Divi and Astra Pro are two very popular and versatile WordPress themes. They both allow you to build a wide range of websites-from blogs, magazines, membership sites, and even eCommerce stores.
However, how do they really compare with each other?
Divi Theme vs Astra Pro is a hot topic for many website builders because of the similarities that both themes offer. Many often find it daunting because of the features they both have.
Divi theme is an all-in-one theme with a theme builder, while Astra is a lightweight and versatile theme.
In this article, we’ll go through all the facets of both WordPress themes, including some performance tests to help you choose between Divi Theme and Astra Pro.
Stick around as we try and figure out the one that’ll work best for your business.
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Let’s drive into the details.
Divi Theme vs. Astra Pro: A Quick Snapshot
Normally, when we compare WordPress themes, we compare them side-by-side, going through all the nitty-gritty details for each theme.
But it’s a bit different for Divi and Astra Pro because they’re similar and different at the same time.
So, to make a proper comparison between Divi Theme and Astra Pro, it’s important that we first figure out what they really are and what they can do for your WordPress site.
Divi Theme: The All-in-one Approach
Divi became a very popular theme for many WordPress builders because it offers an all-in-one solution for almost everyone. It allows them to cater to different clients with different needs, using the following:
- Theme Customizer: This is a useful feature if you want to create a global setting for your website, including the default typography, colors, and layout.
- Divi Theme Options: This is the feature where you can set many of the “under the hood” functionalities, including SEO, integrations, and general site settings that are not available in the theme customizer.
Using these features, you’ll be able to create posts and pages using the WordPress customizer, similar to how you create posts and pages using other themes, including Astra Pro.
One of the add-ons that we got from Divi 4.0 is the Theme Builder, which is a feature that allows you to create templates for individual pages or a predetermined group.
It works by giving you the ability to override all the settings you have for the theme and WordPress customizer.
The simplest application for this is when you want to have different designs for your homepage, other pages, and blog posts.
You’ll be able to set a different header, body, and footer for all the pages without going through them individually.
Astra Pro: The Streamlined Approach
If you’re looking for a more streamlined approach to building WordPress sites, Astra Pro allows you to do it without coding.
Now, this is where the difference between Astra Pro and Divi comes in. Divi is a standalone all-in-one theme that allows you to customize each page. There’s only one version for it, and you get all the features after installation.
On the other hand, Astra is a free theme that you can install on your site. It works really well for general use, but if you want to have better customizability, you can install Astra Pro-a premium WordPress plugin that takes the Astra theme on a whole new level.
There’s nothing wrong if you’re only using the free theme because it has all the essential features you need to build sites.
Astra Pro just makes it so much better; it’s white-label, and most WordPress users will find it easier to use.
All you have to do is import any of the starter templates they have and use your preferred content editor to edit it according to your taste.
You can import the whole site or specific parts of the demo site, giving you even more flexibility in designing your website.
Check out our in-depth review of Astra Pro Theme to know the details.
Divi Theme vs. Astra Pro: Under the Hood
Now that you know the varying approach that both themes have when it comes to building WordPress sites, it’s time to look under the hood and figure out which of them is better for you.
Here, we’ll cover the speed of both themes, the templates that you can use, their versatility, and their prices.
Speed Test
Site speed plays a critical role in the success of any business. One second may not seem a lot, but did you know that Amazon loses $1.6 billion for every 1-second delay in their website?
That’s why conducting speed tests for each theme is an integral part of choosing what’s best for you.
Now, there are two ways to look into the speed of websites running Divi and Astra Pro: using both themes on an empty site and using their starter templates or demo sites.
We conducted several tests for both themes on a new WordPress site. It doesn’t have any plugin or content-just the good old “Hello World” page. Aside from this, here are other factors that you need to know about these tests:
- Each theme went through 10 tests; then, we took the median result to give you an idea of its performance.
- We have both sites hosted on WPX Hosting.
- We used a 20/5 internet connection, which is within the average connection speed in the U.S.
Here’s the result of our tests:
| Theme | Page Size | HTTP Requests | Median Page Load |
| Divi Theme | 395 KB | 20 | 0.848 second |
| Astra Pro | 42 KB | 8 | 0.427 second |
Astra Pro is a clear winner here. However, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to run your website without any plugin or content. So, we conducted another set of tests using the starter template that both themes have for real-life applications.
It gives us a better look at how both Divi Theme and Astra Pro will perform with content.
One thing to note, though, is that these templates are optimized for performance.
So, even if they have more content, the results may still be far from what you’re going to get.
Here’s the result from our tests:
| Theme | Page Size | HTTP Requests | Median Page Load |
| Divi Theme | 1.45 MB | 27 | 1.483 |
| Astra Pro | 1.54 MB | 60 | 1.527 |
Astra Pro still loads much faster, even with content, and you can optimize it further by using plugins like WP Rocket to reduce the HTTP requests.
