Are you confused about deciding between GeneratePress vs Astra themes to build your WordPress website?
By their popularity, Astra and GeneratePress are two of the most popular and high selling Premium WordPress themes on the market right now.
Both are outstanding themes and offer numerous features with customizing tools to help you customize your WordPress theme and performance. You can use each for building a blog, business site, ecommerce website, webinar site and more.
But you can use only one active theme on your blog at one time. Either you can choose Astra or GeneratePress. I used both the themes and then I decided to use one theme on my blog.
You know which one?
I finally settled for GeneratePress Pro. Currently, this site is running on GeneratePress Premium theme.
So, In this post, I’m writing a GeneratePress vs Astra comparison so that you can choose the right theme for your needs and requirements.
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You can build a professional website like an expert by using each of the themes with a page builder plugin like Elementor, Thrive Suite Builder, and others.
We’ll compare both themes on the basics of various aspect such as:
- Features
- Easy of Access
- Design & Layout
- Templates Library
- Customization Options
- Page Builder Compatibility
- Performance
- WooCommerce Compatibility
- Layouts Options
- Support
- Pricing
- My Opinion
Let’s get started and see the GeneratePress vs Astra WordPress theme comparison.
Table of Contents
GeneratePress vs Astra - An Overview
Before we dive into the comparison, we’ll quickly overview these two themes.
Features Price💵 $59/Year $49/Year Free Version Yes Yes Renewal Offer 40% Off on renewal🤗 Life time Performance Very Fast🚀🚀 Fast 🚀 Customization Very Easy to Customize Easy to Customize WooCommerce Compatible Yes Yes Page Builder Compatibility Compatible with Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, and more Compatible with Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, and more Documentaion 🗎 Clean & Well Documented Clean & Well Documented Ratings 5/5 5/5 Size Less than 20kb📁 Less than 50kb📁 Website Uses Up to 500 Websites🌐 Unlimited Uses🌐 Refund 30 day money-back guarantee💸 14 day money-back guarantee💸 Pros ✅Clean & Lightweight WP Theme ✅Easy to customization ✅Full Access to the site library ✅1 Year Premium Update & Support ✅Good Site Templates ✅ Powerful Design Options ✅ Different Site Layouts ✅ Global Design Options ✅ Tons of Demo Templates ✅ Fully SEO Optimized ✅ Unlimited Site Uses Cons ❌ Free Version is not good ❌ Price little bit high compare to Astra ❌ No Whitelabel Features ❌ More expensive if you upgrate the plan ❌ Limited Layout heade options ❌ Speed is slow as compare to GeneratePress Official Webiste Winner 🏆
We’ve selected GeneratePress as the winner, but do you know why? There are tons of reasons to consider and it was very difficult to select a winner between GeneratePress and Astra theme.
Well, we’re not saying Astra is not a good WordPress theme, you can see we’ve rated both of them as 5-stars. As every finger is not the same in our hand. Similarly, there could be some differences between them.
At the end of this article, you’ll see why we’ve chosen GeneratePress as the winner 🏆.
GeneratePress vs Astra - An Introduction
Introduction about GeneratePress
GeneratePress is the most popular and lightweight multipurpose WordPress theme on the marketplace. The file size of this theme comes under 10KB and it has a clean code.
As of January 2022, GeneratePress is active on over 3,893,970+ sites according to GeneratePress official website. It has 90,000+ happy customers and 1,000+ 5-ratings.
With the combination of GeneratePress premium and visual page builder, you can build your website off in the right direction whether you’re a new techie, freelancer or agency.
GeneratePress allows you to add custom code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP) to design your website. If you’ve coding knowledge then you can customize your website without installing more plugins like remove website URL from comment, add floating social share button and more.
Introduction about Astra
Astra is another best multipurpose and lightweight WordPress theme to build stunning websites from scratch. It has clean code similar to GeneratePress and file size comes under 50KB.
Astra has impressive layout design and customization options. With the help of Astra pro and page builder (Elementor, Divi, Thrive), you can build your own website. Either you can work as a freelancer because it gives you use for unlimited sites.
