GeneratePress vs Astra: Detailed WordPress Theme Comparison

Are you trying to decide between GeneratePress vs Astra as your WordPress website theme?

According to the data, these are two of the most popular WordPress themes. They also share the same basic approach, making it difficult to choose between them.

Both provide lightweight multipurpose foundations with a number of WordPress Customizer features that let you customize them. You can use it from a blog to a business site, an e-commerce store, a membership site, and more.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with either theme, but each offers its own set of features that may swing your decision one way or the other.

To help you uncover those differences, we’ll compare Astra vs GeneratePress in a number of key areas, including:

• User interface
• Demo sites
• Modules
• Page builder compatibility
• Design and customization
• Speed and performance
• Ecommerce integration
• Pricing
• Support and documentation

So, are you ready to find out which WordPress theme is the best for you and why? Let’s jump into the details.

GeneratePress vs Astra: Quick Overview

Let’s see a quick overview of both WordPress themes before we start our comparison.

GeneratePress

GeneratePress is a lightweight WordPress theme focusing on speed, stability, and accessibility. At just a 7.5kb page size, 2 HTTP requests, and zero dependencies, the free theme provides the perfect foundation to help your site hit 100%.

As of April 2024, GeneratePress is active on more than 6,00,000, according to WordPress.org. Plus, it gets 5 out of 5-star ratings from 1,300+ reviews.

Astra

Astra is also a lightweight, multipurpose WordPress theme that loads under 50 KB. It was developed by Brainstorm Force, the same team behind many other popular WordPress plugins. These include Ultimate Addons for Elementor, Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder, Spectra, Convert Pro, and many more.

Furthermore, Astra has the impressive distinction of being the only non-default WordPress theme ever to pass one million active installs at WordPress.org. It has 4.9 out of 5-star ratings from 5,300+ reviews.

Astra Theme vs GeneratePress Theme: User Interface

When it comes to selecting a WordPress theme, the user interface matters a lot (especially if you are a beginner with zero coding skills).

So, how do they compare in terms of user interface? Let’s find it out by exploring their interfaces.

We will focus on the free themes at WordPress.org for this section. However, we’ll touch on lots of premium features as we get further into the comparison.

GeneratePress

GeneratePress does not offer starter sites in its free version (but does in its premium version). Furthermore, the free version does not have any backend dashboard settings. So, after installing the free theme, the first thing you should do is open the native WordPress Customizer:

GeneratePress keeps things lighter in the Customizer settings than Astra. As a result, Astra seems more user-friendly under the different Customizer options.

For example, when selecting one of the preset header layouts, you just select from a basic text dropdown:

As you’ll see in a moment, this strategy differs from Astra’s.

Overall, GeneratePress’ detailed usage of the WordPress Customizer adheres to the lightweight, bloat-free approach.

To learn more, read out our GeneratePress review.

Astra

Because Astra offers starter sites even in the free version, it features a slightly more structured onboarding process. Even so, you’ll spend most of your time using Astra in the WordPress Customizer.

When you initially activate Astra, you will be prompted to install the Starter Templates plugin, which allows you to access the importable demo sites:

When you click Get Started, the demo site plugin is installed, which we’ll go over later.

Beyond that, you’ll use the native WordPress Customizer, exactly like with GeneratePress:

Astra’s Customizer settings areas are a little more user-friendly and straightforward. For example, when you select a pre-made header layout, you get a visual representation of the layout rather than just a text list:

Is it a significant difference? Absolutely not. However, most people would probably prefer the way Astra has put things out in terms of beginning friendliness.

To learn more, read out our Astra theme review.

Winner:

It’s a tie since both theme customizers are extremely easy, and their interfaces are simple to use, even for beginners.

GeneratePress vs Astra: Demo Sites

Most website owners don’t want to build their sites from scratch. They are always looking for themes that have excellent demo sites.

If you’re one of them, you’ll appreciate Astra Premium and GP Premium because they both provide ready-to-import starter websites. Let’s see what type of demo sites you can get with both themes.

GeneratePress

GeneratePress Premium gives you access to a “Site Library,” which has over 90+ professionally designed starter sites.

You can see the demo sites offered by GP Premium by visiting this page.

Here, you’ll find all kinds of starter sites, including:

• Blog
• eCommerce
• Business
• Marketing
• Health
• And many more

No matter what niche you’re in, you’ll likely find a great demo site to help you get started and make your new site appealing.

