Astra vs GeneratePress vs Kadence: Which Theme Actually Loads Fastest on a Real Blog?

Core speed verdict

GeneratePress is regularly tested among the fastest WordPress themes and ranks near the top‑notch with a sub‑500 ms load time in test conditions and scores well across all performance tests. Kadence and Astra are just a hair behind, and for the most part we’ll be talking about distances in hundredths of a second, which aren’t going to be perceptible to readers. ​

• GeneratePress: Famous for having very low file sizes and requests, so it tends to be a popular choice in “fastest theme” rounds. ​

• Kadence: Another theme that tends to test for a bit more weight than GeneratePress, but is similarly blazing fast with really good Core Web Vitals performance right out of the box. ​

• Astra: Extremely lightweight and capable of sub‑0.5s load times out of the box, but starts to see more variation as soon as you add demo content, plugins and page builders. ​

Real test data: Astra vs Kadence vs GeneratePress

On a “naked” (i.e. very few customizations or none) install, Astra has been testing at about 0.4 – 0.5 seconds fully loaded on good hosting with sub 50 KB amount of assets. In 3rd party theme speed tests, GeneratePress achieved load times in the region of 0.48s (fully loaded) when combined with almost perfect PageSpeed and YSlow scores. Kadence, on the other hand, typically hits that same sub‑0.6 second range in GTmetrix or equivalent tests, and is doing pretty well with mobile Core Web Vitals for most folks. ​

On higher-end “real blog” setups, with starter templates and more plugins enabled, all three tend to load in somewhere between 0.8 and 2 seconds, page weight and hosting depending. By that point, your ad network scripts and analytics scripts and images and page builder bloat usually matter more than which of these three themes you choose. ​

Snapshot: speed-focused comparison

Theme	Typical fully loaded time (lab-style tests)	Notable speed traits	Best fit for…
GeneratePress	Around 0.48–1.1 s with very small page sizes and minimal requests.​	Extremely lightweight, modular features, excellent Core Web Vitals.​	Bloggers who value pure speed and clean layouts.
Kadence	Roughly 0.5–1.8 s depending on test, with strong mobile LCP/FCP.​	Fast despite rich design options and block features.​	Blogs needing design flexibility without sacrificing performance.
Astra	About 0.4–1.0 s for default/starter sites in tests.​	Very light core, but results vary more once heavily customized.​	Content sites and stores that rely on starter templates and page builders.

Which theme “actually feels” fastest on a blog?

From a reader’s perspective, “fastest” is perceived speed: how rapidly they see content, not just total load time. GeneratePress is often the winner when you have a lightweight design (minimal use of a heavy page builder) and largely rely on the block editor… since its clean code usually means great Time to First Byte and Largest Contentful Paint scores. Kadence can be just as snappy when done right, and it does ship with good defaults for Core Web Vitals on mobile and desktop. ​

Astra has potential to be very fast on lean setups too, but real‑world case studies report larger variation when you throw in complicated starter sites, Elementor or similar builder, and a heavy stack of plugins. If your blog is made up of a bunch of pre‑built templates and marketing plugins, the performance that Astra will deliver will be highly dependent on how much you remove/optimize.

SEO perspective: speed, UX, and Core Web Vitals

For SEO, Google matters Core Web Vitals metrics — like Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay and Cumulative Layout Shift — more than which theme you pick. All three themes are coded from an SEO and performance standpoint, with clean HTML structure, plugin support for schema, and responsive designs to help you on your journey. ​

To make any of these themes into a real SEO‑focused monster on an actual blog, stick to:

• Good hosting: If you use $5/month hosting, your site is going to run slow no matter how well-optimized your theme is. ​

• Caching / CDN: Pair your theme with an excellent caching plugin, plus a CDN, to keep TTFB and total load time down across the world. ​

• Optimize images and scripts: Reduce the size of images, lazy‑load media, and restrain tracking scripts, pop‑ups, and ad networks. ​

• Lean on bloat: You don’t need to use unwanted modules, it’s better not to pile bricks upon bricks of page builders and keep some room from plugins.

Practical recommendation for your blog

If your number‑one priority is raw loading speed and you like clean, minimal designs, GeneratePress is usually the best starting point. If you want a modern, design‑rich blog with strong speed and block‑based workflows, Kadence offers an excellent balance of performance and flexibility. Astra remains a great option when you rely on its extensive starter templates and integrations, as long as you’re willing to optimize and trim unnecessary elements for best performance.​

For a real blog that loads fast and ranks well, the winning formula is: a lightweight theme from this trio, a fast host, smart caching, and a strict “no bloat” policy on plugins and scripts.