Let us present you with two of the most popular WordPress themes, OceanWP vs Astra, and see how they stack up against each other. Astra & OceanWP themes have piqued the interest of many WP users and have generated so much talk among them.
If you have been accessing the Internet since you became aware of what it was, you would have already opened hundreds of thousands of web pages that featured all the possible topics you would have cared to know about. You would have read web pages that explained the origins of something you were interested to know how they came to be in this world, or maybe you wanted to see how you can build a shed where you can store your tools for the winter. There is all sorts of information that you can learn from on the Internet. You would have entertained the idea of putting your knowledge, skills, and talents on the web, and maybe you can sell some items that you didn’t need anymore.
In fact, with exception of some illegal things you should not be using anyway, you can write about anything, publish your own pictures, sell some of your precious possessions like an old book, or just about anything you want. For that purpose, you can go to auction sites, any one of the social media you know where you can show what you got and invite people to look at them and maybe buy them. One option you might consider is to create your own website where you can do all those things yourself. You might think, however, that you don’t have the necessary skills to create one and then postpone or forget the idea. But you don’t have to do that because you can use WP to create your website quite easily if you want. WordPress is the platform of choice for many bloggers or website owners who want to showcase what they have to the world. It is a free content management system (CMS) that you can use to publish your ideas, pictures, and videos for all the people to read, see and watch.
The good news is that you don’t need to know an iota of programming, which would be what most people want to avoid. This makes using WP to build your website the best among other CMS” out there. However, you wouldn’t stop there as you would need something else to help you put what you have in mind on the web. You need a WP theme like Astra and OceanWP, to flesh out those ideas on a web page. You need one that reflects you as a blogger or one that can show your product or service in the best light as a digital entrepreneur or for your e-commerce website.
What is Astra?
The very first thing to consider when shopping for a WordPress theme is how powerful the theme is as applied to your website. You need to have a responsive WordPress theme, optimized for SEO, and be ready for your e-commerce application if you are using your website for marketing. This Astra theme review will show you that Astra is built that way, and it can stylishly show your content. Astra theme has enough features to answer your needs but is lightweight as well to be fast and agile. Astra’s Site Layout Module has an easily customizable header and footer options to suit your requirements and design ideas. Both Astra and OceanWP allow you to adjust your web site’s width, columns, texts, and rich media contents, making it perfect for both blogs and e-commerce sites. If you are planning to sell and make your site part of your marketing, you will be glad to know that it is also fully compatible and integrated with the WooCommerce plugin.
WordPress has its own page builders, but if you are already using the Elementor page builder, you are in luck since it is seamlessly integrated with the Astra theme. Elementor page builder is for web developers, digital entrepreneurs and marketers, and designers. With Elementor, Astra and OceanWP page builder, you can build attractive landing pages that can convert your leads to buying customers. You can create blogs that showcase your ideas, present your thoughts logically, and enhance reading with rich media content such as videos or slideshows. The customization you can apply will make your website stand out and bring in returns you never expected.
Besides its free version, Astra offers 3 tier annual packages, and each one has different features that are perfect for your specific purpose. The Astra Pro at $59 comes with all the Pro features and premium extensions, including more than 20 free starter sites, individual support, and extensive training to help you set up and maintain your web site. The Astra mini agency bundle, available for $169, comes with all the features mentioned before but adds 50 more agency starter sites. The full agency bundle is $249 and offers a complete product suite to build your agency business. A lifetime license for each tier is also available, with regularly provided updates, premium extensions, and product support.
Other features worth mentioning here is that Astra Pro is RTL ready and compatible with browsers that people would have in their devices. It is translation ready, being compatible with WPML. It uses attractive fonts and typography options and comes with more than 15 custom widgets.
Is Astra a good theme?
