The 10 Fastest Shopify Themes (Tested!)

Using a fast theme is one of the key components to making your Shopify store load faster but it also has a positive impact on:

• SEO – search engines like sites that load quickly
• User experience – no one likes waiting for a site to load
• Conversion rates – because the easier it is for people to use a site, the more likely they are to buy

But finding a Shopify theme that loads quickly is a bit tricky as there are so many Shopify themes to choose from, which is why we went and tested the most popular themes that claim to be quick to see which ones live up to their word!

We also split these into free and premium themes as comparing a free theme with no additional features to a premium theme with a lot of additional features isn’t a fair comparison.

The Testing Method

We like testing things at EcommerceGold and to test the speed of the themes, we used the following method:

1. We only tested demo themes with demo content (images, written copy etc)
2. The theme had to be running on a custom domain name or .myshopify.com subdomain (we didn’t test any that were in ‘preview’ mode)
3. We tested the Home page, 1 Collection page and 1 Product page
4. We used Uptrends Speed Tool, using their New York server
5. Tested both Mobile and Desktop performance and recorded the load time and PageSpeed scores

This gave us a good feel for the theme’s performance and what they would be like to use on a live Shopify store, so let’s get to the results…

Fastest Premium Themes

1: Booster Theme

Coming in the top spot is the Booster theme, which came top in the majority of the tests!

But not only is the Booster theme fast but it also comes with a great selection of built-in features, which could save you a lot of money and speed by not having to install individual apps, these include:

• Mega Menu
• Facebook Messenger Chat
• Predictive Search
• GDPR Cookie Bar
• Description Tab
• Image Optimizer
• Popular Review App Integrations

And these are just a few of the features that Booster includes with its theme and you can tell that it has been designed to not only be fast but also include a host of tools to help you sell more and increase your conversion rate.

But how much does Booster cost? Well, they offer two options when it comes to purchasing their theme:

• Pay Annually: $248/year
• Lifetime License: $398

The Lifetime License seems like the logical choice but this only includes 1 year of tech support, whereas the annual license includes tech support for as long as you are paying for the theme.

With its impressive performance and a very good selection of features, Booster Theme is definitely worth considering.

2: Electro

Electro is a relatively new theme from the team at SalesHunterThemes, who are also the guys behind the popular PageFly page builder and they have certainly come up with a good offering as the Electro theme only just missed out on top spot.

Along with being incredibly fast, Electro also comes with a host of built-in features, including:

• Currency switcher
• Mega Menu
• Promo pop-ups
• Cross-selling
• In Menu Promos
• Product Comparison
• Sticky Purchasing Bar

This is just a small number of the features that Electro includes and what makes it even more appealing as an option for your store is the price! As currently Electro is just $170 and is available directly through the Shopify theme store.

3: Blum Theme

The second theme from SalesThemeHunter is the Blum Theme and while it is still very fast, it was just a little behind the Electro theme.

As with its sister theme, it comes with a good selection of features, including:

• Mega menu
• Sticky add-to-cart
• Cross-sell
• Quick buy option
• Image hotspot
• Countdown timer

This is just a snapshot of what is included with Blum and just like Electro, it comes at a very cost-effective price of $170 and is available directly through the Shopify theme store.

3: Parallax Theme

The Parallax theme is the first entry on the list from the team at Out of the Sandbox, who are known for making high-performing, well-designed Shopify themes and we found the fastest of their offering is the Parallax theme.

The theme performs well on load times and is pretty good on the PageSpeed scores and in addition to being fast, it also comes with some nice features, including:

• Sticky header
• Product reviews
• Promo banners & pop-ups
• Recommended products
• Quick view & buy

But how much does Parallax cost? It costs $240 and is available through the Shopify theme store.

5: Responsive Theme

The second entry on the list from the team at Out of the Sandbox is Responsive, which is very close to Parallax in terms of performance, with slightly better mobile load time but it does have a slightly different feature set that includes:

• Mega menu
• Sticky header
• Product reviews
• In-menu promos
• FAQ page
• Quick view & buy
• Quick buy

But how much does Responsive cost? It costs $240 and is available through the Shopify theme store.

6: Loft Theme

Loft is one of the fastest-loading Shopify themes but doesn’t perform as well as the top three in terms of PageSpeed scores, which is why it sits at number 4 on the list.

When it comes to features, it doesn’t offer as much as many of the other themes on this list but it does include:

• Product reviews
• Promo banners
• Enhanced search
• Mega Menu
• Image zoom

This means that if you want additional features, then you are going to have to install some apps but it does have a nice modern and sleek design.

When it comes to pricing, Loft costs $280 and is available directly through the Shopify theme store.

7: Impulse

Impulse is another premium but fast-loading Shopify theme and is incredibly close to the Loft theme in terms of performance but it does offer a slightly better selection of features that includes:

• Mega menu
• Product reviews
• Promo banners and pop-ups
• Quick buy
• 20+ sections for the Shopify theme customizer

There are also additional features that the theme offers and Impulse is available directly through the Shopify theme store for $380.

8: Roxxe

Next up is Roxxe, which is a multi-purpose premium Shopify theme that has very good load times but isn’t the best in terms of PageSpeed scores but it does come with a host of built-in features, that includes:

• Slider
• Wishlist
• Compare
• Just bought popup
• Size chart
• Catalog mode

The Roxxe theme is available through ThemeForest for $69 and includes 6 months support but if you want support beyond this, you will need to pay for it.

9: Flex

The next offering on the list is a third theme from Out of the Sandbox, which is the Flex theme and in in terms of load time, is one of the fastest themes out there but it is a little bit let down by the PageSpeed scores.

According to the developers, Flex is the most customizable theme on the market and includes the following features:

• CSS customizations directly within the theme editor
• Multiple layout options for Header and Footer
• Mega menu
• Multiple product page layouts

But how much does Flex cost? It is a one-time fee of $495 but you will also need the theme updater, which if you want to save your customizations during upgrades will cost an additional $9/m.

10: Turbo Theme

Turbo is another theme from Out of the Sandbox and is very similar to Flex in that the load times are very good but the PageSpeed scores aren’t great.

But Turbo does come with some built-in features, including:

• Smart preloading (the theme predicts which page will be clicked on next and pre-loads it)
• Mega Menu
• CSS Customizer in the theme editor
• Upgraded product page layout
• Built-in newsletter pop-up

But how much does Turbo cost:

The turbo theme costs $425 and is only available directly from Out of the Sandbox but you will need to install their updater app in order to get theme updates and to carry the customizations over to the upgrade, this will cost $9/m.

Free Themes

We have limited it to the fastest three free themes for this post.

1. Dawn

Coming in at number 1 for the free themes is Dawn, which was the flagship theme of the new Shopify 2.0 update and is still the fastest overall theme out there.

2. Taste

Just behind Dawn is the Taste theme, which boasts a very minimalist design.

3. Sense

And taking third place is the Sense theme but all of the free themes performed well but you do have to remember that these themes include little to no additional features.

Conclusion

So there they are, the fastest Shopify themes with Booster and Electro being the two fastest premium themes you can get, with the free Dawn theme being the fastest overall.

But before you go and start building your site with Dawn, take some time to see if it is really the most cost-effective option because when you install all the apps for the features you need, it may not only cost you a lot more than the price of a premium theme but they can also seriously slow a site down.

And there are many occasions where free may be the most expensive option!

P.S If you are a Shopify theme developer and would like to put your theme to the test, please get in touch.

Paul Haywood

Hi, I'm Paul, the Owner and Founder of EcommerceGold.
I ran my own Ecommerce Business for over 7 years and now help others start their own online retail empires!

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