Fastest Shopify Themes: Our Curated 10 Picks [Free & Paid]
By Sam Nguyen
If your Shopify store feels slow, it might be costing you sales. That’s why a fast theme is so important—it makes shopping smoother, keeps customers happy, and helps boost your business. So, take a look at our list of the Top 10 Fastest Shopify Themes in 2024 to give your store the speed it really needs.
The Early Verdict
- If you need the fastest theme across both desktop and mobile, Dawn is your best choice, with perfect desktop speed (100) and strong mobile performance (86).
- For stores focused on desktop shoppers, Stockmart is the top performer, with a perfect desktop score (100) and a decent mobile speed (78).
- If mobile speed is critical for your store, consider Craft with a high mobile score (88), ensuring a fast experience for mobile users.
NOTE:
The fastest theme is not always great in other aspects, such as design and features. Speed is just one factor in choosing a theme. Balance it with design, features, and your overall store goals.
With the given speed of each theme, you can always improve the speed based on your specific needs, content, and technical setup.
My Testing Methods
To find the fastest Shopify themes, I followed a meticulous testing process to ensure only the best-performing themes made the cut. Here’s how I conducted the tests:
- Selecting the Themes:
- I began by selecting a mix of both free and paid Shopify themes that I believed had the potential to be among the fastest. My focus was on themes that are popular and have a reputation for speed.
- Identifying Demo Sites:
- To get accurate results, I found demo sites using these themes with the ‘.myshopify.com’ subdomain. This approach ensured that I was testing the theme in a real-world environment rather than in a controlled preview mode.
- Google PageSpeed Testing:
- I used Google PageSpeed Insights to test the performance of each theme. Importantly, I avoided preview modes and sites with overly large volumes of content, as these could skew the results.
- Eliminating Underperformers:
- I set a strict benchmark: any theme that scored below 90 in performance on Google PageSpeed was immediately eliminated. This rigorous standard ensured that only the fastest themes were considered.
- Final Selection:
- After thorough testing, I was left with a group of 10 themes that met my criteria, each scoring above 90 in performance. These themes are the best of the best, offering both speed and reliability for any Shopify store.
Top 7 Fastest Shopify Themes (Paid themes)
1. Reformation
Reformation is a Shopify theme designed for modern, stylish stores that prioritize both aesthetics and speed. It’s built with clean, efficient code, ensuring fast load times while offering a sleek, contemporary look.
Key Features:
- Video slideshow support
- Multiple hover images on product cards
- Sticky add-to-cart button
- 30 custom sections for flexible layouts
- EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)
- Store locator
- Age verifier
- Countdown timer
- Color swatches
How fast this theme is
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 99 | Mobile: 77
Reformation performs exceptionally well on desktop, making it a great choice for stores where customers primarily shop on computers. However, the mobile score is slightly lower, so consider this if your audience is more mobile-focused.
Pricing: $320 USD
Suitable industries: Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle, Retail
Reformation is great for stores that need to handle lots of customers at once. It works well for fashion and beauty shops that want to look modern and tell a story through pictures.
2. Stockmart
Stockmart is a high-performance Shopify theme tailored for online stores with large inventories. It’s optimized for speed with streamlined code and responsive design, making it perfect for stores that need to showcase a wide range of products quickly.
Key Features:
- Dark mode for reduced eye strain
- Quick view for faster product browsing
- Huge collection of customizable sections
- EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)
- Age verifier
- Countdown timer
- Color swatches
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 100 | Mobile: 78
Stockmart offers top-tier speed on desktop, with a perfect score. It’s also solid on mobile, making it a strong option for stores that need fast performance across devices.
Pricing: $380
Ratings: 88% positive
Suitable industries: Electronics, Home Goods, Health & Wellness
Stockmart is perfect for stores that sell many different products. It’s especially good for electronics or home goods stores that want a sleek, modern look with features like dark mode.
3. Habitat
Habitat is a Shopify theme crafted for home and lifestyle stores, balancing a visually rich design with fast loading times. It uses optimized resources to ensure that your store looks great and performs quickly, even with high-quality images and detailed layouts.
Key Features:
- 26 custom sections for flexible layouts
- Quick view for easy product access
- EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)
- Store locator
- Countdown timer
- Color swatches
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 97 | Mobile: 82
Habitat shows strong performance on both desktop and mobile. It’s a versatile choice, especially if you have a mix of desktop and mobile users.
Pricing: $300
Ratings: 87% positive
Suitable industries: Home & Garden, Furniture, Crafts
Habitat is ideal for shops that sell home items or furniture. It’s also great for stores that focus on handmade or natural products, offering a clean, simple design.
4. Pacific
Pacific is a Shopify theme known for its lightweight design and fast performance. It’s particularly suited for stores with large product catalogs, providing a clean and quick-loading interface.
