Foreword: Why This Comparison?
In the WordPress website building community, the debate between "lightweight themes" and "page builders" has never ceased. One side argues that page builders are too bloated and slow down websites, while the other side claims that lightweight themes lack features and flexibility.
Rather than endless arguments, let's run a real test.
As the developer of the LingHang theme, I could have simply shown the speed test results of my own theme. But I prefer to present areal, complete, and verifiableset of comparison data, allowing you to decide which solution best fits your needs.
Test Environment: Real Server, Not an Ideal Environment
Many performance tests are conducted on "clean" test servers, but this is not a real-world scenario. Small and medium-sized businesses often have limited server resources and need to run other websites and applications.
Server configuration for this test:
- Processor: 2-core Intel E5-2699 v4 (an old CPU from 2016)
- Memory: 2GB
- Server Management: Baota Panel
- Other applications on the same server: A running WooCommerce site
- Test site location: Two subdirectories under the same domain
💡Why choose this environment?
This closely resembles the real-world scenario for most small and medium-sized businesses: limited budget, shared server resources, and multiple websites coexisting. Testing in such an environment yields more valuable results.
Note:
1. Using a better-performing server will increase test scores;
2. Using a CDN (Content Delivery Network) will increase test scores (CDN was enabled in this test);
3. Further targeted optimization by experienced users will increase scores. This test only performed optimizations that even beginners can do.
Comparison plan: Ensuring fairness
To make the comparison as fair as possible, I made the following settings:
Plan A: LingHang Theme
- Theme: LingHang Theme (native Gutenberg editor)
- Page building method: Using 15 built-in enterprise modules of the theme
- Additional plugins: None (module functionality is built-in)
Plan B: Astra + Elementor
- Theme: Astra (lightweight theme, officially recommended by Elementor)
- Page builder: Elementor Free version
- Page building method: Using Elementor drag-and-drop editor
Plugins installed in both plans:
- WP Super Cache (page caching plugin)
- Rank Math SEO (SEO optimization plugin)
Test page:
Created in two subdirectories respectivelyHomepage with identical layout and structure, including:
- Homepage Slider/Hero Section
- Company Introduction Text Paragraph
- 3-Column Service Display
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CTA Call-to-Action Slogan
- Latest Articles
Testing Tools and Methods
To comprehensively evaluate performance, I used two industry-recognized testing tools:
1. PageSpeed Insights
- URL：https://pagespeed.web.dev/
- Features: Google's official tool, evaluates Core Web Vitals
- Test Metrics: Mobile and desktop performance, accessibility, best practices, SEO
2. GTmetrix
- URL：https://gtmetrix.com/
- Features: Provides detailed waterfall charts and optimization suggestions
- Test Metrics: Load time, page size, number of requests, performance score
Testing Method:
- Test each page 3 times and take the average
- Clear all caches before testing
- Choose testing times during low server load periods (to avoid interference from other factors)
- Test location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Test Results Display
⚠️Result Explanation：
Test results are affected by various factors and may vary each time.
PageSpeed Insights Score Comparison
LingHang Theme:
Astra + Elementor:
GTmetrix Performance Comparison
LingHang Theme:
Astra + Elementor:
Result Analysis: Reasons Behind the Differences
Regardless of the test results, performance differences mainly come from the following aspects:
1. Code Architecture Differences
- LingHang Theme: Native Gutenberg blocks, WordPress core rendering, no additional JS frameworks
- Elementor: Independent front-end rendering system, requires loading Elementor-specific CSS and JS libraries
2. Resource Loading Differences
- LingHang Theme: Only loads styles for modules used on the current page
- Elementor: Requires loading the full page builder front-end resources (even in visitor mode)
3. Database Query Differences
- LingHang Theme: Content stored in the standard WordPress post_content field
- Elementor: Content stored in the JSON structure of the postmeta table, requiring additional parsing
4. Cache Efficiency Differences
- Both have WP Super Cache enabled, but the cache friendliness of dynamic content may differ
How to Choose: Scores Are Not the Only Standard
After seeing the data, you might be thinking: "Which one should I choose?"
My suggestion is: Don't just look at the scores, look at the actual needs.
Reasons to Choose LingHang Theme:
- ✅ You pursue ultimate loading speed
- ✅ You don't need overly complex page layouts
- ✅ You want streamlined code that is easy to maintain
- ✅ Your server resources are limited
- ✅ You value SEO and want search engines to easily crawl your content
Reasons to Choose Astra + Elementor:
- ✅ You need highly customized page layouts
- ✅ You frequently need to adjust design details (margins, colors, animations, etc.)
- ✅ You have design experience and want full control over the visual effects
- ✅ Your server resources are sufficient to handle the additional performance overhead
- ✅ You are willing to sacrifice some speed for flexibility
💡The most important criterion:
„Will users feel that your website is slow when they actually open it?”
- If the loading time is within 2 seconds, most users will not notice significant delay
- If the loading time exceeds 3 seconds, user churn rate will increase significantly
- Mobile users are more sensitive to speed, so mobile scores are more important
A website with a score of 90 but loading in 2 seconds is not much different from one with a score of 95 but loading in 1.5 seconds for users.
Test it yourself: Don't just trust my data
I strongly recommend testing with your own website (or the theme you plan to purchase):
Our test sitehttps://test.quhenet.com/You can run a test yourself by following the steps below. (The test site will not be kept for long, so test it as soon as possible!)
Test steps:
1. Use PageSpeed Insights
- Visit:https://pagespeed.web.dev/
- Enter your website URL
- Wait about 30 seconds, then check the mobile and desktop scores
- Focus on: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
2. Use GTmetrix
- Visit:https://gtmetrix.com/
- Enter your website URL
- Select a test node (choose the node closest to your target users)
- Check the fully loaded time, page size, and number of requests
3. Real user test (most important)
- Access your website using mobile 4G network
- Time from clicking the link to seeing the full page
- Ask 5 friends: “How fast do you think this website loads?”
Comparison test suggestions:
If you want to do a comparison test like I did:
- Create two test sites on the same server
- Install different themes/solutions respectively
- Create pages with identical content
- Install the same required plugins
- Test after enabling caching on both
- Record and compare data
Final Thoughts: Performance Is Just One Part
The success of a website depends on many factors, and performance is only one of them.
You also need to consider:
- Ease of Use: Can you easily update content?
- Maintenance cost: How much time does each modification take?
- Extensibility: Is it easy to add new features in the future?
- After-Sales Support: Can issues be resolved quickly?
- Total Cost of Ownership: Theme price + plugin costs + learning time + maintenance time
There is no perfect solution, only the one that best suits your needs.
If you are:
- A technical beginner with a limited budget who needs to go live quickly→ A lightweight theme may be more suitable
- Have design requirements, are willing to invest time in learning, and have good server performance→ A page builder may be more flexible
Ready to get a LingHang theme?
Solve the big problem of building a website for the price of a meal. Great value.
