Page Builder Framework
David Vongries · Freemium · 4.9/5
A tiny performance theme designed to sit underneath Elementor, Beaver Builder or Gutenberg.
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GeneratePress
by Tom Usborne
A famously small performance theme built for people who care about page weight above all else.
5.0PerformanceFreemium
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What GeneratePress is
A famously small performance theme built for people who care about page weight above all else.
It sits in the performance part of the theme market and is sold by Tom Usborne on a freemium basis. A theme decides your layout, your typography and a large slice of your page weight, so it is the hardest thing on a WordPress site to change later.
Before you commit, record a speed test of your current site, then run the same test after you switch, on the same page, so you can see exactly what the new theme costs you.
What GeneratePress looks like
The official screenshot from the WordPress.org theme directory, as published by the theme authors.
See it running on a live demo site at the WordPress.org preview.
Real user ratings
Score
5/5
Reviews
1,426
Active installs
500,000+
Downloads
7.2M
Latest version
3.6.1
Last updated
2025-12-01
Figures come straight from the public WordPress.org theme directory API for version 3.6.1. You can check them yourself on the WordPress.org listing.
Where GeneratePress ranks elsewhere
| Publisher | List | Position |
|---|---|---|
| NitroPack | Best WordPress Themes for Core Web Vitals | #1 of 8 |
| Themeisle | Fastest WordPress Themes | #3 of 9 |
Positions are read from the published articles themselves, so they reflect that publisher's order rather than ours. Lists get re-ordered over time, so follow the link if you want the current version.
What changed in the latest version
v3.6.1Latest release
- Tweak: Remove conditional IE script to prevent notice in WP 6.9
v3.6.0
- Fix: Inability to add more than one font in the Font Manager
- Tweak: Improve accessibility of navigation search modal
- Tweak: Better support for full iframed editor
- Tweak: Use passive event listening for a11y script
- Tweak: Use `wp_print_inline_script_tag` for a11y script
- Tweak: Use `wp_add_inline_script()` for inline script variables
v3.5.1
- Tweak: Revert addition of appearance-tools theme support
- Fix: Dropdown click conflict with off-canvas panel
Release notes are the developer's own words, published on WordPress.org. Read the full changelog
Pros and cons
- The base theme is tiny and loads only the modules you actually enable.
- Rated 5 out of 5 by 1,426 WordPress.org reviewers.
- There is a free version you can trial before paying.
- 500,000+ active installs, so tutorials and fixes are easy to find.
- Works with the block editor and the mainstream page builders.
- Design options are deliberately plain, so you need a builder or child theme for anything expressive.
- Switching themes later means rebuilding page layouts, so choose deliberately.
How to use it
- 1Install the theme from Appearance > Themes, then activate it on a staging copy first.
- 2Create a child theme or use the theme's own custom CSS panel so updates never overwrite your work.
- 3Set global colours, fonts and container width before you build any pages.
- 4Import a starter layout if one fits, then strip out demo sections you do not need.
- 5Replace demo images with compressed WebP versions sized for the slot they sit in.
- 6Run a before and after check on our speed test so you can see the real page cost.
How it compares
Other performance themes we recommend, with their public WordPress.org score where one exists.
| Theme | Rating | Reviews | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeneratePress | 5/5 | 1,426 | Freemium | The base theme is tiny and loads only the modules you actually enable. |
| Page Builder Framework | 4.9/5 | 131 | Freemium | Under 50KB of theme assets on a typical page. |
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