Astra

Astra has a large number of free starter sites, as well as plenty of additional starter sites that come with Essential or Growth bundles.

It has 240+ starter templates that work with the Elementor, Beaver Builder, and WordPress block editor.

You can see all the Astra starter templates by visiting this page.

Here, you can find all kinds of ready-to-import starter templates, including:

• Online store
• Health care & wellness
• Education
• Beauty & fashion
• Travel & tourism
• And many more

Winner:

Astra is clearly the winner as it offers over 240+ demo sites, whereas GP premium offers only a handful of starter sites.

GeneratePress vs Astra: Modules

Both Astra and GeneratePress use a modular approach for their pro versions, allowing you to enable and disable the specific module that you want to use.

In this section, we will show you which modules each theme offers.

GeneratePress

GeneratePress offers a total of 13 modules, including:

• Backgrounds
• Blog
• Copyright
• Disable Elements
• Elements
• GP Hooks
• Import / Export
• Menu Plus
• Page Header
• Sections
• Sites
• Spacing
• WooCommerce

Astra

Astra offers a total of 14 modules, including:

• Colors & Background
• Typography
• Spacing
• Blog Pro
• Sticky Header
• Site Layouts
• Nav Menu
• Custom Layouts
• Page Headers
• WooCommerce
• Easy Digital Downloads
• LearnDash
• LifterLMS
• White Label

Winner:

Astra has a larger module list, which makes sense because Astra is more feature-rich overall than GeneratePress.

Astra Theme vs GeneratePress: Page Builder Compatibility

GeneratePress and Astra are both compatible with major page builder plugins. More particularly, both offer importable page builder-based starter sites and page-level options for simply managing the canvas for your page builder designs.

GeneratePress

GeneratePress is built to be compatible with all of the most popular page builders, such as Elementor, Brizy Builder, Beaver Builder, and others. The theme works well with these builders, but it works especially well with the GeneratePress Block Builder, the native GeneratePress theme builder.

To get the block builder, you must purchase GeneratePress Pro. It comes with both yearly and lifetime plans for the theme. The block builder is easy to use and may help you create faster websites without all of the code bloat builders like Elementor leave behind.

Astra

If you want to work with page builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder, Astra is a great option. In fact, Brainstorm Force has created two outstanding add-on plugins to extend the capabilities of the builders: Ultimate Add-Ons for Elementor and Ultimate Add-Ons for Beaver Builder.

All of the Astra starter templates function well with builders. Astra even makes it easy to integrate the templates with your preferred page builder with a set-up wizard that lets you choose which builder to use.

Winner:

Both GeneratePress and Astra are highly compatible with all major page builders. However, Astra offers a number of additional features that make it easier to use a page builder with the theme.

GeneratePress vs Astra: Design and Customization

Another thing that both builders do well is provide an extensive range of design and customization options. Each one makes it easy to change colors, fonts, headers, footers, site branding, logos, and anything else.

GeneratPress

GeneratePress’s free version has basic design and customization features. For anything more advanced, you’ll need to upgrade to the plugin’s premium version.

Some of the design and customization options available in the free version include site identity changes. These include logos, taglines, and color and typography changes for headers, navigation, buttons, etc.

More advanced features, such as starter themes and the block builder, give you even more control over the theme design and many style and customization options.

Astra

When it comes to styling and design change, the Astra theme has an abundance of options. All of these options are easily accessible via the WordPress theme customization panel.

The free version limits your ability to do things without the need for third-party plugins or code. However, the pro version of Astra provides you total control over how your theme is styled.

One thing to keep in mind is that some features will need to be accessible through the Astra dashboard. This includes things like header and footer design, as well as the installation of some add-ons that give more design options for your WordPress theme.

Winner:

Astra generally has a little advantage in terms of customization possibilities, especially for the free version. However, when compared to the paid version, both have a number of customization options, which is why they are so popular.

GeneratePress vs Astra: eCommerce Functionality

Many website builders will not require eCommerce features and functionality. However, if you ever want to add a storefront or sell digital things, you should build on a theme that makes it easier to set up an eCommerce site.

When it comes to WordPress, this generally involves creating a WooCommerce website. Thankfully, both GeneratePress and Astra support WooCommerce.

GeneratPress

GeneratePress provides a number of various options to help you get the most out of your WooCommerce website. This is only available with the paid version of GeneratePress, similar to many of the other modules and enhanced features.

