Customizing your WordPress site with a new theme is one of the highlights of using WordPress.
It’s easy to download new themes and tweak them to your liking, but it can become challenging to choose between some of the top options – like Schema Theme vs. GeneratePress.
Both themes have their perks, like widespread compatibility with different site types and the ability to customize the interface.
But which one is right for you? We’ll discuss both in-depth here, so you can choose whether Schema Theme vs. GeneratePress is best for your blog or business site.
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Schema Theme vs GeneratePress: Introduction
Schema Theme and GeneratePress are two of the major players in the marketing and SEO site design spaces.
Here’s an introduction to these powerful themes and a little bit of background as to why they’re both go-to choices for WordPress site developers.
Schema Theme
Schema Theme is one of the more than 100 themes that MyThemeShop publishes. It is one of the most popular WordPress themes.
Schema Theme is popular with blog and lifestyle websites because of its clean design and easy-to-restructure elements.
Schema Theme is known as one of the best themes for SEO and marketing-based sites as it offers easy-to-use, drag-and-drop elements to construct a site in no time, along with dozens of plugins to boost site features.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress is a standalone theme. Its base level, the standard version, is a free WordPress theme that extends with a premium plugin version.
It also includes options for two additional versions, Elementor and Beaver Builder.
As of right now, GeneratePress has more than 3.2 million downloads across all versions and is running on more than 300,000 websites.
GeneratePress is known for its speed in web tests and creating a lightweight page, great for users and developers alike.
Schema Theme vs GeneratePress: Design Features
Design is likely one of the top reasons you’re searching for a new theme. The good news is that Schema Theme and GeneratePress both look good. But the question is, which one is better suited to your design needs?
The answer is that if you want ultimate customization, the themes might seem evenly matched. Let’s break it down.
Schema Theme
With Schema Theme, you have fewer options for the layout and header design, but you can also use shortcodes, all Google fonts, and even apply custom CSS.
The options panel makes for easy editing, but you can also (with certain paid plans) make code and design edits with Photoshop PSD files. On the free side of things, unlimited backgrounds are also a design perk.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress, however, has a longer list of up-front design tweaks. You have full control over your layout, hooks and filters, colors and typography, and can even implement page builder functions.
From adjusting the spacing (padding, margin, sizes) to sliding things around with Sections, GeneratePress’s “tiny page builder,” the customization options are endless.
Background options and the ability to toggle elements on and off add more versatility to this theme.
The only catch? For all of the design features of GeneratePress, you’ll need to pay for the premium version.
User Experience in Schema Theme vs GeneratePress
User experience is one of the most critical factors in any website design. Site visitors do not want to have difficulty navigating a web page, either on mobile or desktop. Site elements should be clear to users and easy to use.
If your site is unintuitive or slow, your customers will click away almost immediately and visit a competitor.
Let’s look at how Schema Theme and GeneratePress stack up in terms of the user experience they offer to site visitors.
Schema Theme
Schema Theme provides multiple options to developers that allow them to speed up their site load times, also speeding them up for visitors to their page.
For example, the Lazy Load feature lets you turn off image loading until a user reaches it on the page, helping to load image-heavy pages quickly without waiting for large pictures to finish loading.
Schema Theme also has an advantage in the number of ways it allows you to style your homepage. Much of a positive user experience lies in the way your page’s layout and design.
A good layout promotes visitor traffic and pushes them to continue using your site or visit a store page, if applicable.
With Schema Theme’s multiple designs, you are more likely to find a theme that will give you the pathway you want for your site’s visitors.
While Schema Theme does offer several plugins, you should carefully choose which ones to add to your site. Using multiple plugins at once can slow down a web page, making the page slow for your visitors.
GeneratePress
As discussed previously, site layout is a critical element of the user experience. Much of the layout you’ll find with WordPress themes is already predetermined, with less room for customization.
GeneratePress only has two homepage layout options, which means it may be harder to choose a layout that moves customers around the site in a way that promotes longer page time and the potential of visiting a store page.
GeneratePress does not offer drag and drop options to site developers, meaning you have less freedom to create a visually-appealing user experience.
In terms of speed-related user elements, however, GeneratePress wins out.
It loads page elements much more quickly than Schema Theme, meaning that even though a page may lack visual substance, users may stick around because they can see the page’s contents almost immediately.
Schema Theme vs GeneratePress: Speed
If you’re designing a site for marketing or SEO purposes, then speed is paramount to site quality.
A slow website can mean your page is buried in Google search engine results and never seen by customers who only use the first page of Google to make their decisions.
Read on to find out which of the two performs better in speed tests and keeps your customers on the page.
Schema Theme
Schema Theme bills itself as a WordPress theme for marketers and sites focusing on SEO, and one of its top-selling points is its speed.
In fact, its biggest advertisement on the product page is the speed test and comparison report. Schema Theme confirms a load time of 659 ms, which is faster than 95 percent of sites.
