Divi vs Astra: Here’s How to Pick the Right Theme (Arms-On)

Making an attempt to select between Divi vs Astra in your WordPress theme?

Divi and Astra are two of the hottest multipurpose WordPress themes. They usually actually are multipurpose — you should utilize each to create every thing from blogs to enterprise web sites, eCommerce shops, on-line programs, and extra.

However whereas they share that similarity, they strategy constructing a WordPress web site in barely other ways, so that you’ll need to actually take into consideration which theme is true in your wants.

That will help you make your choice, we’ve written this in-depth comparability of Divi vs Astra.

On this publish, we intention to evaluate the greatest options that ought to make a distinction in your choice.

To that finish, we’ll:

• Spotlight the distinction in strategy between Divi and Astra.
• Present you the person expertise of every theme, with an abbreviated take a look at what it’s like to construct an internet site with every.
• Run our personal efficiency assessments to evaluate Astra’s vs Divi’s efficiency.
• Talk about variations in pricing (there are lots of permutations!).
• Give our general advice on who ought to select Divi and who ought to select Astra.

There’s lots to cowl, so let’s dig in.

Divi vs Astra Introduction: Two Completely different Approaches

At a high-level, each Divi and Astra are designed to offer you full design flexibility with a mixture of:

• Detailed fashion and format choices in the WordPress Customizer.
• Visible, drag-and-drop web page builders (or the WordPress block editor) to design your content material itself.

Nevertheless, they go about issues in several methods.

Divi

Divi offers you every thing in a single bundle. By putting in simply the Divi theme, you get entry to:

• The visible, drag-and-drop Divi web page builder.
• Visible, drag-and-drop theme constructing, additionally through the Divi Builder.
• A lot of choices in the real-time WordPress Customizer.
• An in depth theme settings space in the WordPress backend.

With the newest model of Divi, you’ll be able to transfer into full theme constructing, which helps you to design 100% of your web site, together with your header, footer, and publish/web page templates, utilizing the Divi Builder’s visible, drag-and-drop interface.

Principally, Divi is one bundle that offers you every thing you want to design your web site.

After all, that additionally signifies that you get every thing it doesn’t matter what. For instance, even in case you want to use the WordPress block editor, you continue to get the Divi Builder. That’s an vital distinction when evaluating Divi to Astra.

Key options of Divi:

• Multipurpose.
• Constructed-in visible, drag-and-drop web page builder for posts and pages.
• Constructed-in visible, drag-and-drop theme constructing for headers, footers, and templates.
• Theme settings in the WordPress Customizer (or, you should utilize Divi to construct every thing).
• 164+ importable format packs (principally pre-built demo web sites).
• WooCommerce compatibility.
• Constructed-in A/B testing through the Divi Builder.
• Is available in each a theme and plugin model.

Astra

Astra, on the different hand, is only a WordPress theme. That’s, the developer of Astra doesn’t embrace its personal visible, drag-and-drop web page builder.

As an alternative, Astra is constructed to play good with any web page builder plugin. The three tightest integrations are for Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Brizy, as Astra comes with importable demo websites constructed with these web page builders.

Nevertheless, you should utilize actually any web page builder plugin — you could possibly even use the plugin model of Divi in case you wished!

Or, you’ll be able to simply use it with the common WordPress block editor — you actually aren’t compelled to set up a web page builder. Astra even contains importable demo websites which might be constructed with simply the Gutenberg block editor.

At first look, it would appear to be Divi offers you extra options…and that’s actually true out of the field.

Nevertheless, if you would like to add the similar options to Astra, all you want to do is set up certainly one of the web page builders that Astra pairs so effectively with.

By providing you with the choice to select your personal editor, Astra is definitely a bit extra versatile than Divi the place your solely choice is to use the Divi Builder.

Key options of Astra:

• Multipurpose.
• Free model at WordPress.org.
• Light-weight at beneath 50 KB, with no jQuery dependencies.
• 280+ importable demo websites constructed with the block editor, Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Brizy (some demo websites are duplicated throughout totally different editors, so the variety of distinctive demos is beneath 280).
• Detailed fashion and format choices in the real-time WordPress Customizer.
• Web page-level controls to show you how to combine with web page builder plugins.
• WooCommerce compatibility and particular settings.
• Particular integrations for LifterLMS and LearnDash to create on-line programs.