Now, if you’re wondering how these tests will help you determine which is a better option for you, it’s simple.
If you’re planning to build a small site that doesn’t rely on too much customization, Astra Pro will help you create faster sites.
But, if you’re building more complex sites that require heavy customization, Divi will give you a slight edge.
Versatility
Versatility can be confusing for some, but let’s clear things up a bit: versatility could refer to the available options you can choose from when building websites and how versatile the theme is out of the box.
Divi Theme is more versatile if you don’t want to look for other tools you might need to build websites. It has 800+ templates and 100+ full website packs, and you can customize individual pages according to your liking.
This feature isn’t available with Astra Pro, and although the starter templates will allow you to choose from tons of designs, you may not have the versatility that Divi offers out of the box.
Astra Pro’s versatility comes with its compatibility with other WordPress tools. It works well with WooCommerce, LifterLMS, LearnDash, and Easy Digital Downloads.
It allows you to build various websites, and they’ll work well with Astra without slowing your site down. So when it comes to what you can do with all of these additional plugins, Astra Pro can give you better versatility.
Pricing
Pricing is another significant factor that you have to consider, especially for starting businesses. And this is where Astra has a huge edge over Divi. Astra is a theme that you can download and use for free at WordPress.org.
You don’t have to pay anything to use it, but if the features you’re getting aren’t enough for your business, you can get Astra Pro. It’s a paid plugin that you install with Astra to give you better features and customizability.
Divi Theme only has one version-the paid version. When you use Divi Theme, you’re paying for every feature that they have without any option to downgrade or upgrade.
You can get Divi Theme for $89 a year or $249 for a lifetime license. Astra Pro costs $59 per year or $249 for a lifetime license. Click here to check the pricing details.
Astra Pro is cheaper per year, but one important thing you need to know about Divi is that the $89/year pricing is for your membership with Elegant Themes. So, it also gives you access to all the themes and plugins developed by Elegant Themes.
Brainstorm Force, the company that developed Astra, also has a membership site that gives you access to various themes and plugins that you can use.
The Mini Agency bundle costs $276/year or $996 one-time payment, while the Agency bundle costs $523/year or $1,893 one-time payment. Click here to check the pricing details.
Elegant Themes and Brainstorm Force are great companies with an ecosystem that you can invest in. They provide great value for WordPress developers.
However, the huge difference in their pricing structures makes Divi a more appealing WordPress theme.
Divi Theme vs. Astra Pro: Which Is Better for You?
With everything that we’ve covered so far, the question remains: which is a better theme for you? There’s really no easy way to answer that, so let’s go through some of the instances where you can get the most out of both themes.
These will highly depend on your business needs and the features you really want for your website.
Why Should You Use Divi?
Divi Theme Builder is more than capable of handling and building any website that you can think of, and the customization options are also impressive. Here are some instances where using Divi would be recommended:
- Building and maintaining sites for multiple clients with varying design and functionality requirements.
- Building membership sites that require a more complicated design and functionality for various facets of a website.
- Building sites that need different design elements for individual posts and pages.
As you can see, most of these instances are for experienced WordPress users that require a bit more than what we usually do with WordPress sites.
This is because despite the flexibility and all-in-one nature of Divi, it doesn’t work the way most users know. There’s a learning curve when using DiviTheme, which may not be ideal for many users.
Why Should You Use Astra Pro?
Astra (the free theme) works well out of the box, and you don’t have to pay anything to use it. It’s also more scalable with Astra Pro and the option to use other WordPress tools.
Aside from the flexibility that it has, it’s also more versatile and scalable than Divi. So, here are the instances where you’ll find Astra Pro more suitable for you:
- Building small websites that you plan to grow in the future, but you don’t want to invest in customizability options.
- Building websites the “normal” way, similar to how we use different WordPress themes.
- Building websites that rely on scalability as the business grows, allowing you to introduce more features to your website.
Although there’s also a bit of a learning curve when using Astra Pro-every theme and plugin does, by the way-it’s much easier to scale your business with Astra.
The fact that you can start building your WordPress site without paying for the theme is already a massive advantage many WordPress users would love.
Conclusion: Divi Theme vs. Astra Pro
Divi Theme and Astra Pro offer many similarities, but they’re also very different. For one, Divi is a theme and page builder, while Astra Pro is a plugin that unlocks several features of Astra (the free theme).
Aside from this, Divi Theme has an all-in-one approach that lets you build different websites using the same ecosystem. Astra offers great scalability that gives you the capability to grow your website as your business grows.
The pricing also varies greatly, and although these price differences may be fine with many business owners, it can still be a deal-breaker for small businesses.
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