It has crossed 1+ million active installs. Also, it has a perfect 5-star rating on over 5,000+reviews.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Highlighted Features
100% PageSpeed Scores Advanced layout systems Advanced Hook System Mobile Header Secondary & Sticky Nav File Size less than 10KB Infinite Scroll Features Extensive Library Premium Support Access all site library With Premium use up to 500 sites Mobile Reasponsive Easy to use SEO optimized 30 day money-back guarantee Clean & Optimized code Self Hosted Google fonts Responsive for all devices Responsive for all devices File Size less than 50KB Powerful Design Options Powerful Design Options Transparent Header Mobile Header & Mega Menu Header & Footer Options Diffeent Site Layouts Huge collection of Site Library Global Design Option Different Typography Options Fully SEO Optimized
GeneratePress vs Astra - Easy to Access
When it comes to ease of access, both these themes come out on the top compared to other WordPress themes on the market.
To access all the features of these themes, you should have the premium version. In the free version of GeneratePress and Astra, you can’t access all the features.
Once you’ve installed the pro version of the theme, you can access the options under the “Appearance” section of your WordPress dashboard.
In case of GeneratePress pro (Appearance > GeneratePress), and (Appearance > Astra) in case of Astra pro theme.
As we know both themes are freemium themes that means you can also use the free version to build your site and it comes with limited features. You can download the free version from WordPress.org. But if you want more features then you can upgrade to the premium version of these themes.
To access all the features of these themes, first you need to enable the modules of the themes. The module is the set of related features that comes with the premium theme.
You can enable or disable unwanted modules to ease. Once you disable the unwanted modules, it will be removed from the customizer screen.
After activating the modules, you will be able to see all the customization options. Here’s the customization option of GeneratePress and Astra.
To customize your website design, you can directly go to the theme customization option (Appearance > Customize). The customizing tab allows you to add or remove colors, typography, header style and more.
You don’t need to write a single line of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to design your site.
Both of these themes are very easy to use, the simplified settings and flexibility in these themes make all the other WordPress themes.
I would give GeneratePress 5-ratings in terms of use, as the theme customization is a bit easy to use and intuitively organized.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Template Library
GeneratePress Demo Site:
Both the themes offer pre-built template libraries to build a professional website without any hustle. Simply, you need to import the template and edit your design as per your requirement.
Additionally, both themes provide responsive design templates and are editable with page builders like Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder and more.
Here is how the GeneratePress site library looks like. You can search your template design by selecting template type (Business, e-commerce, blog) and page builder type (Elementor, Beaver Builder) from the top left corner.
GeneratePress only offers pre-build template sites if you purchase GeneratePress premium version. It does not offer any starter sites with the free version, which is important to consider if you’re a beginner.
With the premium version, GeneratePress offers demo sites that are built with three different page builder:
As the time of writing this articles:
- WordPress editor blocks – 65 different demo sites
- Elementor – 10 different sites.
- Beaver Builder Pro – 6 Different sites
In total, GeneratePress gives you 81 pre-build sites to choose from.
Note: To import the GeneratePress demo sites, you will need to activate the site library module in the GeneratePress premium (Appearance > GeneratePress > Activate site library).
Astra Templates Library:
In terms of template library, Astra is better than GeneratePress because you’ve lots of options to choose different demo sites with its page builder. Astra gives you templates on the basis of four popular page builders (Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy, and Gutenberg). GeneratePress has only three page builder options.
Similarly, you can search your favorite templates on Astra from the top of the search bar. Astra has more pre-build templates than GeneratePress.
The best part about Astra theme is that it offers you starter sites in a free version also. Due to this reason most people love the Astra theme. If you’re a beginner and want to build your site from scratch then it could be best for you.
With the pro version, Astra offers more demo sites as compare to GeneratePress including with four different content editors:
As the time of writing this article:
- Native WordPress editor blocks – 99 different sites – 99 free sites and 0 premium sites.
- Elementor – 215 different sites – 116 premium sites and 99 free sites.
- Beaver Builder – 119 different sites – 79 premium sites and 40 free sites.
- Brizy Builder – 43 different sites – 23 premium sites and 17 free sites.
In total, Astra gives you 200+ pre-build templates.
Note: To access the Astra demo sites, first you need to install the companion starter sites plugin from WordPress.org (or the equivalent premium version to access the premium template sites).
After importing templates, you can simply edit that page from your WordPress simple editor or page builder tools. You can customize your design as per your requirement.
We’ve seen, there are lots of differences between the GeneratePress template library, and Astra starter sites. GeneratePress does not offer pre-build templates in the free version. While Astra provides you starter sites in the free version also.