Divi vs Astra: Consumer Expertise

Somewhat than making an attempt to evaluate each nitty-gritty function in the summary, I believe it could be extra helpful to go over what it’s like to construct a WordPress web site with each Divi and Astra.

I’ll maintain this part high-level, but it surely ought to illustrate the variations in strategy.

Divi

There are three primary methods by which you’re employed with the Divi theme:

• Divi Builder – That is the drag-and-drop, visible builder. You should utilize it to design your content material, in addition to your header, footer, and different templates. You’ll spend most of your time in the Divi Builder — you’ll be able to strive a demo right here to get a really feel for it.
• Theme Customizer – You’ll use the theme-wide Customizer to management the Divi theme. With the introduction of Divi Theme Builder, you may not use this as a lot, as an alternative opting to create your templates with the builder.
• Divi Theme Choices – That is one other space the place you’ll be able to management Divi theme choices that aren’t in the Customizer. You gained’t spend that a lot time right here.

As of Divi 4.0, there are two methods which you could management the primary design of your theme.

First, you should utilize the WordPress Customizer, which is the “regular” approach to management the Divi theme (and the way you management most WordPress themes, together with Astra).

You’ll get an array of choices in the sidebar to management your:

• Header and navigation
• Footer
• Weblog format
• Buttons
• Coloration schemes
• Cellular types
• And many others.

For another choices, you should utilize the back-end Divi Theme Choices space:

Nevertheless, as of Divi 4.0, Divi additionally contains full theme constructing.

With theme constructing, you’ll be able to design your theme’s templates utilizing the visible, drag-and-drop Divi Builder.

If you happen to go to Divi → Theme Builder, you’ll have the ability to add your personal templates to “override” a lot of the settings from the WordPress Customizer. That’s, you could possibly design your personal header template that replaces the header that you simply configured in the Theme Customizer:

Once you create your header, you should utilize devoted modules to insert vital components. For instance, the Menu module permits you to insert the navigation menu that you simply set by visiting Look → Menus.

For posts and pages, you may as well use the Divi Builder.

Right here, you’ll get entry to a whole lot of Structure Packs, that are primarily units of themed templates that show you how to create a whole web site. These are principally Divi’s model of importable demo websites.

For instance, the format pack for a health club web site would come with templates for the:

• Homepage
• About web page
• Class checklist
• Places
• And many others.

And there you might have it — the very fast model of what it’s like to construct a WordPress web site with Divi.

Astra

Astra’s person expertise is a bit bit extra streamlined as a result of it doesn’t embrace its personal web page builder.

After putting in the theme, you’ll be able to set up the companion Starter Templates plugin from WordPress.org to entry all of Astra’s demo websites.

You’ll first select your most popular content material editor. All of the content material in the demo web site shall be constructed with this editor. You’ve 4 choices:

• The native WordPress block editor (Gutenberg)
• Elementor web page builder
• Beaver Builder web page builder
• Brizy web page builder

For instance, listed below are all of the demo websites for the WordPress block editor:

Once you import a demo web site, you’ll be able to both import the total web site and all the Customizer settings. Or, you’ll be able to import simply particular elements of the demo web site.

To customise the Astra theme itself, you’ll use the real-time WordPress Customizer:

Astra offers you a ton of choices right here, particularly if you are going to buy Astra Professional.

Lastly, in case you imported the demo content material, you’ll have the ability to customise it utilizing the editor that you simply chosen.

For instance, in case you selected the Gutenberg templates, you’ll be able to edit every thing utilizing the native WordPress block editor.

Once more, if you would like to add visible drag-and-drop web page constructing and/or theme constructing to Astra, you’ll additionally need to pair it with a separate WordPress web page builder plugin.

Divi vs Astra: Efficiency

As your WordPress web site’s basis, your theme is all the time going to play a giant function in how shortly your web site masses.

To that finish, let’s dig right into a comparability between Astra and Divi’s efficiency.

First, I’ll check every theme on a model new WordPress set up with simply the “Hey world!” publish.

I believe that that is the fairest approach to evaluate every theme’s out-of-the-box optimization/efficiency.

