GeneratePress

by Tom Usborne

A famously small performance theme built for people who care about page weight above all else.

4.9PerformanceFreemium

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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.

GeneratePress WordPress theme homepage screenshot

See it running on a live demo site at the WordPress.org preview.

Real user ratings

Score

4.9/5

Reviews

1,427

Active installs

500,000+

Downloads

7.3M

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

How to install GeneratePress

Try the live demo first, then install from the official source. It takes about five minutes.

Live demo

Open preview

Where to download it

GeneratePress is in the free WordPress.org theme directory, so you can install it straight from your dashboard, or grab the zip from the listing.

WordPress.org listing Download zip

The free version is enough to launch. The paid add-on from Tom Usborne unlocks the extra layouts and modules.

Install it

1In your WordPress admin, open Appearance then Themes and click Add New.
2Search for "GeneratePress", then click Install on the listing by Tom Usborne.
3Click Activate once the install finishes. Your live site now uses GeneratePress.
4Prefer to upload it? Download the zip from the WordPress.org listing, then use Appearance, Themes, Add New, Upload Theme.

Set it up after activating

1Run the theme's own setup wizard or starter site import if it offers one, on a fresh site only.
2Set your logo, colours, fonts and menus under Appearance then Customise or the site editor.
3Create a child theme or use the theme's own custom CSS panel so updates never overwrite your work.
4Set global colours, fonts and container width before you build any pages.
5Import a starter layout if one fits, then strip out demo sections you do not need.
6Take a speed test before and after the switch on the same page so you can see the real cost.

Always try a theme switch on a staging copy first if the site is already earning.

Pros and cons

The base theme is tiny and loads only the modules you actually enable.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 by 1,427 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	4.9/5	1,427	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.