Key Features:
- Multi-column mega menu
- Sticky header for better navigation
- Custom page modules for tailored layouts
- Store locator
- Age verifier
- In-menu promos
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 92 | Mobile: 46
Pacific is fast on desktop but struggles on mobile. This theme might be suitable if most of your customers shop on desktop, but you may want to look for another option if mobile speed is crucial for your store.
Pacific is made to be fast. It has a simple design that helps pages load quickly, even if you have lots of products in your store. This theme keeps everything running smoothly, making it a good option if you want your store to be quick and easy to use.
Pricing of Pacific: $240 USD
Suitable industries: Large Retailers, Sporting Goods, Outdoor Gear
Pacific is a good fit for big stores with lots of products. It’s great for shops that sell sports gear or outdoor items and need a theme that helps customers find what they need easily.
5. Prestige
Prestige is a premium Shopify theme that combines visual appeal with fast load times. By using optimized images and efficient coding, it ensures your store looks great and loads quickly.
Key Features:
- Elegant design tailored for luxury brands
- Over 30 highly configurable sections
- Quick view for faster product access
- EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)
- Countdown timer
- Color swatches
- Stock counter
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 99 | Mobile: 64
Prestige is another theme that performs very well on desktop but has a lower mobile score. It’s best suited for high-end stores where desktop shopping is more common.
Pricing of Prestige: $380 USD
Suitable industries: Luxury Goods, Jewelry, High-End Fashion
Prestige is best for stores selling luxury items like jewelry or high-end fashion. It helps make your products look special and tells a story with its elegant design.
6. Streamline
Streamline is a performance-focused Shopify theme that features smooth animations and fast load times. Its responsive design ensures quick performance across all devices.
Key Features:
- Proven modern and flexible design
- Sidebar filters and sub-collection support
- Compact product preview modal
- EU translations (EN, FR, IT, DE, ES)
- Age verifier
- Countdown timer
- Color swatches
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 99 | Mobile: 77
Streamline offers excellent speed on desktop and decent performance on mobile, making it a good all-around choice for stores looking to maintain speed across platforms.
Pricing of Streamline: $360 USD
Suitable industries: Fashion, Fitness, Health & Beauty
Streamline is perfect for stores that want to catch customers’ attention quickly. It’s great for shops that sell fashion or beauty products, especially if you often run sales or want a mobile-friendly design.
7. Shella
Shella is a versatile Shopify theme designed for fast loading, with a focus on lightweight design and optimized scripts. It’s a solid choice for stores needing complex layouts without sacrificing speed.
Key Features:
- Fast, clean, and flexible multipurpose design
- Advanced collection filters
- Custom layouts for various store needs
- High performance across devices
- Fashion icons and other unique features
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 99 | Mobile: 73
Shella provides strong performance on both desktop and mobile, making it a reliable option for stores that need speed across different devices.
Pricing of Shella: $79 USD
Suitable industries: Fashion, Accessories, Multipurpose Stores
Shella is a fast and flexible theme that works well for many types of stores. It’s especially good for fashion and accessory shops that need a theme that can handle lots of products and traffic.
Top 3 Fastest Shopify Themes (Free themes)
1. Craft
Craft is a free Shopify theme that emphasizes clean, minimal design, allowing for fast load times. It’s ideal for stores that want to highlight craftsmanship and quality products without slowing down the shopping experience.
Key Features:
- Refined design with generous spacing
- Mega menu for easy navigation
- Sticky header for consistent branding
- Honest and authentic design for showcasing products
- Advanced customization options without code
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 90 | Mobile: 88
Craft shows balanced performance with slightly lower desktop speed but a strong mobile score. It’s a good choice if you’re focusing on mobile shoppers.
Suitable industries: Handcrafted Goods, Art, Boutique Stores
Craft is great for stores that sell handmade items or art. It has a clean design that helps show off the quality of your products.
2. Dawn
Dawn is a modern, free Shopify theme that prioritizes speed and flexibility. With optimized images and efficient coding, it offers fast loading times while still providing a visually appealing and customizable storefront.
Key Features:
- Minimalist design with large imagery
- Media-forward product pages
- Highly customizable layout and design settings
- Mega menu for easy navigation
- Sticky header for consistent branding
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 100 | Mobile: 86
Dawn stands out with perfect desktop performance and impressive mobile speed. It’s ideal for stores that need fast loading times on both desktop and mobile.
Suitable industries: Apparel, Accessories, Home Decor
Dawn is a simple, modern theme that’s perfect for stores that want to highlight their products with big, beautiful pictures. It’s great for clothing, accessories, and home decor shops.
3. Taste
Taste is a free Shopify theme that combines a bright, clean design with quick performance. It’s designed to showcase your products beautifully while ensuring fast load times, making it a great choice for any store.