Some of the features that GeneratePress provides for WooCommerce include templates for WooCommerce, extra design, customization options for things like shopping carts, etc.

Astra

Astra theme has a comprehensive WooCommerce solution in the form of features that make creating an eCommerce website much easier. Some of the default features include:

• Dropdown shopping cart
• Off-canvas WooCommerce sidebar
• Built-in product quick view
• Distraction-free checkout or two-step checkout
• An eye-catching indicator for sale products
• Lots of Customizer settings to control your individual products and catalog

GeneratePress does match some of those features, such as the distraction-free checkout.

Winner:

Astra offers a better WooCommerce integration with more WooCommerce-specific features. As a result, Astra is definitely the better option for WooCommerce stores, while GeneratePress would still be fine in most cases.

GeneratePress vs Astra: Speed and Performance

Whether you know it or not, the speed of your website is really important.

No one wants to wait for a page to load. If your website is sluggish, visitors will leave and likely visit the websites of competitors.

Furthermore, website speed is a ranking factor for search engines like Google. That is why it is important to choose a WordPress theme that is fast.

A faster WordPress theme often has a lower page size and clean code.

So, how fast are both themes? Let’s find out.

In case you’re wondering, here are the page sizes for each of these themes:

• The Astra theme has a page size of less than 50 KB.
• The GeneratePress theme has a page size of less than 7.5 KB.

GeneratPress

Here is the speed and performance result of the GeneratePress theme:

As you can see above, the GP premium theme is loading within six milliseconds, which is incredible!

Astra

Here is the speed and performance result of the Astra theme:

As you can see above, the Astra theme is taking around seven milliseconds to load.

Winner:

In our performance test, GeneratePress comes out ahead, but only by a few milliseconds. Still, if you want the fastest WordPress theme, GeneratePress is a good option.

Read Out: How to Speed Up a WordPress Site.

Astra vs GeneratePress: Pricing

One of the best things about WordPress is the availability of both free and premium themes. Most people choose free themes. However, if you’re serious about making money online, you should consider premium themes.

That said, below are the pricing plans offered by GeneratePress and Astra themes.

GeneratPress

GeneratePress is available in two versions: free and premium. The free theme offers the basic modules, but the premium version has full access to the Site Library. You can download the free GeneratePress theme from the WordPress.org plugin repository.

The Premium version of GeneratePress is available in two pricing plans:

1) Yearly

Yearly plans are the most affordable plans, which cost just $59 per year and include the following features:

• All premium features
• Full access to the Site Library
• 1 year of updates
• 1 year of premium support
• Use on up to 500 websites

2) Lifetime

If you want to avoid paying yearly and want to enjoy the benefits of a GP premium for life, this is the plan for you. It costs $249 as a one-time purchase and includes the following lifetime benefits.

• All premium features
• Full access to the Site Library
• Lifetime updates
• Lifetime premium support
• Use on up to 500 websites

Get GeneratePress

Astra

Astra theme, like GeneratePress, has two versions: free and pro. The free version is good for beginners looking for a simplistic design.

Go with Astra Pro if you want extra features, support, updates, and so on.

Astra offers the following three pricing plans:

1) Astra Pro

If you’re searching for a low-cost Astra plan, this is a great option. This plan costs $59 per year ($299 lifetime) and offers the following features:

• Advanced Header & Footer Builder
• Advanced Blog Layouts
• Sticky Header
• Global Color Palettes
• WooCommerce Controls
• White Label
• Premium Support
• Unlimited Website Usage
• And so on

2) Essential Bundle

Choose this plan if you want to customize your website using a page builder addon (Beaver or Elementor). This plan costs $169 per year ($849 lifetime) and offers the following features:

• Everything in Astra Pro, Plus
• 180+ Premium Starter Templates
• WP Portfolio Plugin
• Choose one Page Builder Addon (Elementor or Beaver Builder)
• Premium Support
• Unlimited Website Usage
• And so on

3) Growth Bundle

This is the best option if you want an all-in-one package of tools. This plan costs $249 per year ($1249 lifetime) and offers the following features:

• Everything in Essential Bundle, Plus
• Convert Pro Plugin
• Schema Pro Plugin
• Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder
• Ultimate Addons for Elementor
• Spectra Pro
• SkillJet Academy Membership
• Product Updates
• Unlimited Website Usage
• And so on

Get Astra

Winner:

When it comes to pricing, GeneratePress has a more straightforward pricing structure and is less expensive than Astra. Plus, you can purchase the lifetime plan for GP Premium for just $249, whereas the Astra Essential Bundle costs $699.