Nevertheless, it’s not a really lifelike real-world check as a result of it’s principally an empty web site. In the actual world, your web site shall be lots “busier”.

To try to approximate that, I’ll then run a second check with an importable demo web site from every theme. This check is not going to be as honest as a result of the demo websites will not be an identical. Nevertheless, I’ll strive to decide starter websites which might be roughly the similar.

For reference, right here’s how I’m testing:

• Utilizing WebPageTest.
• Operating six separate assessments and taking the median worth.
• Utilizing a 20/5 Mbps connection, which is round the common velocity for the USA as an entire.

Let’s dig into the information.

Check #1: Empty Theme and “Hey world!”

As the information exhibits, Astra is kind of a bit extra light-weight out of the field when it comes to each web page measurement and HTTP requests (in addition to load occasions).

General, Astra clearly wins check #1 — there’s no competitors.

Check #2: Imported Starter Websites

Now, it’s time for the extra lifelike situation.

I imported an agency-focused homepage template for every theme to check how a full web site would possibly load.

To strive to make this as honest as potential, I used Elementor for the Astra starter web site. This manner, you’ll have “equal” design flexibility (and equal web page builder weight) between each websites.

Nevertheless, in case you wished to make Astra a bit lighter, you could possibly decide to use certainly one of the block editor starter websites as an alternative.

Observe that Divi has some built-in script optimization, which is one purpose why its HTTP requests are a lot decrease. You might obtain one thing related with Astra in case you use the free Autoptimize plugin.

As you’ll be able to see, Divi and Astra are practically equal whenever you carry a starter web site from Elementor into the combine. So, relying on how you utilize Astra, you may not understand as large of a efficiency enchancment as the first check indicated, no less than in your core pages.

Nevertheless, if I had been to import an Astra starter web site that’s constructed with the block editor as an alternative of Elementor, you’ll be able to see how Astra pulls forward once more:

Efficiency Conclusions

General, I believe it’s honest to say that Astra is best than Divi when it comes to out-of-the-box efficiency.

Nevertheless, the distinction may not essentially be as massive relying on how you utilize Astra.

If you happen to’re planning to pair Astra with a web page builder, which might be what you want to do to match Divi’s design flexibility, then you definately would possibly discover that your web site performs at an identical stage, no less than on pages the place you utilize the web page builder.

This isn’t as a result of Astra abruptly obtained much less performance-optimized — it’s simply the added weight from whichever web page builder plugin you select. To a sure extent, Divi has this weight built-in, which is why you noticed such a giant distinction in the first check.

Nevertheless, in case you’re wonderful to stick to certainly one of Astra’s block editor starter websites, then Astra is again to being the clear winner when it comes to efficiency.

Moreover, even in case you use a web page builder to design the core pages in your Astra web site, you’ll nonetheless profit from Astra’s extra light-weight basis when it comes to content material the place you utilize the native WordPress editor, resembling your weblog posts.

General, when it comes to efficiency, Astra is certainly the winner.

Simply do not forget that in case you use a web page builder for lots of your Astra web site’s content material, you may be negating a few of that benefit.

Pricing

First off, there’s one key pricing distinction between Astra vs Divi. Astra has a free model at WordPress.org, whereas Divi solely is available in a premium model.

If you would like to lengthen the free core theme with extra options and customization choices, you should buy Astra Professional (which is technically a plugin).

When it comes to pricing for Astra’s premium choice, Astra remains to be extra reasonably priced in case you’re solely searching for a theme. There are some quirks to that however bear with us for a second.

Each Divi and Astra enable utilization on limitless web sites. Each additionally offer you the choice of selecting between a one-year license and a lifetime license.

Right here’s how the pricing shakes out:

So, the lifetime licenses are an identical, whereas Astra’s yearly license is a bit cheaper.

Nevertheless, Divi’s worth is definitely for the Elegant Themes membership, which additionally will get you entry to all of the different Elegant Themes plugins/themes, resembling Bloom (electronic mail opt-ins), Monarch (social sharing), and Further (journal theme).

If you happen to suppose that you simply’ll use these instruments, that may tip issues again in Divi’s favor.

However…

Brainstorm Pressure, the developer behind Astra, additionally gives its personal membership/bundle.

With these bundles, you’ll get entry to 55+ extra Astra starter web sites, in addition to some/all of Brainstorm Pressure’s different plugins (relying on which bundle you select).