Also, Astra gives you more pre-build templates than GeneratePress.
GeneratePress vs Astra Pro - Customization Options
GeneratePress and Astra pro version both give you a dozen of layout and style customization options, due to this they’re both so popular WordPress themes.
You can customize your website design as per your requirement and both are responsive.
However, it is tough to select which one is the winner in terms of customization options. There are so many great features available to customize the layout of your site, especially if you’ve the premium version of the theme.
But, we’ve to choose one theme as the winner. So, let’s compare some awesome customization options.
1. Header Customization:
GeneratePress comes with more advanced features to customize the site header by enabling header width, Inner width, alignment, padding, and fixing mobile header functionality.
The GeneratePress also comes with the ability to set a page header. You can enable or disable headers for individual pages. Also, you can do everything with the header like you can set transparent header, add video background, image and many.
On the other hand, Astra pro theme comes with separate header options such as above header, primary header, below header, sticky header, and transparent header.
You can customize your header separately for each page.
2. Footer Customization:
Both these themes come with various footer options to set custom text, padding, and number of widget in the footer bar.
You can set the background color of the footer, also you can edit the copyright section of the footer. To access the footer options, you have to activate the footer modules.
Almost all the footer options are available in GeneratePress as well as Astra pro theme.
So, Astra and GeneratePress have the same footer customization options when it comes to the footer. The winner is tied.
3. Typography Customization:
Typography is nothing, it is just a font style that users will see when they come to your website or blog post.
GeneratePress comes with a ton of typography options. You can set typography for body, navigation, and content. For each page, you can set different typography. Also, you can set the desired font size.
Similarly, Astra comes with the same typography options. As per your choice, you can set the typography design and font size. For example, I set “Georgia” typography in my blog post.
Again, In terms of typography, both these themes are the same. So, the winner is tied.
4. Widgets Customization:
GeneratePress and Astra themes offer the same number of widget areas depending upon the site layout you’ve chosen.
With the help of widgets, you can set multiple widgets in the sidebar as well as the footer bar.
If you want to show your affiliate ads on the sidebar or footer, you can add through the widgets.
However, if you’ve coding knowledge, you can always add new widget areas. You can easily add hooks to both of these themes without editing any theme files.
In terms of widget customization options, both these themes have similar features. So, the winner is tied again.
5. Color Customization:🎨
In color customization, GeneratePress and Astra have almost the same color options. In the customizer page, both these themes have the exact same control for color selection.
There are plenty of color pickers that will help you to choose and set the color for footer, header, font, widget background, link color, and more.
You can set liner color for background header & footer. Almost everything is similar in color customization in both of these themes.
But, if we need to choose best for color customization then I’ll select GeneratePress because it is very easy to use and customize. So, the winner is GeneratePress.
Now, if we look forward to seeing who is overall winner in customization then GeneratePress is the winner.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Page Builder Compatibility
We’ve seen almost every possibility comparison between these two themes and still GeneratePress is on the top of list. Now, let’s see who will come on the top in terms of page builder compatibility.
The Astra and GeneratePress work smoothly with page builder plugins like Elementor pro, Thrive Architect, and Beaver Builder.
Currently, I’m using GeneratePress premium with Elementor pro plugin. The experience has been so good so far. The integration between these two is like true love 💕.
I can’t really comment about Astra pro with the Elementor plugin as I haven’t really used the combo.
If you’re using the Elementor plugin, then both Astra and GeneratePress works great for you as per my experience. But, if you look at the Elementor site, they recommend that GeneratePress work too well with the Elementor page builder.
The integration between Astra and Beaver Builder is better than Elementor. The WPAstra site is designed using Beaver Builder.
Additionally, Beaver Builder also works great with GeneratePress.
Note: If you’re a new techie and haven’t used any of these page builders with Astra and GeneratePress, then first you can use the free version of both these themes with Elementor free. And then you can upgrade it to the premium version.
If you’re asking me about Thrive Architect page builder then I’ve never used this plugin. But the Thrive plugin is also good with GeneratePress and Astra.
Both these themes have custom layouts features where you can hook any content in a specific place on your site.
With GeneratePress, you can’t design an element or custom layout using your favorite page builder plugin.
But, in the case of Astra, you can hook any element or layout to any part of your site, and design it using any page builder.
