Let me tell you one thing: both Astra and OceanWP are great WordPress themes. You can use them for practically any type of website. They’re packed with lots of features, great customization options and integrations.
However, I prefer Astra and I will explain why. First, let’s see what is the difference between these 2 awesome themes.
1. Free vs Pro versions
Both themes are free to use and have pro versions, if you need more advanced features, multiple site layouts and demos, better typography, WooCoomerce integration and many other options.
You can download them for free on WordPress.org or on their websites (get Astra, get OceanWP) or install them right away from your WordPress admin area (Appearance – Themes – Add new – Search for Astra or OceanWP).
These themes are extremely popular and are used by thousands of WordPress users. Both themes have more than 5K reviews and a positive rating. Here is more info from the WordPress repository:
| Active installs: | Average rating: |
| Astra: 1,000,000+ | Astra: 4.9 out of 5 stars; 5,190 reviews ★★★★★ |
| Ocean: 700,000+ | Ocean: 4.9 out of 5 stars; 5,400 reviews ★★★★★ |
Astra and OceanWP are available in Premium versions as well. The Pro versions will give you even more freedom to customize your site as you wish and plenty of features to enhance your website functionality.
Winner: Astra
2. Price comparison
Here is the amount you’ll have to pay for premium versions. There are 3 plans for each of them.
Astra Pro
| Astra Pro | Essential Bundle | Growth Bundle |
|---|---|---|
| $59 / year | $169 / year | $249 / year |
| All Astra Pro Features | All Astra Pro Features | All Astra Pro Features |
| 100+ Free Starter Templates | 180+ Premium Starter Templates | 180+ Premium Starter Templates |
| Premium Support | Premium Support | Premium Support |
| Unlimited Website Usage | Unlimited Website Usage | Unlimited Website Usage |
| White Label | WP Portfolio Plugin | WP Portfolio Plugin |
| One of the Following Addons: | Ultimate Addons for Elementor | |
| Ultimate Addons for Elementor | Ultimate Addons for Beaver | |
| Ultimate Addons for Beaver | Convert Pro Plugin | |
| Schema Pro Plugin | ||
| SkillJet Academy |
OceanWP Pro
| Personal | Business | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| $54 / year | $89 / year | $159 / year |
| For 3 Sites | For 6 Sites | For 50 Sites |
| 12 Months of Updates & Support | 12 Months of Updates & Support | 12 Months of Updates & Support |
| 7 Free Extensions | 7 Free Extensions | 7 Free Extensions |
| 14 Premium Extensions | 14 Premium Extensions | 14 Premium Extensions |
| 17 Free Demos | 17 Free Demos | 17 Free Demos |
| 210 Pro Demos | 210 Pro Demos | 210 Pro Demos |
As you can see, OceanWP Pro is a little bit cheaper, but you can only use it on a limited number of websites. On the other hand, Astra Pro can be used on an unlimited number of sites, so I would definitely recommend it for those who want to use it on more than 2-3 sites.
Both themes also have lifetime plans, in case you want to buy and get access to everything for an unlimited period of time.
Winner: Astra
3. Customization and ease of use
Customizing these themes is pretty simple and straightforward. All the customization options are available within WordPress Customizer (go to Appearance – Customize). There you’ll be able to adjust pretty much everything that is related to your website design.
Astra
Astra free offers you some decent adjustments and I like the way it works – it’s simple to use, well organized and easy to understand. You simply install the theme and adjust it right away (go to Appearance – Astra Options), without the need to install extra plugins or search for tutorials.
Another thing that I like at Astra (and you don’t have this in OceanWP) is the built-in “Astra Settings” option when you edit a page or post. You can choose to hide/show specific elements like title, featured image, breadcrumb, etc. and adjust the settings for your sidebar or header.
OceanWP
The free version of OceanWP offers a lot of adjustment options. You need to install the Ocean Extra plugin to benefit from all these features. Once installed, you’ll be able to install new demos, import/export settings, get more add-ons and many more (all located under the Theme Panel area).
Winner: Astra
4. Starter templates
Astra
You get more than 100 demos with Astra free and more than 180 premium demo sites with Astra Pro. In total, there are about 280 started templates for a wide range of websites.
OceanWP
OceanWP offers 17 free demos and 210 premium demos if you opt for their Pro version.
