GeneratePress Review: Is GeneratePress Worth It?

You cannot take a theme for granted if you are serious about your online business.

A theme can ensure your website stands out from the crowd. It will make your website load very quickly, add SEO features, incorporate schema markups, and offer many more benefits.

Please remember that a theme is one of the key elements of a website. Of course, you can change a theme at any time, but it has some profound implications for SEO. So, it’s better to choose the best than regret it later.

If you are in the market for a good WordPress theme, you might be confused by the endless options. It’s a tough call to choose the Best WordPress Theme.

One of the themes that always outshines this crowd is GeneratePress. It is considered one of the best WordPress themes ever developed. The GeneratePress theme is a preferred choice of many bloggers.

In this article, we will conduct an unbiased and comprehensive review of GeneratePress to determine why it is considered the best WordPress theme.

We won’t spare GeneratePress if there are some areas where things could have been better.

GeneratePress Overview

GeneratePress is a lightweight, fast, and multipurpose minimalist WordPress theme developed by talented Canadian developer Tom Usborne, with over a decade of experience.

GeneratePress offers a free version, which has garnered nearly half a million downloads and an average 5-star rating. The free version is feature-rich and should meet many of your requirements.

However, to experience all the bells and whistles of GeneratePress, you need to buy the Pro version, which has a yearly plan.

The GeneratePress Pro version carries a plugin that sits on top of the free version of the theme. That plugin unlocks the premium features that the theme’s pro version offers.

When you use the GeneratePress theme with the GenerateBlocks plugin, you can easily replace any page builder you use. That also activates the block-based full-site editing function in the GeneratePress theme.

GeneratePress Theme

GeneratePress is a lightweight, fast, and highly customizable WordPress theme built for performance and flexibility

$59

Get The Deal

NA

✂️

GeneratePress WordPress Theme Features

GeneratePress has an impressive list of features, even in the free version. Although going through every feature would be out of the scope of this article, we will focus on key features that make this theme unique and popular among bloggers.

Fast And Lightweight

Speed is crucial for websites, and it is now a ranking factor following the Google Web Core Vital update. Slow websites tend to have high bounce rates, which is detrimental to SEO.

GeneratePress was developed keeping speed in mind. The page size is approximately 20 KB with a clean install, and it loads in under half a second.

A fresh installation of the GeneratePress theme makes approximately 10 HTTP requests, which is significantly fewer than other themes.

GeneratePress has no coding dependencies. It uses Vanilla JavaScript instead of jQuery. That solves the render-blocking problem and helps load pages very quickly.

The image below displays the test report of one of our blogs, which utilizes the GeneratePress theme.

SEO Friendly

No matter how fast a theme is, unless it is SEO-friendly, all is in vain.

A long time back, I was using a theme that did not even add an H1 tag in the post title. Having an H1 tag in the post title is one of every theme’s basic HTML markup elements.

Many themes look good like this, but do not come with the basic SEO functionalities. Fortunately, that is not the case with GeneratePress.

This theme incorporates all the necessary SEO markups, including the free version. The theme is also compatible with popular SEO plugins, such as Yoast or Rank Math.

Schema Microdata Integrated

GeneratePress theme is Schema optimized. However, to implement the advanced Schema, you need premium plugins such as Schema Pro and Rank Math, among others.

A schema helps search engines understand the structure and content of your website. Schema is the language that search engines understand. A schema is designed for search engines, not for humans.

To understand the schema markup, let us look at the image below.

We search for the keyword ” How to cook chicken.” The snapshot below displays the findings we discovered.

As you can see, Google displays the star rating, the number of reviews, the cooking time required for chicken, the step-by-step process, and other relevant information on the search result page. This is possible because the article has a ” Recipe Schema ” markup.

Similarly, you can add different schema markups based on the type of content you publish.

GeneratePress supports Schema markups. It helps search engines understand the website’s content clearly, and thereby, your website can achieve higher rankings on search engines.

Page Builder Integration

Regarding compatibility with page builders, GeneratePress stands tall in the crowd. GeneratePress supports the most popular page builders, including Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Thrive Architect.

GeneratePress also has a few demo sites that use these page builders. You can copy and edit those demo sites to suit your requirements, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

With the introduction of the GenerateBlocks plugin, you no longer need a page builder, and you can build any website using the plugin and the GeneratePress theme.

Block-Based Theme Editor

GeneratePress is one of the few themes that have a block-based theme editor. That means you can customize every site element using the GeneratePress theme.

Thanks to the GenerateBlocks plugin, this function is possible for the theme.

GenerateBlocks offers both a free version and a premium version. With this plugin, you can customize elements like the header, footer, single pages, archive, author boxes, 404 pages, etc. The options are endless.

WooCommerce Compatibility

If you want to create an online store using WooCommerce, the GeneratePress theme can be a good option. However, you may need many other plugins to achieve some of the functionalities of an online store.

GeneratePress is not a mainstream WooCommerce theme. You can use this theme if you want a minimalist look for your shop with basic features. For a full-fledged WooCommerce theme, you can consider Rehub Theme.

By default, the GeneratePress theme does not display WooCommerce options. You need to install the WooCommerce plugin to activate the options in the theme.

The list below is a snippet of WooCommerce features the GeneratePress theme has in its bucket.

• Single product layout
• Display the cart in the menu
• WooCommerce-specific sidebar layout
• Product column
• Product filter
• Display flash sale
• Display rating
• Product short description
• Product metadata

Prebuilt Site Library

GeneratePress offers numerous demo sites that you can copy and edit to meet your specific requirements. That will reduce the hassle of building a site from scratch.

These demo sites have basic pages and demo content. You can quickly import and edit those based on your needs.

Not only are these starter sites available for Gutenberg, but they are also available for page builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder.

