra provides the tools and flexibility to create a stunning online presence.

Key Features:

• Updated regularly, and new features are included
• Responsive design for seamless viewing on all devices
  
• Integration with popular page builders for effortless customization
• Customizable header and footer layouts for a unique look
  
• Advanced typography options for precise styling
• SEO optimization to improve search engine rankings
  

We tried their ‘Kantipur’ blog template, and here are the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 86, and for desktop, it is 98, as you can see. It takes less than 200ms to load fully and makes less than 20 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is 300kb. The performance metrics seem great overall for desktops and mobile.

• Desktop- LCP: 0.9s, CLS: 0.0, TBF: 0.0ms
• Mobile- LCP: 3.2s, CLS: 0.0, TBF: 0.0ms

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Verdict: Zakra is one of the fastest-loading WordPress blog themes with an aesthetic appeal. I suggest you check out their blog demos and decide your business requirement feasibility. 

6. QI Theme

The QI theme is a dynamic and versatile WordPress theme designed that provides a seamless and visually captivating online experience. QI offers a clean and modern design and comes with a range of flexible customization options to cater to various blog needs.

Key Features:

• Responsive design for flawless viewing across all devices
• Multiple pre-designed layouts and templates for quick setup
• Drag-and-drop page builder compatibility for effortless content creation
• Customizable header and footer options for a personalized touch
• Integration with popular plugins, such as visibility and rankings
• Social media integration for seamless sharing and engagement
• Translation-ready functionality for reaching a global audience
• Regular updates and dedicated support for a smooth user experience.

Page Speed Results: We tried the ‘Design Magazine’ blog template, and here are the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 91, and for desktop, it is 97, as you can see. It takes around 1.1 seconds to load fully and makes less than 80 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is 1.1mb. The performance metrics seem great overall for desktops and mobile given to the number of images that were on the blog article page.

• Desktop- LCP: 1s, CLS: 0.0, TBF: 0.0ms
• Mobile- LCP: 2.8s, CLS: 0.029, TBF: 30ms

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Verdict: Qi Theme is one of the fastest-loading frameworks and offers a lot of customization when it comes to creating blogs. If you are looking for a combination of blog features and improved page speed, Astra is definitely the choice. 

7. Blocksy

Blocksy is an innovative, lightning fast and super-charged free WordPress theme that helps you build your project in minutes without any coding skills. It is light and fast. It offers a user-friendly interface and a range of customizable options to suit various needs. Its lightweight nature ensures fast loading times and optimal performance. 

Key Features:

• Fully responsive design for seamless viewing on all devices
• Advanced customization options with a real-time visual editor
  
• Lightning fast and is ranked top in most speed testing tools
  
• Can be translated into any language and does not have hardcoded string
  Customizer changes are synced in the preview window and does not slow your work flow.

Page Speed Results: We tried the ‘News’ blog template, and here are the results. 

Page Speed Results: The performance score for mobile turned out to be 98, and for desktop, it is 99, as you can see. It takes less than one second to load fully and makes less than 20 requests. As per GTMetrix, the total size of the page is 200kb. The performance metrics seem to be stunning for both desktop and mobile.

• Desktop- LCP: 0.6s, CLS: 0.0, TBF: 0.0ms
• Mobile- LCP: 1.7s, CLS: 0.0, TBF: 0.0ms

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Verdict: Blocksy is the fastest-loading WordPress theme as per GTmetrix and Google page speed insights. You can go for this theme if pure page speed is on your mind.  

Adding advertisement codes from Google AdSense, Doubleclick, and other third-party providers can significantly affect your page speed. Also, if you have too many plugins and scripts related to marketing automation, that is going to affect your overall page speed as well. Optimizing your ad stack and marketing stack is equally vital in the longer run. 

Before selecting a theme, it's always a good idea to test its speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to ensure it meets your performance requirements. Ultimately, the best theme for your blog will depend on your specific needs, design preferences, and the type of content you'll be sharing. Select a theme that aligns with your blogging goals while prioritizing speed and performance.