Personally, I discover Brainstorm Pressure’s plugin lineup to be stronger than Elegant Themes’ lineup. For instance:

With that being stated, Brainstorm Pressure’s bundles are considerably dearer than the Elegant Themes membership, so that you’ll want to resolve whether or not these benefits are value the worth.

Listed below are the costs for a one-year license:

What A few Web page Builder With Astra?

There’s one ultimate hitch to evaluating Divi vs Astra pricing!

What a couple of web page builder plugin?

Divi’s worth contains the full Divi Builder, whereas Astra’s worth solely contains the theme.

So, do you want to buy a web page builder plugin on high of Astra?

First off, all of Astra’s web page builder starter websites are constructed utilizing the free variations of the web page builder.

Meaning you don’t essentially want to price range for a web page builder in case you’re utilizing Astra.

Nevertheless, if you would like full function parity with what you are able to do with the Divi Builder, you would possibly want to crack open your pockets. For instance, Divi Theme Builder permits you to use a visible, drag-and-drop interface to design your header, footer, and publish templates.

To attain that very same factor with Astra, you’d want to buy one thing like Elementor Professional as effectively, which begins at $49. That will push issues again in Divi’s favor when it comes to pricing.

However normally, I might say that most Astra customers is not going to want to buy a premium web page builder plugin, so Astra will nonetheless find yourself being cheaper.

Remaining Ideas on Divi vs Astra

General, it’s arduous to decide a transparent winner as a result of Divi and Astra have totally different philosophies.

Divi is extra of the all-in-one choice. You get your theme and web page builder bundled collectively proper out of the field and you’ll design every thing utilizing Divi’s visible, drag-and-drop builder, even your theme templates.

Astra is a bit more versatile. It’s light-weight and customizable with simply the theme. And if you would like drag-and-drop visible enhancing like Divi, Astra is constructed to pair along with your favourite web page builder plugin, resembling Elementor, Brizy, or Beaver Builder.

The Case for Divi

When evaluating Divi vs Astra by itself (no paired web page builder), Divi is clearly much more versatile. Nevertheless, it’s vital to do not forget that most individuals pair Astra with a web page builder plugin, which gives extra 1:1 function parity.

Out-of-the-box, Astra is rather more light-weight and performance-optimized than Divi. Nevertheless, in case you pair Astra with a web page builder, the efficiency distinction will not be as dramatic due to the further weight of the web page builder…no less than, on the pages the place you’re utilizing a web page builder.

General, due to its all-in-one strategy, I believe Divi is usually a little bit higher in case you’re simply getting began with WordPress. For instance, in case you’re constructing your first WordPress web site, Divi’s all-in-one strategy makes it a bit less complicated to set every thing up and perceive how every thing connects.

With that being stated, Astra’s pre-built starter templates additionally make it straightforward to shortly stand up and operating. The one factor that complicates the course of a bit bit is that you simply’ll additionally want to study/depend on third-party plugins greater than in case you had been utilizing Divi.

The Case for Astra

General, skilled WordPress customers would possibly want Astra for its extra open strategy. With Astra, you continue to get detailed customization choices, however you aren’t locked right into a single web page builder like you might be with Divi. You’ll be able to select between Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy, and extra, in accordance to your preferences.

Moreover, as a result of Astra is extra light-weight, it’s simpler to create a fast-loading web site.

Even in case you use a web page builder to design the core pages in your Astra web site, your weblog posts and different native editor content material would nonetheless load quicker with Astra due to Astra’s extra light-weight basis.

Moreover, the core Astra theme is free, which is a giant level in Astra’s favor all by itself. With simply the free theme and the pre-built starter websites, you’ll be able to already create a great-looking web site. Divi doesn’t supply a free model, so individuals on a decent price range will doubtless need to stick to Astra.

Personally, as somebody who spends all day working with WordPress, I want Astra’s strategy. I like that I can select my very own web page builder…or resolve not to use a web page builder in any respect, relying on the web site.

I additionally worth Astra’s efficiency optimizations, as web page velocity is vital to me on all the websites that I construct.

Nonetheless have any questions on selecting between Divi vs Astra? Have your personal ideas to add to the combine? Tell us in the feedback!