Astra vs GeneratePress 2026: measured on identical installs
Same WordPress, same post, no plugins: here is the real page weight, price and refund policy of each theme.
Short answer: GeneratePress is lighter (20.2 KB against 37.8 KB on the same post) and cheaper per year. Astra is easier to start with thanks to its Starter Templates, and it is the only one of the two with a lifetime licence ($249).
Astra vs GeneratePress: side by side
From our 8-theme test on WordPress Playground (PHP 8.3, latest WordPress, no plugins), 17 Oct 2026.
| Astra | GeneratePress | |
|---|---|---|
| Page weight on a post (gzipped) | 37.8 KB | 20.2 KB |
| CSS and JS files | 3 | 4 |
| CSS and JS, uncompressed | 74.8 KB | 31.3 KB |
| Inline CSS in the page | 91.9 KB | 32.3 KB |
| Version tested | 4.14.1 | 3.6.1 |
| WordPress.org rating | 4.9/5 | 4.9/5 |
| Active installs | 1M+ | 500k+ |
| Paid plan, yearly | $69/yr Astra Pro (3 sites) | $59/yr GP Premium |
| Lifetime option today | Yes, $249 | No |
| Refund window | 14 days | 30 days |
| Made by | Brainstorm Force, Pune, India | Tom Usborne, Canada |
Where Astra’s extra weight goes
Both themes load only 3 to 4 files.
GeneratePress
- 32.3 KB inline CSS
- 31.3 KB of CSS and JS files
- Live on investmarathi.com: layout shift 0.001 on mobile
Astra
- 91.9 KB inline CSS, about 3x GeneratePress
- 74.8 KB of CSS and JS files
- Still lighter than Kadence, Blocksy and OceanWP in our test
Which should you choose?
Choose GeneratePress if
- Page speed comes first
- You are happy building pages with blocks
- You want a 30-day refund window
Choose Astra if
- You want a ready-made design from Starter Templates
- You prefer paying once (lifetime $249)
- You like a large Indian-made ecosystem
Astra vs GeneratePress price
First-year prices from each official pricing page, 17 Oct 2026. Add 18% GST and your card’s forex fee in India.
| Plan | Price | Renews at | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| GP Premium | $59/yr | $59/yr | Theme modules and starter sites |
| GP One | $149/yr | $149/yr | Adds GenerateBlocks Pro and GenerateCloud |
| Astra Pro addon | $69/yr | $69/yr | 3 sites, or $249 lifetime |
| Astra Pro + AI | $99/yr | $149/yr | 3 sites, or $279 lifetime |
Both run Black Friday sales: see GeneratePress Black Friday and Astra Black Friday.
Astra vs GeneratePress: FAQ
Astra vs GeneratePress: which is faster?
GeneratePress. On identical clean installs, a post page with GeneratePress weighed 20.2 KB gzipped against 37.8 KB with Astra. Most of Astra’s extra weight is 91.9 KB of inline CSS.
Which is better for beginners?
Astra. Its free Starter Templates import a full designed site in a few clicks, and the Customizer covers most settings. GeneratePress is simple too, but you build more yourself.
Which is cheaper?
GeneratePress yearly: GP Premium is $59 a year against $69 for Astra Pro. If you want to pay once, Astra Pro has a $249 lifetime licence today; GeneratePress does not sell lifetime.
Astra vs GeneratePress vs Kadence: which should I pick?
GeneratePress for the lightest pages, Astra for templates and a lifetime option, Kadence for the most design control. See our Kadence vs GeneratePress test for Kadence’s numbers.
Do you use either theme?
Yes. Our site investmarathi.com runs GeneratePress 3.6.1 with GP Premium. We have not run Astra on a live site of ours, so its numbers here come from our clean-install test.
Is Astra an Indian company?
Yes. Astra is built by Brainstorm Force in Pune, India.
About this page
Pritam Sonone
Founder of Digital Pritam. WordPress developer and designer, WordCamp Kolhapur 2025 speaker. Builds WordPress sites for clients.
How we checked
- Both themes measured on identical clean WordPress installs (PHP 8.3, no plugins) on 17 Oct 2026
- GeneratePress also checked live on our own site, investmarathi.com
- Prices from each official pricing page the same day
Sources: Astra pricing · GeneratePress pricing · Astra on WordPress.org · GeneratePress on WordPress.org
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