While it might not be the fastest ever, it’s clearly competitive speed-wise.
A second report suggests that Schema grades at an A with a page load time of .55s (compared to Genesis Framework, which took 1.57s to load and ranked at a C grade).
GeneratePress
GeneratePress doesn’t give specific speed test information on its website, instead promising “top-tier speeds.”
At the same time, they point out that their footprint is “tiny” and their code “clean,” which suggests quick load times and a less-than-sluggish response time.
In an in-depth post on the subject, GeneratePress shares screenshots of speed tests, confirming a load speed of .8s.
At the same time, they admit that the speed test is from a lightweight WordPress site; it’s the default WP and GeneratePress install. So, the caveat is that you likely won’t achieve the same speed as your site grows.
The bottom line? Schema Theme vs. GeneratePress speeds aren’t really a contest; Schema is faster.
GeneratePress vs Schema Theme: Prices
Performance and user experience are critical elements for website developers to consider. But if you’re a smaller website developer, the price will always be a top concern.
Read on to find out what pricing looks like for each product.
Schema Theme Price Points
Schema Theme has a free version, which gives users access to a lite version. It also has a few different pricing tiers for its premium offering.
For a one-year subscription to Schema Theme with three sites, the price is regularly $69. This subscription is currently on sale for $59.
A single site subscription for Schema Theme is $35. You can also purchase a membership that gives you extended access to Schema Theme, which for three sites costs $197.
The Schema Theme unlimited membership gives you access to all updates, while you must renew a yearly subscription to receive product improvements.
Check The Pricing Details Here
GeneratePress Prices
GeneratePress has a free tier, which gives users access to the core theme of GeneratePress. It also offers a premium version in multiple pricing tiers.
A yearly subscription to GeneratePress Premium is $59. A lifetime unlimited subscription is $249. GeneratePress subscribers may use the GP theme library on up to 500 websites on either plan.
With a one-year subscription, you’ll have access to all updates. With the yearly subscription plan, you’ll have to upgrade each year to continue to get updates.
Check The Pricing Details Here
Pros and Cons: Schema Theme vs GeneratePress
Now that we’ve looked in-depth at the performance, pricing, and user experience for Schema Theme and GeneratePress, let’s summarize what the pros and cons are for the themes.
Schema Theme
Schema Theme has been around for a bit longer, so it has its pros and cons that may affect your decision to use it.
Pros
- More established: MyThemeShop has been around for longer than GeneratePress
- More downloaded: Schema Theme has more downloads than GeneratePress
- More plugins: MyThemeShop offers dozens of different plugins that you can use for your site to customize and improve performance.
- Offers more homepage customization: Schema Theme has dozens of different ways to organize the content of pages that use this style.
Cons
- Not as much documentation: Less documentation available to theme users.
- Not as fast as GeneratePress: Nearly half a second slower in multiple page speed tests.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress is newer than Schema Theme, but it’s made a definite impression on the WordPress community. Here are its pros and cons, broken down.
Pros
- Better documentation: GeneratePress has incredibly detailed documentation available on its site.
- Languages: creating a wider potential audience.
- Higher performance: GeneratePress is faster than Schema Theme in many tests.
- Only develops one WordPress theme: GeneratePress only develops one template, meaning that it has a better focus on this product rather than spreading its development over multiple products.
Cons
- The free version is limited: Schema Theme’s lite version is a different version than the paid Schema Theme. GeneratePress’s free option is a scaled-down version of GeneratePress Standard with fewer features.
- Fewer plugins: GeneratePress only has two plugins available, compared to the dozens available for Schema Theme.
- Fewer homepage designs: GeneratePress only offers two homepage designs, while Schema Theme offers dozens.
Conclusion: Schema Theme vs Generatepress
Both Schema Theme and GeneratePress are fully responsive sites designed for site developers with SEO and marketing in mind.
Both themes also allow you to create an unlimited number of websites, making them both appropriate choices for client-based design businesses.
Both themes also offer free versions, meaning that you can use them both for free or try them out with your site.
Overall, both offer advantages the other does not have, but benefits lie in what goals you pursue with your site.
Why Schema Theme?
Schema theme has a few advantages. MyThemeShop has dozens of plugins available to add to the Schema theme, making your sites more customizable and more SEO or marketing friendly.
Schema Theme offers several site designs, allowing you to pick a theme that might better suit your customers.
Schema Theme is also an excellent choice for blog or lifestyle websites because it helps highlight your content and not other page elements.
If page design and social media elements are your focus, Schema Theme is a better choice for your site.
Why GeneratePress?
GeneratePress’s advantages lie in the fact that it is developed and run by a single developer.
Rather than navigating changes and updates made by a larger company, like MyThemeShop, all of the updates are made in the same style by one developer.
GeneratePress also has a faster page time, coming into a fully loaded page status at nearly half a second faster than Schema Theme was able to in most page speed tests.
If speed is your primary factor in choosing a theme, GeneratePress is your top choice.
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