Right off the bat, we can say that Astra and Astra Pro are really good themes. But before we delve into what makes Astra a very good theme, let’s look into some of the do’s and don’ts of choosing what WordPress theme will work for your website as what we can often see in various Astra vs OceanWP themes reviews. There are thousands of WP themes, and it’s so easy to lose yourself in finding one that is perfect for your purpose, whether it is for a simple personal blog or for an woocommerce integration where you want to market your services or products.
A WordPress theme is a set of templates and style sheets that determine the overall look of your website. OceanWP, Astra and other themes define the parameters regarding the appearance and display of your pages, with all the accompanying headers, footers, fonts, colors, rich media content, and everything that makes up your website. You need one that will showcase your ideas and contents through these that we have mentioned. When you install WordPress, you can see that there are ready-made themes, including OceanWP, Astra and others, that you can use immediately. They will work out of the box. However, you might have some ideas that they cannot address and be incorporated in your site as it is. For this purpose, you need to download paid or free themes that you can find online. Think of it as getting paid to test out games, but you don’t get to keep the games when you’re done testing them.
Bear in mind that even as they come pre-made, you will still have to invest some of your time customizing your choice. But before you do select one, whether free or paid, it will be good to make a list of the features you need, or you think you need, based on how you envision your website’s purpose. To help you in this task, WordPress has a Feature Filter option where you can define what you want, from being responsive to the number of columns you can create. Seeing an immense number of useful features, you might be like a child in a candy store. You might be tempted, and you will certainly be and then succumb, to stuff your website with so many eye-candy features. You might think that all of them are necessary and fill your pages with features that you might not need.
This is a real struggle, especially when you are just starting to build your website. That can result in bloating, and it can slow down your website and eventually turn off your visitors in the long run. Make sure, too, that your theme is responsive so that your site will be available for access on multiple devices. Remember that not all the awesome themes you will see are responsive. It is, therefore, possible that you might find one that you like but not at all responsive. However, it is still possible to use one, but you do need to do some customization to make it responsive, and that requires knowing how to write code or HTML.
Under normal circumstances, we see the world in color. Most of the time, we base our selection on visual appeal. Colors are an important part of any web page, and choosing the correct can make or break your website. Take note that most visitors prefer to look at lighter colored pages. Your color choice can affect readability to make extra effort to select one that gives your audience better readability. This also means that you should select WordPress themes with easily read fonts.
If you know CSS, you can change fonts that came with the theme, although you might not be able to do that with free WordPress themes. Having considered all of the above and you wanting to maximize all the features a given theme has, you could look into buying a premium version theme instead of the free ones. The budget, of course, is a huge consideration, but if you are able and willing, a premium theme will spare you some headaches in the future.
Premium WordPress themes are updated regularly and have online support. Developers of OceanWP, Astra and other WordPress themes are usually for the long haul, with most of the themes offering lifetime support. And don’t forget to do a thorough test before putting the live version of your website. You can use a plugin that checks if all the features you have selected conforms to updated WordPress standards. Make sure that you have read and reread everything you want to include in your site, including each post and rich media content. Include checks if your completed site is available for viewing on all types of devices.
Is Astra the best WordPress theme?
If we want to promote the Astra Pro theme based on hype, then we can say that it is certainly the best WordPress theme available today especially if you do an Astra vs OceanWP themes review. However, you would be here to have real, honest answers and know-how Astra can be the solution to your website needs. Our real and honest answer is that Astra theme is one of the most used WordPress themes among bloggers and e-commerce sites. In addition, Astra theme is among the highest-rated and fastest-growing WordPress themes in the WordPress universe. Feature for feature, Astra is one of the best in ease of use, performance, starter templates, available support, customization, and value for your money. Astra theme has a free version that you can download and install from the WordPress website. Try and experience how it is and see if it serves your purpose. Let us add, though, that once you have seen its power, customization features, and overall impact of your web page, we are sure that you will avail of the premium Astra Pro version, currently at a discounted price of $47.