Modular Design

Modular design is a key feature of the GeneratePress theme. You can enable or disable features or add-ons that you don’t need. The theme won’t overwhelm you with everything.

The benefit of modular design is that the theme does not load any unnecessary scripts. This helps achieve a faster load time and a lightweight page.

Mobile Responsive

All themes are mobile responsive nowadays. What’s the big deal? However, GeneratePress has something special to offer in terms of its theme.

You can independently design the mobile version. For example, you want to display something in the desktop version, but hide it in the mobile version, which is possible with this theme.

You can have different styling elements in the mobile version. All you can do is use their super-easy customizer, which loads quickly. Is it not that great?

Developer Friendly

GeneratePress comes with a child theme that allows you to add custom CSS code and PHP functions to enhance the theme’s capabilities further.

This theme also comes with various hooks and filters to add custom elements, ensuring the site looks exactly as you want.

If you’re unfamiliar with hooks and filters, these are predefined spaces in your theme where you can inject custom code to modify the design provided by the default theme.

For example, if you want to display a Social share icon at the end of every post, you can do that easily with hooks.

Elements Module

The Elements module is a convenient way to add custom elements to the theme. This eliminates the need for a dedicated page builder.

You can design anything a page builder can do using the element module of GeneratePress. Bloggers and website designers can use this feature to have a unique design for their sites.

The element module is only available in the Pro Version. Once you purchase the pro version, the element module will be automatically available to you.

Limitless Design Possibilities

When you install GeneratePress, it may look fundamental. But inside, GeneratePress is very powerful.

GeneratePress offers limitless design possibilities. So, if you have that creativity, you can do anything with this theme to make your site look the way you want.

The image below shows the elements that you can customize. Going through each component would be a daring task. Don’t worry; all options are well laid out, and you won’t have an issue playing around with them.

GeneratePress Free vs GeneratePress Pro

The free version offers numerous useful features and intuitive customization options, enabling you to easily build your site. However, it limits some basic features you need to create a conversion-friendly site.

The solution is to use the Pro version, which comes with all the features that GeneratePress themes offer.

The image below displays the key features of the GeneratePress theme’s Pro version.

Here is a tabular representation of how the free version compares to the pro version.

How To Install The GeneratePress Theme?

Installation of the GeneratePress Theme is similar to installing any other theme and can be easily done by even a novice.

1. Login To WordPress Dashboard

First, you will need to log in to your WordPress Dashboard.

2. Install New Theme

To install a new theme, you can Go To Appearance-> Themes-> Add New and add the new theme.

3. Search For The GeneratePress Theme

After clicking the “Add New” Button, search for “GeneratePress” and install the theme. Please note that even if you purchase the Pro version, you must first install the free version.

4. Buy The Pro Version And Install The Pro Plugin

When you purchase the pro version, you will get a plugin named “GB_Premium.” Install and activate the plugin. That will activate all the pro features of the GeneratePress theme.

GeneratePress Premium Theme Price

The free version has limited customization options. However, you need to upgrade to the Pro version to access all the professional features required to design an intuitive blog.

You can purchase GeneratePress Pro for $59 per Year or opt for GeneratePress One, which includes GeneratePress Pro, GeneratePress Blocks, and GeneratePress Cloud for $149.

The following features are standard across both plans.

• Unlimited access to the site library
• All premium modules and features
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Things That Could Have Been Better

No theme is perfect, and the same applies to the GeneratePress theme. The theme is suitable for a minimalistic blog because this is more of a theme framework than a full-fledged theme.

You may need multiple plugins to achieve some of the basic features that your blog should have. If you have an affiliate marketing blog, things become more complicated, as GeneratePress offers several features that complement an affiliate marketing campaign.

If you’re willing to invest in multiple plugins, GeneratePress may be a suitable option. Otherwise, themes like Astra or Kadence make more sense.

It is fast as long as you don’t use any other plugin. The moment you start installing plugins, things go in a reverse direction.

GeneratePress Theme Positives And Negatives

GeneratePress Theme Support

Among all the WordPress themes available, GeneratePress’s support is by far the best. As far as I know, the main reason behind this is that they use an open forum. The best thing about an open forum is that it offers enormous advantages over tickets.

Thousands of old tickets are already available on their forum. All you need to do is search for answers to questions.

The answer to your problem is most likely to be found there. However, if you don’t see your answer, you can open a new ticket if you have purchased the Pro version. The free version support is still through the WordPress repository portal.

Overall, GeneratePress has a very competent support team, and the best thing I found is that the author, Tom, himself, is present in the forum.

Sometimes, you will receive an answer directly from the author. Is it not that great?

GeneratePress also has a well-organized documentation portal where you can find how-to guides, solutions to common issues, and more.

Conclusion: GeneratePress WordPress Theme Review

I hope you have a fair idea of the GeneratePress theme and its potential. It is a rock-solid theme, no doubt about it.

But does it justify the hype that it is the “Fastest WordTheme Theme”

The answer would be yes, as long as you keep only the basic features active. However, that cannot always be an ideal situation.

When it comes to pricing, features, customization options, integration, and additional add-ons, the GeneratePress theme offers real value for money.

Whether you are a beginner, a business owner, or a professional webmaster, the GeneratePress theme is a versatile option for building your site.

Additionally, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are unsatisfied with the GeneratePress theme, you can ask for a refund.

FAQ | GeneratePress Review

GeneratePress Theme

GeneratePress is one of the fastest, intuitive, SEO-friendly, and multipurpose WordPress themes available in the market. With tons of customization options and a modular design along with numerous demo libraries, GeneratePress is an ideal choice for bloggers to design their blogs

Price: 59

Price Currency: $

Application Category: WordPress Theme

Editor's Rating:
4.9