GeneratePress vs Astra: Customer Support and Documentation

When it comes to selecting a WordPress theme, support and theme documentation are equally important.

So, how do these two themes compare in these segments? Let’s find out.

GeneratPress

First and foremost, GeneratePress offers extensive documentation for all of the theme’s features. If you face any issues, this is always a good place to start.

If you need further one-on-one support beyond that, you can use the public support forum. Anyone can view the forum, but you must have an active license to post topics. Support forums might have a bad rap, but GeneratePress does it quite well and answers quickly to new topics.

Furthermore, because the support forum is open to the public, you can frequently find the answer to your query just by searching Google for an existing support post.

Lastly, you can join the official GeneratePress Facebook community, which has over 10,400 members, for community support.

Astra

Astra, like GeneratePress, offers a detailed knowledge base that includes hundreds of articles.

If you want more help, you can submit a support ticket. Because Astra uses ticket support, there is no searchable index of questions like there is with forum support.

Astra also has a strong official Facebook group with over 56,000+ members.

Winner:

While they compete in the documentation area, Astra falls a little behind in terms of support. GeneratePress provides greater support by being quicker, more open, and more responsive.

Astra Theme vs GeneratePress: Pros and Cons

GeneratePress Pros & Cons

GeneratePress Pros:

• Fast and lightweight WordPress theme with a 7.5 KB page size and 2 HTTP requests.
• Use the GP theme on up to 500 websites.
• Offer cheaper yearly and lifetime plans compared to Astra premium plans.
• Offers 90+ professionally designed templates called demo sites in its Site Library.
• Using GP, you can create any type of website, from a personal blog to an eCommerce site.
• Compatible with all major WordPress plugins and website builders.
• GeneratePress is SEO-friendly, which ultimately helps you with better search rankings.

GeneratePress Cons:

• The free version is limited compared to the Astra free version.
• No demo sites are available in the free version.
• While GeneratePress has complete WooCommerce compatibility, it doesn’t have as many integrations as a theme like Astra. For example, it lacks the dedicated integrations for LearnDash or LifterLMS that Astra offers. If you use those LMS plugins, you might choose Astra over GeneratePress.

Astra Theme Pros & Cons

Astra Theme Pros:

• Fast and lightweight WordPress theme as it needs less than 50 KB of resources.
• It uses Vanilla JavaScript instead of jQuery for better website performance.
• Astra offers a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to customize every part of your website, from header to footer.
• It is easy to use and customize, even if you’re a beginner.
• Compatible with all major WordPress plugins and WordPress page builders.
• Astra is an excellent WordPress theme that is suitable for all website owners.
• Offers WooCommerce integration so you can easily build online or eCommerce stores.
• SEO-friendly, optimizing websites for better search engine visibility.
• Offers 240+ ready-made free and premium starter templates.

Astra Theme Cons:

• Astra premium plans are more costly than GP premium plans.
• Some important customization options are only available in Astra Pro.
• Need to purchase the bundle to access premium starter templates.

Conclusion

Both GeneratePress and Astra are the most popular WordPress themes for good reason. They’re both great themes that you can’t go wrong with.

Overall, Astra offers a little “more” than GeneratePress. It features more integrations, more starter sites, more customization options, and so on. Does that mean it’s better? Not necessarily. If you like GeneratePress’s starter site, it doesn’t really matter if Astra offers more starter sites because you just need that single template.

Similar to that, if you’re not using WooCommerce, it doesn’t really matter that Astra offers a bit more detailed WooCommerce integration.

GeneratePress, on the other hand, has a little advantage in terms of performance, which is an important factor to consider. Again, Astra is pretty good in terms of performance – it’s just that GeneratePress outperforms it.

When it comes to pricing, the premium versions are equal. Thus, there is no difference. However, there are two things to consider when it comes to pricing:

• Astra’s free version is more functional than GeneratePress’ free version. If you want to use the free version of either theme, you’ll probably be happy with Astra.
• You need to purchase one of the Astra bundles to use premium templates.

Further, you’ll also need to think about the type of website you’re creating. For example, GeneratePress could be a good option for a personal website or blog, but Astra is likely to be preferable if you’re creating a WooCommerce store or online course website.

That’s it!

For more, check out these other helpful resources:

• GeneratePress vs Kadence
• Kadence vs Astra
• Best Free WordPress Blog Themes

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