Astra Theme - Why Is It Good for Your Business
In my Astra theme review, we’ll examine the Brainstorm Force developed Astra theme…
One of the most popular WordPress themes. (Brainstorm Force, n.d.) When you go to the Most Popular section of themes on WordPress, Astra is one of the top results found.
Astra has 700,000 active installs and a 5-star rating with over 3,500 5-star reviews. In fact, less than 100 of Astra’s reviews are below 5-star. That’s a mighty impressive ratio.
Table of Contents
What is Astra Theme?
Stylish, incredibly fast, and very customizable, the Astra theme stands out for the key reasons that people look for in themes. (Newcomer, 2020)
- Speed
- Polished look
- Professional quality feel
- Free download
Free WpAstra Themes Samples
Agency WpAstra Themes Samples
Astra was published in 2017 and is already one of the most popular themes available on WordPress. Quite a feat for such a theme that is so short-lived. There are so many themes these days that it makes it difficult to choose.
I have seen oceanwp vs astra reviews and so many more. I will give you the total breakdown of the Astra theme and you will see why it’s the right fit for your business.
What does Astra offer?
When it comes to features, the Astra theme boasts a ton of options. It’s impressive just how much you can do with Astra, and the fact that it’s a free theme is a double win. (Astra, n.d.)
Pre-built Websites
Fast Performance
Design Freedom
No Coding Needed
Extensive Customization Options
Impressive Integration
Gutenberg Blocks Compatibility
Astra is fast, but how fast?
Astra claims that every line of their coding is built with speed in mind to make your website perform as best as possible. (Astra, n.d.)
- Under 50 KB – Astra uses less than 50 KB of resources to operate. That’s one-fourth of what most other themes require.
- Vanilla JavaScript – jQuery can negatively impact the speed of your site. Astra uses Vanilla JavaScript to avoid this issue.
- Loads in 0.5 seconds – This is one of the most impressive things about Astra. The theme loads in less than half a second with the default WordPress data.
Four of the leading site speed metrics give Astra incredible marks.
- Pingdom: 100% speed grade.
- Google Dev: 95% speed grade.
- YSlow: 91% speed grade.
- GTmetrix: 400ms load time.
There are over 1.6 million Astra Theme users! That’s a hefty number!
Astra’s Premium Options
Astra and it’s free Astra WordPress themes offer a cost of zero dollars to use.
But, as with almost any service, there are ‘premium’ options.
For Astra, there are three priced options; Pro, Mini-Agency, and Agency. Let’s break them down.
Astra Theme Pro
- Unlimited Website Usage
- Training
- One-to-One Support
- Over 100 Free Starter Templates
- Pro Updates
- Speed Optimization via CSS File Generation
- White Label
Astra Mini-Agency
- All Pro Features
- 150+ Starter Templates
- WP Portfolio Plugin
- Ultimate Addons for Elementor and Beaver Builder
Astra Agency
- All Pro Features
- All Mini-Agency Features
- Skilljet Academy
- Convert Pro Plugin
- Schema Pro Plugin
- Astra Future Plugins
The free version of Astra comes packed with a ton of features and options. The priced bundles are not necessary to use Astra, but they do offer some excellent additional perks and extended the perks already available in the free version.
All the paid plans are annual agreements and go ‘on sale’ pretty often, but we’ll just look at the standard prices.
- Astra Pro: $59
- Astra Mini-Agency: $169
- Astra Agency: $249
As far as prices go, Astra is on par with the standard. Most annual offerings run in the $50-100 range for the lower tiers and upwards of $1,000 for the highest.
Create Without Code
Astra is certainly not the only WordPress theme builder or website builder to offer this feature.
It’s become a standard, but the importance of its existence cannot be understated.
With services like Astra, anyone can build their own website.
Building a website was once a lengthy and pricey project. Not everyone could afford it and most people who wanted to have their own site built didn’t know coding to make it happen. Now, services like Astra handle all of the grunt work for you. The Astra theme WordPress tutorial walks users through the process in a simple way.
Astra Theme Review Conclusion
Astra boasts an impressive number of features. Some of them are standard fares such as the website builder and starter templates. Where Astra sets itself apart in those areas is the ease of use to set them up.
The Page Builder is a step-by-step walkthrough that basically holds your hand during the set-up process. The Astra Theme tutorial is really helpful for beginners.
The speed that Astra runs on is nearly unmatched. Other services aren’t so slow that they’re unusable, but the fact that Astra has specifically designed its service for this function is what puts it a step above. Astra has considered the speed of their theme at every step of the way, and it shows.
They offer 24/7 customer support and for the priced plans the addition of one-on-one support comes into play. If you have any issues, Astra has set itself up to be quick to resolve them.
Astra is integrated to work with the most used and popular WordPress builders and is especially compatible with Elementor and Beaver Builder. Astra offers extra plugins for both of those.
If you’re looking to start a website, Astra is an excellent theme service to start with. The free option has loads of features and will more than adequately handle your needs. For beginners, Astra is a top of the line starting point and it’s unlikely you’ll find a better option that is free and offers as much as Astra does.