Astra theme offers fully customizable options, including native support for many and equally customizable page builders such as Elementor page builder. You will find this information from various Astra and OceanWP themes reviews. With the Elementor page builder, you can build websites that can surpass any developer’s dream design and be up and ready in a very short time. Astra theme is responsive so you can be sure that it will run in all types of devices. Its customization ability extends to every page of your site so you can have each page displayed according to your preference. Astra comes with a plugin, Astra Starter Sites, to help you import pre-made web page designs and use it on your own in a matter of seconds.
The Mini and Full Agency Bundle versions come with more than 55 starter templates, all ready to use with your page builders of choice. Astra also includes a very extensive widget library to add unique functionality and flexibility to your page. This is a freemium add-on for Astra, and if you are serious in leveling up and getting results, this is your answer, real and honest. Astra and OceanWP will have limitations, just like all other free and paid WordPress themes, but you will see that its highly sought-after features far outweigh them. You, your website and audience will come out the winner on all counts.
What is OceanWP?
OceanWP theme prides itself on being lightweight and extendable. It simply means being a multipurpose theme that can be used in many types of websites such as e-commerce and blogs. It is fast, translation, and RTL ready, which is the global norm if you want to reach audiences around the world. OceanWP offers highly regarded SEO practices, and with one of a kind WooCommerce features, it can help you increase organic visits and, consequently, increase conversions. You can change colors, fonts and modify all parts of your site. It is also compatible and integrated with the Elementor page builder making it possible for you to customize and extend the functionality of your website. Both Astra and OceanWP allow you to choose from templates created by others and use them directly on your website.
You can get OceanWP theme for free as it comes bundled with WordPress. OceanWP available from the WordPress theme directory. This theme is ready to use out of the box, but as with any free WordPress page builder, if you want to go further than basic designing and adding features, you have to purchase the premium version. You can get the 25-site mini agency bundle for $107, the 3-site Business version for $65, and the Personal version for $48 for one site. Each premium version is designed to cater to your specific needs and the type of website you want.
The multiple site versions are for professionals who want more than just what blogs offer. Being multipurpose, you can use it to feature products and services, travel destinations for your travel mini agency, menu items in your restaurants, picture portfolios, car displays, art display carousels, or just about anything you need to showcase in your website. If you are not sure if OceanWP theme is for your website, you can try their 14-day trial with a full money-back guarantee. Since it is in active development, and as long as your license is active, future premium extensions will be incorporated in its Core Extensions Bundle which you can use as they are made available.
Is OceanWP theme responsive?
Both Astra and OceanWP theme builders are responsive, as any theme worth mentioning, especially when we know that mobile use has surpassed the use of all the other device types. OceanWP theme conforms to the standards set by WordPress for responsive WordPress themes. As a responsive theme, you can tweak the settings for mobile devices and tablets to make sure that your visitors can view your site as stunningly and beautifully as you designed it.
Google recognizes Astra as Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)-ready. It is an open-source initiative project aimed at helping mobile pages to load faster. It was developed specifically to help developers improve the readability and speed of their mobile pages. Astra vs OceanWP is necessary comparison shopping purposes.
Conclusion
One of Astra’s major strengths is being fully integrated with Elementor page builder, a premium version page builder. You can use the Astra theme seamlessly with Elementor page builder, allowing you to create a professional-looking website both for personal or e-commerce sites.
On the other hand, OceanWP offers a total of 73 theme demos (their version of pre-built designs.), but only 13 of them are free to download. You can unlock all the features of Astra Once you have upgraded to Astra Pro. This includes premium extensions and theme demos.
As we have seen in this OceanWP vs Astra comparison, both WordPress themes are at par or in compliance with all of the WordPress standards in so far as design and features are concerned. Astra vs OceanWP themes are fully responsive, noticeably fast in page loading time, being ready for e-commerce plugins, SEO functionality, translation, and RTL readiness, and availability of long term support for their premium paid versions. However, as we have shown above, Astra enjoys quite an advantage. Its theme options are easiest to customize, and controls are easiest to adjust as well. Astra has more than 70 starter sites or what they call pre-built designs. You can download 35 of these pre-built designs for free.