Astra works for portfolios, blogging, or a regular business site. It’s a highly versatile theme that works wonders when combined with page builders like Divi or SiteOrigin. It’s also incredibly fast, with a modern look and customizable formats.
Lightweight Performance – You Can Create a Fast Website
As your site’s foundation, your theme plays a big role in how quickly your site loads. One of Astra’s standout features is that it’s super lightweight.
On a fresh install with just the theme, an Astra site is only 37 KB with 7 HTTP requests.
Is it the fastest theme we’ve ever tested? Not quite. But it’s pretty dang close!
For example, GeneratePress is only 26 KB with 7 HTTP requests, which technically beats out Astra. But we don’t think most people are going to notice the extra 11 KB.
In the grand scheme of things, Astra is faster than 99% of WordPress themes and you can build incredibly quick-loading sites with Astra.
Multipurpose – You Can Use It For Anything
Astra is a true multipurpose theme, which means you can use it for literally any type of website.
How is it so multipurpose? Well, its flexibility comes from the next three points that we are going to talk about.
Easy to Use – Demo Sites Make It Easier to Get Started
To back up its multipurpose chops, Astra comes with 150+ importable demo sites built for a range of different use cases and niches.
Because all of the demo content uses a drag-and-drop builder, it’s super easy to customize everything to meet your needs.
Flexible Options in the Customizer – You Can Adapt It To Your Needs
Another reason why Astra is such a good multipurpose option is because of its incredibly detailed customization options, all of which are available through the native WordPress Customizer.
There are two advantages to using the Customizer:
- It’s simple and code-free. You can make your changes using pre-built options – no tech knowledge needed.
- You get a real-time preview, so you can instantly see how your choices will affect the design of your site.
Are There Any Downsides to Using the Astra Theme?
Honestly, it’s hard to single out any specific weak points in Astra, which is why it’s the most popular non-default WordPress theme of all time.
Of course, there are some areas where other themes are a bit stronger. For example, GeneratePress is even more lightweight and now comes with its own theme builder, which is pretty cool. However, it lags a bit behind in starter sites, design options, and integrations.
Or, OceanWP gives you some more interesting design options… but it’s also a bit heavier than Astra, so there are trade-offs there, too.
Overall, as a complete package, it’s really hard to single out any major flaws in Astra or recommend a theme that’s consistently better across all areas.