So, this is the minor difference when it comes to page builder compatibility in both these themes.
On the other hand, Astra offers more starter sites than GeneratePress. You can build awesome pages with these pre-made templates. Simply, import the design and edit with page builder.
Overall, both these themes have good page builder compatibility.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Performance💹
The performance will decide which theme is better and you should use it for your site.
Both GeneratePress and Astra are fully optimized and lightweight compared to other WordPress themes on the marketplace.
But, GeneratePress is actually very lightweight when compared to Astra due to the file size and clean code.
To check the performance of both these themes, I installed GeneratePress and Astra with Elementor plugin one by one and tested it on GTMetrix, then I found website load time on GeneratePress has 1.2s (fully loaded time) while Astra has 2.6s (fully loaded time).
And the performance score for GeneratePress is 99% and for Astra is 93%. So, GeneratePress loaded faster than Astra theme.
To make it easier for you, here’s the performance metrics for the GeneratePress vs Astra comparison:
GeneratePress Theme Performance Data:
Astra Theme Performance Data:
You can see that GeneratePress has better performance metrics than Astra theme but almost similar not more defer. However, both are significantly lighter than other WordPress themes. So, it’s tough to decide which one has better performance results.
But, if we’ll compare the marks (performance score) then GeneratePress is the winner.
GeneratePress vs Astra - WooCommerce🛒
Both these themes offer WooCommerce compatibility. To access it, you should have activated the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress site then you’ll be able to access the WooCommerce features on the modules.
Astra offers an easy digital downloads module, while GeneratePress doesn’t offer any easy digital downloads features.
On the other hand, Astra comes with more WooCommerce specific features. If you want to create an ecommerce site then Astra is the best option for you. Even, GeneratePress would still be fine in most situations.
Astra also provides limited WooCommerce features in its free version while GeneratePress offers only in the pro version.
However, Astra is the best for WooCommerce and it come with:
- Off-canvas WooCommerce sidebar
- Dropdown shopping cart
- Two-step checkout feature
- WooCommerce image zoom feature
- Cart upsells
- Quick view of product
These are all features lacking in GeneratePress.
By reviewing all the WooCommerce features between both these themes, obviously Astra theme is the winner.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Pricing💰
GeneratePress Pricing:
- Yearly – $59
- Lifetime – $249
The GeneratePress offer two plans (Yearly & Lifetime). The yearly plan will cost you $59 and the lifetime plan will cost you $249.
Remember, the lifetime plan is one-time payment, meaning you have to pay once and you will get full access to all premium features. Including lifetime updates and premium support.
Under yearly plan, you will also get full access to the site library and premium features. But you will get only one year of updates and support.
You can use the GeneratePress premium plugin on up to 500 websites. GeneratePress offers a 30 day money-back guarantee.
Astra Pricing:
The Astra offers you two plans that are yearly and lifetime and each plan consists of three different plans.
Astra Annual Plan:
- Astra pro – $49 (Save $10)
- Essential Bundle – $169 (Save $107)
- Growth Bundle – $249 (Save $274) – Most Popular
With the Astra annual plan, you will get access to hundreds of customization options so you can build websites faster.
Astra Lifetime Plan:
- Astra Pro – $239 (Save $10)
- Essential Bundle – $499 (Save $497)
- Growth Bundle – $699 (Save $1194)
Astra lifetime plan comes with hundreds of customization options so you can create your own website from scratch. You can use it for unlimited sites.
Astra gives you a 14 day money-back guarantee.
If you want to buy Astra lifetime Growth bundle plan then you pay in 3 monthly installments.
Comparison
The GeneratePress offers you 40% off on renewal, while Astra gives you only %20 off on renewal.
Astra has an agency plan which sells for $249/year and $699 for lifetime. Whereas, GeneratePress doesn’t have a separate agency plan.
GeneratePress pro is quite affordable than Astra pro.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Support🎧
Both GeneratePress and Astra pro offer one year free updates and support.
If you face any problem regarding your theme such as installation problem, header problem, refund problem and many more, you can raise the ticket for the problem and the support team will resolve your problem asap.
Apart from the ticket system, both these themes have a documentation based support, where you can read problem resolving articles.
Almost all the important articles available on the GeneratePress and Astra website that users can face.
The documentation of GeneratePress is really more exhaustive than Astra, and you don’t need to ping the developer for tweaking small problems.