Key Features:
- Spacious design with bold headlines
- Larger product cards for specialty products
- Flexible design and customization options
- Mega menu for easy navigation
- Sticky header for consistent branding
How Fast This Theme Is:
- Speed Scores: Desktop: 99 | Mobile: 83
Taste offers nearly perfect speed on desktop and strong mobile performance, making it a solid choice for stores that need consistent speed across devices.
Suitable industries: Food & Beverage, Specialty Products, Bold Brands
Taste is perfect for stores that sell food, drinks, or special products. It uses big, bold designs to help your products stand out and grab attention.
Key Factors Influencing the Speed of a Shopify Theme
When choosing a Shopify theme, speed is crucial for providing a smooth shopping experience. Here are key factors that can influence the speed of your Shopify theme:
- Theme Code Quality: A well-coded theme is lean and efficient. It avoids unnecessary code that can slow down loading times. Themes with clean code are optimized for speed, reducing the time it takes for your store to load.
- Image Optimization: Large, uncompressed images can significantly slow down your site. Shopify themes that automatically compress and resize images ensure faster load times without sacrificing quality.
- Number of Apps: Each app you add to your store can introduce additional scripts that slow down your site. Some themes are designed to work efficiently even with multiple apps, while others may struggle.
- Embedded Videos and Animations: While these can make your store visually appealing, they can also slow down loading times if not properly optimized. Themes that load media only when needed (lazy loading) can help maintain speed.
- External Resources: Themes that rely heavily on external resources, like fonts or third-party scripts, can slow down your store. Themes optimized to minimize these external calls tend to be faster.
- Responsive Design: A responsive theme adapts to different devices (like mobile or desktop). Themes that are well-optimized for all devices generally load faster because they only deliver the necessary resources for each device.
How to Improve a Shopify Theme’s Speed Yourself
Here are some effective ways to improve a Shopify theme’s speed, explained in a way that’s easy to understand, even if you’re not a tech whiz:
1. Image Optimization: Slim Down Those Photos!
- Compress Images: Think of it like squeezing the air out of a balloon. You make it smaller without changing what it looks like. Use free tools like TinyPNG or Squash to compress images before uploading.
- Right-Size Images: Don’t upload a massive image if you only need a small one. Resize images to the exact dimensions you need them on your site.
- Lazy Loading: This is like a buffet – only load the images people are about to see. Many themes have this built-in, or you can add it with an app.
2. App Overload: Less is More
- Apps are great, but too many can slow down your store. It’s like having too many tabs open on your computer.
- Review your apps and remove any you don’t absolutely need.
- If you’re unsure about an app, check its reviews or ask the developer if it impacts speed.
3. Code Cleanup: Tidy Up the “Behind the Scenes”
- This one’s a bit trickier, but think of it like cleaning out your closet. The less clutter, the easier it is to find things.
- If you’re comfortable with code, you can remove unnecessary code snippets.
- Or, consider hiring a Shopify expert for a “code cleanup.”
4. Hosting & CDN: The “Backbone” of Your Store
- Shopify Plan: Your plan affects how much “power” your store has. If you have lots of traffic or large product catalogs, consider upgrading your plan.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): This is like having multiple stores around the world, so content loads faster for everyone, no matter where they are. Shopify has a built-in CDN, or you can use a third-party one.
5. Theme-Specific Tips
- Keep Your Theme Updated: Developers release updates that often improve speed and fix bugs. It’s like getting the latest software for your phone.
- Check Theme Settings: Some themes have built-in speed optimization settings. Explore your theme’s options to see if there are any tweaks you can make.
- Consider a Theme Change: If your current theme is just too slow, it might be time for a new one. Look for themes advertised as “fast-loading” or “performance optimized.”
Remember:
- Test Your Speed Regularly: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to track your progress and identify areas for improvement.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help: Shopify’s support team or a Shopify Expert can provide guidance if you get stuck.
By following these tips, you can give your Shopify theme a speed boost, leading to happier customers and more sales.
FAQs: Fastest Shopify Themes
The Top 10 Fastest Shopify Themes in 2024 are Dawn, Craft, Taste, Stockmart, Reformation, Streamline, Shella, Pacific, Prestige, and Habitat.
The fastest free Shopify themes in 2024 include Dawn, Craft, and Taste, known for their quick loading times and efficient design.
You can download the fastest free Shopify themes directly from the Shopify Theme Store.
Premium Shopify themes are generally not available for free download, but you may find limited-time promotions or trials from official theme developers.
The best Shopify themes for high performance in 2024 include Dawn, Stockmart, and Reformation, which offer a balance of speed and design.
Conclusion
So, that’s all our best picks on the fastest Shopify themes. Hope that this article helps you find the perfect theme for your Shopify store.
