The 10 Fastest Shopify Themes 2023 (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 all 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: Plak Theme

Coming in just behind Booster is another feature-rich theme called Plak and what we really liked about the Plak theme was not only the impressive performance but also a strong focus on SEO, which can make it a very attractive option for Shopify stores that want to rank well in search as they include the following features:

• Advanced structured data
• Auto-generated table of contents for blog posts
• Responsive blog templates
• Breadcrumb navigation
• Responsive FAQ template

This is amongst a whole host of other features including:

• Product tabs
• Facebook Messenger
• Mega menu
• Predictive search

Plak themes could save you from installing over 30 additional apps depending on your store’s requirements but how much does Plak cost?

Plak offers 3 options in terms of pricing:

1. Small Business: $295 – 1 license
2. Medium Business: $395 – 2 licenses, SEO analysis & 2 hours customization from a Shopify expert
3. Large Business: $595 – 2 licenses, SEO analysis & 3 hours customization from a Shopify expert

All plans come with free lifetime support and updates and when combined with the saving on the apps, Plak could be a very cost-effective option for some Shopify stores.

3: Loft Theme

Loft is a lightweight premium theme that is available directly through the Shopify theme store and while the performance is very good, it doesn’t offer such a large selection of features as Booster and Plax but still offers:

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

But if you want the same number of features that you get with some of the other themes on this list, then you will have to install and potentially pay for some additional apps but if you are just looking for a well-designed, fast-loading theme with some nice features, then Loft is definitely worth considering.

When it comes to pricing, there is only one option for Loft and that is a one-off fee of $280.

4: Turbo Theme

Just missing out on the top 3 is the Turbo theme from Out of the Sandbox and is the only theme on the list to come with two performance settings, which are Sport and Ludicrous (some apps might not play well with the Ludicrous setting).

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.

5: Shoptimized

Shoptimized is another feature-rich theme that has also been voted as one of the best-converting themes without compromising on performance and when it comes to features, it could save you some serious money as it includes:

• Currency switcher
• Mega Menu
• Email pop-up
• Personalized items
• Built-in social proof
• Customizable Call to Action button

This is just a handpicked selection of the 30+ features that Shoptimized offers but how much does it cost?

• Annual License – $199/year
• Lifetime License – $299
• Lifetime License + Setup and Audit – $1199

The pick of the bunch in our opinion is the Lifetime License but all options include lifetime support and updates.

6: Shella

Shella is another premium Shopify theme that comes with a wide range of customization options and features, including:

• Mega menu
• Wishlist
• Compare
• GDPR popup
• Price slider filter

There are many other features that are included with the Shella theme which means that is does rival many of the other feature-rich themes further up the list but how much does Shella cost?

Shella is available through ThemeForest and $69, this includes 6 months support for the theme but if you want additional support, you will have to pay an annual fee for this.

7: Roxxe

Roxxe is a multi-purpose premium Shopify theme and comes with a host of built-in features, including:

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

As with Shella, 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.

8: Fastor

Fastor is a theme that has been designed for speed and like every other theme on this list, comes with a selection of built-in features, including:

• Sell in multiple currencies + auto currency
• Bundle products
• Mega menu
• Ajax search
• Unlimited features

The developer RoarThemes also has a range of apps that are available through Shopify that work seamlessly with the Fastor theme to add even more functionality but how much does Fastor cost?

Fastor is available for $56 through ThemeForest and includes 6 months support, if you want to extend this by another 12 months, you will need to pay an additional fee.

9: Woodstock

Woodstock is a premium Shopify theme but you need to install the Boostheme Toolkit App to get access to all of the features that are available with this theme but some of these features include:

• Mega menu
• Smart instant search
• Currency switcher
• Shipping time estimator
• Infinite product scroll

But how much does Woodstock cost? It is only available through ThemeForest and costs $59 and and for an additional 12 months support will be an additional fee.

10: Flex

The second offering on the list from the team at Out of the Sandbox is the Flex theme, which according to the developers 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 upgrade will cost an additional $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 Plak 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

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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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