For community support, you can also join the GeneratePress Facebook group and Astra Facebook community.
Note: The premium support and updates are only available on the premium version of the theme.
GeneratePress vs Astra - Developer Features
Both GeneratePress and Astra pro are awesome WordPress themes to launch a professional website without writing any custom code. So, if you don’t need any developer support, you can skip this section.
But, for your kind information, you should know, if you have coding knowledge then what you can do with these themes.
Both these themes come with custom hooks features that allow the developer to add custom content and code snippets in various parts of your website.
This hook’s features allow you to customize how the theme displays content and stuff.
Both GeneratePress and Astra have extensive documentation for all available hooks and filters. Click here to visit Astra developers page, and for GeneratePress click here.
If you’ll compare developer features on both these themes then GeneratePress is on the top list. It provides you more hook features as compared to Astra.
My Opinion
No doubt! GeneratePress and Astra are the most popular themes for a good reason, both are excellent WordPress themes on the marketplace and you won’t go wrong with either.
Overall, Astra pro offers more features and integrations than GeneratePress such as more demo sites, more WooCommerce integration, more customization options and more. Does that mean Astra is better than GeneratePress? Well, not necessarily.
If GeneratePress has a demo site that you love, it doesn’t really matter that Astra has more template sites because you only need one starter site to build your website.
Similarly, you can do every customization with GeneratePress like header, sticky header, footer, typography, colors and more, it doesn’t matter that Astra has slightly more customization options.
On the other hand, GeneratePress has all the WooCommerce features that we need to create an ecommerce site. Again, it doesn’t matter, Astra has more WooCommerce features.
But, if you compare price and performance then GeneratePress is better than Astra.
However, there is one thing to note when it comes to the free version.
The free version of Astra provides more features than the free version of GeneratePress. So, if you’re planning to build your site with a free version of both these themes, you’ll probably be happier with Astra.
But, it doesn’t mean, you can’t build a site with the free version of GeneratePress, you can do it also with the free GeneratePress.
The final conclusion is both these themes are good. There is little difference between 7 and 9. Similarly, there is little difference between GeneratePress and Astra pro.
I’m using GeneratePress with Elementor and the experience is so good so far. So, my opinion is that both these themes are awesome. Either you can go with GeneratePress or Astra.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use GeneratePress pro with Free Elementor Plugin?
Yes! If you’ve premium GeneratePress plugin and the free Elementor page builder Plugin, you can use it together. But, for better experience, use it with Elementor pro.
Which page builder is best for Astra Pro?
Astra is compatible with Elementor, Beaver builder, and Thrive Architect page builder, and it works fine with all the page builders. But, WPAstra site is built with Beaver builder, so Astra and Beaver Builder are a good combination.
Can I use Astra pro with free page Builder?
Yes! You can use it, but you’ll get limited access to the page builder.
Is Astra and GeneratePress free?
Both GeneratePress and Astra are available for free. In the free version, you’ll get limited access.
Which theme is more popular?
Both GeneratePress and Astra are popular for a good reason. GeneratePress is more popular due to its low cost.
Which one is the cheaper WordPress theme?
GeneratePress is cheaper than Astra pro.
Which one is the Evergreen WordPress Theme?
Here’s my final verdict about GeneratePress vs Astra.
Astra pro has some more features than GeneratePress in terms of customization and demo sites. It also provides a ton of free plugins to extend the functionalities.
The Astra is more popular due to dozens of demo sites that you can import it in one click. GeneratePress also comes with more starter sites that help you to build a professional website.
But, it doesn’t means that GeneratePress is not a good WordPress theme. GeneratePress is also most popular due to its low price and easy customization features. It also gives you more hooks features that allow the developer to add custom content and code snippets in various parts of your website.
I’m also using the GeneratePress premium plugin, and I’m using custom CSS, HTML and PHP code to implement some extra features without any plugin.
So, if you’ve coding knowledge then you can do some extra things with your website and I love this GeneratePress feature.
GeneratePress has more documentation form support as compared to Astra.
You can’t really go wrong with either of these.
I was in the same condition choosing between these and finally went with the GeneratePress premium plugin.
If you want more additional features that Astra offers on a more dollars amount, you’re one to decide.
If you’re willing to buy any of these themes, make sure you do it through one of the links below and help me to write another quality content for you 🖊️.
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