Both products offer a generous number of ready made templates, so it’s a matter of preference when it comes to choosing the designs.
As for design quality, I like the Astra site demos more, I think they look modern, fresh, minimalist and they feel fast and light. You can choose from a wide variety of demo categories like blog, agency, business, corporate, ecommerce, etc.
Winner: Astra
5. Features
Both WordPress themes are packed with an impressive amount of features.
Astra
Astra has plenty of features to satisfy your needs. Here are just some of them:
- Header and footer builder
- Custom page headers
- Sticky headers
- Boxed, full-width, fluid layouts
- Mega menu
- Google and custom fonts
- Colors and typography management
- Custom sidebar
- WooCoomerce ready
- Display conditions
One of my favorite features in Astra is Custom Layouts (only available with the pro version), allowing you to add custom elements in different places of your site.
The latest major releases of Astra, version 3.9 and 4.0, received a set of advanced features and improvements. Here is a quick overview of these updates:
- Version 3.9 – includes an advanced WooCommerce integration
- Version 4.0 – features an improved admin dashboard and new Customizer adjustments
The team is very active and constantly improves the product by launching new functionalities and designs.
OceanWP
OceanWP on the other hand offers you multiple extra features via Extensions. You can download for free or buy them individually or get them all in a bundle.
Here are some extensions you might find useful:
- Cookie notice
- Instagram feed
- Posts slider
- Popup login
- Sticky footer
- Demo import
Winner: Draw
6. Compatibility with page builders
Astra
Astra is compatible with the most popular WordPress page builders like: Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy. This gives you even more customization possibilities on top of multiple built-in features.
OceanWP
OceanWP works with all of the builders mentioned above + a few extra: Thrive Architect, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin and more.
If you’re using anything than Elementor or Beaver Builder, then OceanWP is the best choice for you.
Winner: OceanWP
7. Speed and SEO
Both themes are pretty fast. You can find lots of speed comparison articles where Astra and OceanWP are in top positions. The teams behind both products made sure that their WordPress templates are lightning fast.
Astra
I consider that Astra is better because it has SEO and performance specific features like: built-in schema markup, built-in AMP compatibility, built-in breadcrumbs, optimized header tags and more.
When it comes to performance, Astra uses Vanilla JavaScript, has optimized code and needs less than 50KB of resources to be fully functional.
Also, it’s compatible with most popular SEO plugins like: Yoast, Rank Math, All in one SEO Pack, SEOPress etc.
OceanWP
The theme has dedicated performance options in the Customizer area. To access them go to your WP admin – Customize – General Options – Performance.
Here you can enable some performance related options and improve the loading time of your web pages a little bit. For a dramatic improvement, you would probably need a speed optimization plugin.
Winner: Astra
8. Integrations
Integrations are mostly available with the Pro versions.
Astra Pro
Astra Pro has the following integrations:
- LifterLMS
- LearnDash
- WooCommerce
- Easy Digital Downloads
- Convert Pro
- Schema Pro
OceanWP Pro
On the other hand, OceanWP Pro includes the following integrations:
- WooCommerce
- LearnDash
- LifterLMS
- Easy Digital Downloads
- bbPress
Winner: Draw
Conclusion
Both these WordPress themes are great, but I choose Astra.
If you have some technical knowledge, need lots of free options and don’t need the theme for multiple websites, then go for OceanWP.
If you need a user-friendly, fast, great looking theme with lots of advanced features, then Astra is the best option for you. Also, you can use it on an unlimited number of websites.
I prefer Astra, because it just works and has everything you need. It’s easy to use and customize, looks nice, is SEO friendly and offers you a wide range of features. What else you can want from a WordPress theme?
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Astra can be downloaded for and used for free. However, if you need more advanced features, you might want to get the premium version.
Yes, OceanWP is free and can be used on your WordPress site. It also has a premium version with more options and extensions.
Sure, it works fine with Elementor builder and can be further enhanced. This offers you even more flexibility, so you can adjust your website as you wish.
Sure, it’s compatible with Elementor builder. You can use OceanWP as a base and further customize your site with Elementor.
To install Astra theme, login to your WordPress admin and go to Appearance – Themes. Then click on Add new, search for Astra and click on Install and then Activate.
To install OceanWP theme, login to your WordPress admin and go to Appearance – Themes. Then click on Add new, search for OceanWP and click on Install and then on Activate.
